by Ross, Janice
“Glad you can joke around.”
“I gotta do something to keep my mind off Knox. It’s not that I don’t care or anything. I’m hella tense. The fresh air—”
“Fresh air.” Teagan quickly looked around, dropping my hand as hers extended around us. Before she could get back to her overly dramatic self, a horn sounded. We glanced up in time to see Rory’s ride rush in front of two cabbies and halt directly in front of us.
“My kinda guy,” Teagan said out loud.
I shook my head and took the back seat without a second thought. Rory’s hand quickly reached over to yank at Teagan’s seatbelt, once she secured it. I leaned my head to left, from behind the driver’s seat. Teagan shifted just enough for me to see a sly grin cross her face.
“Their ratings just went up,” Rory stated from out of nowhere.
“Whose ratings? What are you talking about?” Teagan shifted to her left, then ran her hand along the side of his face.
I would’ve asked the same question, but the vibe between the two kinda caught me off guard. I’m not entirely sure why I hadn’t noticed it before now, or maybe it was something new.
“You didn’t see the cameras?”
“What cameras?”
“TV cameras.”
“Why would there be cameras on a random street?” Teagan questioned, immediately sitting up in her seat. “National or local?”
“What’s going on?”
“National or local?” she reiterated in a shaky tone.
“Calm down. Don’t know why—”
“Damn, Rory, are you a frickin’ idiot?”
“Must be to still have you in my car when your ass is behaving like a total—”
“Don’t you dare say it!”
“Then don’t act it.”
“Are you guys kidding me?” I was finally able to interject. I shifted to the edge of the seat. Rory had just pulled onto the Whitestone Bridge. To keep from getting knocked over by his shifty driving, I placed my palms on the headrest of each chair.
“Kash, we need to talk.” Teagan scooted around, then undid her seatbelt. “Pull over.”
She literally grabbed at the wheel. I fell to the seat, hitting the top of my head on the door. I completely lost balance and nearly ended up on the floor.
“What the hell?” Rory grunted out. I watched him maneuver around and beside other cars that came within inches of slamming into us.
“Kasha,” Tea said by way of drawn out syllables.
“What's up? You're acting totally irrational.” I caught a glimpse of Rory through the car window. He was hammering away at his phone, not paying attention to our chat.
“Did you not hear what Rory said?” Tea's pupils shifted around. “Kash, your guard didn't shoot up?”
Maybe it was the traffic all around as we leaned against the sporty ride, while wasting time on the streets. Maybe even the fact that this hiatus was only taking away from us being able to track down Knox. I couldn't be too sure.
I shrugged.
“The damn cameras he mentioned,” she threw out, and then walked off. After causing several strangers to swerve around her straight march to the front of a Golden Krust storefront, Tea turned to face me. Her dramatic side was sometimes too much for me to handle.
I felt the urge to shout out accusations, but something told me she was dead serious about something I'd missed entirely. With me teetering against the car, peering her way suspiciously, she returned a desperate gaze. The rattling of an approaching train from nearby just seemed to give me a headache.
“What the hell is this?” Rory shouted, finally stepping out of the car. “I thought we had something better to do than stand around the godforsaken streets.”
Tea stormed over to me, gripped my arm and whispered into my ear, “These friggin’ cameras are national, right?”
The light bulb flickered on as her sentence formed. I guess it didn't necessarily make much sense to me, since we were here and our past lives were there.
“But-but . . .” I couldn't formulate a reason to not worry, with the exception of the miles from Florida to New York. “What if it was local news, as opposed to national?”
“You got five seconds to get in the car before I drive off,” Rory shouted out, bringing Teagan and I back to the present moment.
Tears lingered on my lashes, but I refused to let the tears fall. Instead, I stretched my arms around her neck and squeezed just enough. Turning slightly, I spewed a lie into her ear, “We're okay.”
“Now!” Rory barked, causing all attention to turn in our direction.
We hustled along. She reclaimed the front seat and I hopped into the back just in time for Rory to drive off. My fingers shook and a helluva lump formed in my throat, but those fears had to be minor. Knox’s life hung in the balance. As the saying went, I needed to pull on my big girl panties, or maybe man up would be the better analogy. Either way, I needed to dig deep down, in order to rescue the man I’d only allowed myself to give into.
Rory barked out order, over how we’d take on this mission. I listened wholeheartedly, even as the sun settled in the distance and my fears of the past held me captive.
~
Knox
~
An intense light burned through my eyelids, accompanied by the stale stench of mold as I woke. Not entirely sure how I’d ended up there, I surveyed my surroundings. My hands were tied and secured to a wooden chair. A single light bulb hung in the center of the cold, basement-like room. I could hear low crackles, as if liquid was dripping through the ceiling; which had to be about twelve feet from the ground. Just my luck I had a psychotic friend, one that I’d known for years.
“Du-dude,” I managed. My throat had a raspy feel, sorta like sandpaper. “You gotta have a plan. Come talk to me.”
I could hear footsteps nearing the door; one tread heavier than the other. I shifted around in the seat, which was damn uncomfortable. Keys crashed together at a solid wooden door, then the lock turned. I formed a scowl. A flashlight trailed Bash’s path, but then right behind him I saw a thin hand.
Erika appeared at his side. My Erika. My frickin’ fiancée. The chick I’d saved. The chick I’d made the sacrifice of a friendship to marry. Yeah, Erika.
“Hi, Knox,” she handed out, detached. Her gaze played peekaboo with mine.
“Hi, Knox? You’re caught up in this shit, and all you have to say is ‘hi Knox?’” I slumped into the high-backed wooden seat, exhaling in her direction. Only then did I realize my feet had also been secured to the chair, though the slack ran past me to somewhere beyond the wall.
“How long have you known each other?” Being unsure of their plans, I couldn’t imagine someone going through the trouble of taking a person and tying them up in a godforsaken room to just set them free. I needed closure if they had plans to kill me.
“I’ve always known her,” Bash confessed.
“Help me understand this shit, you’ve known her longer than we’ve been boys?” I coughed, the musky air flying down my throat.
“Yeah, something like that.” Bash smirked.
“Whatever the hell is going on here, I’m gonna need you to lay this shit out for me and do whatever the hell you need to do.” I rattled the chair, wanting to break it, tip it or something. I had abso-frickin-lutely no patience with this sort of thing.
“We need to wait for Rory first,” Erika stated coyly.
“He’s in on this too?”
“Nah, but he’ll find you.”
“How the hell is he supposed to find me?”
“Because I set the trap.” Bash walked over to me with his hands holding steady behind my back. His lips formed a thin, overly wide grin.
“Look, just knock my ass out again and wake me up when you’re ready to explain things because—”
A blunt force connected with my head.
~
Knox
~
“You know what’ll happen, right?” Rory stepped into the room. N
ot only did he walk in with his eyes fixed on Bash, then Erika, he assessed the entire space. When his eyes pulled over me, I nodded.
“There’s no easy way out of here, man.” Bash, who wasn’t normally cocky, grew strength. Yeah, he felt confident since it appeared that he had the upper hand for now. But Rory, being the hothead that I’d known forever, wasn’t liable to approach something so far-fetched without planning.
“I knew you were a snake all along,” Rory expressed, though his eyes still raked over the room. “Knox is a true brother; you, not so much.”
“What gave me away?” Bash smirked. Though he held a gun in his right hand, he backed up when Rory approached him.
“I’ve been around enough snakes to know. I gave you the benefit of the doubt, though.”
“You regret that shit now, don’t you?”
Rory shrugged. He took two circular steps; this time he stood a short distance from Erika. “You two, huh?”
She lowered her head.
“The thing I don’t understand is what’s the big frickin’ deal?” He extended his arms outward. Erika leapt backwards.
The door shot open to reveal another one of their accomplices. “Everything okay?”
“Of course,” Bash quickly stated, while he showed off a slight black piece.
“Do you think that intimidates me?”
“Damn sure better be, bro. This represents dead intimidation.”
Rory didn’t say another word. He approached Bash, who gripped tighter on the handle. I knew enough to know that Rory scared the crap out of Bash. Rory had never been the type to give a damn about his life. The way he always saw it and must’ve seen it now—Rory would always go out fighting.
“Let’s just get this over with,” Erika said. Her heels clanked on the concrete floor as she rushed over to stand beside the snake, Bash.
“You good, bro?” Rory asked, glancing around them.
I tipped up my chin.
“So what is this?”
“I need to ask you two,” Bash began. He pointed the gun from Rory to me, then continued, “Where did the money come from?”
“Money? You’re doing this bull over—”
Click . . .
Rory didn’t blink. I suddenly felt weak; not because I wouldn’t be able to defend myself, but because I was tied to the damn chair and unable to bust the shit out of Bash. I rocked, to the point of nearly tipping over. That would’ve been fine with me, since it was no longer one on two, or one on three. The damn chair refused to fall.
Bash motioned with the gun for Rory to move to my end of the room. He shuffled over, stopping about three feet to my side.
“Get on with this,” I spat out. “I’m over the dramatic crap. Say what you gotta say and finish off this shit because if you don’t—”
“What? If I don’t, then what?” he cut me off.
“The two of you have had enough say in everyone’s lives.” Erika slapped at her forehead. “You ruined my life!”
“That first night we met Erika,” Bash began. He licked his lips, then smirked.
“That was our first time meeting too,” Erika leaned forward to add. I zoned into her. All I was capable of focusing on was the darkness sprouting from all around her. I’m not talking about the light in the room or anything like that. I mean the skank was behaving like she had some type of right to me, or to be in my damn presence. And without even trying to do so, a scowl formed on my lips.
“But then you screwed him out in the open,” Rory filled in. He didn’t have an ounce of respect for her. Can’t say he ever liked her.
“Your boy took the bait, and got screwed.” Bash’s slight talk would amount to nothing. I knew Rory had to have come in here with a plan that was bound to explode any second now. I didn’t expect anything less from him.
“Like you’re about to?” Rory took a step closer to Bash.
“I’m in control.” Bash prepped the gun. He positioned it, gripping two hands on the handle. I could tell he wouldn’t feel confident without it.
Rory shrugged. He didn’t pull back or pull up.
“Let’s get this over with. This place is creepy.” Erika redirected Bash by tugging on his shirt.
From outside the door, we heard an echoed thump. Erika ran off to a corner. Bash spun to look at the door. And Rory rushed for him. They fell onto the concrete, and the gun slid over to the opposite end of the room. I quickly looked in the direction that my ex-fiancée had run. As luck would have it, her eyes zoomed in on mine at that very moment. But it was useless on my part, since I was frickin’ hog-tied to the chair. I yanked with all of my body. The rope squeezed every inch of me, but I couldn’t give up; I wouldn’t give up.
Rory was giving Bash a serious ass whooping, and I couldn’t be left out of the battle. With each pull, I drew closer, though it never completely gave way. Erika continued to stare, even though she didn’t run for the gun. Her body contracted with each punch or kick Rory handed out to that twisted bastard, Bash.
When the door shot open, I shifted focus to see the next threat. Can’t say I wasn’t relieved to see Kasha’s friend, Teagan, step over sprawled-out feet, a thick wooden block in her hand. Erika raced in the direction of the gun.
“Get the gun,” I yelled out. “Over there.” As the last set of words flew out of my mouth, Kasha jumped into the room. She didn’t head for the gun or even to me. My girl threw herself at Erika. The two of them landed on the ground, yanking and mushing each other in the face.
Moments later, we stood in front of Bash and Erika. His face was bloody and swollen; while her hair was scattered around her head. They were both kneeling in the center of the room. Her eyes shifted from one to the other to the other.
“Tell them about the money,” Erika bawled. Her face was messy with dirt from the concrete and bloody from a mass of scratches.
“The stolen money. Damn criminals,” Bash screamed.
“What money?” Rory rushed to grab for the gun, pulled back his hand and was about a second from smashing down on Bash’s face. I held onto his forearm.
“Let it go.” I didn’t know how these two had come up with this or even figured this out. But I was tired of holding back. I turned my head to the side to find Kash gazing at me. She needed this, I needed this, the whole damn room needed this.
“When did you find out?” Rory asked them. He pulled away from all of us. His fingers dove into his hair; he yanked.
“After the first time we met Erica,” Bash stated, grinning.
I felt a bubbling in my gut. The electricity traveled over every inch of me. Next thing I knew, my fist connected with his jaw. He caved to the floor. Turning to Erika I asked, “You’ve been screwing him for four years?”
“No.”
“How long?”
“What makes you think—”
“How long?” The wind nearly got locked out of me; I was pissed. Yeah, it was tough to realize your girl was with someone else. Yeah, it was harder to know it was someone you called a friend. But above all, it was devastating because I gave up on Kasha for Erika, only to end up with Kasha in the end. Shit, I hoped to God that was it for me. I wanted to see her and be certain she wasn’t ready to bolt. I caught a glimpse from the corner of my eyes.
“About three months.” Erika’s snatched me back when she said the words in a steady, crystal clear tone.
My insides churned. I’d always had my doubts, but this was beyond ridiculous. Every thought, every movement replayed in my mind. I studied Erika, then turned for Kasha. She was pressed in the corner. I felt her sadness, that connection remained prevalent.
“Did you at least use protection?” Kasha held a mortified gaze.
“I don’t believe Knox planned on staying with me because he always did,” Erika spat. “Four years—”
“Four bullshit years—”
“What does this have to do with anything?” Bash struggled with his face still pressed to the ground.
“You know what?” Rory had bee
n standing on the other side of the room. Tea’s arms were wrapped around him. When he started over to us, she pulled at him. Her hands went up to his jaw; she shifted his face to meet hers.
“No one wants to talk about this, but I’d like to know.” Kasha approached me. “Did you kill someone?”
“No.” For a second there, I doubted if this was my Kasha assuming something so horrible about me. Considering the circumstances, however, I brushed it off. “Hell no,” I repeated.”
“You might as well have gutted him, you bastard,” Erika began under her breath. Her gaze roamed over me, passed to Rory and finally to Kasha. “They stole money that was meant for my boyfriend.” Erika’s voice screeched. “The money you found wasn’t yours to take. Everyone knows, everyone knows now.”
“That short bastard wasn’t your boyfriend. You were running game on me all along.” I took a step closer. I had this sick urge to run down all of her dirty, shady dealings for the sake of revenge.
“But you fell for it. Didn’t you?” Her lips curled in this devious sort of way. “That’s the problem with you assholes, a girl can screw you over . . . literally.” She winked.
I wanted more of this whole convoluted background, but with Kasha only feet away, I wasn’t about to let Erika ruin my best chance of happiness. I lost everyone and everything when I was abandoned. Sure as hell wasn’t about to let it happen now. Not like this. So I fessed up. “We knew the money—”
“There was no we, it was my tip. Knox is my damn brother; he needed to catch a break. He’d seen enough suffering,” Rory roared over top all other conversations. “Your sneaky ass—” he paused to point at Bash “—couldn’t be trusted.” His fingers collapsed inward, forming a fist. Stooping down, he gripped Bash’s black hair and looked set to throw an up-close punch.
“So you can justify this, because you had a rough life? Bullshit!” Erika screamed. “That was Vince’s way out.”
“Who’s Vince?” I asked.
“Tony’s brother.”
“You’re one twisted bitch.” The taste of disgust and hate, just thinking about me with Erika made me sick inside out.