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I turned, sitting on the floor, but faced the wall, staring at it. From behind me came sounds of a belt loosening, a zipper slipping down and cloth shuffling. My back stiffened. He was getting undressed?
Trust him, I willed to myself. Gabriel made a promise. He’s here risking his own freedom, at the risk of getting the police called on him, to stay with me. Trust him.
More shuffling. A tap on my shoulder. “Alright.”
I turned. His shoes were off, sitting next to him on the floor. His pants were back on. His belt hung off of his knee as he held up a pair of boxers.
He picked up his phone and hit a button to illuminate the screen. “Hold it up for me.”
I took his phone in my hands, holding it over his shoulder. I shifted to block the light from the crack under the door with my own body.
Gabriel held the boxers close to his face, pulling a pocket knife from his back pocket. He measured the width of the belt, and started cutting slots into the material of the boxers, like belt loops. He chewed on the edge of his lip as he worked. “Buy her a fucking new wardrobe, and she wears my clothes,” he mumbled.
“I like your clothes,” I whispered. His were always so colorful. I couldn’t imagine the others wearing the bold oranges and neon greens and having the earrings to match the style he liked.
“Shush or I’ll drag you out of here now,” he said, his focus on the boxers. When he finished, he threaded the belt through the makeshift belt loops. “Put this on. If we’re going to have to make a run for it later, it’ll be easier if you aren’t completely naked.”
I sighed, turning around. I held out my hand, ready to take the boxers from him but instead, he ducked next to me, holding the boxers in place for me to step in to. My heart thundered as I stepped into the underwear, and he slid the material up my legs, adjusting them on my hips.
When they were up all the way, he turned me around, yanking the belt together. He tugged it tight at my hips, frowning. “You’re too small.” He picked up his pocket knife, finding a sharp screwdriver tool and started grinding out another notch.
When he was finished, the end of the belt nearly folded down over itself. He threaded it back again through the belt loops he made.
The boxers were a comfort. I felt better prepared to run now, too.
He dropped to his knees again, falling onto the carpet on his back. I slipped next to him on the floor. He held out his hands, wrapping his arms around my shoulder. He pulled me until I was resting on top of him, my stomach on top of his. My knees dropped to the floor on either side of his hips. His hand found my cheek and he held my head against his chest. It was almost cozy.
My eyes drooped. I’d been stressed all night with Nathan, aware and terrified all morning with being stuck in the closet. Now I was with Gabriel. I was warm and exhausted. I knew I shouldn’t sleep. I needed to be awake and ready to go in case we needed to fly out or if my father showed up.
“Sang,” he whispered.
“Yeah?” I whispered back, staring off at the small crack of light coming in under the door.
“You’re fucking grounded.”
I pressed my face to his chest, clutching at his tank top and smothering a giggle. “For how long?”
“Forever.”
“Are you mad?”
“Fuck yes.”
I shouldn’t have been happy about it, but I was. I smiled against his chest.
He tucked his right arm under his head, propping it up. His other hand massaged at my scalp, his fingers combing through my hair. “I give you a pretty haircut and paint some stars and do all this shit for you. ‘Hey Trouble, come on and let me save you.’ ‘No, Meanie, I’m gonna stay here.’ How the hell did you talk me into this?”
“I told you to go back.”
“Are you kidding? Kota would shoot me. Mr. Blackbourne would skin me. I’d never live through it.”
We fell quiet. I listened for the sound of my mother. It sounded like she was on her bed. Maybe she’d fall asleep.
“Meanie?”
“Yes, Trouble?”
I bit my lower lip. “What’s going to happen to us?”
Gabriel sucked in a breath. He carefully picked me up and moved me until I was on my back on the carpet. He shifted until he was on his side, his back facing the closet door as if to put himself between my mother and me. He hovered over me, one arm propping himself up and the other on my stomach. In his shadow, I could only catch the outline of his hair, his cheek, his neck. “I’ll tell you what’s going to happen. Kota is going to find your dad. I don’t know what he’ll say, but it doesn’t matter. What will happen is you’re coming with us.”
“I can’t live with you,” I said.
“You will if you have to.” His hand at my stomach gripped me, his thumb smoothing over the shirt.
“Your parents... I mean won’t they notice another person in the house?”
“Is that what you’re fucking worried about? What my parents’ would think? Jesus Christ, Sang. You’re being held hostage by your own mo...” He stopped, swallowed. “Sorry.”
“How can you be so sure I could stay with you?” I asked, not wanting to talk about her. I didn’t know how to think of her right now. “The police...”
His hand slid higher over my stomach, fingers gripping at me and causing a cyclone of warm shivers. “Trouble, will you for once just trust me?” His head sunk down until his forehead was pressing against my shoulder. “Please? Pretty please? I’ll take care of you. You can stay with me. You can stay with Kota. You can stay with Nathan. What-the-fuck-ever you want. We’ll figure it out. We’ll do it together.”
His words rattled me. It was what I’d wanted, what I thought of in the back of my mind. I cared about them so I wanted to be with them. Why was I scared when I finally was faced with that? If I left with him now, could they do it?
I lifted my arms, wrapping them around his neck. I wanted to believe. I did. I was just exhausted and couldn’t take his begging any more. I knew I’d go wherever he asked, wherever they wanted me. There was so much I was grateful for with them. I was actually kind of sorry they worked so hard on my room. It felt like such a waste now if I did end up living with him or one of the others.
He cuddled me, his nose nuzzled my cheek. “Don’t worry so much. I’ve got you now. I’m not letting go.”
I sighed against him, willing myself to believe.
Time passed. No word from Kota. Gabriel hovered his fingers over his phone often but never sent a message. He said if they were busy, it could be risky to interrupt. He just really wanted an update.
I dozed next to Gabriel often. I forced myself awake every time, listening. I was worried if I fell asleep and if Gabriel did, too, we would get caught. I didn’t know what would happened if she opened the closet now and checked on us.
Gabriel kept his arms around me, as if daring her to find us.
At some point I was drifting. Gabriel nudged me awake. “Trouble, it’s time. We’ve got to go.”
I sucked in a breath, getting a lung full of Gabriel’s scent. “Hm?” I asked, still half asleep.
“It’s eight. Time to take you home with me.”
My eyes parted, sitting up sharply. “Did they not find him?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t heard from anyone.”
“Maybe you should text them.”
“No,” he said. “We’ve got to go. Kota’s orders.”
“But he could be any minute.”
Gabriel gave a painful sigh. “Sang, he’s not coming. They couldn’t reach him or he won’t come. Either way, we can’t stay here. If we leave, we could get a head start.”
“But if we walk out...”
“Oy,” he said, his tone growing to the point that it was scaring me that we would be heard. “We’re going.”
“Give me a minute,” I pleaded, not sure what good it would do. Why was I stalling? If I were honest with myself, I knew why. In my heart, I thought if we left, that it wouldn’t be as simple as
Gabriel had promised. It was also a crazy feeling of rejection. Maybe I cared what my father thought of me after all. I couldn’t believe, even if he had left, that he had truly abandoned us. Part of me wanted to think he really was on a business trip.
I rubbed at my eyes, yawning, stretching, stalling.
“Trouble,” he said. “If you don’t get that pretty ass of yours up, I swear...”
The house trembled around us as a door was shut hard somewhere in the house. Footsteps treaded through the house. We both drew quiet, waiting. Was it Kota coming in to swoop us out of there? Did Mr. Blackbourne get tired of waiting and send everyone in?
My mother’s voice shot out over the murmur of the television. “Look who decided to show up,” she said.
“What’s going on?” my father’s voice traveled through the air.
My father showed up! My eyes widened, glancing over at Gabriel. I couldn’t tell in the dark but he seemed to be frowning.
“You left something,” she said.
Footsteps came closer. Gabriel scrambled up, pressing himself against the little bit of wall next to the door, standing out of view. I moved to my knees, kowtowing out of years of habit.
The door opened. My father filled the space. I blinked up at him, shaking. He was wearing brown slacks and a short sleeve polo shirt, two sizes too big. His curly hair had been cut shorter. His cheeks were pink from too much sun.
He frowned at me, turning back toward the bedroom. “You can’t keep her in the closet. Her school called me saying she missed some important tests and when they tried to call, they said you said she moved.”
“She is moving,” my mother spat at him. “You’re taking her.”
My father reeled his head back. “No. I’m not.”
