“Cops … good idea.” I can hear him smile, and it pisses me off so much I just want to pick up the nearest lamp and throw it at his face. Too bad I can’t find anything in this shitty darkness.
“No, don’t call them. She hasn’t stolen anything yet. Did you, Alisha?” I look at her again.
“No. I was just looking … Please, just let me go.” Tears well up in her eyes, and it hurts to see them.
It takes everything I have not to lunge at him right now. “You heard her. Let. Her. Go.”
A few seconds pass. “No. She tried to steal this.” He holds up a watch.
“She didn’t steal it. You’re holding it, for fuck’s sake,” I say.
“This watch is mine.”
I frown. “What is your deal? You can’t be serious about this. It’s just a watch, and you still have it!”
“Shouldn’t have tried to steal it. Stay here … or jail time.”
“No, I don’t wanna go to jail!” Alisha yells, tears running down her face. “I’m sorry; please don’t call the cops. Anything but prison.”
“Then you stay.”
“No!” I yell. “You’re not keeping my sister. What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Sister?” He leans forward, so I lean back. “Hmm …” The dim light reflects a glint in his eyes, and I get the sense he’s seeing something he didn’t see before.
“What?” I say.
“It’s you …”
“Yes, it’s me, the girl who danced for you yesterday. Now, let us go.”
His eyes twitch. “To prison?”
“No,” I growl, stepping forward. The longer this conversation continues, the more dangerous it begins to feel. I’m getting the sense he won’t be letting us get away with this.
“Don’t.” His voice is so loud, it rumbles. It seriously rumbles, like a fucking lion roaring. “Don’t. Come. Closer.”
“Or what? You’re gonna tie me up too? You’re crazy,” I spit. For a second, I contemplate actually charging at him, but then I realize I’ll never be able to win. He’s twice as big as I am and much stronger, judging by his muscles. I wouldn’t stand a chance. So I go for diplomatic instead.
“Let. Us. Go.”
He doesn’t respond and tears well up in my eyes now too. “So you’re gonna keep her here, forever?” I shake my head.
“I’m sorry, okay?” Alisha says. “I didn’t mean for this to happen. I just wanted him to pay for what he did to you. And I wanted to help with the money …”
I cup her face and caress her cheeks. “It’s okay. I know why you did it. It’s stupid … but I probably would’ve done the same.”
I sniff and take a breath as I stand up again. “What do you want?”
“Leave.”
“Is that all you’re going to say?”
“She stays.”
“No. You’re not keeping her.” I place a hand on the chair.
“Jail or here …” he repeats. His sentences are so short; it’s as if we’re not even worthy of his words.
I swallow back the tears and grip her chair tight. “Fine. If you want to keep one of us as some sort of punishment, keep me.”
“What?” Alisha yells. “No!”
“Zip it,” I snap.
“Hmmm …” he murmurs.
“That’s what you want, right?” I say, cocking my head. “We both committed a crime. She’s a thief, and I’m a trespasser. So keep me.”
“No, Lex, are you insane?” my sister shouts, bobbing up and down in her chair.
But I ignore her.
This is the only choice I have.
I’m not going to leave her here. No way.
“Take me instead of her.”
“No! Don’t fucking listen to her! Just keep me. Lex, go, just leave me. I’ll be okay.”
“I’m not letting you go to prison. Not for this. And I’m sure as hell not leaving you here with this… monster.”
When I mention that word, he growls out loud.
“I don’t care. It’s my fault I ended up here, not yours.”
I grab her chin. “You were doing what you thought was right. Now, it’s my turn.” I kiss her on the forehead and turn around resolutely. “Keep me. Let her go.”
I don’t say these words lightly.
I love my freedom and to give it away so freely … I’d only do something like that for her.
But if it means she’ll be free and not in prison, it’s worth it.
It’s worth it, even if he’ll keep me a prisoner here forever.
It takes him a few seconds to respond. “You want to stay … with me?”