Chapter 171: Chapter 171 - Malcolm Flirting
The music started before the sun went down.
At first it was just the faint sound of a guitar drifting through the streets while people worked. Someone played near the center square, slow notes rising above the clatter of tools and engines.
By the time evening settled over Hydetown, the entire town had changed.
Strings of lights stretched between buildings. Old Christmas bulbs, mismatched and dim, but bright enough to throw warm color across the street. Long tables had been dragged into the open square and covered with trays of food.
Smoke drifted through the air from grills and fire pits.
The smell made Iyisha’s stomach twist with sudden hunger.
She stood near the edge of the gathering, watching.
People filled the street now. Workers from the machine yard had washed the grease from their hands and arms. Someone rolled out a large drum and began tapping a rhythm while the guitar picked up speed.
Laughter rose above the music.
Marybeth disappeared almost immediately into the crowd, pulled into hugs by people who seemed to know her well.
"¡Marybeth volvió!"
Someone lifted her into the air while others cheered.
Iyisha leaned against the wooden railing of a porch and watched the celebration grow.
She still felt strange inside her own body.
Her muscles were steady again, but there was something else lingering in her mind. A faint disconnection, like she was standing half a step outside the moment.
Dying did that, apparently.
Malcolm stood a few feet away from her.
Close enough to feel like protection.
Far enough that she knew he had chosen the distance.
He leaned against a wooden post, arms crossed, scanning the street the way he always did. Not really part of the celebration. Just observing.
People greeted them occasionally.
He nodded back politely.
But he didn’t join.
The guitar music grew louder.
Two women started dancing in the middle of the street while others clapped along with the rhythm, boots striking the pavement in time with the guitar.
Someone passed Malcolm a bottle.
He accepted it with a quiet nod.
Iyisha noticed that too.
He looked distracted tonight, like part of his mind was somewhere else. She could almost see the gears turning behind his eyes. Every so often his gaze drifted across the square toward her before sliding away again like he had caught himself doing it.
It made her uneasy.
She tried to focus on anything else.
But her attention kept circling back to him.
The way he stood slightly apart from everyone.
The way his eyes moved across the crowd like he was mapping every exit.
The way he seemed careful not to look at her for too long.
She told herself not to think about it.
Across the street a group of men rolled a metal drum closer to the fire pit and laid thick slabs of meat across the grill. Fat hissed as it hit the hot surface, smoke rising into the evening air.
The smell spread quickly through the square.
A boy sprinted past Iyisha carrying a stack of tortillas nearly as big as his head. Someone caught him by the shoulder and laughed, ruffling his hair before sending him back toward the tables.
For a moment Iyisha just watched the town breathe around her.
Hydetown’s walls loomed in the distance, dark shapes against the deepening sky. Beyond the celebration she could still see flashes of welding sparks along the outer barricade where a team continued reinforcing the steel plates.
Even during a party, people here kept working.
That was probably why the place still stood.
The music shifted suddenly, the guitarist picking up a faster rhythm.
And then Lucía appeared.
She stepped out from the direction of the machine yard, sleeves rolled to her elbows, dark hair tied loosely at the back of her head. Someone handed her a drink as she walked into the crowd and she took it without breaking stride.
She moved like she belonged everywhere she stepped.
Even covered in grease earlier, Lucía had looked striking. Now under the lantern light she looked almost unreal, the kind of beauty that made people turn their heads without realizing they were doing it.
Her eyes swept across the square once.
Then stopped.
On Malcolm.
Iyisha felt the shift instantly.
Like the air had changed direction.
Lucía moved through the people without hesitation, weaving easily between bodies and tables.
Straight toward him.
She stopped in front of Malcolm and tilted her head slightly.
"Hola, papi. Are you having fun?"
Malcolm shrugged faintly.
"Sure."
Iyisha narrowed her eyes. Lucía had looked straight at Malcolm like Iyisha wasn’t even standing there.
"Hello," Iyisha said.
Lucía’s gaze flicked toward her for half a second before sliding right back to Malcolm.
Wow.
Not even pretending to be polite.
Lucía lifted another bottle from the tray someone was carrying and offered it to Malcolm.
Iyisha reached out and took it before he could.
"He already has one," she said evenly.
Lucía didn’t answer.
She didn’t even look at her.
Her eyes stayed fixed on Malcolm like Iyisha had never spoken.
For a moment the silence sat there.
Then Lucía smiled slowly.
"You wanna dance papi?" she asked him, voice light, teasing.
Iyisha almost rolled her eyes.
Malcolm dancing. As if.
He’d rather stand in the corner and brood.
Malcolm glanced toward the tables where people were piling food onto plates.
"I’d rather get food."
Iyisha froze.
She turned to look at him.
Did he just say that?
Malcolm talking to a woman?
Lucía leaned closer to him, laughing softly.
"Food first then," she said, catching his sleeve and tugging him toward the tables.
Malcolm moved with her.
But just before the crowd swallowed them, he looked back.
Not a quick glance.
A full look.
His eyes landed on Iyisha and stayed there for a moment longer than they should have.
The noise of the party seemed to dull around her.
There was something strange in his expression. Not annoyance. Not indifference.
Something heavier.
Something that made her stomach tighten.
Then Lucía tugged his sleeve again.
"Come on," she said.
Malcolm broke the stare and turned away.
Iyisha stood there for another second, the music crashing back into her ears.
She exhaled slowly.
What the hell was that look.
Marybeth drifted over a moment later, a bottle hanging loosely from her fingers. Her eyebrows were drawn together in confusion.
"Did Malcolm just... go with Lucía?" she asked.
Iyisha nodded slowly, still staring toward the tables.
"Yeah."
Marybeth blinked.
"Huh."
Iyisha exhaled under her breath.
"I don’t even know what just happened myself."
Marybeth followed her gaze across the square where Malcolm and Lucía had disappeared into the crowd.
"Looks like he’s trying to pull away," she said after a moment.
Iyisha turned her head.
"Pull away?"
Marybeth lifted the bottle to her lips and took a small sip.
"Yeah."
She shrugged lightly.
"I do that when things start getting too serious for my taste."
A crooked smile appeared on her face.
"I did that with Reya."
The smile faded almost as quickly as it appeared.
Marybeth stared down at the bottle for a second before speaking again.
"When things got serious, I left," she said quietly.
"That’s when I became a wanderer."
Her eyes drifted somewhere far past the party.
"Reya wanted to settle down in Whitewater."
She gave a small, sad laugh.
"She wanted a home."
Iyisha blinked, unsure how to respond to that.
Her eyes moved back toward the tables.
Lucía was laughing.
She held something between her fingers, offering it toward Malcolm’s mouth like it was a joke.
Iyisha’s eyebrows lifted when Malcolm actually leaned forward.
Lucía dropped the piece of food into his mouth.
He chewed.
Lucía laughed again.
Iyisha stared at them.
"You mean Malcolm is doing that right now?" she asked slowly.
Marybeth took another drink.
"Maybe."
She glanced sideways at Iyisha.
"You dying probably made him realize something he didn’t want to."
Iyisha felt something tighten in her chest.
Across the square Lucía leaned closer to Malcolm again, still smiling.
And Malcolm didn’t move away but his eyes drifted back to her.
