Chapter 17: Asher is heat
Starr sat on the sofa with her iPad. She wasn't playing with it, instead she was staring intently at Pepper.
Pepper did her best to ignore the little human girl that was making her uncomfortable by staring at her like she was a two headed monster. She didn't do much except lock Asher out of her apartment as a punishment for telling Gramps about the parking lot.
She shoved a handful of popcorn into her mouth and offered some to Starr who didn't move an inch except stare at her the most.
"Okay! Stop gawking at me or I am sending you to your bedroom, little girl" Pepper threatened with a mouth filled with popcorn.
Starr didn't stop looking at her.
"He deserves what he is getting for being a jerk earlier!" Pepper wondered why she was explaining herself to the seven year old.
"It's freezing outside" Starr reminded her.
Even though Pepper agreed with her, she was reluctant to let her roommate back inside.
"Fine! He can come inside after five more minutes" Pepper promised her.
Starr took the popcorn and started eating some.
After a few seconds, she cleared her little throat to get Pepper's attention.
"Mommy?"
"I am not your mother, weirdo" Pepper murmured without looking at her.
"It's almost 1a.m. I shouldn't be up. You should be asking me to go back to bed, any reasonable adult would" Starr reminded her.
"Go to bed, Stanford" Pepper pointed to the bedroom.
Starr wanted to correct her but she wanted Pepper to do something for her and so she let the whole Stanford thing slide.
"Can you tuck me in?"
"No…"
"Then kiss me good night?" Starr asked her.
"No…"
"I have monsters in my closet, can you sit with me until I fall asleep?"
Pepper wiped her mouth.
"Tell those monsters if they want to stay in my house then they have to start paying rent. You and your father are enough free loaders any girl needs"
Starr was irritated. The whole reason she tricked her father into marriage was so she could have a mother but this incredibly loud woman who was supposed to play the role of a mother was the most horrible person she has ever seen.
"Take me to the park to play, tomorrow" Starr suggested a mother daughter event one last time.
"No!" Pepper shrieked at her.
The girl was becoming even more annoying than her father.
Starr stood up. She had a mischievous smile on her face.
"It's five minutes, you should let my father back inside"
"Okay…fine!" Pepper stood up.
She was wearing a pair of navy blue shorts and a black t-shirt that had the word 'freedom' written across the area that clung to her breast.
She stood up and walked to the door. She opened it to check whether Asher was sitting outside but he wasn't there. She took one foot outside when she heard the door pushed shut and also the sound of someone bolting it from the inside.
Pepper grabbed the handle and tried to open it several times. She alternated between knocking on the door and pushing the door handle.
"Little girl! Little gi-girl, open this door right this second!" Pepper ordered in a reduced voice so she doesn't wake her neighbors.
"Tell me my name and I will open it" Starr insisted.
"I am not playing this game with you! Open the door or you are sleeping outside with your father!" Pepper threatened again.
"Tell. Me. My. Name?" Starr insisted.
"I am not joking….fine, your name is Stacey" Pepper decided to play along.
"No…"
"Sterling…"
"No…"
"Candy…" Pepper suggested.
"Candy is not even spelt with a letter 'S' ! Goodnight mommy" Starr said.
"Don't you dare leave me in this freezing hallway! Darwin! Stace! Steven!....Is your name Sabrina?"
Pepper was still talking when Starr switched off the light and she hopped to her bedroom to sleep comfortably.
"Sage! Sadie! Sachi!" Pepper started calling every name that started with a letter S.
"What are you doing?"
The voice startled her.
"Asher! Good, please tell your demon daughter to open the god-damned door" Pepper turned around to tell Asher.
"I am sorry? did Starr lock you out of the apartment too? Who says Karma is not a vengeful little girl called Starr?" Asher said with a chuckle.
"Starr! Her name is Starr" Pepper knocked on the door again "I remember now. Your name is Starr"
Pepper knocked severally but there was no answer.
Asher turned around and started walking away.
"Where are you going?" Pepper asked with a freaked out face.
"To my car…you kicked me out, remember?" Asher said but he didn't stop walking.
Pepper ran after him. "You can't leave me here. Where will I sleep? Make your brat open the door"
Asher laughed mockingly. "I can't remember the last time I made Starr do anything she didn't want to do. You are welcome to join me in the car, dear wife"
Asher made it outside and entered the back of his car to sleep in. Pepper refused to enter.
"This is so your fault! If you hadn't told Gramps about the court house car park, I wouldn't have locked you out and Sadie won't have the audacity to…"
"Her name is Starr…" Asher corrected her.
"Starr wouldn't have locked me out too" Pepper concluded
"I didn't actually tell your grandfather what happened. I just decided to base our non-existent love story vaguely around the truth. Did nobody tell you that a good lie is the one based on the truth?" Asher heard her quivering breath and he became a tag worried.
"Get inside the car before you freeze to death!"
"There is not enough room for both of us" Pepper reminded him.
"Not if we cuddle. Don't get any ideas. I am just suggesting it to keep warm" Asher quickly added with an innocent expression that pepper was finding difficult to believe.
Asher cleared his throat and sat upright.
"Seriously Lady... it's for the heat!"