Part 59 (1/2)

”It's not as if I'm asking your permission. If you don't do it, I'll find someone else.”

”And what exactly is it that you wanted me to do, anyways?”

Wes pressed himself deeper into the couch. There was no way that he was going to fool anyone, not even now that his face had lightened to a comfortably warm brownish color from the horrible black it had been.

Minami was probably right. She definitely only wanted what was best for him, but that wasn't exactly an incredible comfort when he needed cash fast. He had told himself that he'd ask her for money, but then the words wouldn't come out. So it was the fight after all.

Maybe, eventually, it would come out why he needed so much money, and then he could try to get her to give him something. But now that he was right there, he couldn't just ask her to pay for his family problems.

”I just need to look good enough. I can do the rest.”

”So, what? You need me to put on concealer or something? Is this a makeup thing?”

”There's more, but not right now.”

”Oh?”

”Yes, but don't worry about it yet.”

”Alright.”

That wasn't so hard, was it? He didn't say it out loud. No reason to pick a fight he didn't need to pick right now. Getting into an argument was the last thing he needed to do, particularly with how f.u.c.ked up his face was already. What might normally only be a little slap in the face might cave his d.a.m.n cheek in at this rate.

”Alright, well, we're going to have to go buy something from the store.”

”Yeah, I know that. But I thought I'd leave it up to you. You're the expert. I entrust my future to you, master.”

She closed her eyes. ”I should just f.u.c.k it up enough that you get caught out. It would serve you right.”

Wes thought Bradley would like that. Coming in with the makeup only half-done, so he could try to f.u.c.k with Wes as long as possible. He wouldn't like what happened after, when Wes figured out what had happened, but it would be d.a.m.n funny to him for a few minutes. Then he'd learn why it wasn't that funny after all.

”But you're not going to.”

”You won't know until I'm done, will you? And with a face like that, Wes Park, you won't enjoy the makeup going on.”

”No, I didn't figure I would. Like I told you, though-”

”I know. You need the money, and they won't let you fight. I can hear.”

She pushed herself up and grabbed her purse from the coffee table. Wes stayed sitting for a minute, looking up at her with his tenderized face. ”You know the G.o.d d.a.m.nedest thing?”

”What?”

”He doesn't know about those guys your boyfriend sicced on me. He thinks I lost a fight before that. They had me two-to-one, and I'm pretty sure one of them is still in the hospital.”

She gave him a look that he could only describe as 'not amused' and turned to go.

”Come on, we have to go to the store.”

”You can't do it on your own?”

”I need your face to compare to.”

”Oh. Right.”

Wes pushed himself up and followed her out the door. He followed her down to his car and unlocked it for her. The nearest place was only on the corner, but it was a little windy to walk almost a half-mile each way.

They should have something, he figured, and when he pulled in, she didn't argue, so he a.s.sumed he must have found someplace that would work. She pulled him inside and they headed together straight on back the right-side wall into the makeup section.

Wes had never felt so lost before in his life, and he was only twenty feet from the door. So much c.r.a.p on the walls he couldn't begin to identify. That was nail polish, he figured, and beyond that, he'd seen it before but couldn't hope to put a name on it, and the differences, if there were any...

The only thing he had to go on was a bag of his sister's stuff, which she'd left completely unpacked on the bathroom counter every day, in spite of his insistence that she put it away. Well, with his insistence, she'd clean it all up, and the next day she'd just leave it out again.

It hadn't been instructive of anything about makeup except that there was a d.a.m.ned lot of it, and that he didn't like or trust the stuff.

Minami picked up a bottle of something that might have been nail polish and a puck-shaped thing, held them both up for him to see.

”Liquid, or powder?”

Wes tried to give her a look that communicated exactly how little he knew about what she'd just said. She might as well have been speaking j.a.panese, as far as he knew what she meant, or what the differences were.

She seemed to figure it out on her own after a minute. ”Right. Okay. Liquid it is.”

Minami put the puck of apparently powder-based concealer and then held the bottle up to his face. Her cute little teeth showed a little as she chewed on her lip. She turned and grabbed another, held it up to his face, and then held the first one up again.

Wes let her do her thing. Obviously this was more complicated than he thought, but if she'd agreed to do it, then he'd just wait and she'd get it done. Probably.

Finally she looked around, popped the plastic ring around the cap of one of them, and daubed out a little onto her finger. She wiped across his cheek, the tender skin protesting at the contact-contact she hadn't make a special effort to keep gentle, he noted.

She frowned, and then popped the other open and made another swipe across his face. The first went back onto the rack. She seemed to think it wasn't that odd to open the stuff up, but it didn't stop her from smudging away the stripes on his cheek roughly.

Then she handed him the makeup. He was loathe to spend any money he didn't have to, but he could afford a few dollars for concealer, especially if it got him into this d.a.m.n fight. Not getting in, on the other hand?

Well, he wasn't going to settle on that. If Minami thought he could cover up his nose, then she would get it done. And if she didn't, well... Wes wasn't going to think too much on that possibility either.

Those girls couldn't afford for that to happen.

Twenty-One.

Minami Minami sat back and examined her handiwork. He could do wit ha lot more work than this. Wes was a good-looking man, but with his severe features, they would look even more striking with just a bit of eyeliner, maybe some mascara to help his eyelashes-not that they needed it, the b.a.s.t.a.r.d.

But if he wanted to cover up the horrible bruising on his face, then this would do it, at least for a few hours. He'd been surprisingly still through the whole thing. The way he'd acted the day before, she a.s.sumed that it hurt like a son of a b.i.t.c.h, but he hadn't flinched or reacted much at all.

Then again that was exactly like him. No way he was going to let her see any sort of real reaction to anything. Everything was macho bulls.h.i.+t with him, and even when she was playing makeover, that was how it was going to keep being.