the secret

•7•

I hate lying to him. I don't want to lie to him anymore, so I need to tell him everything.

"When I was little I thought everything was normal. I didn't think anything was wrong or different for my family. That's until I got into my teen years. They told me something that they had been keeping from me for thirteen years of my life," I take a deep breath. "They told me about our faction."

"Faction?" He asks. "What the hell is that?"

"They are basically gangs around town that either hate each other or love each other. We have a few factions that hate us."

"What do you do?" He asks.

I was really hoping he wouldn't ask this part. I don't want to tell him this stuff because he's going to hate me.

"You're going to hate me if I tell you."

"Nothing you say can make me hate you," he grabs my hand and gives me a reassuring smile.

"Okay," I say. "Uhm. We go on these missions sometimes. We don't go every night, but sometimes we go a few times a week. The missions are always different. Sometimes we help another faction if they are in danger. Other times we are selling drugs to other factions or killing the people that are trying to kill us."

"Killing people?" He asks. "You've killed people before?"

"That's why I was scared to tell you that part," I say. "It's not like I do it for fun or anything. I do it because I'm forced to. My parents make us do these things and if I don't then they threaten to kick us out."

"So you can't leave?" He asks.

"Not until I graduate," I say. "But it wouldn't surprise me if they made me stay after that too."

"You hate it, don't you?"

"Yes," I say. "It's the worst thing ever. I absolutely hate it, but I don't know what to do. I have to get out of there."

"You can stay with us," he says. "I've told you that before and I'll tell you that again."

"I don't want to intrude," I say. "Plus, they know where you live. They would come get me."

"How do they know where I live?"

"My dad has to know everything," I roll my eyes. "He's the worst man to exist."

"That's why you told me that I should be scared of your dad," he says. "That makes more sense."

"Yea," I say.

"Well you can stay here with me," he says, "We have a couch in the back with pillows and blankets. There is a bathroom here, a fridge, and a sink. You could just stay here."

"Zion, I appreciate it, but I don't want to be a burden on you or the boys. You guys use this place all the time."

"Your safety is more important to me. I'm not going to let him lay another hand on you."

"Okay," I whisper.

"Come here," he says. I stand up from my chair and I walk to his. I sit down on his lap and he wraps his arms around me. "I'm sorry for telling you to leave. And I'm sorry for pressuring you into telling me."

"It's okay," I say. "I'm sorry for keeping a secret from you. I shouldn't have done that."

"I get it," he says. "You didn't want to get in trouble. It's okay."

I sigh, "What do we do now?"

"You have to tell your parents," he says.

"What if they find me?"