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“Okay, okay. I’m goin’.” I raise my hands up in defeat and leave him to answer it. I laugh to myself as I head into my room and pull the sweaty tee off my back. Then after finding something fresh to put on, I head back out into the living space to meet the girl that’s got my brother’s head in a spin.
My feet stop still when I step through the door and see who it is.
“Oh my god!” Carly looks surprised to see me.
She pulls her lips up into that bright, beautiful smile and looks even more perfect outta her uniform. The cute, flowery dress she’s wearing shows off her petite, little figure so much better, and seeing her hand placed inside my brother’s puts a sting in my chest.
“Tobias, this is Carly. Carly, this is my brother, they call him Chop around here, now. I guess you can choose for yourself what you call him.”
“We actually know each other.” She stares up at him adoringly, exactly the same way the girl in the diner looked at her man this morning. The same way I’ve been wanting her to look at me since the first time I saw her.
“Chop’s one of my morning regulars.” She passes me off as if I’m just the same as any other fuckin’ customer she serves on her shift.
“I thoughtIwas your only regular.” My brother grips her tiny, little hip in his hand and makes her giggle when he kisses her neck and growls playfully against her skin. I feel the snarl tug at my lip because seeing her with him doesn’t just fuckin’ hurt, it burns right to the fuckin’ core.
He’s selfish for bringing her into this life that I was determined to protect her from. And as her laughter gets louder the siren in my head that summons me to cause pain becomes almost unbearable.
“You good, Bro?” Skid pauses and looks up at me like he can sense something’s wrong and suddenly that siren goes silent.
“Yeah, I’m good. Let’s fuckin’ eat.”
Iwas surprised at how well Skid took what I told him. He never doubted me or seemed fazed by my past, which makes me mad at myself for not being honest with him from the start. I really appreciate his optimism, and as much as I want to have faith in what he says I have to remain realistic. Skid doesn’t know what he’s up against with these people. They make their own rules, and the fact that Abraham came so far away from his precious village only shows how determined he is to get us back.
I spend the rest of the morning playing with Charlie and we watch his favorite TV show before dinner. It’s amazing how kids can be. I’ve taken him from the only home he’s ever known and brought him to this strange place, full of scary-looking men, and yet he hasn’t stopped smiling since we’ve been here.
The door opens and when Skid steps inside I wish I could read the look that’s on his face. He heads straight for the coffee machine and pours himself a straight black, then remains silent and thoughtful as he rests his ass against the counter and drinks it.
“How did your meeting go?” I ask when the silence becomes unbearable.
“It went well.” He gives nothing away. In fact, he seems to be a million miles away.
“Charlie, why don’t you go into our room and play with your trains?” I suggest, getting the feeling there's something on Skid’s mind. The kind of something I wouldn’t want Charlie to hear.
“But I’m watching this,” he complains.
“Just for five minutes.” I give him the look that tells him not to argue with me, and he pouts before he gets up and sulks into the bedroom. I wait for him to be out of earshot before I turn back to Skid.
“What aren’t you telling me?” I ask him quietly. A sick feeling is starting to settle in my stomach.
“These men, the ones you call Elders. We’ve heard about them before,” he admits, his hand scrubbing through his beard like he’s on edge.
“How? The village is miles away from here and the Elders work really hard to keep it concealed.” I can’t believe what I’m hearing is true. Especially when I think about all the forest I had to trek through to be free.
“A few years ago, those men bought some stolen guns, and we took on the job of gettin’ them back.”
“Guns?” I laugh because now I know what he’s saying can’t be true.
“What you findin’ funny?” Skid furrows his brow like he’s confused.
“Skid, the Elders are old men. They are preachers and farmers. Okay, they have agendas and are controlling in their ways but they are anti-weaponists. It’s one of the things they constantly preach about. The reason they protect from the outside.”
“Addy, those men purchased a case of AK’s. Those are high artillery weapons. Fully automatic guns. They ain’t used for making warnin’ shots. And there’s somethin’ else…” His head lowers like he might back out of telling me what that something else is.
“What?”
“Those bastards got that whole place rigged with C4. I didn’t wanna tell you this, but you’re right, those men are real dangerous. They are extremists, and there was a reason we didn’t storm in there and take back those guns for the Russians, all those years ago. Club’s number one rule is that we don’t hurt women and kids. If we cross that perimeter without an invitation there’s nothin’ to say that whole place won’t go boom.”
“No, the Elders are bad men, Skid. Vile men. But their sole ambition is to protect the village. They would never destroy it.”
