Twisted Mercy

Muffled

November 8th, 2021

3:36pm

Location: Bixby, OK

**********

Genna was discharged after two hours. We were walking down the street, avoiding law enforcement as much as possible, when Samuel decided to start talking.

"So, how does this work," he asked me. I was currently looking at a newspaper stand and trying to seem auspicious. It was kind of hard to do when the person standing next to me kept looking over his shoulder.

"First things first, you need to stop looking around as if you're waiting for someone to pop out and yell boo at you. You look like that one extra in a horror movie that gets scared way before the scary thing comes," I replied. I picked up a magazine and began to flip through the pages.

Samuel scoffed and stated, in a snarky manner might I add, "Lo siento, mi diablita. I'm not used to not having a plan."

I put the magazine down and looked over my own shoulder towards Genevra. She was typing something out on the phone given to us by Big T with Joshua standing to the right of her, playing a game on his red Nintendo DSi. Old school.

"It's hard to have a plan when I don't even know what I'm supposed to do anymore." With that statement, I started walking West. We wandered towards the town line and I looked at the three paths. West, North, and South. Continuing West would lead us further into the heart of Oklahoma (the worst place for a Texan to be). Heading North would take us to the dreaded capitol. South...

"Lily?"

I turned to see Genna staring at me with her big brown eyes full of concern. She knew what I was thinking. It'd been MONTHS since we were blacklisted. We hadn't made an appearance yet. Maybe they gave up on trying to catch us there.

"We're heading South," I exclaimed. My voice was thick and rough with the sound of unshed tears.

At my declaration, the boys looked up from the gaming console. Samuel tried to catch my eyes, but I ignored him. I turned South and started walking. Genevieve ran to catch up with me.

"Don't you think you should tell the boys before we, I don't know, possibly start a path towards our own deaths," she hissed. I glanced at her from the corner of my eye. Her mouth was pursed and her eyebrows furrowed. She's scared and angry. Those two emotions seemed to be her only company as of late.

"The boys don't have to be here," I calmly whispered. She exhaled sharply through her nose and quickly gazed over her shoulder. For not wanting them here in the first place, she has taken quite a liking to them pretty fast.

Turning her eyes back to me, she responded. "But they are here. You're the one that accepted them in. You're the one who has to tell them."

I stopped walking and turned to her. "Bunu sizi kurtarmak için yaptım. Eğer yapmasaydım, ölürdün, nankör küçük pisliksin."

Her eyes narrowed into slits and she slowly stalked towards me. "Nankör? Gerçekten? Bunun hiçbir zaman bir parçası olmak istemedim. Bu işkenceden kurtulmak için sekiz yıl önce kendimi öldürmek istedim, ama sen dedin ki - hayır, sonunda tüm bunlara değeceğine söz verdin! Değeri nerede, Lillian?! Ha?! Gösterin!"

Memories of that night flooded my senses. I could still hear her desperate screams.

**********

I walked into our room. It wasn't home yesterday and wouldn't be home tomorrow, but it was where we were staying today and that would have to be good enough for now.

When I opened the door, I noticed it was a bit too quiet. The kind of quiet where the silence seems deafening and your sense become heightened enough that the smallest disturbances catch your attention.

It wasn't the kind of silence you'd want to hear when living with crime bosses for four months. It meant that something was wrong.

I walked further into the room and looked around. My bed was haphazardly made as I had to rush out this morning to apprehend a mark before they left town. Gia's was made carefully. Too carefully.

Her sheets were taught and the pillows fluffed a bit much. In fact, her entire side of the room was pristine. It was peculiar. I walked around, expecting to discover some sort of hidden box that she was trying to keep the bosses away from.

That was when I heard the muffled gasp from our bathroom door.

It could've been a number of things. She tripped on clothes or was taking a big dump. Unfortunately, there was no thud that meant she caught herself. I'm still trying to rule out option number two.

I crept closer to the door and heard groaning. Okay, so maybe she is using the restroom for its intended purpose. But there was no smell in the air. What was she doing in there?

I pressed my ear to the door and heard...sobs? I tried to open the door, but it was locked. The sobs suddenly ceased.

"G? Are you in there," I asked. Unfortunately, I didn't get a response. Maybe she was as crying alone in the shower? I did that sometimes. I knocked on the door when I heard shuffling. "Genny? Is everything okay?"

Once again, no response.

I moved away from the door and sat on the edge of my bed. Maybe she'll talk to me when she comes out. I hope she does. After a few minutes, I heard shuffling. I raised up, ready to talk to her when she came out, but I was instead met with a sharp cry and quiet curse.

I jiggled the handle after running towards the door. "Genevieve? Please open up." Still nothing. Her cries were louder now and sounded more painful. I didn't have a bathroom key. The only thing I could do was kick the door open.

Splinters from the wood shot everywhere and I ran in. She was on the floor, holding her bloody arm and sobbing. I kicked the sharp tool she used away and held her as she screamed.

From that day forward, I vowed to always be the strong one. And to check in if she took too long in the restroom.

**********

"Lillian?"

I was brought back from my memory to see three pairs of eyes looking into mine. Concern, heartache, and confusion were the emotions brewing before me. I closed my eyes, counted to five, breathed deep, and opened them once more.

I ignored Genevieve and, instead, turned towards Samuel and Joshua. They were incredibly engrossed in some sort of racing game on the DSi. I only know this because they were bickering about Joshua's need to lean into his turns.

"We're heading South," I stated again. Genna's eyes held discontent, but she knew that I wouldn't give in on this. I turned around and kept walking, hoping that our ragtag bunch would keep its inconspicuousness at a high.

That's never the case though, is it?