"Come on."

"To where?"

I raise my eyebrow as Shang Show sets his duster over a chair and his hat on a table. I watch him as he pulls his hair back and ties it. He motions for me to follow him. I sit for a few seconds before finally following him.

"Answer my question: where are we going?"

"To the bathhouse that's 'round here. You and I gotta bathe. I figure ya wanna to do somethin' relaxin'," Shang Show responds as we head out toward the door. "We gon' be back in a bit."

"sounds good," a man says, looking relatively uninterested in what we do. 

I continue following Shang Show what feels like atleast a mile to a building that said "Bathhouse". A feel a sigh of relief as we walk closer to it. I feel my skin crawl from the dirty and sand from the morning's ride. 

As we step inside, I watch Shang Show go to a man and pay him. He hands Show two towels and two little blocks. Shang Show motions his head for me to follow him, which i do. We walk to a section that says "Gentlemen" and turn in. 

I've no idea if it was the heat from the day, the long riding trip or what but as soon as we turned in; I felt heat burst in my cheeks and groan. Lined up against the wall were large tin basins that could fit a man almost as tall as Shang Show in. They all were separated by a wall with a curtain that could slide in front of it but that's not what got me.

It was the fact the men here looked disgusting. Dirt and grime covered their hair and their bodies and the shapes of their bodies were nothing to go home about. I wish Shang Show took me anywhere but here. I would have rather bathe from a tiny porcelein basin than bathe here.

"Come on, go get in the tub." 

I look up and watch Shang Show begin to strip himself as he walked to his section of the baths. Before I can say anything, I see him shirtless for the first time and it took me aback. With how his clothes hung on him, I expected him to be a bit more pudgy if not downright out of shape. But no.

Shang Show stood, brawny and burly, as if he had just finished building a brick home or carried horses from one place to another. I want to look away but I can't help but continue to stare. 

How does he look like that? 

Why does he look like that? 

I feel my feet walk toward his bathing section before a towel is thrown at my face and a small object hit my arm.

"You gon go bathe in the section beside me. Have a good bath, now," Shang Show says before pulling the curtain closed.

As I walk over to my section of the bathhouse and pull the curtain closed, I wonder if this basin is deep enough for me to drown myself.

When Shang Show and I left the bathhouse, it had become night time. The little bit of stars I saw in the sky looked absolutely gorgeous. I look over to Shang Show with a critical eye. I'm sure he noticed I was staring at him when he says, "What'chu lookin' at me for?"

"You're brawny."

"And you tiny. So what?"

"No! I mean! You're so...! So...!"

"So...?"

I slap my face. "Don't worry about it."

"Well, the fact my tweety bird don't wanna say nothin' makes me even more curious." He nudges my shoulder which almost knocks me over. I stop him and grab his sleeve.

"Why are you so brawny?! No! Beside that! What exactly do you do?! You take something from someone as if you're some...some...!" I hiss, just feeling frustrated at it all.

Before I can even let loose even more, I feel myself being lifted off the ground and staring eye to eye with Shang Show. I look into his eyes as he says, "Is you gon' calm down and wait 'til we get to the room to talk?"

I blink a few times.

"I ain't puttin' you down til you nod. You might wanna go ahead and nod."

I feel heat burst in my cheeks but this is a new feeling. This is definitely something I never felt before and it's a weird but...kind of good feeling? I slowly nod before Shang Show finally places me on my feet. I notice his face gets a little more serious as he looks around as he says, very low, "come on. Let's go back."

I walk a few paces behind him and begin to wonder if something in the air made me feel this way.