Hidden Valley (D. SWING)

XX. Boil

"He beat your ass, Dal!"

Dalvin sighs with irritation apparent in his body language. Her hands continue to work the drug store makeup into his skin. The fight with Derek had not gone the way he expected it to. Cynthia, ticked off that he brought it up to Derek, could not believe that Derek beat up Dalvin like some random off of the street. What did Dalvin do to deserve any of this? Not a single damn thing. He, Dalvin, snuck off to her house immediately after the fight. He cannot let his mother know they fought. It would cause a lot more problems then anyone could ever need.

The next question would be why they fought.

Mary DeGrate's natural dislike for Cynthia would bring a rise out of a great deal of issues. The problems that come with their friendship without Derek's wrong doing being revealed to the world is already enough of a headache for everyone.

"No he didn't!"

Cynthia quickly objects by simply pointing at the multicolored markings on his face. "This is ridiculous," she says as she lightly dabs foundation onto the back of her hand. The idea of her being nearly two shades lighter than Dalvin threw a majority of their secrecy off. They had to go buy a bottle of concealer and foundation that is his color. "Where was Don?"

Don can't fix everything, Dalvin thinks.

"He had a thing with Marley." Cynthia's eyes find themselves meeting a blank space before her pupils return to the center of her sockets, accompanying the grimace she advertises to Dalvin. "Isn't that ya' girlfriend?"

"Why do you guys keep asking that," scoffs Cynthia. Her finger smudges as a mishap on his face. The other half of the guys being her own brother, Javon.

Dalvin speaks in a slightly condescending tone, "Because you're not acting like a friend?" Cynthia pauses. She looks down at him and furrows her eyebrows at him. "You can't dog her just because she's messing with my brother and you suddenly deci—"

"Nobody's dogging her out, Dalvin. Shut up and mind your business."

She spoke in such a nonchalant attitude, it was oddly surprising to Dalvin. As she speaks, her dabbing against his face grew harder and harder against his tender spots. He tries to pull back but, Cynthia grabs his face. He snaps and grips her wrist, out of instinct, in order to cease her actions against his face. The snapping of her wrist forces her to flinch at his actions. The flinch is an obvious effect of a hint of unexplored trauma. Dalvin's face softens in an instant. She takes three steps back in complete shock.

"I— my bad..." Dalvin bites down on his tongue, fighting the urge to justify his actions. "Are you done? I'm going to the Calibrim High game with Johnny and Javon."

Cynthia nods. "Yeah, I'm done. I need to get ready for work anyway."

In a fit of awkward silence, Dalvin slides off of her bed. He exits without saying a proper farewell to keep from forcing a temporarily missed connection.

He didn't want to listen to her continuously point out that he'd got his ass beat to begin with. It hurt his pride enough on its own. His own brother, the same who tormented him through his childhood... with the help of others, still ran things in his house. Dalvin couldn't believe it. He reverted back to a sixth grader as if Derek had just locked him in the closet with dog food yesterday. Cynthia's on edge behavior did not help and though it was all completely natural, Dalvin figured he should save them both before the wrong one snaps.

Cynthia, shaken up by Dalvin's response, heads off to work. Don finally being back did make a difference. That is until today. The idea of Don being gone while Derek is running a muck in the DeGrate home is uncomfortable for her. The idea of Don being gone while Derek is running a muck in the DeGrate home because Don is with Marlene is an idea that pisses her off. No, it doesn't. It hurts her. The boys are supposed to protect her, especially Don and Javon. Her two fatherly figures are expected to be at their states of residence when she needs them. How dare Don never be home because he is with Marlene? How dare he forget to take her to work? How dare he force Cynthia to have to beg Paulette and Tasha to go find him, knowing that he is probably with Marlene? The audacity. The motherfucking audacity. Cynthia, she isn't happy.