“Not in the least,” Gus muttered through gritted teeth.
I rolled my eyes, resigned. I understood Gus’ reluctance to help. Bradens didn’t help, not usually. And no one ever sought Kellan out, much less for us to help in his stead. Still…I’d started the day out with a theme of helping. I might as well continue…?
“What do you need help with?” I willed the girl to bolster her courage and just blurt it out.
“Um…” She still faltered and then rushed out, “My stepdad just got home from a business trip. He’s a drunk and he…”
And everything clicked. Even Gus perked up. We both knew what Kellan had offered to do. I finished for her, dryly, “And Kellan offered to rough him up if your stepdad hurt you, didn’t he?”
She nodded, grateful.
I felt Gus’ glee as she asked, “What’d he do to you?”
“Kellan?” Leah asked, confused.
Both of us flinched. “No, you idiot. Your father. What’d he do to you?” Gus cringed again.
“He did some stuff. Could you call Kellan for me? I don’t have his number. I don’t even know if he has a phone, but…I…it can’t happen again. Kellan said he’d stop him.”
“We’ll take care of it. Don’t worry.” Giuseppa was all smiles now. It wasn’t a sight Leah was used to, nor myself, but I was pretty sure it shocked Leah the most as she instinctually retreated three steps before she stopped. Her friends quickly moved backward with her.
“I…” Leah wasn’t sure what to say. Her eyes skirted between us again.
I smiled, or tried to smile, though I was a little apprehensive about what Giuseppa had in mind. “He’ll be taken care of by tonight.”
“You’ll talk to Kellan?”
“We’ll do it ourselves,” Gus muttered underneath her breath.
“He’ll be told. Promise,” I tried to reassure her.
“Okay.” Leah jerked a nod before she quickly melted among the rest in the hallway.
“We’re not telling Kellan, right?” Gus asked anxiously. She was the one to eye me nervously now.
“I just told her that he’d be told.”
“Yeah, but you didn’t say when. Let me handle this, Shay. Please. I haven’t had fun in a while.”
I tried to figure out what my sister intended to do. I stared her down, despite the innocent look she flashed my way. I knew my sister, and I knew she wasn’t going to pray for him. I warned, darkly, “Do not kill him. Do not do anything that’ll bring attention to us.”
Gus rolled her eyes and retorted nastily, “Right, Shay. You should be the one talking after what you did today. And no, I don’t intend to do anything like that. But the guy will leave his stepdaughter alone after I’m done with him. Promise.”
“You’re not going to kill him.”
“Promise,” she repeated forcefully.
“Fine,” I relented and was rewarded with a flash of perfect teeth. As she turned to leave, I called out, “And no Vespar involved.”
Gus braked, didn’t turn around. And then continued, but not before I heard a few choice words.
The bell sounded, and I heeded. The rest of the day was like usual. I watched, silent, as everyone else played their social games. The quiet ones stayed with their cliques and sent furtive glances at the popular ones. The geeks did their own thing and managed to avoid all contact with any jock. The popular girls whispered together or hung off the arm of their boyfriends. I caught sight of Leah one time, and she managed a tight smile my way. All of her friends looked my direction and then bent their heads over their table. The guys looked and quickly averted their gazes.
I wasn’t a part of their social hierarchy. According to my bloodline, I was supposed to use them as pawns. I knew Giuseppa and Vespar did. I knew they loved the game. They loved the “mind screwing,” how they put it. And I knew Kellan did it, but his appetite seemed a bit deeper. I wondered if he was happy with the shallow mind playing with the Leahs in our school.
I’d never wanted to do that. I’d never felt compelled and, if anything, I wanted to do the opposite. I wanted to stop it.
I felt a burning on my wrist and touched my sleeve. I felt the tattoo burning my skin. I wondered if it was rotating or staying in place. It moved at times, like when it knew I was paying attention to it. And other times, it was just there, like a reminder for something. I just didn’t know what.
When I got to humanities, the tattoo stopped burning. Thank God.
I dropped my books and slumped into my usual table. We sat on the left side, by the windows, and in the middle. The populars liked to sit in the back, which was fine by us. It never mattered because my siblings surrounded me.
Vespar and Giuseppa slid into their table, just in front of me, and bent their heads close together. Kellan dropped his books beside me and slid into his own chair. He turned, studied me intently like he always did, and then lounged back in his chair.
Just then, Mr. Hawkins strode into the room and dropped his lecture book on the table before he took up a marker and turned to the board. “Okay, class. Tell me what you know about religion.”
Silence scattered over the class and their conversations. And then, after a beat of silence, Leah spoke up, “I’m Catholic. Is that what you mean?”
Another girl raised her hand. “Was this part of our reading? I thought we were supposed to read chapter seven in our book? I don’t remember any discussion on religion there.”