Lakelyn
River locked the door as soon as the men left. He scowled. “What’re we gonna do, Lake? We can’t stay here. There’s no telling what these bikers will do to us. We can disappear, and no one will know what happened to us. They’ll rape you or sell you, maybe both. And they’ll kill me.”
“River, I don’t need you running through all the possible horrible scenarios. I know them! Christ, how did we end up in this predicament? How did you get caught?”
He sheepishly took me through what had happened before my arrival. When he was done, it was my turn.
“When you didn’t return, I got worried and came looking for you. I was out back, wondering if you’d left, when I heard voices and recognized yours. That was when I noticed the back door was cracked open. I was sneaking down the hall to find you when Tyrant roared. I thought he was killing you.”
“I almost shit myself when he did. That guy is scary as hell. His tats are amazing and terrifying at the same time. What I want to know is why you didn’t run. You know the deal,” he scolded me.
“I didn’t accept your deal. I’m not letting my little brother be captured and do nothing.”
“Then why did you yell for me not to stop and to run? I’m not doing that to you. We either both run, or we take our chances together.”
I sat in one of the chairs. I didn’t want to get the bed dirty, and as much as we tried to stay clean, it was hard. We could only use so many gas station restrooms or even homeless shelters. I was dying for a real bath and to wash my hair. River sat across from me in the other chair.
“I wish I’d never asked you to do this with me. I should’ve found you somewhere safe to go. This is no way for you to live. You should be getting ready to start college,” I said with regret.
“And you think it’s the way you should live?
Hell no, Lake. We made a pact when I was small that we’d always be together no matter what.
It was us against the world. You’re the reason I wasn’t thrown into some hellacious foster home or something when Mom died.
Dad would’ve never been able to care for me if it hadn’t been for you.
You got the short end of the stick. You had to raise me and take care of him. ”
What he said wasn’t wrong, but I never resented caring for River. Dad had made me want to smack him sometimes, but I had loved our dad. I just didn’t understand him.
“I never resented helping to raise you. It was sad that I had Mom for fifteen years, and you only got her for five. As for Dad, he couldn’t deal with more without her. She was the one to keep him even keeled.”
“Yeah, tell me about it. And then you did it and finally said enough. You called it quits way later than you should’ve.
We know how that went. You and I do best when we stick together.
So, no more telling me to run. Whatever happens, it happens to both of us.
Deal?” He held up his pinkie finger. When he was little, he loved it when we made pinkie promises.
Those were sacred. With a heavy heart, I hooked mine around his.
“Pinkie promise,” I whispered.
“Okay, now, if you don’t get in there and into that shower, I will,” he threatened.
“Why don’t you go first? I want to soak in the tub afterward,” I suggested. The idea made me want to moan in pleasure.
“If you’re sure, then here I go.” He grabbed the clean clothes and rushed into the bathroom. Watching him go, I couldn’t help but want to cry. Would we ever be safe, or would it be like this for the rest of our lives?
I sat there deep in thought about what had happened a couple of months ago.
I would’ve never in a thousand years have imagined it.
And no matter how often I tried to think of another way to address it, I kept returning to what we were doing now.
Living on the streets was preferable to that fate. I’d die first.
Besides living rough, the thing I missed was my work.
For River, I hated that he had to give up his friends and wasn’t starting college.
I should look at the bright side. The weather was warmer than it was two months ago.
I thought we would freeze to death when we first ended up on the streets.
The next several months gave us time to make our way south, where it would be warmer in the winter.
Maybe if we went far enough, we could begin over.
That would be wonderful, though I wasn’t sure it was possible.
I was lost in my head until my brother came out. He was smiling. “Guess what?”
“What?”
“This place has tankless water heaters like a hotel. I ran it, and it never got close to cooling off. Enjoy.”
Not wanting to waste another second, I snatched up the clothes and went to take advantage of it. Lord knows when we’d be fortunate enough to be clean like this again.