• • •
After Linda’s confessional interview, Deja ushered her back into the tense living room. Linda understood that she was expected to engage, no matter how tired she felt, with the other women. She smiled with her mouth and not her eyes at Deja as the producer settled into the background.
Sabrina patted the space beside her again. “Tell me everything,” she repeated.
Linda fell back into the couch cushions beside the warmth of her friend. Marion’s arms were still crossed over her chest, her wine glass half-drained. She didn’t look in their direction, feigning a lack of interest.
“He took me to see taxidermy,” Linda said.
Sabrina raised her eyebrows and paused for dramatic effect. “What?”
Marion let out a snort.
“Some sort of curio shop.” She remembered that woody skin, the empty space where the eyes should have been. It wasn’t even the look of the thing that unsettled her the most; it was the idea of its texture, ridged skin both hard and soft to the touch. But, of course, she hadn’t touched it. “He said he likes spooky stuff—and he wants someone who likes that shit, too.”
“Gross,” Sabrina said.
“How romantic!” Marion said sarcastically. She rolled her eyes.
Linda side-eyed Marion as a fire lit in her belly. “It was cool. Then we went to this old courtyard with stone statues. Cute little table and chairs. Steak. Wine. A perfect end to a great evening.”
“Looking at dead shit,” Marion said. “I’m sure.”
“Better you than me, girl,” Sabrina said. “My mother used to have a taxidermy bear. Like this full-size black bear. She kept it in the entryway to ward off evil intentions.”
“I’m sure your sister loved that,” Linda said.
“She did.” Sabrina set her empty glass on the coffee table. “She believes in all that stuff.”
“What stuff?” Linda asked.
“Omens. Wards. Curses. Manifesting your destiny.”
“And what about you?”
Sabrina swallowed hard. “Of course not.”
Linda smiled, a genuine gesture this time. “Your family sounds special.”
“They are,” Sabrina said. “My sister’s still alive, but my mom died when I was in middle school. The taxidermy bear, though—I had nightmares about that thing. I hate the way their eyes are glossy. It’s like they’re alive but trapped in this dead body.”
“The eyes are usually fake.” Linda poured herself a glass of wine. She tapped it with her nail. “Glass.”
Sabrina let her head fall back. “Oh, that makes so much more sense.”
“You two are messed up,” Marion said. “This is morbid.”
“You don’t have to be here.” The wine fed Linda’s fire.
“Where else would I go?” Marion said. “I live here, too.”
“Wherever,” Linda said as Sabrina said, “Literally anywhere.”
“Where’s Charity? Go hang with her,” Linda said.
“She’s sleeping or sulking or something,” Sabrina said. “About your date.”
Linda pressed her lips together. She didn’t like being the object of Charity’s disdain. “So, what’s on the agenda tomorrow?” she asked.
“Elimination ceremony in the evening,” Sabrina said.
“Are you sure?” If she were expected to party tomorrow, she’d need to pass out right away to feel fresh and have enough energy to be charming.
Marion stood and set her glass too hard on the table. The clink of glass on glass rang out in the room. “Why would we make that up?” she said. She threw her hands up, then stormed past the camera and up the stairs before Linda had a chance to respond.
“Great,” Linda said. “She’ll be pleasant tomorrow.” Linda tried to laugh, but she was too tired. “Want to swim in the morning?”
Sabrina glanced at the camera operator, then waited a beat, as they’d been instructed to do before discussing logistical information that wouldn’t air.
“Can’t,” Sabrina said. “I have to reshoot my date.”
“Redo the whole date?” Linda balked. “What the fuck?
“That camera guy, you know the one, he messed up the footage big-time.”
The camera operator in the room half-grinned. “Dumbass.”
“Fired?” Linda asked.
