I snap my fingers at the nearest staff member. “Get the helicopter. My niece needs to be taken to the hospital immediately.”
“Yes sir!”
“And Yosef, take care of that.” I wave in Brian’s general direction. “And make sure his parents understand. Get thevideos, too.” More than one young person was filming, and that needs to be taken care of.
“Yes, sir.”
My on-site paramedic skids to his knees beside Brian before Yosef can drag him away, getting grass on his pristine blue scrubs, cussing in alarm at the sight of the violence.
Idiot.
“You!” I bark at them. “You’remyfucking paramedic. You’ll see my niece first. He can wait.”
The nurse flinches, gulps, and shakily leaves Brian to Yosef’s less than tender care, and comes to help Kira.
“She inhaled water,” I explain, biting and terse. “She could be dry drowning right now. He can fucking wait.”
“Yes, sir,” they agree meekly. “Kira, let me sit you up, I need to listen to your lungs–”
I lean back on my heels and ponder the ramifications that this will have on my family, my business, my social standing; Brian’s family is of no small means, and they aren’t without their own unsavory dealings. Nothing so organized and well done as my brotherhood, but their enemies have been known to commit “suicide” under dubious circumstances. And Tommy just brutalized their precious only son.
I’m not afraid of them, but I know how they’ll react, and their anger must be planned for–allcontingencies must be planned for. The fact that Brian clearly started it, that he’s been provoking Tommy all week, will mean nothing to them. They’ll want to hurt Tommy, because to them, he’s nobody important. I haven’t even heard of his family, so they aren’t likely to be that important or protected. They’ll find a way to get to him.
If he were one of mine, they’d never even dream of going after him.
Huh…if he were a Sokolov…
This changes a lot of things. This changes everything.
A plan takes shape in my mind, one that will make everyone happy and keep Tommy protected from any backlash Brian’s family might pursue. One that will wrap everything in a neat little bow, and tie Tommy to me for a long time.
Chapter 9
Tommy
After a long night of no news, I feel sick to my stomach as I’m carted away from the mansion early the next morning. Regret isn’t a super familiar feeling for me, and I’m not used to dealing with the fallout of my own actions. Usually, I run off. But this time I’m forced to wait all night in Young-gi’s house, nervously pacing the room and reliving Kira’s horrified expression–the way she flinched back from me, the way she begged me to stop.
Once the reality of what I’ve done hits me, I shower off the blood and lake water as quickly as I can, worried that at any moment the police are going to come and take me away. I’m not trying to get rid of evidence or anything, I know I’m fucked if police come. But I figure if I’m going to jail, I might as well be clean first. But, luckily, the cops never show. Instead, when someone finally comes for me early this morning, it’s just a staff member looking professionally blank-faced.
Under their strict supervision, I’m finally bundled into a car, and when I work up the courage to ask the driver where he’s taking me, he says I’m going to be dropped off at the airport. I sigh, relieved and sad and scared at the same time.
Relieved because that’s better than jail.
Sad because I never got to tell Kira I was sorry. I don’t even know where she is, or if she’s alright.
And scared because I have no way to get out of here. It doesn’t matter if they bring me right to the door of LAX, I’ve got no money or ID. Even if they bought me a ticket, I have no way to check in for a flight, or prove my identity. I’m no one. A ghost.
I’ve got no way home. And the reality of my situation is that, if I can’t get transportation back to New York, I’ll have to rebuild myself from the ground up here in California. I don’t even knowwherein California I am. I don’t even know which airport they’re bringing me to.
Maybe I can walk to a bus station from wherever the driver drops me off. But I’ll have to make a stop at a pawn shop first, to get money for the bus fare; cross-country tickets aren’t cheap. Luckily, I’ve already hidden a few of Tommy Claremont’s shiny, fancy things in my shoes and my pockets. I’ve still got his suitcase and his clothes, because no one told me I couldn’t take them, and hopefully, it’s enough to pay my way across the country and cover my portion of rent and my missing wages for the last few days. It would be nice if it was enough to buy some food along the way, too.
Realistically, I can go without eating for a while. I’ve done it before. But the memories of Young-gi’s breakfast buffets will haunt me forever.
If it’s not enough money–if it doesn’t cover everything and my boss doesn’t have a job for me right away… well, I guess I still know a few ways to get money quickly.
Maybe Bruce will be down to fuck. I haven’t sought him out in a long while. I shove away the little voice in my head that insists I’m only thinking of Bruce because Young-gi gave off such strong Daddy vibes, and Bruce is the only real Daddy I know. It doesn’t matter why I’m thinking about him. What matters is whether or not he’ll pay me for a fuck. If I have to go back to selling myself, I’d rather it be to him.
At least I got to eat like a king for a couple days. Just like I wanted,I console myself, and smile softly at my sore knuckles as I recall Brian’s hand being crushed under the stone in my fist.Yeah, that was pretty good.
