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It was my dad, of all people.
Hitting pause, I sat up and stared at the phone. It was always a toss up if I should answer and be pissed off immediately, or let it go to voicemail and be pissed off after the fact. Apparently I was a masochist, because I opted for immediately.
“I’m calling to confirm the moving truck will be there in two days,” Dad said without a proper greeting. “Do you have your apartment in D.C. lined up, yet?”
My pulse kicked up a notch. “No.” Silence. “We’re supposed to talk about it, remember?” I said slowly, trying to cut all emotion out of my voice and be as cold and calculating as he was.
“If you wait much longer, you’re going to end up in an undesirable neighborhood.”
“If I defer for a year, then it doesn’t matter.”
There was a sharp click. I thought he hung up, but when I saw the line was still open, I figured it was his perfect white teeth snapping together. “Why do you insist on pursuing this ridiculous notion? Music isn’t going to get you anywhere in life. It’s bad enough you already majored in it! You’re lucky Georgetown took you with just a minor in business!”
“It’s a twenty-onebilliondollar industry,” I said, trying not to lose my cool — and failing miserably with each sentence out of my mouth. “I’d say people are getting pretty far with their ‘ridiculous’ music dreams. And, for your information, I’ve already had paying jobs. Peoplelikewhat I do, not that you’d know anything about it.”
He snorted. “Please tell me you’re not mad I wasn’t there for your little singalong. You know I had—”
“No, Dad, I’m not mad because at this point I expect nothing less from you. The flowers Joyce got in your name were really nice. You should think about giving her a bonus. Oh, you know what? Maybe a week’s paid vacation so she can relax a little after having agunpointed in her face last month! I’m fine, too, by the way. Too bad you weren’t there for it. It was really something.”
“I don’t have time for this.”
“You never do.” I rolled my eyes and hung up. I don’t know why I even bothered answering anymore. Growing up, I didn’t understand the weeks of silence from him. I blamed myself for not seeing the faults he obviously did and tried to be better, until I was fuckingperfect. Perfect student. Perfect athlete. Perfect musician. Something he could be proud of. None of it mattered. He still found something to criticize.
Turning off the TV, I stuffed my earbuds in and set my phone to “Do Not Disturb” before cranking up the angriest rock music I could find on my playlist. Yanking my shoes on, I stormed out the front door.
One nice thing about living near the university were the perfectly manicured walking paths everywhere. I headed toward the lagoon, one of the more relaxing spots on campus, in the vain hope I could leave my anger behind me if I walked far enough or blew out my eardrums with enough thundering music.
Stopping for a red light, I slipped my phone out of my pocket and skipped through a couple songs, looking for something that matched my mood.
A mass of black swooped in front of my face, blinding me. Whatever it was yanked back on my throat, negating the ability to yell or even breathe.
I fell backward, crashing into something — no, someone. They wrapped their arms around me, squeezing the air out of my lungs, while someone else grabbed my legs. I tried to jerk myself free, but my thrashing got me nowhere. The two of them were too strong.
The sensation of floating hit me as I was carried sideways for a moment. I landed hard on my hip and shoulder on something cold and metal. Whoever had my arms let go and switched to crushing my torso with their weight. Likewise, their partner sat on my legs.
A sliding door slammed shut next to me.
Shit, I was in a car. No, a van. And we were moving quickly.
A sharp sting pierced my shoulder, followed by a sudden burn down the length of my arm.
As soon as the weight on my legs lifted, I kicked out as hard as I could. I caught the fleshy part of someone’s body, based on the grunt and the fact the fucking mammoth on my chest threw his elbow into my stomach.
What little air was in my lungs immediately rushed out. Try as I might to stay awake, my eyelids weighed a thousand pounds. It was getting harder to keep them open until finally they slammed shut altogether.
6
Sasha
“Goddamn motherfucker,”Eduard hissed, hunched over and holding his balls.
I suppressed a laugh and ripped the bag off of Roan’s head so he didn’t suffocate. “No fun at the Birdcage for you tonight.”
“Fuck off.”
Smirking, I tapped a cigarette out of the packet and handed it to him as a peace offering before retrieving one for myself. I lit up first and tossed him my lighter.
“Now what?” Eduard asked, tossing it back.
