Excerpt: The Second Star

“Oh look, he ain’t go no conception of who he is. How tragic. Listen,” she grabbed his collar with her grimy fingers, leaving heavy black grease stains in the prim white of his sweat stained shirt, “ain’t nothin’ about who you are goin’ to help you out here. Ain’t no idea of your past goin’ to come back and help you now. You got nothin’ left but me an’ Lal an’ my dog here. Now Lal is a kind and gentle soul so she ain’t goin’ to touch you in no way threatenin’.” She sneered at his wide eyes, “though I doubt she’d touch you in any other way neither. Now I ain’t got much qualms about hurtin’ someone who keeps disrespectin’ me and the people I got. And Alecto here ain’t got no qualms neither ‘bout what she decides to bite when she attacks a man. So keep that in mind when you’re threatenin’ me or talkin’ at me like I ain’t got no concept of what you’re sayin’. You think your pronunciation and your condescension is goin’ to protect you against an angry woman and her dog?” She pushed him down and he stumbled, nearly falling to the floor before catching himself and resuming his stiff, upright posture. He straightened his collar, brushing some of the transferred dust away, but his hands were shaking.