Chapter 12 #2
“Get ‘em, Scoot,” Raven said as she lifted her hand to give her a high five. She looked around and said, “I’m gonna run that way to distract them. Cover me while the girls sneak off in the other direction.”
“On it,” I said as I lifted my gun and waited for a target.
“Ready, girls?” They nodded, and Raven did a countdown before she sprinted away to our left.
Brett, who was on her stomach with her gun pointed through two of the wooden slats, cheered, “This is fucking awesome!” She let off a few shots, and there was a man’s loud shout before she giggled and said, “I could do this all day!”
“Lyric ambushed Zach and the guys.”
Brett was giddy when she said, “I know!”
“We’ve gotta find a place like this at home,” I said before I shot at a helmet that was just peeking out from behind a tire across the way. “You know what? Fuck that! We’ll build one!”
I heard Ziggy Romano’s scream over the sound of two little girls laughing maniacally, and then I watched as he and Rico walked out with their guns aimed at the sky.
“Holy shit! They got Rico and Ziggy!” Brett exclaimed before she started cackling.
“My name is Inigo Montoya, and you killed my father!” a boy yelled before I felt a horrible pain in my thigh.
Brett grunted from her spot by my feet and then Rain screamed, “Griffin Kestrel Forrester! You little shit!”
“Gotcha!”
Suddenly, pink paint exploded on the boy’s chest. He looked to his left and stomped his foot before he said, “I don’t like you at all, Raven!”
“Good, loser! I’ll get you in the next round too!”
“Bite me!” the boy yelled as he stomped toward the building, holding his gun pointed up in the air.
“We’re out, ladies. Wanna walk to the building or climb that ladder and watch for a while?” I asked.
“Ladder,” Brett said as she lifted her gun and started walking toward one of the towers. “I really wish it weren’t against the rules to shoot from up there.”
“I know, right?” Rain asked.
We were almost to the ladder when a shrill whistle pierced the air, and all motion around us stopped immediately. I looked up at the wooden slats of the bridge above me and saw a woman running and then recognized Rico’s sister, Frankie, running behind her.
“Someone must be injured,” I said as I watched their progress. “Should we go check?”
“Surely it’s nothing too bad,” Brett said as she turned toward the building. “Let’s go see.”
We had just started walking when two more whistles sounded. I shrugged as I said, “I guess it wasn’t anything too horrible if the game is already in play again. Wanna go up anyway?”
“Yeah. Let’s do that.”
◆◆◆
RICO ROMANO
“Are you okay?” I asked my brother as he pulled his helmet off and set it on the bench beside him. “You don’t look okay.”
Ziggy moved his head around to release the tension in his neck before he said, “I just need to catch my breath.”
“Are you sure that’s all that’s wrong?” Ziggy squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them and stared at me in shock for a second. “What the fuck, Zig?”
“Can’t breathe. This happens sometimes.”
“It hasn’t happened in years,” I argued.
“It’s been doing it again,” he said before he gasped. “I’ll be okay. Just give me a minute.”
“Fuck that,” I said as I looked around the room. There was a woman talking to Zach, Luca, and Matteo that I remembered from earlier when Bella had put her in charge. “Martha, have you seen my sister Frankie? She’s observing from somewhere around here.”
“What’s wrong, honey?” Martha asked as she hurried our way. When she saw Ziggy gasping for air with his hand on his chest, she asked, “Is it a heart attack?”
“I don’t think so. This used to happen when we were younger. He just needs to calm down,” I explained. “But just in case, can you find my sister? She’s a doctor.”
“Sure thing,” Martha said as she lifted her phone to her ear. Suddenly, there was a loud whistle outside, and she started waving as she said into the phone, “Honey, I need you down here, please.”
“I’m good,” Ziggy wheezed. “It’s all good.”
“And it will be better when Frankie gets here, right? It always is.” Ziggy nodded, and I rested my hand on his shoulder, wishing there was more I could do.
“Zig! I thought these stopped!” Frankie said as she squatted down in front of our brother.
The woman with her took his wrist in one hand while she studied the watch on hers. She frowned as she watched him try to breathe.
“Remember what we used to do when we were kids?” Frankie asked. She slowly raised her head as she inhaled through her nose and let her body relax as she slowly exhaled through her mouth. “Do it with me.”
Ziggy’s breathing was still too fast as he breathed in and out through his nose. After a few minutes, Frankie looked up and said, “We should get him out of here.”
“If you don’t take a deep breath, you’re gonna pass out,” the other woman told Ziggy.
“She’s right,” Frankie agreed. “Breathe with me, Ziggy. Come on.”
Ziggy was frantically looking around, and I knew it was out of habit to make sure no one might see his weakness and try to use it against him.
That habit had been ingrained in us since childhood.
Every time Ziggy had a spell like this, he worried that someone - even one of our own men - might discover that he had a problem.
The other woman wasn’t nearly as understanding and leaned down so her face was right in front of Ziggy’s before she barked, “Breathe!”
When Ziggy frantically shook his head, she put her hand on his chest. I thought she was going to console him like Frankie always did, but my mouth dropped open in shock when she pinched his nipple and then twisted.
Ziggy sucked in a deep breath and roared, “What the fuck?”
“Took a breath, didn’t ya?” the woman asked.
Frankie burst out laughing, and Ziggy scowled when she said, “Wow. That worked!”
“Now take another one while you think of all the ways you want to kill me.” Ziggy sucked in a breath through his nose and then blew it out before he did it again, his eyes never leaving hers. She smiled at him, and just before she turned to leave, she said, “You’re welcome!”
Ziggy, his tension and panic forgotten, looked up at me in horror and asked, “What the fuck is wrong with these people?”
“Nothing!” Frankie chortled. “They’re fantastic!”