The back of his hand meets my cheek, and for a moment, I see stars.
“You’ll do as I say, boy,” he snarls, spit hitting my lips.
I wipe the blood from my cut lip and glare at him. “Do what you want with me, but I’m not having sex with my sister.”
He opens his mouth to say something, but Emo’s one word has us all looking over at him.
“No.” His voice is calm but looking at him you can see the rage vibrating through his veins.
“Who in the fuck says you get an opinion?” Mr. Leland spits.
Emo takes a step forward, but his father stops him with a hand on his shoulder. “I do.”
Mr. Leland lifts narrowed eyes to Mr. Masters.
“Obviously, the boy wants to keep the girl for himself. Can’t say I blame him, since she is a pretty little thing.”
My blood ignites at the way Mr. Masters looks at Rella, like he wants to eat her whole. Emo doesn’t seem to be fairing any better. I can imagine he’s killing his father ten different ways in his head.
Mr. Masters pulls his eyes away from Rella and back to Mr. Leland. “I’ve got a better idea.” His eyes gleam and it has my stomach rolling. “What about best friend to best friend?”
Bile rises in my throat, but I swallow and force it back down.
“No,” I grate through clenched teeth.
Mr. Masters’ eyes snap to mine. “You’d rather fuck your sister, then?”
No, I don’t want to do either. Even the thought has me wanting to jam a screw driver in my ear and scramble my brain to make it go away.
“One of the two is going to happen, Elijah,” Mr. Masters says. He moves his eyes beside me and Mr. Leland nods, lust filling his gaze. “Which is it going to be? Your best friend or your sister?”
My muscles tense, ready to launch myself at Mr. Masters. It won’t do much good because both of the men are much stronger than me, but if I could get them to hit me enough, maybe I won’t be capable of doing what they want.
Emo shoves his father aside, steps in front of me, and spins so his back is facing me.
I’m stunned speechless for a moment. He looks over his shoulder and barks, “Just do it.”
I shake my head. There’s no way I can hurt my best friend like that. Just like I refuse to hurt my sister. I’ll die before I do either.
He turns back toward me and comes closer until his face is in mine.
“Please,” he croaks on a whisper. “Maybe they won’t make her do anything. I don’t want to hurt her tonight, Trouble. Please.”
For the first time in a long time, I see something other than nothing in Emo’s eyes. He’s not only begging me with his words, but his gaze as well. Tears, something I’m not sure I’ve ever seen before, form in his eyes and it makes my throat get tight.
It’s pointless. To fight. No matter how much I may try, in the end I’ll be forced to do something horrible. I look toward Rella, her innocent eyes watching me with sorrow. I can’t hurt her. I’d do anything to stop from hurting her. Even if that means hurting my friend.
Swallowing past the lump in my throat, I look back at Emo and give him a single nod. Relief floods his face. He turns around and yanks down his shorts to his knees. Gripping the table by Rella’s head, he bends over. She turns her face toward him and puts her small hand on top of his. Emo’s eyes are closed, but Rella keeps hers open and on him.
From behind, my own sweatpants are yanked down. Tears of shame streak down my cheeks when my erect penis pops out. I was given one of the little blue pills before I was brought here. I should have known then that something bad was going to happen. I thought Mr. Leland was going to have me put my penis in his butt, like he has a couple times before. That’s not as bad as having him put his in me, although it’s still disgusting.
Something greasy is smeared on me, then I’m shoved forward. I close my eyes, tears dripping from my chin, and do what I’ve got no choice in doing.
REMI
IT’S BEEN TWO WEEKS since Trouble promised me that Phillip would get what he deserves. I’ve decided to not think about what that means exactly. If I don’t know, then I won’t worry about it. As long as Phillip doesn’t come near Elijah, then I don’t care what happens to him. So long as Trouble isn’t hurt in the process.
That day, while I was waiting for Trouble to come back from taking his phone call, my phone rang. I was still so deep in thought that I didn’t think about checking the screen. It was Lynn. After her initial shock that I answered, she gave me the news about Phillip escaping. Her texts and phone calls had increased over the last week, and now I regret even more not answering them.