by Lane Hart
“No. I don’t go to school.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t want to!” I snap at her. Dammit, I don’t want to be an asshole to the girl, but I sure as fuck can’t just come out and tell her the truth — that I’m wanted for questioning in a murder.
“Then I don’t want to go either,” she replies, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Yeah, you don’t get a choice. You’ll have to go with Ivan and Knox or you’ll get in trouble.”
“But you –”
“Just drop it, okay?” I grumble.
“Fine,” she huffs. Then, “What are you drawing?”
When she leans over for a closer look at the notebook on my lap, a strand of her long, flowery-scented hair tickles my forearm, causing some sort of chain reaction that ripples through me, all the way down…into my pants.
“Oh, an angel,” the girl gasps in recognition as her face lights up. “She’s beautiful.”
“A dark angel of death,” I correct to protect my teenage masculinity. There’s no beauty in my past, only suffering, and death.
“You’re really good,” she says. “How did you learn to draw like that if you don’t go to school?”
“Not much else to do around here except workout, play video games or draw, so I draw. A lot,” I reply, downplaying how much her compliment warms me. Fuck, how much just her presence on the sofa cushion next to me warms my frigid soul.
“Workout?” Gabrielle repeats. “Aren’t you too young for that?”
“The earlier we start the better fighters they say we’ll be,” I explain.
“Fighters? Like my brother is going to fight?”
“Yeah, probably so,” I agree, already hating the bastard. He’s man enough to take hits to his face but too much of a pussy to take care of his sister? Worse than that, he obviously sold her to Scarfone and she has no idea. What a fucking asshole.
When I hear the girl’s stomach rumbling with hunger, I close my notebook and get to my feet, tucking it underneath my arm. “Come on. I’ll show you around and introduce you to everyone, then fix you something to eat.”
…
Gabby
I’m still angry at my brother for just dropping me off and leaving me at this random house in a shitty part of town. The jerk wouldn’t even walk inside with me.
“Ivan, Knox, meet Gabrielle,” Cain, the first guy I met here with dark eyes and messy, chestnut-colored hair falling into his eyes, says to the two boys who look my age or a little older. They’re sitting on the floor in front of a television with video game controllers in their hands.
The one with jet-black hair keeps his eyes on the screen, refusing to even look up at me while the other one with hair spiked down the middle streaked red, turns to look at me with a wide grin on his face and says, “Fresh meat! Good, I’m starving.”
“Knox,” Cain grumbles what sounds like a warning.
“I’m just fucking with her,” he replies with a chuckle before his eyes go back to the game where tanks are exploding.
“Come on, I’ll let you meet Mrs. Engle, if she’s awake, and then we can make some sandwiches,” Cain starts.
“Make me one too, bro!” the guy with red hair pipes up.
“Go fix your own shit,” Cain mutters before he leads me out of the room.
At one of the bedrooms, he peeks inside and then shakes his head before we walk past.
“She’s asleep. The old bird isn’t able to do much lately so we’re pretty much on our own,” he whispers.
As we pass by, I glance over and see a white-haired woman curled up in bed. She looks like she’s in her eighties or nineties.
“There are no other adults here?” I ask him in concern when we enter the kitchen.
“Nope. Just her,” Cain says when he goes over to open the fridge and start pulling food out. In his arms is more to eat than I’ve seen in two weeks, making my mouth water and my stomach grumble even louder.
He obviously hears it because his dark eyes lower to my belly before he says, “Grab a plate and fix whatever you want.”
After he pulls some chips down from a cabinet, I’m unable to resist any longer. I grab a handful of them and start cramming the salty chips into my mouth before I even start working on a sandwich.
Once my turkey and ham is devoured along with the rest of the bag of chips, I ask Cain, who is finishing up eating on the other side of the counter on a barstool, “So are there any other girls here?”
He shakes his head and chews up his bite of food before answering. “Not anymore.”
Those two words sound ominous, making the food in my stomach turn sour.
“What…what happened to them?” I ask.
“We’re only allowed to stay here until our eighteenth birthdays, then we have to go to work.”
“Oh,” I mutter in relief since that doesn’t sound so bad.
“How old are you?” Cain asks.
“Fourteen. I’ll be fifteen in August,” I answer. “How old are you?”
“Just turned fifteen in December,” he says.
“Happy belated birthday,” I tell him.
“Thanks,” he grumbles. “But birthdays aren’t anything to celebrate here. It means I’m even closer to having to leave. Knox and Ivan can’t wait to get out of this place because they have no idea what’s coming.”
“What’s coming?” I ask in confusion.
“We’ll have to fight for them, whenever they fucking tell us to, and probably each other.”
“Who’s them?”
“Scarfone and his henchmen,” Cain responds.
Just the name sounds scary.
“That’s who my brother will be fighting for too?” I ask.
“Probably. He doesn’t know what he’s getting himself into,” Cain replies.
“Will he be okay?” I ask in concern.
“Maybe. I haven’t seen him so I couldn’t tell you if he’ll get his ass beat or not,” he tells me with a smirk.
“Hey! That’s not a very nice thing to say,” I tell him through narrowed eyes.
“And I’m not a very nice person. You’ll get used to it,” he says. “If you’re finished stuffing your face, go grab your shit and I’ll show you where your room is.”
I sit there on my stool and stare unblinking at him after his offensive orders. Eventually, he reaches up and grabs a handful of his hair to push it out of his eyes before he asks, “Do you want me to show you where the fuck to sleep or not?”
“Yes, but I’m not doing anything if you’re going to be rude,” I tell him, crossing my arms over my chest.
“Suit yourself,” he says, getting up from his seat to throw his trash away. On the way out of the kitchen, he tells me, “Look for the room upstairs with a bunch of pink and purple girly shit in it.”
Chapter Three
Cain
During Gabrielle’s first night, I’m not at all surprised by the sniffles coming from across the hallway. Everyone cries their first night here, even me. Not because I was scared but because I was in so much pain and kept hearing the screams in my head…
Hearing Gabrielle’s sniffles turn into sobs is almost as agonizing as that night when I picture the tears running down her beautiful, angelic face.
Ivan and Knox don’t appear to notice since I can hear both of their soft snores from their bunk beds, but mine is closest to the door.
Climbing out from underneath the sheets, I tiptoe down the hallway and into the room that’s empty other than Gabrielle. There have only been two other girls over the few months that I’ve been here and they both just turned eighteen. That means that now they’re working at the club. Neither wanted to leave, knowing what future was ahead of them, but there’s no choice once you walk through the doors here. Scarfone owns us, even pays good money for pretty girls like Gabrielle. So as soon as we become adults, we have to pay him back for giving us a place to stay and feeding us. There are no exceptions.
“Hey,” I whisper wh
en I step into the dark room. “Go to sleep. Those tears won’t do you any good here.”
“I don’t want…to be here!” she hiccups from her bed, curled up in a ball with her back to me.
“Did Ivan or Knox say some shit to you?” I ask in concern. “Don’t listen to Knox. He’s always screwing off and joking with everyone.”
“No. I just…wanna…I just wanna go home,” she answers.
“This is your home now. It’s not bad, and it could be worse,” I tell her, knowing from experience.
“I’m scared,” she whispers. “And I miss Robbie.”
“Robbie your brother?” I ask as I approach her bed just to keep her talking instead of crying.
“Yeah. He’s nineteen. A few months ago, we ran away from home in Columbia, South Carolina and came up here, but then he couldn’t find any work…”
“When was the last time you ate a whole meal before you got here?” I ask her.
“A few days ago,” she mumbles softly.
“See, that’s one thing we’ve got going for us. Here you can eat whatever you want whenever you want it. There’s always tons of food, and Mrs. Engle might be slow but she can cook,” I point out to try and cheer her up. Honestly, the endless supply of food was my favorite part when I walked through the doors. I was emaciated, fed only scraps and forced to drink spilled water from the floor like a dog before I ran away.
“Robbie’s gonna save some money and come get me soon,” she tells me, regurgitating whatever lies he obviously told her.
“Look, not to be an asshole, but don’t get your hopes up,” I reply. “No one gets to leave this place, at least not until you’re eighteen.”
“No! That’s not…he won’t leave me…” Gabrielle argues before she begins crying again even harder.
“Please stop crying,” I beg when I grab her shoulder. “You’ll wake up Mrs. Engle, and she’s old as fuck. She’ll probably break a hip coming up the stairs.” The old bat can’t hear worth a shit. But as much noise as this girl is making, she’ll get up to come check on her. Just last week, Ivan found her sprawled out on the kitchen floor after she slipped and fell.
“Shhh, it’s okay,” I keep telling Gabrielle until her whimpers begin to die down. “Go to sleep,” I whisper before I pull my hand away from her to return to my room.
“Wait,” she says when she rolls over and grabs my arm. “Will you…will you stay with me tonight?”
Eww. This girl wants me to sleep in her bed with her? Knox would give me so much shit if he found out…
“Please?” she begs so sadly that my decision is instantly made for me.
“Will you shut up if I stay?” I snap.
“Yes,” she agrees. I hesitate a few more seconds before I lift the covers and slip into her twin bunk bed. Gabrielle slides over toward the wall to make room.
She’s still facing me once I lay my head on my half of her pillow. Grabbing a handful of the front of my shirt in her fists, she clenches it tightly before her puffs of breath in my face begin to slow and she drifts off to sleep.
That’s when I know I could pry her fingers off my tee and sneak back to my bed, but I don’t. She’s so close I can feel the warmth radiating from her body, and she smells sweet like flowers.
I must drift off to sleep fast, because the next time I crack my eyes open the sun is rising outside the bedroom window. It’s unfortunately not the only thing rising. I definitely need to leave before anyone else wakes up and catches me in here or Gabrielle wakes up and slaps me.
The sad girl is no longer grasping my shirt. Instead, she’s facing the wall and I’m molded to her backside with my arm thrown over her waist.
That’s not even the most embarrassing thing.
My dick is pressed into the swell of her curvy bottom and it’s rock hard. I’m surprised Gabrielle hasn’t yet noticed or complained about how it’s trying to drill its way inside her.
When she squirms in her sleep, causing friction on my hard-on, I nearly come in my athletic shorts. The pain is so excruciating that I can’t take another second of it.
I jump up out of bed and go straight to the shower where I touch myself to make it go away.
…
Gabby
Maybe this place won’t be so bad after all.
That’s my first thought when I wake up in a strange bed, alone in an unfamiliar bedroom.
At least I’m not starving. And last night was the first time I had ever slept in the same bed with someone else. It was…nice. More than nice to know that Cain was there and I wasn’t completely alone.
And then this morning, when I felt his lower body protruding into my backside…well, that was a brand-new and exciting sensation. His shorts were thin, so his entire hard length was noticeable. The contact caused a warm, tingling ache to spread through my lower belly and made my skin feel like it was overheating. I’m not entirely sure what it was, but I do know that I want more of it again and soon.
After just knowing Cain for a day, I’m starting to think there’s more to him than the tough exterior he portrays. He must have lost his parents or be a runaway if he ended up here with those two other boys. I wonder how long they’ve all been here. Guess I’ll have to ask them.
Once I’ve had a shower and changed into one of the few outfits I have in my backpack, the smell of bacon has me jogging down the stairs to find breakfast.
“Morning, dear,” Mrs. Engle says when I step into the kitchen. I finally got to meet the sweet little white-haired lady last night at dinner after she woke from her nap. The three guys are already sitting around the long, wooden dining table, shoveling food into their mouths.
“Morning,” I reply.
“How did you sleep?” she asks.
Glancing quickly over at Cain whose eyes remain lowered on his plate, I tell her, “Pretty great actually.”
“Well, good. You let me know if you need more blankets, okay?”
“I stayed warm, but thank you,” I tell her.
“Fix yourself a plate. Ivan and Knox are about to go off to school. You should go with them and get registered.”
“Yeah, sure,” I agree as I grab a plate from the counter and start piling up some eggs, bacon, and toast.
There’s an open seat at the table next to Cain, but I don’t take it because I get the feeling he wouldn’t appreciate me crowding him, especially in front of the other two guys. Instead, I take the one next to the black-haired boy who doesn’t say much.
“So, how long have you all been staying here?” I ask as we eat, just to break up the silence.
“Forever,” Knox, the guy with red streaks in his hair, says. And I’m not sure if he’s serious or being sarcastic. “Ivan’s been here for two years, and Cain just got here a few months ago.”
“Oh,” I mutter in surprise. I want to ask how they got here but figure that might be pushing my luck. “So, you’re all training to fight?” I ask.
“Yep,” Knox answers before using his fork to point at my plate. “Eat faster or we’re gonna be late.”
Taking the hint, I scarf down every delicious crumb, then thank Mrs. Engle for cooking before I grab my backpack and follow the guys out the door. Cain doesn’t say a word to any of us when we leave, although, when I sneak a peek over my shoulder, I find his eyes on me. The frown on his face makes him look sad like he wished he could go with us, which is crazy since I would do anything to get out of starting a new high school in the middle of the year.
“Why doesn’t Cain go to school?” I ask Ivan and Knox as we walk along the sidewalk with me in the middle.
“They say he can’t. Lucky SOB,” Knox replies. “Not sure what’s up with that, though.”
“Must be wanted,” the silent kid speaks up and says, the first words I’ve ever heard him say.
“Whatever,” Knox mutters. “Ivan swears Cain’s a criminal on the run or some shit. I figure he probably just got suspended for brawling and can’t go back to school for another year.”
“That
would make sense,” I agree. “More so than him being wanted,” I tease the quiet kid, hoping to get a response from him, but he keeps his eyes straight ahead and doesn’t smile.
“Anyway,” Knox starts. “Just keep your head down in your classes. There are a lot of jock dickheads running around campus, and the girls aren’t much better.”
“Yeah, okay. So, it’s pretty much like every other school?” I ask as the tall building with an American flag flying out front comes into view.
“Pretty much, except with probably more drugs and criminals. You’re in the Italian mafia district now, sweet cheeks,” Knox tells me as we approach. And again, I don’t know whether or not to take him seriously.
“The Italian mafia?” I repeat in disbelief. “Those guys are just in the movies, right?”
“They’re real,” Ivan speaks up and says. “And they own us.”
I assume he means him and Knox; but before I can ask, we reach our destination. Some kids are standing around in groups smoking cigarettes while others are rushing inside the building to get out of the cold.
Grabbing my arm to pull me to a stop, Knox whispers, “If anyone messes with you, just tell them you’re one of Scarfone’s girls.”
“But I’m not,” I reply with my brow furrowed in confusion.
“Uh, right, yeah. Don’t worry about that right now. Just remember the name, okay?” he asks.
“Yeah, Scarfone. Got it,” I agree.
“The office is just inside on the left. They’ll get you registered and give you a schedule. Meet you here after the bell?”
“Ah, yeah,” I agree nervously because I hate being in a new place with a bunch of strangers. Not for the first time, I start to wonder if up and leaving home with Robbie was a huge mistake. But I guess new and different is better than the old and familiar hell of a single mother who sold everything we’ve ever owned for her nasty drug habit. When she owed her dealer more than she could pay, he threatened to come after Robbie and me, so leaving town was our only option.
Hopefully, things will calm down soon so that we can go home.
