“yeah, don’t remind me.” max wrinkled his nose. it was like he had done something incredibly wrong in his past life and for punishment, he was dropped into one of the most destructive little towns with men who looked like they were hacked up on steroids. “so you have a lot of men in your life, then, eh? big girl now and all?” he held the amusement lightly in his tone because although he didn’t see frankie as too much of a threat, he was still wary of what she was capable of. “oh yeah?” he gave her a halfhearted onceover, then smiled easily. “sure you could.” a hint of sarcasm, but she looked frightening enough. the wariness continued. “i dunno how i got here. fell asleep on the bus and now i’m here, so i’ve probably got to find a place to stay.” he sighed, tilting his head towards the motel down the street. he turned back to frankie with a short laugh. “foresi family bitch. is that something i’m allowed to call him too?” though i might die from that, max added wordlessly as an afterthought.
“you, using maps?” he asked, mildly surprised. “i haven’t used maps since they stopped offering geography as a mandatory course.” he snickered under his breath before lifting the cigarette to his lips again, taking a short drag. “still beating up boys, i see. and what happens when he brings more of his friends in to get you? what then? think you can still handle them?” he tilted his head slightly and squinted with one eye at her. “or do you have some sort of girl gang for that sort of thing?” a small smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.
max felt his cheeks holding back a smile. “i’m sure he’ll love that. i’m also sure he hasn’t quite forgiven you for that punch either.” his eyes widened. “buuut,” he started to say, the grin now uncontrollably forming on his face, “if you’re gonna do that, invite me. that’s just something i gotta see before i die.” and he had a feeling ryan would probably get his kicks out of that, too. the only problem was that luca would probably kick their ass for it the next day, and max wasn’t so sure he was ready for another round of that. “nic. yeah. how’s he trying to do that?” max asked, curious. then a split second later, he changed his mind. “never mind. don’t tell me. the last thing i want to do is get caught up in your business.” he tossed his cigarette down, grounding it with the toe of his right foot. he didn’t know if what he said was true. if he didn’t want to be involved in dangerous business, what was he doing in the army? still, mobster business. that was serious shit.
“graduated, eighteen. just turned a few weeks ago. happy birthday to me.” he pumped his fist into the air lazily. “i don’t have any plans with my magic, other than to keep milkovich at bay.” he paused. “joined the army, if that counts for anything. it’s nothing big.”
frankie giggled, a bubbly sound. "don't tell me you're scared of them," she teased. "maybe you should try going to the gym and getting more buff. that way you wouldn't get picked on so much." she peered sidelong at the boy's arms, which were deceptively normal-sized-looking through his shirt sleeves, but she knew from personal experience just how reed thin he was. she grinned. "oh yes, of course. you forget that my daddy's mr. foresi," she said, the last few words trailing off in a leer. of course he didn't forget, but she liked pointing out the obvious to people as if they were too thick to arrive at the same conclusions on their own. her eyebrows shot up. "would you like to stay with the foresis tonight? we have plenty of guest rooms, and the house is big enough that you don't have to bump into anyone you don't want to. it's a generous offer anyone would be honored to receive, and, don't worry," she said off-handedly with a laugh, "we won't try to kill you in your sleep," as if it were something worth joking about. she smirked, amused at his brashness. "if you want, but you'd better be careful -- lulu has a bit of a nasty bite when provoked," she said with a wink.
"oh yes," she said nodding, "i'm very studious when it comes to this stuff. it always pays to be careful, after all, you don't want to be caught up in some business you don't want to be. not like you and shit-face gallagher know about being careful, anyway," she said with a sweet smile. this was the way she delivered threats and insults -- with the face of an angel, and it proved to be so unnerving and disturbing to some grown men that they either instantaneously exploded from anger, or quavered in their newfound, leveled low self-esteem. "oh, of course i'm still beating up the boys, there's no better past time. and wouldn't you like to know, max yang?" she said with another coy smirk. the fact that she had a girl gang wasn't strictly confidential -- but it amused her to keep people in the dark.
"of course i'll send you an invitation," she said, grinning, "the more, the merrier, as they say~." she shrugged. "oh, my brothers have their ways. nicky'll think of something eventually, i'm sure." an even wider cat's grin spread across her face when she heard, the last thing i want to do is get caught up in your business. "oh? and why's that?" she asked, teeth showing as she spoke. "you think our business is dangerous or something? 'if i tell you i'll have to kill you?'" she shook her head, taking a step closer, condescension clear in her eyes. "oh, maxxie, silly as ever. killing people isn't the only thing we do, you know. for example..." she lowered her voice, and still keeping eye contact, brought her lips closer to his ear. "we also provide favors of a certain kind." she let the words linger there for a moment, letting whatever max had surmised from the sentence sink in, before pulling back again to her previous stance.
"eighteen?" she continued, as if nothing had just happened. "congratulations, you really are growing up." she balanced herself on her toes for a moment, then swayed back and forth on the balls of her feet. "ooh, lio's in the army too, did you know? maybe you two could hit it off and kill people together." her head cocked to the side, as if it were the most innocent suggestion of all.
