[center][h2]Bruises and Balderdash[/h2][/center]
 
[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/2KDIbF6.jpg[/img]
[/center]
 
“Don’t yew look like hammered out [i]gǒu shǐ[/i]?” (trans: dog shit)
 
Shower done helped a bit, ‘cept fer her gettin’ tah see ever’ bruise an’ mark up close.  Her robe would cover up battered arms, legs an’ such,  but it’s ‘er face would stop folk dead in their tracks if they crossed ‘er path.
 
Abby studied ‘er reflection.  Right eye’s better; leastways she could use it now, but when it’s open it looked like someone part way sliced an orange.   Swellin’ was goin’ down across ‘er face, but tha purple, yellow, an’ black it’s leavin’ ever’where made tha girl just wanna hide ‘erself away.
 
After hair was brushed an’ knotted an’ her toilet kit was tah hand, she cracked tha lav door tah gander out.  Lotsa quiet little noises told her Yuri done booked passengers.  She could hear ‘em all, explorin’ their rooms.  Drawers was slidin’ an’ slammin’.  Them as had closets was openin’ doors.  Locks bein’ checked, an’ always tha sound of butts testin’ bunks.  So many new folk made sense.  Pelorum was a nice place to go, least what she seen from captures.  Uncle Bob despised it as [i]”nothin’ but a cash register fer them as chose tah waste their hard earned coin on fluff an’ fru-fru.”[/i]  ‘Course, she learnt early on that Uncle Bob could barely keep Mariposa in tha air fer all tha whiskey he bought hisself.  [i]Bit ‘o’ fru-fru might be nice,[/i] she conjured.  If Cap’n said they had tha time.
 
She set off fer her quarters while tha coast was clear. [i]I shouldn’t oughtta hide like this,[/i] Abby contemplated, [i]what with all them folk who went so far out their way on account ‘o’ me.[/i]  That was a sight she reckoned tah carry tah her grave.   Cap’n, Doc, Yuri, an’ even Ms. Wyman, all guns up an’ ready tah make a fight of it.  Then there’s Rex…givin’ hisself over tah Root an’ tha Headhunters tah pull Hook’s iron outta tha fire.  
 
[i]Hook,[/i] Abby calculated as she propped ‘erself in bed.  She knowed his killin’ one ‘o’ theirs was what put her in dutch with tha bike gang.  What she didn’t conjure was the ‘why’ of tha whole affair.  Still, she knowed her friend Joe Hooker.  Easy goin’, naught but kindly tah her.  Seemed to Abby that if he was gon’ kill a fella, that fella most like needed killin’.  That she could cotton.  She just had tah hear it from him, was all.
 
After makin’ it to her room without bumpin’ inta nobody, Abby pulled on her fav’rite sleepin’ togs, a pair ‘o’ boxers an’ a tank top what read [b]”BLAME THE DOG” Chili - Start A Fire Down Below[/b].  She pinched tha fabric twixt ‘er thumb an’ forefinger, an’ sensed a goodness fer bein’ returned tah her place.  What few pitchers she had on tha wall…her chalk drawin’...an’ there’s Mei Lin, waitin’ fer Abby tah finish her harrowin’ tale.  Home.  She was home.
 
Sight of ‘er daddy’s Colt tucked inside tha night table near brought tears.  There it lay, all cleaned an’ cared for by one ‘o’ her shipmates.  Whoever done that showed equal concern fer her cortex reader, also settled in snug without a spec ‘o’ dust.  A powerful gratitude lay on her heart, til all of a sudden she realized who she’s fergetin’.  “Thomas,” she said, voice near gaspin’ as she set down on ‘er bunk with the little screen.
 
[img]https://i.imgur.com/nSJ06io.jpg[/img]
 
He sent that right after she got took.  Abby scrolled down his other messages,  her heart fixin’ tah break  as she read his hurt an’ worry growin’.
 
[img]https://i.imgur.com/ZgSFP7n.jpg[/img]
 
Without thinkin’, her thumbs went tah work, flyin’ over them letters and fillin’ up her screen.  Abby wrote it all, layin’ herself open, fear an’ rage an’ love an’ gratitude just rollin’ outta her.  Root, Nips, Cottonmouth…Lido.  Ever’ bit of it come wellin’ up tah her voice an’ brimmin’ eyes.  By time she finished, she had a long account what forced ‘er to scroll a ways.  The whole story, gut twistin’ an’ horrifyin’ as it was.  Part she couldn’t explain was that crazy sorta pride when them bikers changed an’ made ‘er one ‘o’ their own.  When torture become test, an’ she passed.
 
There on deck was her dirty clothes from them days, with tha Headhunters MC cut right on top. “Payback.”  She felt a smile touch ‘er lips.  Payback…a name she earned…and found she kinda liked.
 
After thinkin’ on it a spell, Abby deleted tha message an’ started afresh.
 
[img]https://i.imgur.com/vL6c6gv.jpg[/img]
 
She thought to hate herself, lyin’ as she did.  Lookin’ over his troubled words tole her she had tah say somethin’...couldn’t just piss away Thomas’ days ‘o’ torment with such a flippancy.  So she tapped out somethin’ true this time.
 
[img]https://i.imgur.com/WkFLsrA.jpg[/img]
 
Once ‘er lamp’s doused, Abby lay down, her little screen glowin’ afore her face as she waited.  [i]Why did I do that?[/i], she pondered.  [i]No good outta lyin’ tah Thomas.[/i]  She lay in tha dark,  mind turnin’ that question as she watched ‘er cortex for a sign.