Finding Mia

I

MIA

'Is that really how you want us to die?' Mia heard from the doorway to the room. She turned, a smile on her face. She knew the voice; her cousin, Neil Josten, walked into the kitchen with a scowl on his face and grocery bags on his arms. Mia turned down the music she'd been listening to.

'You know none of these old buggers do anything outside their homes, right? There's no way we'll get caught.' Mia said, jumping up on the counter and watching Neil put away their food for the next few weeks.

'Not by them, maybe,' Neil agreed. 'But the cops do weekly rounds. You know this; all you do is stay inside, too.' Mia rolled her eyes and began swinging her legs in the air. Both she and Neil were short - a trait they'd both inherited from the side of the family they shared - although Mia was slightly taller than Neil, and used it against him all the time.

'How was the game?' Mia asked, distracting Neil. He tensed in the shoulders momentarily before releasing them and going back to the task at hand. 'Uh oh, that wasn't a good shoulder tense. What happened?' Neil sighed and closed the fridge door. He turned and looked down at the tiled flooring. Mia hopped down off the bench and walked over to Neil, taking him by the shoulders.

'I got a visit from a College Coach,' Neil said, refusing to meet Mia's eyes, even when they blew wide like she was watching her favourite show - she didn't have one, but the expression still stood.

'Neil, that's amazing,' Mia said, a smile growing on her face. She was excited for her cousin, but equally happy that it may be the last thing she needed to fall into place to be able to return home. 'Did you say yes?' Neil opened the duffel bag hanging from his shoulder - something he often refused to remove from his person - and handed a stack of papers to Mia. She held the contract like it was gold. It may as well have been, with the opportunities it presented the cousins.

'I can't sign it, A,' Neil said, shaking his head and breaking out of Mia's grip. She stared at him, mouth open and confused frown on her face. Neil rubbed the heels of his palms into his eyes and crouched down to the floor. Mia scrambled to follow him, placing the file by her side.

'Hey,' she said in an effort to comfort her cousin. 'Hey, look at me.' Neil did. 'You don't have to agree right away, but I think this would be an amazing opportunity for you.'

'No,' Neil said. 'You think it would be an amazing opportunity for you. To go home. To leave me alone.' Mia scowled and shook her head. 'You were thinking it. Don't disagree with me. I can tell when you're lying.'

'Well maybe I was thinking it for just a second,' Mia said. 'But I gave your mother my word. I will protect you until the day I die. I will not leave you behind. And I most certainly will not let you go to the big leagues by yourself.' Mia cracked a smile, hoping to ease Neil into the idea of signing the contract, but he just looked away.

'What's the Coach's name?' Mia asked.

'David Wymack,'

'He anything special?'

'Coach of the Palmetto State University Foxes. They're an NCAA Class I team. Means they'll get a lot of press coverage. Plus, they've got Kevin Day on their line-up this year. That's why I definitely can't play for them.'

Ah, Mia thought, Kevin Day, the one who Neil experienced a traumatic event with - not that Neil's entire existence wasn't traumatic - and who Neil basically had a shrine dedicated to in order to conceal their contacts and the money they held on them.

'Was he there to recruit you?' Mia asked after a few moments of silence. Neil only shook his head. Mia rolled back onto her heels and spread her arms with a smile on her face. 'Well then, did he recognise you?' Neil shook his head again. 'See? You're good to go.'