InEscapable

InEscapable Part 2

Chapter One-Reni

A Generation Later

The metallic taste explodes in my mouth, and at first, I don't realize it's blood. Then the flavor gets all warm and seepy, silking across my tongue until I have to spit on the shiny hall floor. The red splatter looks like a miniature crime scene.

Definitely blood.

I'm impressed. All this time I thought Leah was just packing attitude and acrylic nails, head cheerleader that she used to be. But not now. No, that French manicure isn't quite as feminine as before. Not offset against the brass knuckles she smashes into my cheek again and again. How did she smuggle brass knuckles past the school's metal detectors anyway?

But this is no ordinary cat fight. Mainly because it's not even a fight, it's a beating. And there's no crowd. Not yet. It's a private beating, more personal. The teachers can't hear it because I won't scream. I won't even grunt. Not that I want to rob Leah of the pleasure of hearing me suffer; I don't. I just want her to get it out of her system.

See how far she goes. And screams would just interrupt.

Even the reasons behind the beating aren't the usual culprits. I didn't insult one of Leah's gang members; she's not even in a gang. I didn't steal her cigarettes. And I've never snitched on anyone in my life. No, all the normal reasons two delinquents like us would fight are too wholesome.

This? This is authentic, primitive vengeance, not some half-hearted payback diluted by a show for her friends here. She means every punch. And she should.

I saw it coming. And not just eventually. I knew it would happen today. There were signs. Huge ones.

The way, at lunch, she pushed food around her tray without seeing it.

The way she smiled at her entourage of chatter-box friends, distant and blank. Already focused.

The look she gave Ms. Cox when she immediately asked for a bathroom pass as I closed the classroom door behind me.

I knew by her guilty expression I'd never make it to the facility's rather pathetic library.

But what she feels guilty for, I'm not sure. We both know I deserve this. We both know I deserve worse. And we both know I won't fight back.

Leah gives me plenty of openings, though. Right then, when she rams her boot into my ribs. She takes too long to retract, to catch her balance. What would she do if I used the power of her kick to spring back from the locker and shove my palm up her nose? She'd die, that's what.

And how many times will she leave her stomach wide open, ripe for punching? Does she want me to rupture her kidney? Is she asking for me to fight back, taunting what's inside me, just like her sister did?

If she is, she'll be disappointed. I'm in control right now. Lucky her.

Really though, I wish Leah was mad enough, brave enough, to finish it. Not because of the pain bursting like tiny firecrackers all over me, and not because I'm probably getting expelled this time. This is, after all, the "bad kid" school. No other place for me to go except actual jail, I guess. But no matter. I would trade a million of this same day-all of it, however it plays out-to erase the memory of Lola.

Lola, Lola, Lola. Leah's twin sister. At this exact second, I know Leah and I are both thinking about Lola. About how she'll never walk down these halls again-or ever, for that matter. About how wheels have become her new legs. About how she'll never feel her old ones again.

And at this second, we're both thinking about how if Lola walked down the hallway right now, neither of us would have to do this. I wouldn't have to take a beating. Leah wouldn't have to offer one.

But it is what it is. My regret only goes so far. Lola wouldn't leave Gavin alone. Why couldn't she pick on someone else? Why did it have to be my foster brother? I mean, why pick on anyone at all? But noooo. She had to go and mess with him, make him cry. In his twelve years, Gavin had gone through enough, being transferred from home to home. Finally he'd found a place where he'd be happy. With me and Margaret and George.

But Lola ruined it. No, I ruined it. By ruining Lola. By losing control. By doling out a punishment that didn't match the crime.

And now I'll never see Gavin again. Right now he's probably in some shoddy foster home across state wearing thrift store clothes and eating one meal a day. He could be taking a beating right now too, just like me. Because of me, Gavin has been robbed of the pleasure of being raised by Margaret and George. Because of me, Gave is back in the system.

Another big reason not to scream as Leah's boot connects with my kneecap. You just don't scream when you get what you deserve.

But I can tell by the tears streaming down her face that Leah is neither mad enough nor brave enough to bring us both some relief. In fact, she's almost done. She even lets me slink to the floor and curl into a ball.

So much for being impressed.

The linoleum is cold and soothing against my face. My body feels broken. Some parts feel numb. Other parts won't stop shaking. My insides feel warm and gooey, in an internal-bleeding sort of way. I can hear Leah, breathless and sobbing.

She's definitely done.

Crap.

The bell rings. Our private moment is almost over. Doors open and shoes squeak into the hall. I hear the gasps and murmurs and wonder what exactly I look like, folded up in front of her like this. The sneakers and flip flops disappear behind a black spot, like a splotch of paint thrown into my eyes. But before I lose consciousness, I hear her.

"I hate you, Reni," she whispers.

"I know," I tell her.

Everything goes black. But I'm still in control.