Send a Prayer Up Above

Chapter 5

I focused staring daggers into the redhead's neck. Hux was sitting on the passenger's seat of Kylo's car, me in the back. He had told Kylo on the display that someone named 'Snoke' had agreed with him, that it might be a good idea for Hux to go along. Kylo's jaw clenched and he snarled at Hux that we'd be down in five. Now we were driving on the Brooklyn Bridge, in the orange hue toward Central Park. Kylo was quiet, shutting down all attempts by Hux to get him to talk about me as if I wasn't present. 

Hux had asked if Kylo 'enjoyed the past three nights, or even, perhaps days as well?'. Kylo had scoffed back that what he did with me, was no one's concern, except mine. At that Hux had scanned my neck, and I was certain the lighting and angle were all wrong and the purple marks were shining through. His mouth twisted into a sinister grin and he looked at Kylo, almost impressed. Impressed that he didn't think Kylo had it in him to rape a girl? And as a bonus, abuse her while at it. I wanted to punch that grin off his face, but I knew better than to start a fight in the car with two bloodthirsty mobsters. So I focused my stare out the window. Tourists with selfie sticks, lovers out on a romantic night with a movie setting surrounding them. If I was in a movie, it was an R rated thriller where everyone dies and no one has morals.

We parked on the street next to Central Park, and Kylo turned around to describe where the politician was going to be waiting. I picked up the envelope from next to me, hand on the door ready to step outside when Kylo added: "Tell him Kylo Ren is personally seeing this through."

I nodded, hearing Hux say to my back "Kylo hates failures, for your pretty neck's sake I hope you'll do good."

But something told me, he hoped the exact opposite. I walked over to the eleventh streetlamp and indeed, there was a man waiting in a beige trench coat and a baseball cap. An attempt to hide his identity no doubt. I got a little nervous as the reality of the situation started to set it. Here I was, a nobody delivering blackmail to a senator in Central Park. What if this was a setup and something goes wrong and . . . and . . . I didn't know exactly what. Something, bad. But nothing bad happened. I nodded my head to him, he nodded his back. A silent agreement of exactly what we were doing. I handed the envelope to him, he opened it to glimpse inside but put it down as if it burned his eyes.

I figured now was the best moment. "Kylo Ren is personally seeing this through." My voice sounded startlingly loud in the even louder silence we had been in during our exchange. But even more disturbing, was his reaction at the sound of Kylo's name. His eyes shot wide and he immediately looked around him.

"Is he here?" He stammered, voice pitched from sheer terror. The poor man, what had Kylo done to him? He looked like an animal trapped with no way out, so instincts took over in the form of blind terror.

I didn't know what to say. Which one was more threatening? Saying he was or wasn't?

"Kylo Ren is everywhere," I said, opting for a vague melting of both.

He seemed to accept the answer, placed the manila envelope inside his coat and asked if we were done. I nodded, turned my back to him and started walking back to the car. The senator walked off to another direction and I felt guilty, but not as guilty had I not googled him. Because that I did, and he was as crooked as they come. Deep in the deep pockets of the NRA, in bed with oligarchs, affairs as long as his marriage and a bank account in the Bahamas. Maybe this was just karma coming to him, in the form of me.

When I was about to step into the street from the dark of the trees, a thought arose and I froze on the sand path. Couldn't I just . . . run off? Right now? No handcuffs, no leash, no watchdog. Just the dusk of the park and my black clothes. I looked around, weighing my options. If I ran and Kylo caught me in the presence of Hux, he would be obligated to reprimand me in a much crueler fashion that what I'm sure he would, if we were inside four walls. At least I hoped that would be the case, I shouldn't place any expectations of mercy or goodness. But how could Kylo even know I've run off? Hope flickered inside me as I realized, he wouldn't.