“Mommy?” he asks confused.
The woman’s head lolls around to look at Ryan when Wolf drops his hold on her hair. I would have thought she’d been beat, but she hasn’t. She’s high.
Dangerously spaced out of her head.
“Baby,” she says, the word so slurred that you can barely make out what she said. Then, as if what she said is hilarious she falls back on the floor laughing and looking up at the ceiling.
I can’t stop myself and I don’t even question it. I slide my seat out from the table, gather Ryan up in my arms and pull him into my lap. His body is shuddering, his face glued to his mom, but he comes to me and I wrap him up… wishing I could protect him.
“You see Ryan, you have two routes in this life. You can let things hold you back, or you can let things propel you into greatness,” King says, like he’s holding court and giving life lessons.
Which maybe they are, if they weren’t lessons that had been twisted up in his mind and he wasn’t giving them to a five-year-old.
“King,” I start to say something—I don’t know what, but something to get Ryan out of here.
“You have two types of blood running through your veins right now—mine and your mother’s. You can be strong like me, or weak like your mother. What you have to decide is what you want and go for it. Your mother here? All she’s worried about is her next fix. She can’t even be bothered to pick her own child over it.”
“King—”
“Vicki?” King questions, but Vicki is deep into la-la land. She doesn’t even realize King is standing over her. “You see Ryan, I used your mother, just until I could get to you and make sure you were in my hands where I could take care of you—make you into the man you are meant to be,” King says, making himself like some type of twisted hero. “Your mother helped me, but she didn’t do it for you. She did it for the money, but most of all for the drugs.”
“King, Ryan is only five… maybe—”
“Rory you have no voice in this. You have no voice period. Shut it now, or I’ll have Wolf cut out your tongue so you don’t have a choice. That may be the better option anyway.”
He’s grinning as he says it and I know without a doubt it will be a thought he entertains and acts on, maybe not today. That’s not his style, he’ll want me to live in fear of it for a while.
That’s how King operates.
“My son needs to know. He needs to see what happens when you make the wrong choices,” King says and my stomach flip-flops.
He walks to Ryan’s mother, grabs her hair and hauls her up to her knees. Vicki is so far gone that she doesn’t protest or cry in fear from the rough hold. No… she giggles.
“Oh God,” I whisper, not sure what’s going to happen, but knowing it won’t be good.
“Get me the needle,” King directs Wolf and I shake my head no, thinking there’s no way he can be meaning to do that.
“King! She’s too… it’s too…” I don’t even know how to finish my sentence, there are so many emotions inside of me, choking the words.
King ignores me. I watch as Wolf hands him a huge needle, filled with something that I can’t begin to guess—and wouldn’t want to. I can tell by King’s dark smile that it’s not good.
“You have a choice, Vicki,” King says.
Vicki giggles.
King shakes her head roughly.
“Stupid crack-whore,” he mutters, mostly under his breath. “Can’t believe I let my dick inside of you. You should be thanking your lucky stars that the crap inside of you only managed to eat through a condom and not my dick, or your death would be so much more painful than it’s going to be,” he says with a twisted smile.
I bend down and whisper in Ryan’s ear.
“Don’t watch baby, bury your face into me and don’t watch,” I beg.
Ryan immediately does as I ask, but my brother—who I am now positive I could kill without an ounce of remorse—won’t let him hide from what is unfolding in front of us.
“No!” he barks. “Ryan you will watch or Rory will get your punishment for interfering!” he growls.
Ryan goes solid in my arms, but immediately turns his head to watch his mother.
“No,” I urge him, all but panicking. “I’ll take whatever punishment he gives, baby. Don’t watch,” I beg. I try to pull his head back into me, but Ryan locks his little body and with surprising strength doesn’t let me shelter him.
“Vicki, look at your son,” King growls and he shakes her to make her focus on him. Somewhere deep, Vicki is lucid enough to understand because her head does this slow turn to look at Ryan.