Come on, brat! Put some clothes on, for Christ’s sakes!

“So… What’s the deal?”
“Deal?” And stop fucking snapping that bubblegum. Next bubble will be the death of you…
“Yeah. That chick told me to look up this skiff, and here I am.”
“That chick was my wife. Who failed to inform me that we would be giving a ride to some kid.”
“Hey! I’m not a kid!” Yeah. Right. What are you? Fifteen? And put some fucking clothes on!

“Where is she?”
“Who?”
“Your wife. Where did she go?”
“We had to leave in a hurry from Mars, and we forgot something. She went to see if they have it here in sale.” You have backpack with you. There has got to be some clothes. Put them on! Even Marie wouldn’t get out in that getup!
“You still haven’t told me what’s the deal.”
“Deal? What the hell are you talking about?”
“Come on! There has to be a reason you agreed to give me a ride. What is it? Wife isn’t keeping you warm enough?” Jesus Christ! What’s the matter with this chick?
“You made your deal with her. Why don’t you wait until she returns and ask what she was planning? Now scoot. I have work to do.” Move. Now. And stop fucking with that bubblegum.

“She sure is taking her time…”
“We have been in the space for two weeks already. I’d imagine she’s enjoying her freedom.” And stop talking.
“Are you sure you don’t want anything?” Yes. I’m positive.
“I don’t do little kids.”
“I’m not a kid!”
“Yes, you are. Go. Put some clothes on. Play with your dolls or something. I really have to get this done before we leave.”
“I have clothes on!” What ever. Get the fuck out of my face!

“What the hell are you doing?”
“Giving you a backrub.”
“Hands and tits off from my back.”
“I’m bored!”
“Do I look like I care?”
“No. But you look like you could use a good fu…”
“Fuck off, squirt. I’m not interested.”
“My name is not squirt.”
“It will soon be ‘the-dead-chick-who-didn’t-know-when-to-shut-up’…”
“You’re not a nice guy.”
“Tell me something I don’t already know…” Please. Don’t. Just shut your mouth and go put some clothes on. What the hell was Marie thinking when she sent her here?
“Cindy.”
“What?”
“My name. It’s Cindy.”

Blonde. Is there some kind of freaking law about those as well? Do they all have to be brainless, gum-bubbling creatures named Cindy? Do they all have to be equipped with boobs big enough to suffocate them if they fall on their back? And do they all have to be so goddamned stupid? And make a beeline straight at my crotch as soon as I dare to show my face?

As soon as Marie gets back here I’m going to ask her what the fuck did I do before the lab. It must have been something awful. And this is my penance. To haul a horny teenager across half of the fucking space.

“So, Cindy… Think you could dig up some decent clothes from that backpack of yours?” Because truth to be told, joke is getting old. I can see her fucking nipples through that blouse she’s wearing, and I don’t need very active imagination to find out what’s hiding under that skirt of hers. All she has to do is to move, and I can tell she’s not a real blonde.
“No.”
“No?” She has got to be shitting me. There’s no way she’s planning to hitch a ride in that outfit.
“I didn’t have the time to grab any clothes when I left.” Runaway?
“What’s in there?”
“Some books and my laptop.” She had enough time to grab those, but no time or sense to throw in shirts and trousers?
“You have pretty fucked up priorities, kid.”
“That’s what he used to say all the time… Look. If this... If my clothes are bothering you, maybe your wife could borrow me something more… Decent?” Not maybe. She will. She will, if I have anything to say about it. Actually…
“I’ll go and get you something more comfortable to wear, okay?”

Better. Couldn’t find anything from Marie. She’s not as… Equipped around chest area as Cindy, and Cindy has all over more flesh on her bones. My shirt’s a little too big, goes past her knees, but the more of her is covered, the better we get along. Now that I can actually concentrate to talk to her and I don’t have to think about not staring at her nipples. And mind out of the gutter now. I’m no pervert, but I’m a man.

Funny. She turned awfully shy as soon as she got some clothes on. She’s actually blushing. Cute.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
“I… Your wife promised that you could take me to the next outpost…”
“Yeah, yeah… But what the hell does a kid like you do out there alone?” Spit it out.
“I haven’t been a kid in years. My parents… They didn’t want me, so they sold me to this guy…” Fuck.
“I wasn’t a hooker. Not like that. He needed me to help around the house. Cleaning, doing dishes, that kind of stuff. But I heard him talking to some of his friends last night. They were going to have a party today. I heard them talking about how I was old enough… And things they wanted to do to me…” Oh, crap…
“Okay, kid. You got yourself a deal. Don’t harass me, stay quiet, do as you’re told to, and at the next decent outpost we’ll look for you a place to stay.”

Marie, you better get here soon. Before I ask where that asshole lives.

”Are we there yet?”
“No. One more time and I stuff you through the airlock.”
“Are we there yet?”
“No.”
“Are we there yet?”
“That does it, kid…”
“Eep!”

When I first saw Cindy, I have to admit I wasn’t thinking ‘what an adorable child’. Slut was the first word that popped to my mind. Now, after spending over a week with her and Logan in the space… I can’t help wondering how young and childlike she still is. I don’t think I ever was that playful. Or that young.

“Fuck… That brat’s going to be the death of me…”
“My, my… Are you getting old?”
“Who are you calling old?”
“You. Can’t even chase down a little girl…”
“Won’t. There’s a difference. No use to chase down scared little girls when I already have everything I need right here…”
“Logan! We have company!”
“That company ran down to loading zone. Last time I saw her, she was going through your CD-collection. Showed her how those work. She’ll be occupied at least couple of hours…”
“Logan!”
“Fine. Don’t come crying to me when you’re all wet and horny…”

I have seen Logan this relaxed and at ease with only few people including me before. Come to think of it… Anna, Adele and me are the only ones up until now to see this side of him. Gentle and playful instead of angry and bitter.

“These are great! Where did you found these?” You wouldn’t believe if I told you.
“From a small boutique that sell antique back in Mars. They had a stack of those and a player. They didn’t know how to operate that player, so they gave them all to me on discount. Logan’s pretty good with electronics, so he figured out how that worked.” Not a complete lie. I bought those CD’s and the player back on Earth from a guy that was selling stuff he had found scavenging ancient ruins. Ancient. I hate that word. That guy preferred New York among other big cities of the past ancient. What word would he have used to describe Logan and me if he had known we used to live in those places?

It took a while from Logan to figure out how to convert the player work on solar power, and it took even longer, and even more colorful language when he hooked it to the electrical system of this skiff of ours. But it was worth it. Even Logan had to admit that when I put on a collection of old rock from sixties. 1960, that is.

“So, how long have you two been together?” Oh, Cindy… That’s even more unbelievable.
“Quite some time. Why?”
“No reason… I was just thinking… Before I met you, I had already tried to hitch a ride from few other pilots. They were… They wanted something in return for a ride. Only one was asking money. But Logan… He made quite clear from the beginning that he wasn’t interested in me. Not in that way…”
“Would you have liked if he was interested?”
“No. I had already decided to give you guys what ever you wanted just to get away from there, but I don’t think I would have liked that kind of attention very much. Not even from him. Sure, he feels like a nice guy, but there’s something… I’m sorry, I don’t mean to sound ungrateful or mean bitch, but he’s not all okay, isn’t he?”

Not all okay? That’s putting it mildly. Neither of us is all okay anymore. If we even were okay to start with. But we’re getting by. And we both have what matters the most. We have each other to lean on when going gets rough.