The Bear’s Mail Order Menage

“Believe me, I know.”

“How can you say that?” the one Alina didn’t know spat out, “you’ve known us all of our lives. You’ve only known this chick for what, like a month now? Don’t years count for anything with you?”

“Depends on who we’re talking about, Amanda.”

“How about if we’re talking about me and Crystal? Does that mean anything to you?”

Alina felt her heart hiccup painfully in her chest. How in the world would she be able to stand up against two girls he seemed to have known for all of his life? She had no right to even hope for a thing like that. She just wanted to disappear before she had to listen to the direction this conversation was bound to take.

“It does, of course it does. But not the way you think.”

“And what the hell does that mean?” Crystal quipped with one hand thrown expertly on her hip. She looked like a girl who was used to confrontation.

“It means that I expected more from people I’ve called my friends since we were small. This isn’t even about Alina. It’s not about me either.”

“Oh really? Then who is it about?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, Crystal. It’s about Andrew, for both of you, I think.”

“What does Andrew have to do with any of this? In case you didn’t notice, he’s not even around. We were just having a friendly chat, like I said.”

Apparently, these women were starting to push Joshua just a little too far. Alina could feel the tension raging in his body. She could almost smell the anger coming off him and she had to admire him for handling it so well. It took a strong man to be able contain himself that way. It was easier, weaker in her opinion, to fly off the handle and say and do whatever the hell you felt like. Alina knew that from experience. That was what most of the men she had encountered in her life had been like.

“I want you to listen to me very carefully girls, got it?”

Neither one said a word, which in this case, was probably a good thing.

“First of all, don’t lie to me. There was nothing friendly about the way you were talking to Alina, and you know it. If you were smart you would remember that I could hear everything you were saying so trying to convince me otherwise is a completely lost cause. Second of all, you trying to convince me that this sh*t doesn’t have anything to do with Andrew is like trying to convince me that the sky isn’t blue. It just isn’t going to work.”

“So what if it is? What is she doing here, Joshua? All the way from wherever the fu*k she came from? She doesn’t belong here. She ain’t like us, got it? She isn’t one of is. Who the hell does she think she is just waltzing in here like she belongs? And then to add insult to injury, she goes ahead and takes up with two of the single men we still got left in this town. It ain’t right, understand?”

“She didn’t waltz in anywhere, ok? She’s here because we asked her to come here, me and Andrew both. Neither of us give a sh*t whether or not she’s like us which means there is absolutely no reason that you should. You come near her again, and I mean either of you, and we’re going to have a real problem on our hands. And you better pray that I don’t tell Andrew about this. Something tells me he won’t be quite as understanding as me. Understand that?”

The girl he had called Amanda went so red in the face Alina thought she might spontaneously combust right then and there. Crystal went the opposite direction, her face going as white as a sheet. Her mouth opened and closed so many times that Alina had to struggle not to laugh. It wasn’t that she was trying to mock the girl because she wasn’t.

As horrid as she had been to her, in a weird way Alina understood why. It was just that with her mouth moving that way she reminded her of a goldfish she had been allowed to keep by  a particularly kind nun in one of the first orphanages in her memory. Alina had to bury her face in Joshua’s shoulder to make sure she kept her composure.

The way Joshua had spoken to the two women had been harsh enough. There was no need to add insult to injury. Joshua seemed to understand that sentiment as well because the next time he spoke it was with an ever so slightly more gentle tone.

“I think it’s probably best that you two run along now, ok? Don’t you? Seems like everyone should just take some time to cool off, remember what’s important.”

Amanda shrugged and turned away while Crystal just stood and stared. Alina kept her face hidden against Joshua’s chest. She didn’t know how things would be with these girls in the future but for now, she was ready for this awful situation to be over.

“And Crystal? I don’t mind you coming around. I don’t even mind you talking to Alina and I bet she doesn’t either, so long as you can be nice. She doesn’t know a lot of people here. She could use some friendly people and I know you can be that when you want to. You’ve just got to give it a try. And if it feels like something you can’t do, then do us all a favor and just keep your distance. Sound good?”

Crystal nodded her head slowly, a look of vague confusion on her face. She probably would have stood there for the rest of the afternoon and on into the next morning if her friend hadn’t tugged at her arm and motion for her to come the hell on.

Crystal followed, turning every couple of steps to look back at Joshua and Alina. Stunned. She looked positively stunned, and Alina couldn’t say she blamed her. She was feeling a little bit stunned herself. She could never have predicted that Joshua would take up for her that way. She had liked him straight away but he was more of the quiet type and it was easy for him to get overshadowed by the livelier Andrew.