Hot and Badgered. Shelly Laurenston

to think of a good answer that wouldn’t lose them their temporary home before they even saw it. But before she could say a word, a bee flew by, briefly lurking around Max’s face. And just like that, her sister was off.

      “Where are you going?” Charlie demanded.

      “Bees,” was the only response she got back. But it was really all Charlie needed.

      “She’s going to be a problem,” the gruff man said.

      “I know it seems that way—”

      “We don’t like her kind here.”

      Charlie blinked, shocked. “What did you just say to me?”

      “You heard me.”

      Stevie’s head stuck out from the leaves and she accused, “You racist!”

      The gruff man frowned. “Huh?”

      “You heard me! You’re a racist. And when Max gets back, she’s going to kick your ass for it!”

      Berg walked out from behind a house across the street and jogged over.

      “Sorry about that,” he said, coming closer. “My sister . . . had some issues.” He smiled. “So how are we getting along?”

      “You didn’t tell me what they were,” the gruff man said.

      “Yeah.” Charlie couldn’t help but sneer. “Two women of color must be terrifying for you.”

      The two men looked at each other and back at Charlie.

      “What are you talking about?” Berg asked.

      “Apparently only Stevie can stay here in your precious neighborhood. She seems to be white enough.”

      “And you, sir,” Stevie yelled from the tree, “will not make me feel horrible for what you said. I will not take the mantle of white guilt on my shoulders, thank you very much!”

      Berg shook his head. “Tiny doesn’t care that you’re black. Or that your sister’s Asian. That’s probably the last thing he cares about.”

      “It really is,” the gruff man sighed.

      “His name is Tiny?” Charlie asked, staring up at the man. He was taller than Berg. And wider.

      “Family nickname,” he growled.

      “All Tiny cares about is that you guys are honey badgers,” Berg went on.

      “That’s going to be a problem with my neighbors,” Tiny admitted. “Especially the ones with hives.”

      “Why would that matter?” Charlie asked. She was confused until she realized Max had taken that particular moment to return to her side. A dripping honeycomb was in her hand and hundreds of angry bees were hanging from her face like some bizarre tribal mask.

      “Jesus!” Charlie snapped, quickly stepping away from her sister and waving more angry bees from her own face.

      Max gazed blankly at her, ignoring the other bees that were still attacking her like the horde they were.

      “What?” Max asked.

      Deciding it was a waste of her time to have this discussion now, Charlie returned her attention to the men and guessed, “I see. You’re all bears. This neighborhood is all bears!” She grinned, proud of herself for finally figuring that out without her ability to smell.

      The two men glanced at each other again. “You didn’t know that?”

      “Allergies,” she reminded Berg.

      “You couldn’t tell just by looking at Tiny?” Berg asked.

      “There are big full-humans everywhere. Most of them are on steroids, but still . . .”

      “Look,” Tiny said, “it’s nothing personal. But”—he pointed at Max—“she’s already stealing from hives. That one”—he pointed at Stevie—“is way too jumpy. And you . . .” He stared at Max a moment before ending with, “You smell weird.”

      “I had a shower and my clothes are clean.”

      Berg shook his head. “He doesn’t mean you smell bad. You just don’t smell like a breed or species he’s dealt with before.”

      “Which means you’re a hybrid. And not a bear hybrid either. We only deal with bear hybrids.”

      “Racism!” Stevie yelled from the safety of the tree.

      “It’s not racism,” Tiny grumbled.

      “But it is bigotry,” Berg told him. “And you know how my sister feels about that.” The bear gave Tiny a strange, knowing smile, and Charlie briefly wondered what it meant. “I really would hate to tell her about this. You know how she loves to lecture—”

      “All right,” Tiny cut in. “All right. But if they turn into a problem, it’s on you.”

      “Fine.”

      “No, no.” Charlie grabbed Berg’s arm and pulled him away. “Excuse us.” She dragged him across the yard until they reached the fence. “Dude, you do not want to be responsible for anything that me and my sisters—especially Max—do.” She leaned in to Berg and whispered, “Trust me on this.”

      He leaned down and whispered back, “I appreciate your concern, but Tiny is a difficult bear. If he thinks the hives are at risk he will not let you and your sisters—especially Max—stay.” He straightened up, smiled. “It’ll be fine.”

      “It won’t be fine. My sisters and I attract trouble.”

      “I’ve noticed that.”

      “So why would you want to be part of it? Do you have poor decision-making skills? I bet you do.”

      “I don’t think—”

      “Look, I’ll take care of this,” she said, patting his chest. “Trust me.”

      Charlie walked back until she stood right in front of Tiny. “Listen up, I’ll take full responsibility for my sisters. Any damage done, any hives invaded, any bears startled into panic, it’ll be all on me. I’ll fix, repay, replenish, or apologize as needed. You have my word on it.”

      She held her hand out and, after staring at it for a long moment, Tiny took it, his freakishly large fingers swallowing her hand whole.

      “I trust you,” Tiny said to Charlie. But then he locked his gaze on Max. “But this one I don’t trust.”

      Max shrugged, her mouth filled with stolen honeycomb. “That’s probably wise.”

      Charlie waited until Tiny and Berg turned away before cuffing her sister on the back of the head. “Idiot!” she quietly snapped. She started to follow the two men, but stopped long enough to bark at Max, “And get those goddamn bees off your face!”

      * * *

      When Tiny led them into the unoccupied house, Berg grimaced a little. It had been ages since Tiny had had tenants here and he’d not kept the place up. Even worse, he’d clearly been using it as some sort of hoarder’s extra storage.

      “So what do you think?” Tiny asked.

      “Ummmm . . .” Charlie began.

      “You also hoarding pets here?” Max flatly asked. “Maybe some dead bodies?”

      Charlie grabbed her sister by the neck of her T-shirt and shoved her toward an open doorway. “Go check out the kitchen, please, and let me handle this.”

      Her sister shrugged and walked off, and Tiny led Charlie on a tour of the house. Berg trailed behind, still cringing at every new sign of how bad this house actually was. He was suddenly glad his sister wasn’t here. Britta would be all on his back over this.

      “How could you