Trash Talk

“Naw, man,” said Trev overhead. “You know she’s too cool to slum it with us low lives no more.”

“Yeah,” said Nick irritably, plopping down on the couch next to him, his leg mere inches from where Natalie was struggling with all her might against Trev’s clenched fingers, letting out a desperate, muffled squeal against her handkerchief, no longer giving a flying fuck about being discovered in such shameful position, trusting her brother to keep her safe, to have her back against Trev and the other two, no matter how they reacted to finding out she’d been there the entire time, bound and naked and tiny and helpless. Trev’s grip tightened around her to keep her restrained, further smothering the faint sounds of her muffled squeaks within his fingers. 

Nick went right on talking, completely oblivious to the struggle taking place below, his voice booming in the sky above, “Frank’s losing his shit cause she hasn’t come home and she apparently ditched school today. Thought she might be crashing at your place.”

“Check her boyfriend’s,” said Trev dryly.

“I did, he hasn’t seen her either. She usually texts me where she’s staying in case she gets murdered or something, but she’s not picking up the fucking phone.”

Natalie tried to think where her phone even was. She supposed it was still in her backpack at school. She imagined the dark interior of her locker being illuminated by the eerie glow of her phone’s background—a painting she’d done of an ocean sunset, the water appearing disturbingly like blood, the beach a pale, lifeless corpse. She imagined her ‘Truth Hurts’ ringtone echoing across the dark high school hallway, with no one around to hear. 

“Don’t stress, man,” said Trev. “You know what she’s like.”

Nick huffed. “I’m not, it’s just fucking annoying. She’s prolly pissed at me cause I got her in trouble with Frank this morning.”

“Yeah, bro, think we all heard,” Danno laughed distractedly from the armchair, his focus on the game. 

“Yeah, the Tank sure can carry a tune first thing in the morning,” Diego added from Nick’s other side. “Lo siento, Nikito, but I don’t think hermana’s comin’ home any time soon.”

“Ugh,” Nick groaned, rubbing his temples. “He’s gonna go bat shit if she’s run off, again. And now, like, I got fuckin’ Mattie texting me all freaked out ‘cause they were supposed to hang out tonight but she ditched him and I dunno how to be like, ‘I dunno, bro. Get a better girlfriend.’” 

“Aha, yeah, well,” said Danno. “He’s gotta know by now she’s out fucking some poor other prick.”

“Dude,” Nick sneered, throwing a hand up.

“No offense, bro, but fuck your sister, she’s been a right biotch to my boy, here. Jokes on her, though, eih Trev, ya fuckin’ dick?” He whacked the back of his free hand against Trev’s groin, rattling the fist in his pocket that held said biotch. “Someone please explain to me how this dopey fuckwad managed to go from fucking little flatty Natty to an actual Goddamn Goddess.” 

Nick scowled in the exact same way that, unbeknownst to him, Natalie was scowling from within Trev’s clenched fist. 

Even from her angle, she could see Trev’s smirk as his fingers gave her a couple of mocking squeezes in his pocket. “Yeah, it’s definitely an upgrade in the tits department.” 

Diego took a hit of his joint and said, “Awe, shit, man, you finally done moping over Natty Light? That mean I can ask her out?”

Trev stiffened, his expression darkening in an instant, but before he could respond, Nick grumbled, “She’s gotta boyfriend.”

“Yeah, sure, I met him,” said Diego with an indifferent shrug, passing him the joint. “He’s aight, but he’s kinda a lil bitch boy, ain’t no way it’ll last. She gonna get bored of that nice guy shit real quick.”

Natalie ground her teeth, wishing these dicks would shut up about that sweet gentleman when he’d never uttered an unkind word about anyone in his life. Not even Trev. Not even when Trev punched him in the face.

Nick huffed out his lungful of smoke and said, “Regardless,” holding the joint out to Trev, who shook his head irritably, so he reached across the coffee table to pass it to Danno. “I must insist all neighbors back the fuck off the Jordan residence. I’m still dealing with the aftermath of the Dalton fiasco.”

“Ah, bro, come on, I'd treat her nicer than fuckboy, here,” said Diego. “I’d take her over Blondie any day.”

“For real?” Danno laughed with his exhale. “She’s short as shit with no ass and no tits.”

“Naw, man, she’s fine as hell,” said Diego. “And she’s funny as fuck. And she plays video games, I’d kill to take her out.”

“I mean,” said Danno. “I’m not saying I wouldn’t fuck her. I bet she’s fucking tight, right Trev?”

Trev’s fist clenched even tighter around Natalie, so hard she could feel his rapid heartbeat pulsating through his hot, increasingly sweaty palm. She wondered dully which of their dumbass friends was about to get pummeled first.

“Agh,” Nick groaned. “Seriously, bro?”

Danno smirked. “As a heart attack my brotha. Plus I hear she’ll let you do anything you want for a dollar a minute. You heard about that party the other night, right? She was fuckin’ dudes on the dining room table, right in front of everyone. There was a whole crowd of guys, scrounging together dollar bills and loose change and shit. That’s how she got the shiner.”

“That’s bullshit,” said Nick. “No joke, man, quit talkin’ shit about my sister or I’ma legit beat the fuck outta you.”

“It’s true, bro, I was fuckin’ there!”

“You didn’t see shit,” said Diego.

“Yeah, okay, but I heard the whole thing. You could hear these fuckers hollerin’ all the way from outside. And I came in right at the end of it. I was ‘bout ready to whoop somebody’s ass when I saw her face all bashed up and shit, but she was totally cool with it, just, like, drunk as shit and laughin’ her fuckin’ ass off, takin’ bids with all these dudes for who got the next round while her lil boyfriend was tryna drag her crazy ass out. I ain’t even judgin’ her for it, homegirl can take a punch, might as well make some money offa it. My boy Craig gave her a fiver, did shit you wouldn’t believe.”

“Aha, you’re right, I don’t believe,” said Diego. “I think prolly your boy, he’s full of shit. I offer her twenty one time just to hold my hand, so I can look cool for this cute girl I liked, and she fuckin’ hit me, bro, all like, ‘Do I look like a fuckin’ whore to you!’ Right in front of the cute girl, too, I nearly died.”

“I mean, just cause she’s a bitch don’t mean she’s not a fuckin’ trash who–”

Nick jolted forward to punch him in the leg, bellowing, “You don’t wanna finish that sentence, dickass!” 

“Woah!” Danno yelled with a groaning laugh, rubbing his leg as Nick huffed back to the couch again. “Take it easy tiger, don’t get all hissy with me! I ain’t makin’ this shit up, am I, Di?”

“Yeah, man, I heard it,” said Diego. “Don’ make it true. It ain’t cool what these dickboys are sayin’, bro. Dudes hear shit like that, they get fuckin’ creepy. Remember all that shit that went down in middle school, when she kept gettin’ fuckin’ pushed around and harrased and shit? It’s like Booty-licious Smackdown all over again. Worse, bro, it’s bad.” 

“Since when you got such a boner for her anyway?” 

“Ay, c’mon, man, don’t be like that. She’s our friend.”

“No she’s not,” said Trev flatly, who’d allowed this conversation to carry forth for the sole purpose of annoying Natalie, but had had just about enough of it.

“Yes she is,” said Diego. “Look, I already told you, okay, I’m Switzerland, I don’t want no parta whatever fucked up fuckin’ revenge war y’all got goin’ on. But Nick, for real, bro, guys’ve been sayin’ some messed up shit. Yesterday, this fuckboy in our English class, asked her how much to break a finger. A fuckin’ finger, bro! And she told him to go take his, um, ‘violently repressed homoerotic fantasies’ out on his boys like the rest of the football team, and he got all mad, like, ‘Oh, cool, so, free?’ I’da beat the shit outta him, but Natty told me to just ignore it, she didn’t wanna draw any more attention to it. And that wasn’t even the worst, man, she’s had it out with half the guys at school. If she ain’t pickin’ up the phone, that might actually be kinda fuckin’ concerning.”

Nick scowled while Danno laughed. “Awe, shit, Natty Light really gotta quit callin’ dudes homoerotic, she gonna get fuckin’ gang bang–”

“Shut the fuck up, Danno!” Trev burst out. He scowled at Diego. “And you didn’t think to tell me any of this?”

“Naw, man, I ain’t tellin’ you, now, either, I’m tellin’ Nick. Ya think we don’t all know that your girl’s the one that started the rumors in the first place?”

“Yeah? So?”

Diego grumbled something in Spanish that no one but Trev understood.

Trev scowled. “Yeah, okay. I didn’t start that shit, okay? And even if I did, the rumors started after she got herself punched in the fucking face. I literally had nothing to do with any of it.”

“Whatever bro,’ said Diego, shrugging. “Like I said, I ain’t gettin’ in the middle of it. Wouldn’t wanna get on your bad side.”

“Okay, get out.”

“For real?”

“Yeah, right the fuck now. That goes for you, too, fuckhead,” he added to Danno, snatching the controller from him. “Get the fuck out.”

“The fuck did I do?” Danno laughed. “Di’s the one that wants to bone your ex.”

Diego scoffed and wrenched to his feet. “Whatever, man, see ya,” he said, tossing the other controller onto the coffee table before stalking out the back door.

Danno’s eyes were still on the TV. “Can I least finish this–”

“Get out, Danno!”

“Alright, alright!” he laughed, following after Diego. “Jeez, girl, didn’t realize you were on the fuckin’ rag. Later, Nicky Boy!”

“Mmm,” Nick grumbled, glaring after him.

Natalie craned her neck back to try and peer between Trev’s clenched fingers, through the denim of his pocket, to glimpse the underside of her brother’s glowering face, high above and upside down, biting his fingernails.

Trev’s elbow lifted up to nudge him. “You good?” 

Nick exhaled, shaking his head. “Yeah, man, just, like, why’s she gotta be such a shit-show all the time, you know? I don’t see any other girls getting finger breaking propositions.”

“I hear you, bro. Your sister’s got a real talent for pissing dudes off enough to see past the whole ‘Don’t hit a girl’ thing. Equality and all that.”

“Equality for who, she’s like, ninety pounds.”

“Pretty sure she’s less than that,” said Trev dryly. “Don’t worry about it, she can take care of herself. She prolly just got fed up with all this trash whore shit and wanted to get the fuck out for a bit. She does this all the time, she’ll be back.” 

“Yeah, it’s just, like… she’s usually with you. And she always fucking texts, you know? Even when you guys took off on that fucking beach trip, she gave me the address and was texting me the whole time about your sketchy ass cousin.” 

“Huh,” Trev grumbled, unaware this correspondence had taken place.

“Think I oughta tell Dad what Di said? About the threats and shit?”

“If you want, man, but honestly, I wouldn’t worry about it. She’s been on a warpath lately. If I had to guess, she’s prolly tryna get back at you for whatever went down with Frank this morning.”

“Yeah, probably,” Nick grumbled, his brows furrowing, and Natalie’s brows furrowed, too, because she would never do that to him. To anyone else, maybe, certainly to fucking Trev, but not him. Both she and their dad, no matter how much they fought, always kept their phones charged, always kept them nearby with the ringer on, specifically because they knew how stressed Nick got when he couldn’t reach one of them, going into a panic that they were dead and he was never going to see them again. “Not gonna lie,” he muttered. “I’ve been getting all kinds of weird vibes all fucking day. Like, don't ask me why, I know you guys don’t really hang out anymore, but I really thought she was over here.”

“Huh,” said Trev, frowning. “That’s weird.”

“Yeah. And it was kind of a fucking relief, like, oh, cool, maybe they finally made up and things can go back to fucking normal, you know?”

“Sorry, Nick,” Trev muttered, and meant it. He looked him up and down, noticing how he, while not nearly as skinny as his sister, was still looking rather slim. “You hungry? I was about to make something.”

“Um,” said Nick, rubbing his forehead. “Naw, I’m good. I should prolly get back. Dad ran out to pick up some pizzas, tryna make a peace offering for going the fuck off on everybody this morning. You wanna come? It’s tense as fuck over there right now, but he’s been asking about you. Might take his mind off Nat.”

“I don’t think your sister would appreciate that,” said Trev, which was true on so many levels.

“Yeah, well, fuck her anyway, I’m so done with this shit.” He rose from the couch, and Natalie watched miserably as his legs drew away and out of sight around the armchair. “Lemme know if you hear from her, would you?”

“Sure thing. Take it easy.”

“Later,” he said, and the back door shut behind him. 

Trev waited on the couch for another moment before he rose to his feet and followed after him, locking the door. He turned to walk back to his bedroom, his hand lifting Natalie from his pocket. He slid the cloth down from her mouth and she immediately burst out, “You’re a real piece of shit, you know that!”

“Well hello to you, too,” he said as he walked. 

“You are not seriously gonna let my little brother go home thinking I’ve been murdered by a buncha dumbshit fucking high school jabrones.”

“I doubt he’ll lose sleep over it.”

She sneered. “Well then you’re an actual fucking sociopath.”

He sneered back before roughly releasing his fingers from around her, dropping her onto the surface of his desk, where she landed hard and toppled onto her butt, unable to catch herself with her hands still bound behind her back. “You’re just bitter that he’s pissed at you,” he said as he plopped down into the desk chair.

“No he’s not! He tries to act tough in front of you dipshits but he’s sensitive as fuck! If he doesn’t hear from me he’s gonna flip out, thinking something happened to me, and he’s gonna blame himself for the fight with Frank, and he’s gonna spiral himself into a fucking panic attack!"

“Jeez, you think I’m the sociopath?” He grabbed the scissors to cut through the string binding her hands. “You run off all the time, you really think anyone’s gonna be that worried?”

“Nicholas will be, yes! He’s a little momma’s boy who’s momma fucking died, okay! He never had to deal with seeing her lifeless corpse, but for him it was just, like, she just vanished into thin air one day and never came back! Whaddo you think he’s over there thinking about right now? So just, like, sign into my Snapchat or something. You can message him whatever you want, that I ‘took off’ or whatever, just tell him something.”

He glared down at her. “And why the fuck would I do that.”

She glared back up at him. “Common courtesy.”

“I’m showing you a shit ton of courtesy right now by not gagging you again. Not really sure why my toy is tryna tell me what to do right now.”

“You’re a fucking asshole.”

His fingers wrapped around her and he lifted her to his face. “And you’re a manipulative fucking bitch to try and use your little brother and dead mom to guilt me into bringing you home.”

She scowled up at him, too pissed to be intimidated. “I’m not manipulating you, dickweed. That unpleasantness you’re experiencing is called having a fucking conscience. So how bad you wanna hurt me, Trev? Because you’re gonna have to deal with the fact that you’re hurting Nick way worse right now. And depending on how long you wanna play this fucked up little game of yours, you’re also gonna hurt Tommy, and my dad, and our friends.”

“You mean the guys that just spent the last twenty minutes objectifying and belittling you? Those friends?”

“Yep, those friends. Even fucking Danno. He acts like a piece of shit around you, but you know when we broke up and you were losing your shit he told me he’d have my back if your crazy ass tried anything. They’re all gonna blame you if I go missing. Diego already blames you for the trash whore thing.”

“Yeah, about that,” he snarled. “Did you tell him I was the one who started all that shit?”

She sneered. “No. I told him that Brittany started it, which was true. But if your own friends suspect you of being maniacal enough to orchestrate something so sinister, maybe you oughta do some self-reflection on the way you treat people.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you were getting threatened?”

She laughed coldly from within his clenched fist. “Why the fuck would I tell you?”

“Because I’d have beat the living shit out of anyone threatening you.”

“First of all, take a look in a fucking mirror, you monster. Second of all, that is exactly why I did not tell you, when you were already harassing the shit out of me about the shiner. And it wasn’t just one guy, okay? Like Diego said, it was, like, half the fucking school.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time I beat up half the fucking school for you.”

“Yeah, that’s my point! It’s always the same with you guys; just beat somebody’s ass and it’ll all go away, but it doesn’t! It only makes it worse! That slut-shaming shit in middle school was the worst fucking month of my life and it was all a big fucking game of hero vigilante to you!”

“No it wasn’t,” he said flatly. “You have no idea what that shit was like for me.”

“Ooh my God,” she laughed incredulously. “I’m so sorry, Trevor, it must have been just awful, for you.”

“Yeah. It was. It was fucking awful. Every time I turned my back some dickboy was groping you or pushing you around or calling you names. And no matter how many I beat up they just kept multiplying, like a fucking hydra. You think that shit didn’t fuck with me, too? You think I wasn’t laying awake at night, wishing I could trade places with you so that they’d come after me and leave you the fuck alone?”

“Well, I’m touched, Trev, but it was my problem and I was the one that had to deal with it. Just like the trash whore situation is my problem, and there’s really nothing you or anybody else can do to fix it.”

“Well, actually, you’re wrong. I can make it so no one ever threatens you, or talks shit to you, or fucking looks at you, ever again.”

She reeled back, scowling. “Are you fucking with me?”

“Do I sound like I’m fucking with you?”

She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. “Trevor,” she said sternly. “You can not keep me here.”

“Sure I can. Easily.”

“No you can’t, Trevor!” she bellowed, losing all sense of calm in an instant. “It’s abduction, it’s a fucking crime! This isn’t a game, anymore, okay? My family’s getting worried, and you need to bring me home, now, or they are going to end up going to the fucking police!”

“I don’t. Care.”

“HOW can you not CARE!” she squealed, hammering her tiny fist against his index finger. “How can you do this to me! How can you hurt me so bad and just, like, not even give a shit! How can you treat me this way!”

He snorted. “You know, I dunno how many times I’ve asked myself those same exact questions about you over the years.”

Her brows drew together. “So then, just, let me go,” she pleaded. “Just let me leave.”

“Awe.” His thumb rose up past her face to stroke the top of her head. “No.”

“I don’t understand you, Trevor. You keep saying all this stuff like you wanna protect me… So why do you wanna hurt me so bad?”

His thumb rubbed down harder against her. “Oh, but Natalie, I’m not doing this to you because I wanna protect you. I mean, I did, once upon a time, but not now. How could I ever give a shit about you, you’re a toy. I just don’t like other people touching my things.”

Despite everything he’d done to her that day, despite the pain and the torment and the abduction and the humiliation, hearing those words still felt like a dagger twisting through her heart. “And what are you doing to me, Trevor Dalton?” she asked quietly. “How does this game end?”

He smiled and lifted her up between his eyes, his thumb pressing painfully into her scalp, his fingers constricting tightly around her ribcage. “The game ends, Natalie Jordan, when I break you.” 

She frowned up at him, her heart pounding and ribs straining, while he grinned mercilessly down at her. Then he said, “You want some dinner?”