TIGERLILLY- THE BRAVO BOYS [book two]

Chapter THIRTY ONE

River O'riley

... THE NIGHT OF THE FULL MOON ...

Sitting on the cramped sofa in Deytons cluttered apartment, Amberley clings to my side, wrapped in one of her brother's tracksuit jackets.. Her blonde hair a mess of blood and glitter, her whole body convulses in intermittent tremors as she comes down from her rolling-high and the adrenaline crash takes hold of her..

Deyton brings her a beer from the fridge, holding it out, uselessly offering it to her.. But she doesn't move.. She doesn't let go of my arm..

I nod to the table, and he sets it down watching his sister carefully.. "Hey Ambeetle?"

She looks up at him.. "What?"

"You're good, bug." He tells her what she is, stiff and militant. Treating her the way the machine had treated him when he was down.. He doesn't ask her.. He orders her.

"I'm f-fine." She finally releases her vice-like hold to wipe her nose on the back of her hand, not bothering to fix the black smudges of her makeup that streak her cheeks..

Deyton lets out a bored sigh, taking a seat on his bench press.. I dunno if its his meds or what, but his attitude is pissing me off.. The flat monotone and passive indifference to what had just happened is borderline sociopathic.. It's a good thing the man's got a shrink, because his head ain't right.

"Yer' not feckin' fine, Amby." I glare at him.. "You could'o gotten yer'self killed.. What were ye' thinkin' taking a job in that place?"

She leans into my side and sniffles.. "I needed the money, River.. I tried to to tell you--"

I scoff.. "Is that why you came to my apartment the other day? Drug money?"

She shoves away from me.. "Whatever.. You were too busy with that Chinky ho to hear me out.."

"Hey! Watch ye' mouth." I scold Amby for her shit-talking and Deyton laughs mockingly, speaking in a high pitched mimicking whine of his sisters voice..

"I think the words you're looking for Bug are; 'Thanks River, I'd be raped and slaughtered in a Chinatown gangbang if you hadn't come to my rescue'."

He changes his voice to a deep, shitty imitation of mine next.. "Then Riv, you say, 'Uh anythin' for you Amberley, I'm your little bitch boy, here lemme just bend over so you can fuck me some more!"

I roll my head back, biting down so hard my back teeth grind.. "Lord gimme strength."

Amberley ignores her brother entirely, opting to explain how she found her way into such a stupid situation.. "A few weeks ago I met this guy.. A Marine like you, Riv.. He lives down by the old railway, likes to make movies.. He said he wanted to introduce me to his friend and that I could star in a few films.. He always paid so well, like twice what I'd asked for.. So I-- I went to this guys apartment a couple times and everything was fine.. When his friend called I thought it'd be the same as last time.. He told me we were going to drive over to the set together, I didn't even think about it-- I-- I didn't know where we were going until it was too late.."

As she talks, she becomes more steady, more like herself.. "His friend turned out to be a total sicko, wanted to torture me on camera, and when I said fuck no-- everything changed.. Those other Asian guys showed up.." She leans forward, scooping up the beer to swallow it whole, draining the bottle before she lets out a belch disproportionately dainty to the act..

Deyton scoffs, seeming to be without any sympathy.. "Ugh.. You're so fucking dumb."

I mean sure, he's right.. What Amberley did was dangerous and incredibly ignorant.. But rubbing her nose in it as a means to punish her seems pointless..
She already knows that she made a mistake..