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Ford stares at her for a long moment and I think he’s going to do something like kiss her or touch her hips or something like that, like what boys do to girls in movies. Sara Lynn’s pretty in a way I’ll never be: tall, skinny, long blonde hair, big blue eyes. She looks like a member of our family, like an illustrious Stockton, while I look likethe mistaken bastard mix of a junkie daughter and some gutter-rutting stranger,according to my grandfather.
Instead, Ford grabs her wrist tightly and twists it sharply to the left.
Sara Lynn yelps with pain and surprise. Nobody moves—her friends are too horrified to say anything, and a sudden pulse of excitement runs down into my core as my hands fly to my mouth. My tears are all forgotten as I stare at Ford bending Sara Lynn’s wrist to the side, her teeth clenched down in a terrified and pained grimace. She tries to struggle, tries to hit him, but he’s twice her size and not smiling at all, only staring at her with a grim expression, as he wrenches her wrist up behind her back and holds her there like she’s a child.
“How does it feel to be pushed around by someone bigger?” he says and leans closer, his lips practically kissing her throat. “I can tell you that it feels good to do the pushing. Should I break your wrist? I wonder if I’d like that. I think I’d reallyloveto hear you fuckingscream, Sar. God, that’d be hot.”
“Ford,” Sara Lynn groans. “Get the fuck off me, please. Don’t do this.”
“Would you stop if your cousin begged? Would you let her go?”
No,I want to say,she wouldn’t stop, but I keep my mouth shut. Something tells me this is bigger than I realize. This is Adult. This is Grown-Up Stuff, and I definitely don’t understand the dynamics at play here.
“Yes,” Sara Lynn gasps. “Please! Let me go! I’d totally stop!”
“Are you going to cry now for some attention, you pathetic loser? You’re small, Sar. You’re fucking tiny. I could snap your delicate little wrist and I’d love it. I want to watch you roll around on the ground and fuckingsobyour pretty little face off. Nothing would be sexier than to watch you squirm in pain. Don’t forget it.”
After another beat, he lets her go and shoves her away. She staggers, holding her wrist, and groans as Laurie and Bronwyn run to her side.
“You could’ve really hurt her,” Laurie says fiercely as she runs a hand through her long, dark hair. “What’s wrong with you, Ford?”
“Fuck off, Laurie. All three of you, fuck off, or else I’ll decide I haven’t had enough and take it out on all of you later at Tommy’s.”
Laurie hesitates, looking uncertain, and Bronwyn finally pulls Sara Lynn away.
“Asshole,” Sara Lynn mumbles with tears streaming down her face as they pass and head out from under the bleachers.
Ford watches them go.
I stand there trembling. I’m not crying anymore. I’m too scared to cry. My legs shake so badly I need to sit down but I can’t move. Ford is like a giant and whatever just happened was bad, it was really bad, boys aren’t supposed to hurt girls like that, but Ford did it and he seemed to really enjoy it. That’s not right and I don’t get why he would do something like that for someone like me.
“Uh,” I finally say. Ford’s busy staring off at them and he starts when I speak like he forgot I was there. “Thanks.”
He narrows his eyes. “Sara Lynn’s really your cousin?”
“Yeah. She’s not usually—” I stop myself because that’s not true. “Yeah. She’s my cousin. And seriously, thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. I didn’t do it for you. For all I fucking care, Sara can throw you off a cliff next time. Good luck with that.”
Ford turns and walks away, his hands shoved in his pockets, his shoulders hunched forward.
I stand there stunned, not sure what to think, caught between happy that Sara Lynn got what she deserved and horrified at Ford’s sudden and sadistic violence.
