Page 44 of Ready Or Not

“Today.” I grind my teeth together.

“Nothing today.”

Silence. I consider ripping his head from his body.

“Listen man, you know we don’t have shit for shit. There are only a few counties and The City with these cameras. Not much I can do.”

I grip the phone so hard that a bolt of pain shoots through my fingers.

I hear the scanner kick on in the background.Structure fire. 10945 Country Road East.

“Sorry man. I’ll let you know if it pops up again.”

One occupant inside.

I cock my head. That address isn’t far from here.

Riley has always been obsessed with fire. My stomach clenches, and I launch myself to my car, hanging up the phone.

There are so many things that could go wrong. I haven’t taught her everything I know. Mostly because she’s not been ready for it. She could get hurt. Worse, she could get killed. And what the hell is Rachel doing? Just going along with it? Did she kill her, too?

Both fear and a thrill run through me. Riley’s finally playing the game, and I want nothing more than to stop her. So I will. Ready or not, here I come.

20

Evil People - Set It Off

Age 6

“Riley!” My mom screams my name from outside the bathroom. I simply continue to kick my feet in the bath water.

“Unlock this door, or I swear to god I’ll beat your ass black and blue.”

I uncap the soap and lather some bubbles on. I burned my fingers a little when I was burning Noel’s clothes. Noel is my mom’s current fling.

My fingers clench. I should have burnedhim. Watched the skin blister off his face from up close. I can’t remember why I hate him so much, but I know he’s done something.

The door rattles, and I pull in a deep breath. I know what the punishment is. Mom will hurt me for what I did.

On the other side of the door, Mom goes completely silent. I wait patiently, and then I hear her messing with the door handle, and the lock pops open.

Mom rages into the bathroom. She spots me and lunges at me. “You need to learn, Riley.” Her hands grip into my hair and around my shoulder. Before I realize what she’s doing, she shoves me forward into the bath water.

Warm water surrounds my head, and I scramble. I try to get out, but the tub is slippery, and Mom’s grip is iron. My heart pounds. Mom’s fingers rip little pieces of my hair out, and my lungs start to burn.

Mom yanks me back up. She’s screaming something at me, but I’m just trying to suck in another breath. When I feel like I can breathe again, Mom’s voice comes through. “Do you understand?”

I laugh, but I don’t mean it. “Yeah.”

Wrong answer. Mom shoves me back down. This time, she holds me for longer. I try not to feel anything. Fear, anger, nothing. If I feel nothing, then I’m safe. She can touch me, but she can’t touchme.

When Mom lets me back up and sees my lack of response, it makes her go crazy. She screams in my face, calling me a psychopath and saying she’s going to call the cops on me.

I close my eyes. I’m getting pretty good at blocking out emotions. Noel and the others give me plenty of practice.

Finally, my mom storms out of the room to “call the cops,” she said.

I lean back in the tub and pull in a deep breath.