Chapter 41: Chapter 41: Tuesday 

Chapter 41: Tuesday 

Shannon, now sure that both of her exes are happy with men, which she should have really seen coming, ponders what to do with her third chance at life.

"Tuesday is always the worst day to rob a bank," Bonnie tells me, as she takes a licorice from the packet, and pops it in her mouth.

"So, Wednesday, then?" I ask, and she snorts.

"On Wednesday, king consort Alek checks the banks, doll," Bonnie tells me. Even though she is a wall of muscle, she refers to everyone as a doll. Even to me, when I am not exactly doll-like.

Yeah, I am that talking fish from earlier. I unloaded the Caviar of Truth in the still waters of the ice-cold river, and then died.

I won't bore you with the details of what happened next. Just know that the after-life doesn't exist. Just a lot of pencil pushers, looking for the next Hero of Ultimate Fate.

"You know, I think it is going to snow on Thursday," I tell Bonnie, who shakes her head.

"The weather forecast is all over the place, doll. They haven't managed to predict the last couple of times. It won't snow," I hear her snap her teeth around the licorice. I wonder, how could she eat the plant? What sort of strange world is this? She eats enough of it, to remind me of Tamara…

I shake my head. No, I will not think about her. I deserve better than her.

"What is the problem, doll?" Bonnie asks, and I sigh.

"I have the worst luck when it comes to partners, darling," I sigh once more. Bonnie hands me one of the licorice leaves from the packet. I shrug, and begin to chew on it.

"Maybe you were meant to hit your horns on the wall a couple of times, before finding the one. But, do you want to tell me about it?" Bonnie asks.

This plant doesn't smell of licorice, now that it is between my teeth. It is more minty, in nature. Did Bonnie just give me drugs? As if the two-meter-high woman can read thoughts, she smiles, and shakes her head.

"Doll, don't begin to think poorly of me now. This is just a little something to settle your nerves. No different from tobacco," I narrow my eyes at her.

"Are you addicted to it?" I hiss at her. No way am I going to get tangled up with another Tamara.

"I can stop at any time," how many times have I heard that?

"Can you?"

"I can, doll. I can prove it to you. Give me a kiss, and I will stop with the troll's thumb," ah, so, that is what it is called. Kind of puts me off, despite the taste.

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"You are a real joker, Bonnie. The only thing you are missing, is some lipstick in the shape of a smile," Bonnie chuckles then. I don't know what she is thinking about. I mean, she is no reincarnator.

"You say the strangest things, doll," she makes to take more of the plant out of the packet, but then she pauses. "Shann, do you think I am pretty?"

I blink at her question. Bonnie has a hard jaw, mud for hair, and hard skin. Definitely not a model.

"I will answer, but first, can you promise not to punch me?" Bonnie's arms are like boulders. If she'd like to, she can make sure that all my teeth decorate the carpet on the floor. She snorts then, and reaches out to take her glass of water.

"Shann, I think I know where your love problems come from," Bonnie says, after setting her glass back down. "You want a prince or a princess. Well, they can have warts too, you know?"

That makes me stop and think. Do I really? Bonnie has known me only for the past three months. I met her, just as I came back from finding Joe. He fit somehow, with that vision of a man, who walked down the road with him. I hope he is happy.

"Well, doll," I barrow her favorite catchphrase, and she looks even more amused than before. "I think you are right. So, healer Bonns, what do you suggest?"   

"Seven minutes in Heaven," Bonnie says, and then bursts out laughing. "Man, Shann, you should have seen your face."

"Bonnie, seriously now, do you really want to get with me?" I ask her, and she becomes somber.

"Only if you want me to be," and there it is, typical Bonnie. She would never force her will on anyone, despite having the muscles to.

I ponder on how life would be like, with Bonnie by my side. Me, thin as a beanstalk, and she, as muscular as a body builder. Two women, in a world, which accepts such things. Nothing is stopping me, from getting a firm grip on reality.

And if Alek and Joe could find out that they want to play for the same team, why should I shy away from the same conclusion.

"Promise me one thing," I tell Bonnie, and I can see that I have her full attention. "You will stop with the… how did you call it again?"

I point at the herb in its green packet with a skeleton kneeling down in a prayer. Pray for death. This will be a rocky road.

After Tamara died, I promised I will swear off such people. And yet… Bonnie is too much of a ray of sunshine, too big of a gulp of fresh air, for me to just leave her on the side of the road.

"Troll's Thumb, doll," Bonnie says, as she edges towards me. I can still smell mint on her breath, as I let her lead us into a sensual dance. A dance as old as time.

Addiction is not easy, and yet, Shannon swears she will do everything for Bonnie, that she couldn't do for Tamara. Perhaps it is an unfair comparison.

After all, Tamara had been self-absorbed. Still was, somewhere, out there. While Bonnie just wanted to make her doll happy. No matter the pain.