Page 52 of The Gods Will Sing Our Song

“Getting to know each other?” Mama grabs my upper arm and pulls me forward. “You lied to me. You told me you were hanging out with another girl. Listen up and listen well. You are not to see him anymore, not ever again.”

She marches me away and I don’t dare look at Ren. Instead, I struggle to keep up with Mama, my mind whirling, my lips still burning from our kiss.

Chapter Fifteen

Ren

I think I’m in a daze. Or maybe I’ve been hypnotized. I don’t have a single thought in my mind, except that one of my deathbed memories is going to be of Violet leaning back against the fender like she didn’t have a bone in her body.

I just kissed Violet Aratani. Damn if I know what it means but damn if I have the mental capabilities to sort it out now. All I can do right now is bask in the afterglow, even as Violet and her mother rush away from me, while I bite my lip as I think about kissing my way down her neck.

“Hey. You. Hamada.”

I’m so far gone that I almost don’t understand when I glimpse Boser cutting across the grass. Then he gets close enough for me to see he’s seething like a shaken soda bottle and I’m back inside myself. Instinctively, my hands gather into fists, and my weight shifts to the balls of my feet. He notices my posture and slows his pace, coming to a stop only inches away. The glow of the festival lanterns turns cold in the icy, reflective gleam of his eyes. Tension spikes between us. He speaks quietly. “The relic you gave me is fake, a counterfeit. I took it to get it appraised.”

Maybe I should be scared, but I’m not. I hate this guy too much to be scared. I can’t resist. I smile mockingly at him.

“Fake as can be. And you thought it was as precious as the Hope Diamond.” Boser grabs the front of my shirt. He drags me roughly around the trucks so we’re on the far side of them, away from the festival. He shoves me hard against the closest truck. I turn awkwardly to the side, trying to protect my shoulder, pressed against the unrelenting metal.

“I’m the wrong person to cross,” Boser hisses. “Where’s the real one?”

“Don’t have it.”

“It can’t be true.”

“But it is.” A harsh laugh leaves my lips. “I gave it away. Can’t get it back.”

Boser stares at me, hard. I laugh again. He leans in and I think I’ve done it. I’ve pushed him over the edge.

But he just grabs and yanks me around to face the truck, one hand anchored hard between my shoulder blades to pin me in place while the other roughly rifles through my pockets to search for the pendant. Memories of the cops frisking me rise in lurid flashes. I jerk free, turn around, ready to slug him if necessary. He steps back but then speaks tersely, quietly, like we have important business together.

“Get it back. I want a real one.”

“Impossible.”

“No, it isn’t. Until you do, the arrangements I’ve made for your sister will be on hold.” My body responds on its own. My arm cocks back. Now he’s the one smiling at me. I’m going to punch him in the mouth and watch his teeth drop like autumn leaves, and I won’t stop until his face isn’t a face anymore. “Think it through, hotshot. I can do more than cancel your sister’s ambulance ride. I can also have you arrested.”

It takes all my will to lower my fist. Even as I do, it shakes, nerves zinging up and down my arm. I take a long, desperately deep breath, anything to calm down so I can think my way through this, but I can’t even feel the breath.

“Yeah? And how about I contact the Ross family?”

“About that.” There’s too much cunning in Boser’s voice, too much confidence in his smile. “I called downtown to find out more about you. You were arrested for petty theft, jailed for a few days, got off on a technicality. Now, you just don’t seem like the kind of company a respectable family would keep. When I rang up Mr. Ross at his country club, he had no clue who you were. His old lady was writing your family in secret. I reckon those letters will stop now.”

I’m shaking, useless rage writhing through me. It’s all I ever have, all I’m ever left with, and it gets me nothing.

“Get the relic,” he continues. “Until then, no help is coming for your sister.”

With that, he stomps away.

“What’s wrong?” Emi asks, glancing sidelong at me as we walk back to our barrack.

“Nothing. Everything is fine.”

“Nothing my ass.” She’s never been easy to fool. “You look like you could kill a man.”

“I could,” I mutter under my breath.

“What was that?”