by Jes Drew
My heart clenches. As does my fist which is now one with my chair’s arm. Then I glance around at my group. Is this the end of our freedom? Our lives? We should have explained things to Madame Monique from the very beginning...
I strain my ears to hear what happens next.
“I’m sheltering no runaways,” Madame Monique answers. “The very idea!”
“I’m sorry for troubling you, Madame.”
The door closes.
I breathe a sigh of relief and work on unclenching myself.
Madame Monique returns. “Hurry up and eat. They will be back, no doubt.”
We don’t have to be told twice.
After a quick breakfast, I quickly repack my stuff. Then I pack my cousins’ stuff. Next thing I know, we’re all loaded in another rental vehicle.
And somehow I’m still giddy, even if Christopher is now dubbed a rogue (though having a roguish boyfriend might be why I'm so giddy… If he is my boyfriend that is. But he probably is. I mean, what else would he be?)
We pull out of Madame Monique’s driveway into the street. As we pull out of the street, a familiar car appears.
“Oh, no,” I breathe.
“They’re following us!” I cry. “Go faster!”
Christopher begins to speed away as much as possible, but the traffic makes it difficult.
And our tail continues to pursue us.
“We have to get out of here,” Chase says.
“Thanks for stating the obvious,” Joseph retorts.
Chase sticks his tongue out at him.
Suddenly, Christopher swerves us down a less crowded street. A lot less crowded street.
“They’re following us!” I cry. “Go faster!”
Gritting my teeth, I squeeze Mary-Ann's arm. Not now. Not a flashback. Not a capture-
Our pursuer follows us. A matching car appears in front of us. Two more join them until we’re completely surrounded.
“Oh, no,” I say again.
A mental list of reasons why I don’t say anything more:
(1) I’ve never sworn before and I’m not starting on their account;
(2) Swearing is what unintelligent people say when they can’t think of anything else;
(3) Both my cousins are present;
(4) My grandmother is present;
(5) I don’t even know how to swear properly (and while swearing makes one seem unintelligent, swearing improperly makes one seem really stupid);
The three armed Masters along with five armed bodyguards emerge from the four cars. I can’t tell if there are any more people inside the cars because the windows are tinted.
“Out of the car,” Clovis Masters yells at us, aiming a large gun. “Slowly and we won’t shoot.”
Christopher opens the door and climbs out with his hands up. For once, he doesn’t open the doors for us ladies and we have to make our own way out.
“Hands in the air, everyone,” Clovis Masters orders.
I drop my cousins’ hands and raise my own immediately. My cousins and everyone else does the same.
“What do you want?” Christopher demands.
“You took something very precious to me,” Clovis Masters answers. “I want it back.”
“How do you know we took it?” I ask, doing my best to utilize my large eyes and freckles. Hey, if they won't be useful for intimidation tactics, than they have to be good for something.
“We tracked it to you. We have special protection on our darker data. We can also monitor any tampering done to it as well as track any copies made of it. Now give my property and any copies you made of it to me.”
“Over my dead body,” Oto hisses.
Ata glares at him for his use of morbid, slangy clichés.
Rudolf Masters seems only too happy about Oto’s words. He aims his own gun at Oto.
“Wait!” I cry, wanting to jump forward but my feet feel glued to the ground. “If you shoot one of us, the person holding the information will email the incriminating evidence to Interpol before the smoke even clears.”
“If you could have done that, wouldn’t you have done it already?” asks the youngest Masters- I don’t know his name.
“We wanted to do it in person,” Christopher answers. “And add our own grievances to your list of crimes besides.”
Rudolf Masters’ eye twitches. He probably doesn’t believe us, but he can’t afford to chance it.
Clovis Masters shakes his head at his brother before turning to us. “It doesn’t have to be like this way. We are rational men. Let us offer you a trade.”
Christopher opens his mouth, probably to say the same thing he said on the Island (or point out that Rudolf Masters doesn’t seem very rational), but I cut him off. “What do you have in mind?”
“You hand over the device with the information stored on it and we hand over your family. We’ll even give you a twenty-four hour head-start.”
“Head-start for what?” Grandmother asks.
“Before we start chasing you again.”
“Can’t you just stop chasing us?” I ask.
“Sadly, no. You know too much and you’ve caused thoughts of rebellion to appear in our natives’ heads. Those are unforgivable sins, I'm afraid.”
I repress a shudder.
“How do we even know you’ll keep your side of the deal?” Christopher demands.
“I’m a fair man, and we’re all equals here. Well, mostly.” Clovis Masters gives Oto and Ata a look of disgust.
Christopher crosses his arms. “You expect us to trust your word?”
“Don’t you expect us to trust yours?”
“Yeah, but I know I’m honest.”
“Then what would you have us do?”
I bite my lip and glance back at Oto and Ata. And it hits me. “Swear by your mother’s name.”
Clovis Masters narrows his eyes. “How do you know about her?”
“Uh, newsflash,” Joseph says. “Everybody’s got a mother.”
Clovis Masters glowers at him. “Fine. I swear to carry out my side of the bargain on my mother’s grave.”
Christopher studies him for a moment- he has said before that he can sense when someone's lying. Finally, he says, “I agree to the terms.”
“But you’re not the leader,” Chase points out. “Emily is.”
Clovis Masters raises an eyebrow and turns to me. “Do you agree to the terms?”
I bite my lip. The evidence! Our precious tool for taking down the Masters! If we could have turned it in without being caught, we could have had our family and justice. But the Masters know we have the evidence, and even if we were able to extract ourselves safely from this situation and give Interpol the evidence, they would surely make us lose our family. For good.
I take a deep breath and nod. “I agree to the terms.”
Clovis Masters extends his hand and I shake it. I shall have to boil my hand later.
Then he turns to two of the silver cars surrounding us and makes a gesture. Suddenly, people emerge from both of them: two more security guards and all the missing Rogers.
“Hi, kids,” Dad greets.
“Mommy!” Mary-Ann cries in a voice that could soften stone. “Daddy!”
“They’re not yours yet,” Clovis Masters warns.
Apparently, his heart is made of harder stuff.
“The hard-drive first,” Clovis Masters adds.
“No,” I say. “Give me my family first. Let them get into our car.”
“So you can run off?” Clovis Masters demands. “I don’t think so.”
“They won’t run off,” I assure.
“We won't,” Mom agrees.
Clovis Masters shakes his head. “And how can I trust you, hmm?”
I lick my lips. “Because- because I will stay right here to give you the hard drive.”
“Emily!”my parents, Christopher, and Oto cry in unison.
“Both of you in the car,” I order the two under my leadership.
“Not without y
ou,” Christopher counters.
Oto nods in agreement.
I ignore the pigs flying over my head (what are they doing? An airshow?). Not to mention the fear breathing down my neck. “I’m the leader, and Christopher, you’re the designated driver. We have our jobs to do.”
“I don't!” Oto cries.
“You’ll be in more danger than I will because of Rudolf.”
Rudolf shrugs like I've got a good point.
His younger brother frowns. “You do realize that we can hear everything you’re saying, don’t you?”
“But you’ll be too vulnerable, Emily,” Christopher says, his eyes a desperate plea that would make my heart turn into mush if it wasn't made of harder stuff too.
“Don't do this,” Mom adds, clutching Dad's arm. “Not alone.”
“I’ll stay with her,” Grandmother announces suddenly.
We all turn to her, startled- Masters including.
“No offense, Grandmother,” I say, “but I don’t see how that will help anything.”
“I’m not leaving you behind again,” she answers. “Besides…” She pulls a pistol from out her purse before any of the Masters or the security guards can react.
When they see the gun though, all the guards tense up and aim their guns at her. I tense up too. How long has that been in there?
“Since when did you start carrying a revolver, Mom?” Uncle Gerald asks while Aunt Donna fans her pale face.
“That's it,” Joseph says, turning around, hand in the air. “There's an old lady with a weapon on the loose. I'm getting in the car now.”
I ignore them and bite my lip. “Fine. Grandmother will stay with me. Now, the rest of you in the car.”
“But-” Christopher begins.
“No buts,” I answer. “And, Christopher, if the Masters try anything on Grandmother and me, follow the Plan.”
For some reason, Christopher sighs heavily like going to Belgium is a terrible thing to do. “I had hoped it wouldn’t come to that, but I will do it if necessary.”
I stare at him. What does he mean?
“Do what?” the youngest Masters asks.
Oh. “Let’s just hope that that necessary evil doesn’t become necessary today.”
“What necessary evil?” Clovis Masters demands.
“Now go,” I order.
Christopher nods and gestures for everyone to go to the car. But then he suddenly turns around, pulls me to himself, and plants a kiss on my lips.
Next thing I know, he's halfway to the car and Rudolf is making cat-call noises.
I turn to Clovis Masters and he gestures for his goons to release our families. Then another goon gets into a silver car and pulls to the side, giving our van an exit.
As my newly freed family smashes themselves into our car, Joseph, who hadn't gotten in the car yet after all (probably because he realized Ata might need some assistance), turns to me. “Here,” he says, tossing me the thumb drive. Then he joins the rest.
“Shoot him and you die.”
Blinking to clear my head, I clutch the thumb drive to myself and brace myself for whatever happens next. Because this time I'm not armed.
But I'm also not alone in bearing the responsibility of all these lives.
Once everyone but Grandmother and I are in the car, I turn to Clovis Masters and hand him the thumb drive.
“A deal's a deal,” I whisper, hoping beyond hope that he'll remember his part of the deal.
“Thank you- wait, don’t go yet.” Clovis Masters gestures for a goon holding a laptop to come forth. Clovis Masters plugs the drive in and scans the screen. “Hmm, so you didn’t make any copies, I see. That’s good. Makes things easier for everyone.” He shuts the laptop. “Been nice doing business with you, Miss Rogers.” A twisted smile stretches across his face. “Now run.”
I turn and run toward the car in the most dignified, least cowardly possible.
“See you in twenty-four hours!” Rudolf Masters yells as I jump in the car and slam the door behind me. Since the van contains double its maximum number of passengers, I have to sit on someone’s lap. I think it’s Dad's.
The moment Grandmother dives into the passenger seat, Christopher swerves us away from the Masters, barely even giving her time to close the door.
I watch the Masters as we speed away. They meander into their vehicles. Then, one by one, they drive the opposite direction from us.
Everyone in our swollen van seems to exhale at the same time.
“They’re keeping their side of the deal,” I whisper in shock.
“You did make them swear by their mother’s name,” Ata points out.
“Still, it’s surprising that they have any honor at all,” Oto says.
“Maybe it’s not about honor,” Mom mutters. “They almost seem to be enjoying using us to get to you.”
“Or maybe they do have a strange, twisted form of honor,” Grandmother offers.
“It doesn’t matters,” Uncle Gerald says. “What matters is putting as much distance between them and us before our time is up.”
Right. We’re still being hunted. Lovely.
Whoever I’m sitting on notices my dismay and pats my back.
I turn around. It is Dad.
“You did great out there, Emily,” he says. “And I don’t think I’ve had a chance to tell you lately how much I love you.”
I awkwardly hug him. “I love you too.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t believe you.”
“It’s all right. We’re all together now.”
Dad nods.
I glance around the crowded van. Yeah, we’re definitely all together.
But we’re far from safe.
~~~
One can only stand being cooped up in a car filled with twice its maximum passengers for so long. By the time the adrenaline wears off, I’m trying to imagine myself in a very non-island paradise.
“You’re squishing me!” Mary-Ann cries.
“Am not,” Chase retorts.
“Are too.”
“Am not.”
“We’re all squished so be quiet!” Grandmother cries.
Chase and Mary-Ann go silent.
“Thank you,” Joseph says, trying to check something on his laptop.
Then Chase asks, “Are we there yet?”
I see murder in Joseph’s eyes.
Then Christopher pulls into a café parking lot.
“What are you doing?” Dad asks.
“I think it’s safe to stop for a moment. This isn’t too far away from where I rented this car, so I’ll go return it and see about renting something larger while you guys eat.”
“I don’t know…”
Mom gives him a I'm-tired-and-sore-and-hungry-so-just-shut-it look.
“It sounds like a brilliant idea,” Dad adds quickly.
Everyone climbs out of the car except for the Christopher. He gestures for me to step closer to his driver's door.
“Emily, we don't have much money left,” he whispers.
I suddenly don't feel the least bit hungry.
He stuffs a pile of bills into my palm. “This should be enough to feed everyone if you're careful.”
“How much more do you have left?”
“That's it.”
I stare at the bills in my hand like they're dying- like we're dying with them. Is this our last meal? “But what about the rental?”
“Like I said: I'm going to try and get an exchange- and hope that they won't charge me anything more than we've already paid.”
“And if they do?”
“Pray for me please.”
I nod.
Christopher smiles and drives away.
And I pray as if my life depended on it- because it kind of does- as I walk into the café.
“What do you want, Emily?” Uncle Gerald asks when he sees me.
I force a smile. “Um, that value menu looks really good.”
Mom turns around, studies me, and then nods. “We'll all ta
ke some of that.”
“But...” Mary-Ann begins, but then she runs over to Aunt Donna and seems to forget what she was going to say.
After we’re all seated and all have food, I slowly munch my literally French fries and gaze out the window. Whether I’m not watching for a Williams or the Masters, I’m not sure.
I sigh. I’ll probably always being looking over my shoulder now; until we find some other way to bring down the Masters, that is. But when will that be?
Stop it, Emily, at least I’ve got my family again. Though, now there’s yet more people in our group, which will make it all the harder to stay out of the Masters’ radar. Not to mention the expenses will increase.
Expenses we now have no more money to cover.
Maybe we could turn ourselves into the police now that our parents aren't in imminent danger. That is, if the Masters don't already have every station guarded and every cop bribed.
Maybe it would just be easier to turn ourselves in and face whatever fate the Masters have for us.
What am I thinking?! We will be doing no such thing. We’ll just keep running; keep persevering. We’ll never give in; never give up. Someday, a better opportunity might present itself, but until then, we’ll keep on keeping on.
Between the whole Island ordeal and this, I’ve spent about a month just focusing on surviving the day by hoping for a better tomorrow and focusing on doing what needs to be done. That’s long enough to have made a habit of it.
Hear that life? I’ve taken everything you’ve thrown at me so far, and I’ll take whatever else you have for me. I’m a survivor.
Victoriously, I march into the restroom to wash my hands.
Mom is the only other person there. She’s also washing her hands.
“You were right,” she says without looking up.
I nearly fall backwards. “I was what?”
Mom sighs. “You were right. About everything. The society, the Masters, everything. I should have believed you. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” I agree slowly. Is this for real? “It did sound pretty far-fetched.”
“Don’t give me any more excuses to add to the ones I’m trying very hard to say.”
I smile. “Whatever you say.”
We leave the restroom together.
We pass Aunt Donna, who is at the corner table talking to Grandmother.