Good morning and Happy Hump Day! If it's Wednesday, then it must be time for more flash fiction from the Wednesday Briefers! We're a group of authors who bring you our finest flash fiction every week, 500 to 1000 words, inspired by one of our prompts.
The conversation between Vinnie and Ethan and the Florida Mangler continues. See what's happening in this week's chapter of Bad Karma and the Family Plan. Don't forget to visit the other Briefers and see what's up with them. Their links follow my tale! Enjoy!
As if.
Ethan’s response was to laugh, a deep, rich sound that showed me he wasn’t in the least intimidated by this lowlife scum sitting before us. I wish I could have said the same.
“If we wanted or needed that kind of assistance, Chip, you would be the last person we would ever turn to for advice.”
Did I imagine Chip faltered for just a second before he immediately came back with, “Oh darn, does that mean I won’t make the guest list either?”
“You got that right,” I managed to get out, which only produced a grin from him.
“Okay, enough of this, I’m going to get right to the point, Chip,” Ethan said in a no-nonsense voice. “This has got to stop. Now.”
I knew Ethan intended to question Chip about everything that had been happening to us, to Uncle Benny… to all of us. But I hadn’t expected this. I tried not to let my surprise show, but Chip wasn’t focused on me. He was intensely regarding Ethan, his bland expression revealing nothing.
“Whatever do you mean?” he asked in a voice filled with disdain. The flip side of the coin. From laughing prep boy to cynical narcissist at the speed of light. “To what this do you refer? I assume you don’t mean my current accomodations, which are temporary at best. Amazing what a good lawyer can do. And, of course, the right judge.” He winked at me agan. Shivers coursed down my spine.
Maybe this had been a mistake after all.
“I mean I know you’re the one who put Caroline St. Clair up to everything she did, thinking she was auditioning for some supposedly legitemate director. William Faulkner? Really? Maybe she didn’t catch on, but we certainly did.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Chip gave an overly loud yawn and patted his mouth to show his boredom, along with more than a touch of contempt. “You mean that lovely actress from the Civil War drama I’ve heard so much about?”
I was startled for a moment that he knew about a film that hadn’t even been released yet, but then I realized people were probably talking about it already. After all, it was also a Troy McGarrett film, and he did hold a certain place in the hearts of moviegoers. A deserved place. Plus he was a great guy offscreen. I could think of nothing nice to say about St. Clair other than she was safely locked up in a rich person’s mental health facility, at least for now.
“You know very well who I mean,” Ethan replied. Beneath the table, he squeezed my leg for reassurance. He knew how mention of that particular actress agitated me.
“I heard the two of you were once engaged,” Chip replied. “Was that before or after you became engaged to dear sweet Vinnie here?”
How did he even know about that?
to be continued
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