Page 47 of Wire
“Oh, OK,”
I stand and wrap Chewy’s small body in my arms. This woman, who blew into our lives and has made shit bright and colorful, chose me as her bestie. Yeah, OK, she went through mymessages and is snoopy as hell, but it’s for a good cause. She pats my back awkwardly, and I let her go.
“So, best friend, wanna help me find my girl?”
“Fuck yeah!”
Chapter Fourteen
Remy
Voices echoing from outside the door have me pressing myself back into the corner of this gross room. Since hoisting Jovie through the little window, I’ve been going through all my options. There isn’t really a lot other than to fight with all I have. I’m not sure exactly where we are being kept, which means I’m not sure how far Jovie had to go to look for help. I can only hope that she found a nice mom or nana to take her to safety.
The voices get closer to the other side of the door, and I realize one voice sounds off. Moving toward the door of my prison, I press my ear to the door, hoping to hear a little better.
I think the voice sounds off because it’s on speaker phone. The other voice sounds a lot like Jovie’s dad. I can’t quite make out all the words, but Jovie’s asshole father sounds even more unhinged than usual. The lock clicks and the door is thrown open before I can get to a safe distance on the other side of the room.
“What the fu-” He looks around the room, eyes darting to the now uncovered window before it dawns on him that Jovie’s not here.
“Where the fuck is my kid, bitch!?” He snarls, getting in my face, his big hand grips me, squeezing my cheeks tightly, so even if I wanted to answer I couldn’t, anyway.
Getting annoyed with my lack of response, he shoves me backwards onto the mattress. I jump up as fast as I can, but he kicks my legs out from under me, then wrestles me onto the mattress, his gross boner digging into my thigh.
“Keep fighting bitch, I love it when bitches fight. You should have seen Jovie’s mom when I sold her. Fought for all she was worth, and she still ended up dead.” An evil grin covers his scabby, scarred face.
Instead of lying dormant I pull my head back as far as I can and then slam my forehead into his nose, blood exploding over both of us as he rolls off me, covering his face and screaming obscenities.
My vision blurs slightly from where I probably got a little too much of his forehead in that hit, smooshing my glasses into my eyes, but I don’t care. I get up and kick his balls before jumping over him and making a run for it. Pumping my legs as fast as I can, I’m able to see what looks to be the door. I head in that direction only to have my head snap back when something grabs the back of my short hair, pulling me down to the ground.
“Now, now Remy girl, where ya heading to? We’re only just getting this little party started.”
Snake grins down at me and even though my hair is burning as he drags me back into the little room, I don’t go easily. I scratch and kick, twist and try to bite.
“Shit, Remy, I don’t know where all this piss and vinegar came from, but Hammer is going to love to fuck it out of you. I will too. You know how Hammer loves to share.”
He smirks down at me and I seriously wonder if vomiting on the guy will gross him out enough to loosen his grip. He throwsme into the room, where I land on the gross mattress for the fourth time in one day.
Jovie’s dad is cursing his head off and instead of beating on him, Snake grabs him, looks deep into his eyes and says, “Find that girl. Her buyer will be here in two days.”
I can feel the bile rising along with my anger. That bastard sold his wife and now he’s sold his daughter. I get the urge to launch myself at him again, but that’ll do me no good. I need to regroup. Be smart about this. I have hours before anyone will be able to locate me, probably. Like I told Jovie, sometimes we need to help ourselves. I may not be able to stop Hammer right now, but with enough time I will be able to stop Jovie’s dad. And maybe even Snake. All I need to do is bide my time and try to get as much information as I can.
“So what’s the plan? Sell me and Jovie? How much did we make you greedy bastards?”
“Whoa! Look at little Miss Remy with the bad language,” Snake grins at me like I’m a silly little girl.
“There’s more where that came from, asshole,” I mutter to myself.
Snake’s grin drops and he crouches down, crawling towards me, crowding me until I’m pressed up against the wall. He’s straddling my legs, pinning them to the mattress so I can’t kick out. He sneers down at me, his nose touching mine.
“You want to know the plan? That sweet little girl you were protecting will be sold to a man in South Africa. He loves little biracial girls. Eats them for breakfast. Like’s breaking their spirit until they’re nothing more than broken little dolls littering his basement.” He licks a stripe up my neck, making me shiver in disgust before whispering in my ear, “As for you, my sweet, well, Hammer has owned you for years.”
He pulls back, smiling in glee at the horror he must see on my face. Not for me, but for Jovie.
“Hammer doesn’t own me. No one does.” I have no idea how I push the words out without stammering. This can’t be real.
He clicks his tongue “Oh, but that’s not true, little miss. Hammer bought you from your slut mother when you were 3 years old. It was even better when Flack took you from her and brought you home. He could watch his investment grow. Who do you think told your dad that cursing wasn’t ladylike? Hammer has been in Flack’s ear, shaping you to be his perfect woman since you came to live with us. Who you are today is because that’s who Hammer wanted you to be.”
I recoil in horror, the back of my head hitting the wall. The extra attention he’d paid me as I was growing up never quite made sense. Sunny never got birthday presents from Hammer. I just thought the Pres was being nice. My hand covers my mouth as the gravity of what Snake is telling me sinks into my brain. I shrink back onto the mattress and ignore Snake’s laughter as he walks out, closing and locking the door behind him.