Where Foxes Hunt with Wolves (Folk Lore 2)

“Yeah, me too,” Yev said and winked before finishing his cocoa. “Is she always this late?”

Radek shook his head. “She’s an Instagram princess, she does what she wants.”

Yev’s brows rose, wrinkling his forehead. “Is that something like Facebook?”

Yev was only thirty-eight, but since his time in Lublin almost fifteen years back, he hadn’t exactly bothered to keep up to date with new technologies. At times it was funny, at times frustrating, but growing up in Dybukowo, Radek was used to most places not even having cellular signal, let alone Internet.

“Yes and no. It’s social media, but more about just photos. She shows off her clothes, boobs, and expensive vacations, and brands only offer her more money for it. Come to think of it, sweet gig. You think we should start an account? You shirtless with Ember and Coal, call it Fox Daddy. We’d make a fortune.”

Yev laughed. “Maybe just Ember and Coal? Best friends forever.”

Radek was about to comment when his cell phone vibrated on the table. Was it Jessika, calling to tell him it would be another hour?

It was Jessika. But instead of calling, like a normal person, she was starting a video chat?

Radek rolled his eyes, but then took the call, faking a smile. It fell the moment he saw Jessika… on a beach. She was wearing a pale blue bikini, sunglasses, and had an open coconut shell in her hand.

“Heeey! How cold is Poland?” she asked and laughed as if they hadn’t been supposed to meet today. Where the fuck was she?

“Um… I’m guessing you’re not coming?” he asked, still bewildered by her actions.

She caught a little straw sticking out of the shell and slurped while a half-naked man with muscles the size of bread loaves showed off his chest in the background, making her laugh. “Oh, stop it babe! I’m doing business here!”

In the real world, Yev hid his face behind the cup, but Jessika was quick to divert Radek’s attention back to the phone. “I got this offer to promote this resort in the Maldives. Couldn’t say no, right? But I had to leave, like, yesterday. It’s fab, you should totally come here sometime.”

Radek counted to five in his mind because ten would have been too much. “Okay, so… Can we do this over the phone after all? I’d rather talk with you, because your dad’s a hardass.”

Jessica laughed. “My dad? No way! He’s a pussycat, he does whatever I ask him to. But what I want, Radek,” she said, tapping huge, spiky nails all too close to the camera, “is to keep earning money from the business my family co-owns. What the hell’s going on there? And don’t give me all the eco-bullshit. When will things go back to normal?”

Radek shrugged. “I don’t know. What is ‘normal’ anyway? Shouldn’t we change a ‘normal’ that isn’t right?”

Her scowl told him everything before she even opened her mouth. “They’re animals. Don’t be ridiculous. And it’s not like we’re torturing them. The farm’s like a zoo, but in the end we use their skins for clothes. It’s not rocket science!”

Yev’s face actually got red, and he pressed his lips together, as if struggling not to open his mouth. But Radek had prepared for this conversation and had a few cards up his sleeve.

“Okay, I get it, you don’t care about foxes, but I bet many of your followers do. What would they think of you if they found out what pays for your lifestyle. I can make this ugly, Jessika.”

The corners of her lips twitched. “Are you threatening me? It’s not gonna work. On paper, everything belongs to Dad, so screw you, I want the farm back up and running. I’m done with this stupid conversation,” she said through her ridiculously white teeth.

This wasn’t going the way Radek had hoped at all. “Wait! I… some of the foxes are sick, and it means their fur isn’t as nice as it could be. If you give it more time, they’ll be in better shape next time you visit. I even have these two rescues. They’re totally tame and lovely. One’s got no paw, one’s missing an eye. Red and black. I’d let you play with them. Just imagine what kind of views that kind of content would get you.”

Jessika bit her lip. “Nnn… Everyone loves crippled animals. Okay, I’ll tell Daddy to stop hassling you and get on board for a while, but this can’t go on forever. You know the animals breed in early spring, and we’ll need that happening to continue the operation next year. We’ll talk details when I come back in a month or so.”

Yev scowled and finished his cocoa as if he were downing a shot of vodka. Radek sympathized with him, but he managed to get more time to think the situation through at least.