He shook his head. “I had no idea you were going to speak but went along with it. Truthfully, you killed my dramatic traitorous death scene.”
I pointed to the man now shaking on the floor of the jet behind him. “That’s not dramatic?”
“I told him to stop with those damn toothpicks,” he muttered, avoiding my question, and then looked over at Wyatt, whose eyes were closed. “You aren’t going to be a hero?”
“My shift doesn’t start for another two hours,” he replied, placing his headphones over his ears.
Ethan shrugged, reaching for his drink again. “Guess he’s shit out of luck then.”
Was it odd that I found this refreshing? It felt like a family to me. I liked them. All of them. Even though they looked at me weirdly, they never acted as if I were some wild animal as Ms. Lisowski did and people all through my life did. I knew I was sometimes a little bi-polar, even though I wasn’t actually. The warden had me checked. But still, I didn’t feel like I couldn’t be myself.
Catching my mood shift, Ethan said softly, “What is it?
“You know what I’ve always wanted?” I looked outside as we started to lower, splitting through the clouds hovering over the city. “I’ve always wanted to be a somebody, to prove they were wrong about me. The moment I got locked up I thought I’d dreamed too high.”
“Are you saying thank you to me then?” he said in humor, teasing me, but I wasn’t joking about that.
“I guess I am.” I left this city an ugly duckling and now I was coming back as a swan.
ETHAN
She was nervous yet enthusiastic, serene yet vengeful. I could tell she loved her city the way I loved Chicago. I didn’t know how I’d feel if I had to leave for almost a decade without knowing when I’d come back. Even more so if I had debts to repay. Part of me was so intrigued by the many, many, thoughts that might be crossing her mind at any given second. I wanted to know what she’d do next. I wanted to see how far she’d go. What her plans were or if she had any of them at all. I had no doubts about the level she’d go to if she needed to know. But still…
“We’ll give you both a moment,” she declared to the rest of the plane, grabbing her red coat and scarf from her chair and squeezing herself between us, mouthing ‘talk to him and be nice.’ Then she walked toward the doors of the jet with Lex. Greyson tried to stay behind, but the look she gave was apparently anything far more fearsome than myself because he didn’t even bother to double-check with me before stepping out with her.
“You have been married less than a day and she already has everyone under her thumb.” Wyatt stared blankly at the exit, his bag over his shoulder, before he turned to me. “Even you…does she even know—”
“When are you coming home?” I asked, ignoring his comment.
“I am home, Ethan.”
“You were born and raised in Chicago. You are a Callahan. No matter how badly you want to erase it, that is who you are.”
“For the love of God! We are not in the 16th century, Ethan!” He clenched onto his bag tighter. His once blank stare began to narrow on me, a look I’d become familiar with. “We aren’t princes or gods or wolves or lions or beasts or whatever the fuck Mother and Father filled our heads with. Do you ever listen t
o half the shit that comes out of your mouth? Or anyone else for that matter? We’ve deluded ourselves into believing we are all powerful, but, Brother, we are not! Didn’t Mother’s death prove that? Didn’t Father’s? Grandfather’s? For fuck’s sake, Ethan, a church fell on top of our grandmother! Does that look like power? I know you truly believe in the greatness that is our family but outside your bubble, the Callahans are just like the hahdo boys from Milie.”
It took all my strength not to beat the shit out of his little ungrateful bitch ass. “Get the fuck off my jet.”
“Like I told you, it’s—”
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
The shots seemed never-ending and the only thing that crossed my mind was to run toward the door, toward the bullets…Ivy!
I was prepared for the worst, for blood, for death.
However, by the time I got outside I saw neither blood nor death. Ivy rose slowly by the side of the old black Dodge, Greyson shielding her.
“Apparently, we got jokers in the city,” Lex yelled to me, lifting up a string of homemade fireworks still smoking.