F*CK I DROPPED IT

Meeting

"Yo Y/N." 

You turned your head to see Norman, wave at you as you washed the dishes. You smiled. "Hey Norman." 

"Want help?" He asked while rolling up his sleeves. 

He wanted to talk to you. Humming in agreement, you handed him a wet dish for him to dry. "What's up?" 

"You know you can show up to our meetings, right?" You nodded. "Or the ones with Don and Gilda, if you don't feel safe with the four of us older kids meeting."

"Yeah, I know." 

"Then why don't you come? It's important for you to know this stuff. And we trust you. Are you worried maybe? I know mama talked to you about your shipment, but we're going to get out before then"- 

"That was a lie." 

"Huh?" 

"Emma was being suspicious. You have been too for a while, so I was thinking about something to say that might get you two to tell me something. Honestly, I knew you wouldn't, when I figured out what seemed to be wrong." 

"So you knew before?" 

"No, but whenever I talked about Conny or adoptions around Emma, she seemed... well, something about her attitude changed. And I caught onto her acting nowadays. There's a difference between true innocence and fake. She kind of let her guard down in front of me so I used it to my advantage and told her I'm being adopted to get a reaction." You chuckled to yourself. "Horrible, I know." 

"Ray's rubbing off on you." 

"Hey, I'm not as bad as a traitor." 

Norman froze. "You know that too?" 

"I saw him talk to mama while I was taking care of the younger kids. I didn't hear anything they said, but I could feel the coldness of the room from outside. It was bone chilling, honestly. I don't think I've ever been that scared of Ray." 

Lie, lie, lie, you were good at it now. 

"Anyways, I just don't want all of us to be meeting at once. I'm okay not being briefed to every small detail. If there's something I must know, tell me, if I can help you guys, I will. But you know... I do think I'll get shipped out soon. Mama didn't say I would, I just have a feeling. I'm right though, hm? Statistically?" 

Norman sighed. "Yeah. I think Ray knows that too."

"They'll probably send me in as an appetizer or something," you chuckled to yourself. 

"Don't joke about that," Norman said, sharply, looking down. 

You smiled, sighing. "Sorry. What else can I do though? I'm just worried that if she sends me off, I'll be so scared before they kill me, that I'll tell every small thing you tell me." 

"We won't let that happen." 

"If it did though?" 

"I trust you'd prick yourself with that flower before you say a word."