Ch.167Cowabunga! (5)

#167

That afternoon.

Upon arriving at Dexter’s house, Himena immediately embraced Emily, who was sitting on the sofa watching TV and writing something in her notebook.

“Emily, you’ve been through a lot.”

“Ah, just a moment please. I need to make a note of something right now.”

Himena felt a bit embarrassed when Emily coldly pushed her away, but she laughed along when she saw Jesse snickering nearby.

“She’s still the same, isn’t she?”

“I thought she might at least smile a bit since she’s out of prison.”

Jesse, who had known Emily the longest among them, shook her head and said:

“No way. She’s always like that, which actually makes me more determined. I just want to see her cry once.”

At those words, Emily suddenly turned around and said to Jesse:

“I’m not going to cry.”

“Oh, is that so?”

Jesse was irritated by Emily’s behavior—acting like she didn’t care about others while perfectly keeping track of anything related to herself—and responded sarcastically.

“What are you writing down anyway?”

“There’s an automotive event in Nevada two months from now, so I’m listing the expected participants.”

Both women’s expressions froze at Emily’s words.

“Don’t tell me…”

“You’re planning to steal again?”

“I’ll only do it if Dexter tells me to.”

Emily casually announced her criminal intentions as if she were simply retrieving something that belonged to her.

Jesse and Himena, thinking it unlikely that Dexter would approve of vehicle theft, forced smiles and changed the subject.

“When shall we go shopping?”

“I’m fine with going right now.”

“Wait, let me just change my clothes first.”

“Those clothes look fine though?”

“What? No way! I can’t go out dressed like this!”

Jesse was horrified at Himena’s suggestion.

And for good reason—Jesse was currently wearing only Dexter’s t-shirt and her own shorts.

“It looks fine! Don’t you think so too, Emily?”

“Yes, it seems fine to me.”

“I’m not fine with it! Just give me five minutes, okay? I’ll change quickly and be right back!”

As Jesse dashed into the room, Himena found her reaction amusing and pointed at the door while laughing.

“She doesn’t like showing skin much, does she?”

“She’s fine with brief outings, but she tries to cover up as much as possible in crowded places. She was like that in prison too.”

“I wouldn’t have expected her to care about that.”

“I thought the same at first, but Jesse is surprisingly shy.”

For Jesse, who had always lived a solitary life, romantic attention from others was something she wanted to avoid, so she always covered herself up.

However, there was something about Jesse’s behavior that Himena couldn’t understand.

“That’s right. I watched that video Dexter recommended, and back when she was street racing, she used to wear short clothes, right? Wasn’t her nickname J-Bone or something?”

Of course, that was when her physique was much less developed than now, so she hardly received any attention from the opposite sex.

“In prison, she sometimes deliberately wore long sleeves… I don’t understand why she dislikes it now.”

Not realizing that Jesse simply didn’t want that kind of attention, the two women couldn’t understand her behavior and just shrugged their shoulders.

“I’m dressed! Let’s go!”

Soon, Jesse emerged from the room wearing a thin, well-ventilated long-sleeved shirt with a short-sleeved t-shirt over it, and ripped jeans.

“Aren’t you hot?”

“The sun’s setting now, so it’s fine.”

“It’s such a waste to keep it all covered up.”

When Himena pointed at Jesse’s chest, Jesse poked Himena’s chest, who was still in her formal suit.

“You should show off more yourself!”

“I show plenty when I’m in casual clothes! It’s really a waste for you, Jesse!”

“What waste? They’re just heavy and make my back hurt.”

Jesse glanced down at her chest and said:

“I put up with them because Dex likes them, otherwise I would’ve had surgery to get rid of them.”

“There’s nothing bad about being well-endowed.”

Himena, who was clearly less endowed than Jesse, pouted at Jesse’s ungrateful comments and headed out the door.

Soon Jesse followed after her, and Emily, who had been watching the two, made a comment before following them out.

“You’re both weird.”

* * *

“Is there enough space at Dexter’s house for all this?”

“Of course! I’ve ordered a wardrobe too.”

“You ordered a wardrobe?”

“It should arrive tomorrow morning, so don’t worry. Just load everything into the car.”

The three women were carrying armfuls of clothes and various items.

But Himena had even arranged for home delivery of additional purchases, which made even the usually expressionless Emily blink several times in apparent disbelief.

Seeing Emily’s blank expression, Jesse chuckled and said in a low voice:

“Can’t understand it, right? I guess this is how the rich are.”

“No! It’s just more convenient to buy a lot at once…”

“Who buys a whole wardrobe on the spot just because they don’t have enough space for clothes?”

“…Doesn’t everyone do that?”

“See? That’s how the truly rich are.”

“No, it’s not!”

With the trunk and back seat completely filled with shopping items, Emily, the owner of most of those items, ended up squeezed between bags in the back seat in an uncomfortable position.

“This is uncomfortable.”

“Just bear with it a little. We’ll be home in about 30 minutes.”

With Jesse driving and Himena in the passenger seat, they headed toward Dexter’s house.

“By the way, Himena, how rich are you?”

“I don’t know the details either. But even if you stole as many cars every year as you’ve stolen in your entire life, you probably wouldn’t reach half of what’s in Himena’s bank account. She’s probably on the same level as Scrooge McDuck.”

When Jesse threw out this baseless speculation, an indignant Himena tried to refute it.

“That’s not… quite… true…?”

Seeing Himena trail off and fall into deep thought, Jesse pointed at her and exclaimed:

“Look at her hesitating!”

“It’s not money you earned yourself, but your parents are rich, right?”

“I don’t know… Can we talk about something else? Today is Emily’s release day, and I don’t understand why we’re only talking about me…”

Himena, who had never discussed her wealth so openly with others, turned her head away in embarrassment.

Jesse laughed at Himena’s reaction, while Emily couldn’t understand why Himena was acting this way when Jesse was openly teasing her about her wealth.

Soon, the three arrived at Dexter’s house and stacked all the items, still in their packaging, in the guest room. They each grabbed a drink and gathered in the living room.

Sitting facing each other, Jesse spoke first in a low voice:

“Now that Emily’s here, we should get started properly, right?”

Himena looked at both of them and cleared her throat.

“Ahem. Then, I’ll call this meeting to order.”

The atmosphere became quiet as soon as Himena finished speaking.

Emily was the first to respond.

“Should I clap?”

“Not really.”

Jesse shook her head at Emily’s question.

None of the three had ever done anything like this before, so they looked at each other awkwardly.

Finally, after they all kept giving each other looks suggesting someone else should speak first, Jesse, unable to bear the atmosphere, spoke up.

“I’ll go first. The most urgent matter is Judy, right?”

“Should Judy be participating in this meeting too?”

“No, there’s something more important. The question of how to get Judy to join us.”

Himena nodded at Jesse’s agenda.

“What did Dexter say about it?”

“He left it up to us.”

Himena waited for Jesse to continue, but when she didn’t, Himena asked with a surprised expression:

“That’s it? Really?”

“To be precise, he said his opinion matters too, but since we’re the ones who have to accept Judy, he’ll invite her to the house, but we should make all the plans and schedules.”

Jesse gritted her teeth as she remembered Dexter’s smirking face, as if saying, ‘What can I do if you all are the masters of my body, not me?’

“He’s good at moving his hips, but when it comes to important matters, he dumps it on us and runs away.”

“It was problematic from the start that we two decided on our own, wasn’t it?”

“We did get off on the wrong foot. But our goal has always been the same.”

“To not let Dexter have any more women.”

“Oh, by the way, there was a rumor the day before I was released.”

The two women’s eyes widened at Emily’s bombshell statement.

“A rumor? What rumor? Don’t tell me he’s working on someone besides Judy?”

“Did he hit on just anyone again?”

Emily flinched at the suddenly hostile atmosphere from the two women. She pulled her chair back slightly to distance herself from them and said:

“It wasn’t like that. It was about Caransa from Block 4 being interested in him.”

“Caransa? You mean the cartel boss’s wife who’s the real power in Block 4?”

“Yes, that Caransa.”

“That crazy bitch! She has nothing better to do than eye someone else’s man? Is she insane?”

“Dexter isn’t married, so it can’t be helped…”

At those words, Jesse jumped up from her seat and shouted:

“Even so, that whore who spread her legs for a cartel boss is talking nonsense!”

“Jesse, calm down. Calm down, okay?”

When Jesse showed signs of losing her temper like in the old days, Himena stood up beside her and forcibly sat her down, trying to soothe her.

“Surely he won’t add another one. Surely. Surely…”

“That’s right. Being human, he wouldn’t form another relationship there. Let’s focus on Judy’s issue.”

Seeing Jesse’s eyes glinting dangerously, Himena tried to steer the conversation back to Judy.

“What kind of personality do you think Judy has, Jesse?”

“Judy… she’s nice. Among the guards, she’s one of the kindest and gentlest, and it would be hard to find someone like her in society too. To exaggerate a bit, she’s like a short, super cute Mother Teresa.”

“Do you think someone like that would readily accept an invitation to join ‘Dexter’s women’?”

“Dexter’s women? Is that our group name?”

“I just blurted it out. Anyway, that’s not important. What I’m asking is whether you think Judy will join our side.”

After thinking for a moment, Jesse leaned back against the sofa and said:

“If she loves Dexter tremendously and can’t give him up, wouldn’t she join? That’s how it was for you and Emily.”

The two women had mixed reactions to Jesse’s words.

While her assessment wasn’t wrong, it essentially meant she didn’t know what Judy would decide either.

Seeing their reactions, Jesse spoke more boldly:

“Himena, I’m not a fortune teller. How am I supposed to know what’s in Judy’s heart?”

“But you’re one of the people who’s seen Judy up close the most, right?”

“Just because I’ve seen her up close doesn’t mean I know everything. She wasn’t even a guard in my section, so I don’t know her well.”

Jesse had plenty to say.

“Besides, how do you think she’ll react when former inmates from the prison where she worked tell her to accept polyamory with the male guard she’s dating? She’ll be lucky if she doesn’t faint.”

“It’s already happened, what can we do? And they’ve already slept together once, right? If Dexter were like other men it would be different, but once he’s done it, he has to see it through.”

Himena had a point too.

What’s done is done, and whether Judy accepts it or not, Dexter will ultimately embrace her.

Jesse, having made up her mind to some extent, gritted her teeth again and said:

“We can’t do this alone. Dexter absolutely has to be involved.”

Since predicting human relationships is never easy, the conversation between Jesse and Himena was difficult to conclude.

“That might make things more complicated… What do you think, Emily?”

Finally, Himena had to ask Emily, who had been silent throughout.

It seemed worth hearing the opinion of Emily, who was awkward with human relationships.

After a moment of silence, Emily looked at the two and said:

“We need to take it step by step from the beginning.”

“Step by step? How?”

“My grandmother used to say that you can’t dispose of valuable and expensive items all at once. You need to approach slowly while reading the atmosphere.”

“By grandmother… you mean Grandma Bonnie? The one who was a thief?”

While Bonnie might have been one of the greatest thieves in history, Himena wondered if a government employee should be taking advice from a thief, but she didn’t show it.

“That’s right. I heard that you shouldn’t try to solve big problems all at once. You have to take it step by step.”

“So how exactly?”

Emily pointed her finger at Himena and said:

“First, Himena should meet with Judy and have a conversation.”

Then Emily pointed at Jesse.

“Then Jesse should be hiding and appear in the middle of the conversation. While the focus is on Himena, Jesse should join in, creating confusion for Judy but also making the atmosphere feel natural.”

“And then you come in last, right?”

“Yes. The two of you need to keep the conversation flowing non-stop. Don’t let Judy gather her thoughts, and make her accept us.”

Emily raised the corners of her mouth slightly and said:

“So, I think you two know better than I do how to lead the conversation. I’ll leave it to you.”

“…For someone who claims not to care about others, you seem to know quite a bit about handling them.”

“Since I can’t understand people’s hearts, I have to study. Of course, my grandmother’s lessons about con artistry helped too.”

As Emily maintained her slight smile while sipping her warm tea, both Jesse and Himena had the same thought.

‘Emily is the scariest one here.’

‘I shouldn’t lie to her.’

Jesse and Himena looked at each other, forced smiles, and held hands.