Dead Girl Walking ― Aaron Minyard

27. seven

please picture me in the weeds
before i learned civility
i used to scream ferociously
any time i wanted
― taylor swift

♦

AS MARA AND NEIL FOLLOWED RIKO, Neil remained all but glued to her side. She flashed back to a handful of moments when they were younger, when their father would call them into his "office," either for some punishment or training session.

As if he was recalling the same instances, Neil held fast to Mara's hand, grip so tight she suspected she'd lose feeling in her fingers soon enough.

Riko was checking the locker room for unwanted company when Mara and Neil entered. They waited just inside the door for Riko to finish. It didn't take long.

He beckoned imperiously for Mara and Neil to join him in the front room. Mara's feet felt like blocks of cement as she forced them forward.

Riko turned on his heel to face them, and he and Neil eyed each other across the room. Finally, Riko smiled. It was a horrible expression, one that featured in most of Mara's nightmares, but it was nothing compared to the words that followed.

"Congratulations on your family reunion," he said coldly. "It's been so long, Nathaniel."

Neil tensed next to Mara. "My name is Neil."

"Do not lie to me again. You will not enjoy the consequences." He smiled again. "Just ask your sister."

Mara was going to be sick.

"Imagine my surprise when the results came back. Your fingerprints," Riko elaborated, with a mocking twitch to his smile. "Kathy gave me your glass as a souvenir. All it took was a smile and a kiss. It seems she is growing up to be quite the cougar."

Riko crossed the room in slow steps. "I have to say, Mara, I'm disappointed," he said. "I would have expected you to tell Kevin the truth by now. Really, I'm surprised he didn't figure it out himself. Perhaps I can understand, as I know how blind he can be when it comes to Exy. I might even forgive him for sheltering you from me, Neil. But you must know who you are, so I am very, very curious to know what you think you are doing."

"I'm just trying to get by," Neil said, squeezing Mara's hand so hard it hurt. "If I'd known our families were business partners, I wouldn't have signed the contract."

Riko stepped so close to Neil that they were touching. "You're lying."

"I am not," Neil insisted. "I don't want to cause any trouble for your family. I don't want you to cause any trouble for mine. I'm just here for a year and then I'm gone again, I promise."

Mara closed her eyes, dread settling in.

"You don't want to cause any trouble for my family," Riko echoed. "Mara didn't tell you, did she?"

"He has nothing to do with this," Mara said, finding only a ghost of her voice. "My father offered me as a consolation. Neil has no stake in this."

Riko scoffed. "You really think you were worth what we paid for him? We paid for a boy with potential—not a girl with daddy issues."

"What are you talking about?" Neil asked.

Riko looked at him like he looked at most people—like Neil was dirt beneath his shoe. "You have cost my family a sizable fortune and eight years of trouble."

"How?" Neil asked. "The money I took was my father's."

"Neil," Mara said, warning.

"What?" Neil almost demanded. He stared at Riko. "Look, my mother said it was my father's money. She never even told me about you. If I'd known the money was yours—"