The Sunshine Project Pt. 04

"Yeah, Mercer."

"Allie told me you're having issues with your aunt and uncle."

Jess scowls at me but turns back to Beck with a calm expression. "Not really my aunt and uncle. My mom married Glenda's brother but then divorced him and ran off. Uh, Glenda's dad took me in but he died recently."

"Ah, I see." Beck sips the wine again and tips the glass my direction. "This is so good. It's the Winery at Versailles, isn't it?"

I nod and smile eagerly. She knows her stuff.

"Anyway, Glenda and Dean are selling off the part of the property left to them, and I was given part of it. They're trying to claim thirteen inches of the barn and part of the easement too. They say I have to buy it from them so they get a fair shake of the profit. I think it's a bunch of crap, but I don't know how to fight it."

Beck listens to Allie intently, and I see genuine compassion written on her face. "So they're scamming you. That's such a shitty thing to do. I'm sorry you're dealing with that."

Jess leans back and sighs. "It's been this way since I moved in with GG seven years ago. I mean, I've been on my own a few months now, but he was the only family I had for a long time. Now he's gone." Jess downs her glass of wine and stands. "I'll be back."

I nod at her, knowing she is going for a refill already and I haven't even had the first sip of my drink yet. When she's out of earshot, I ask, "So do you have any advice?"

Beck leans toward me and shakes her head. "I say consult a lawyer. But I'll also speak to my friend and see what he says. Allie, you didn't tell me Jess was a fox. Damn, girl, no wonder you let her fist you." Beck wags her eyebrows at me, and I blush. I never intended for Beck to be attracted to Jess, but I can see how she is. I am--why not her?

"Let me go check on the lasagna, okay? Want a refill?" I stand, leaving my wine sit on the end of the coffee table and Beck shakes her head.

As I walk out I see her pulling her phone out. When I get into the kitchen, Jess is there with the wine bottle and a half-empty glass. I can tell she's already downed half the refill. I take the bottle from her and set it on the counter.

"I'm sorry if that was tough for you. I know you miss Gus."

Jess looks into my eyes and frowns. "It's not just that, Al. It's so much more." God, don't I know it. Having Beck in this loft with us is awkward. I feel a strange tension brewing between me and Jess, as if she is jealous that another woman is checking me out.

"She said you're cute?" I offer, hoping she'll see I'm not trying to replace her as my best friend. We both know we can't be together--it would ruin our friendship. And the play times we had last week were just animalistic urges. We have to keep it that way. Jess would never shit on my chance to find real love.

Darkness floods her eyes, and then she blinks it away. "It's Shep." Her words say she's hurting, but her eyes say she's lying to me. Dammit, I never wanted this to happen. And now I feel guilty for even liking Beck. Why the fuck do I feel guilty? And why am I irritated with my best friend over this?

"What about Shep?" I grab the oven mitts and put them on, then pull the lasagna out. I'm conflicted now, unsure what I should do to make things different. If she's upset and hiding it from me, she's really good at it.

"He's like a fucking midget." Okay, so maybe she drank straight from the bottle and also didn't eat anything yet today. Jess is tipsy already. "I've been so busy missing Grandpa Gus that I didn't even try to figure out why Shep is tiny. Allie, you have to help me. You promised. Don't you think it's weird that Glenda wants those guns back now? Do you think she knows they're not toys?"

"Shhh," I hiss. Jess's voice is growing louder by the second. If Beck hears Jess say anything about the guns or a shrunken dog, she'll never speak to me again. Plus I work a government job. Who knows what shit Gus was in to? He could have had TOP SECRET military science shit going on, and we'd never know it.

"Al, please." Jess leans against the fridge and whines, and I peel the aluminum foil back from the lasagna.

"Okay, tomorrow. We'll do some research and shit. Okay? Maybe we'll find something on the internet." I whip off the mitts and lay them on the counter. "Right now you have to stop talking about that because Beck can't hear that. Alright?"

"I can't hear what?" Beck asks, rounding the corner and walking into the kitchen. "Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear. You were taking a while." She thrusts my wine glass out toward me and waves her empty one at Jess.

"That Allie thinks you have a nice ass," Jess says playfully. She winks at me and turns to pour more wine for Beck. I feel my cheeks burn as Jess covers so well I'm shocked and don't even know who she is.

Beck snickers. "I think you have a nice ass too, Allie." Beck holds her hand out in Jess's direction and snaps her fingers. Jess produces a full glass of wine for her and grimaces at how Beck stares me down. There's that confliction again. Beck's look of desire right next to Jess's look of pain and jealousy.

"Should we eat?" I gesture to the table already set for three and Beck nods.

"I'm starving." She turns her back, and Jess moves closer to me, whispering into my ear.

"When she leaves, hair and nails?" Her hand grips my wrist gently and I sigh.

"Of course..."

What the fuck is even happening?

Chapter 11

Jess

This old laptop is such a fucking dinosaur. I can barely connect to the internet, which is why Allie sits across the room curled up on the couch using her phone to look shit up. We've been at this all day now with little to show for it. Shep is my baby, and while I really think he's adorable so tiny, I need to make sure there aren't any horrible lasting side effects that might endanger his life.

The problem is no matter what key words I search for, I find nothing about a shrinking gun or any ray gun for that matter. It's like the internet's best kept secret. Grandpa Gus was military though, so even though I'm sifting through hundreds of webpages, I fear I might not ever truly know what this is about. It's obvious the guns aren't toys, at least not all of them. Maybe he hid some of his science experiments in the house amongst common everyday things to hide them. I wonder if Glenda knows this and that's why she's pressuring me to give them back now.

"Anything?" Allie calls, and I growl out my frustration.

"Not a fucking thing." Shep scratches at my leg and whimpers, a sign he needs to go out. It's so frustrating searching for everything and coming up empty handed.

I stand and open the sliding glass door to let him out. The neighbors poodle is outside sniffing around the fence again, and Shep darts straight to her. She's in heat. The damn neighbors haven't gotten her fixed. They're probably some of those snooty-tooty people who breed fancy dogs and own a shipping yard. It's annoying that they let her torment Shep day and night and don't walk her on leash. She presses her ass to the chain link and holds her tail to the side, as if Shep could do anything at his size and with a fence between them. Stupid dog.

"Oh, I did find something hilarious though." Allie startles me. I didn't hear her approaching from behind. I slide the door shut and turn to face her. She holds her phone out, and I take it.

"What's that?" My eyes skim the contents of the page but nothing pops out at me as abnormal. It looks like a redacted military document. I've seen these at GG's house before.

"It's a gay bomb," she snickers. "Can you believe the US Air Force actually created a bomb with pheromones in it thinking it would turn enemies gay, and they'd be confused, and we'd best them in battle? It's so fucking ridiculous."

I chuckle and look at the screen more closely. Scrolling back to the top I see the title and laugh out loud. The document reads more like a bad sci-fi novel than reality. It says the science was done at Wright Patt Air Force Base here in Dayton, Ohio. That's where GG worked before he retired. It gets my wheels turning, and I hand Allie her phone back.

"That's so dumb. They think just because a man is gay he can't keep control of his hormones long enough to fight a battle?" I shake my head. "But it is just stupid enough to be connected to this somehow. If they made a gay bomb, why not a shrink ray?"

Allie's eyebrows rise, and she pushes her lips out in a thoughtful expression. "You have a point. Gus was into some science stuff, right? An inventor or something."

"Yeah, he was. But he was never allowed to talk about his work. Just declassified things." I move past Allie and sit back down at my computer, letting my fingers walk the keys. Still, nothing I search brings up any results, even when I add the key words "gay bomb."

"What do you think?" she asks, leaning over my shoulder. She smells nice. I like that. I like her near me; her presence is comforting.

"I think we're on to something finally, but what?" As I say the words, someone knocks on my door. It startles me again. I can't help but feel jumpy. If this really is military technology, I don't feel safe with it in my house. And what does that mean for my dog if anyone finds out?"

"I'll get it," Allie hums and heads for the door. I shut my laptop. No need for anyone to see what I'm researching. I stand and pass through the kitchen into the living room as Allie jerks the door open to reveal Cora.

"Uh... Hi?" Allie seems as surprised as I am.

"Hey, uh... Not sure I remember your name, but I'm not here for you." Cora pushes into the house past Allie who stares at her in shock. "Jess, I need to talk to you." The silk blouse she wears hugs her tits. It's obvious her bra is padded. No woman has such perfect tits. And her blonde hair is pinned up, wisps of it framing her heavily makeuped face.

"What do you want, Cora?" I am not amused. I know why she's here. She's been sent on a witch hunt by Glenda to get the guns back, guaranteed. There is no other reason. She doesn't like me, and I don't like her.

"I just wanted to chat about the toy guns Gus left you."

"You mean Grandpa?" I correct her. She calls her own mother by her first name. There isn't a shred of respect in her body.

"Yeah, him." The way she crosses her arms over her stomach makes her boobs push out. I'm sure she's practiced that a million times. She's got the move down pat. Her boyfriend probably loves it. I think it's gross when a woman has to flaunt herself for any reason.

"Well you gave them to me. That's a fact. I'm not giving them back. Why does your mother want them anyway?" I take a step toward the box of guns defensively. They still sit on the end of my sofa in the tub. Other than when Shep spilled them and Allie cleaned up the mess, they haven't been touched. Fuck, Shep... He's probably giving himself a heart attack trying to get through that fence.

"Get to the point, Cora." Allie is impatient. She stands by the door with her hand on the knob holding it open.

"I need them back. They took my money to pay for college, and now I need the money for something else." Her rhinestone sandal taps annoyingly on the floor, and I find myself irritated by that. They have more money than they know what to do with. They're literally swimming in it. Why does she need the guns?

"No. You're not getting them back." Allie weaves around Cora and stands between us. She knows if I hear some sob story, I'm likely to cave and just give in. I don't care about guns or money. I would rather them be out of my life for good. But without them, we may not get Shep back to normal.

"She's right, Cora. You gave them to me, and I'm not giving them back."

"But Glenda already priced one on Ebay. They're worth something. I need that money. You don't understand." Cora's sudden shift from demanding to whiney and pleading is actually a bit gross. I've seen her put on this act with GG before, whining to get her way. It won't work with me.

"Just leave," Allie snaps. "You got the fucking car. Sell it if you need money."

Allie is so bold. I'm angry, but I am reserved. And I can't think of snarky things to say that quickly. Not like my best friend.

"You're going to give me those guns one way or another." Cora's bitchy attitude and tone return instantly as she whips around and heads back out the door. "I'll be back." She slams the door behind her, and Allie turns to face me.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just need to find out what these guns do quickly. Something tells me if they're after them, they know, and they want in on the mystery." I sigh and walk to the door, deadbolting it.

Allie perks her ear up and hurries to the back door where Shep is being screamed at by the neighbor. I follow her to the door as she opens it and rushes over apologetically, scooping Shep up.

"Keep your vile creature away from my Trixie. She is a champion show dog." The lanky woman has her poodle by the collar dragging her away from the fence, and Allie struggles to keep Shep under control. She looks ready to snap, but she says nothing as she retreats into the house and sets him down by the water dish.

"God, can this day be over now?" I sink into a kitchen chair, and Allie dusts her hands.

"Cora is such a bitch. I hate her so much." Allie walks to the box of guns and picks one up. "I wonder if she knows the value of these things. Maybe we need to clean them up and take picture. Have someone appraise them."

"Maybe," I grumble, watching Shep lap up water as fast as he can. That's a bonus. He doesn't make as big of a water mess when he drinks since his tongue is tinier.

"I mean it. Let's wash them up and see if there are any marks or words on them. It might help us figure out which one shrank Shep and how to fix him." Allie picks up the tub and carries it to the kitchen, setting it on the ground next to the counter. She starts laying them out, and I stand and move my laptop and glass of water. When all the guns are laid out, she gets a couple wash rags and wets them, handing me one.

"So we'll wash them and look for serial numbers or something?" I ask her, picking one up. I've never held a gun in my hands before. At least not a ray gun. I sense by the weight of some of them that some are actual toys. I don't bother with the lighter ones.

"Yeah, or inscriptions or something." Allie picks one up, and it flashes red. She holds it away from her body until it stops flashing, and snickers. "Don't need an accident now."

I laugh and grab one too. It's caked in dust and debris, some spider webs. GG must have had these around for a long time to be this dirty. I take the rag and begin wiping the curves of it, and it lights up too, flashing green. I'm not nervous about it. After watching Allie's red, flashing gun light up and then go dark, I feel like it's safe. The dirt starts to come off easily, revealing a shiny silver weapon. It's heavy, and I feel clumsy with it.

When it vibrates and a bright flash goes off, I drop it and shield my eyes. Allie screeches and I scream at the same time, startled yet again. I nearly fall off my barstool. "Allie, are you okay?" I ask, straightening, but I don't see her.

"Jess!" I hear. It sounds like she's screaming but it's muffled.

"Al?" I bolt off my seat, running around the counter to see her clothes in a pile on the floor and something inside of that pile is moving. "Oh my god, Al?" I panic, dropping to my knees, and sorting through the clothes. "Oh fuck, oh my god, Allie." As I peel back her shirt, I see her there, curled into a ball with fear in her eyes.

She's naked and tiny.

Like Shep--who is instantly by her side licking her face.

"Holy fuck, what just happened?"