Page 93 of When You Stayed
The butt of the gun whipped across my face, forcing it to the side. I tried to right myself, but a sudden bout of dizziness hit, making me see double. I couldn’t seem to get my feet under me as I tripped toward the tree.
“I don’t have a choice, Royce. The entire point of them releasing that video was to draw Ford out and place him at the mercy of the Murdoch Devil Riders. But guess where your stupid as fuck boyfriend is right now?” His mouth was close to my ear, the barrel of the gun pushing into my back.
Rodney began pulling me in the opposite direction of the cottage. I tried to look behind me, but Rodney yanked my arm even harder, shoving me forward.
“He’s on his way here, Royce. He was supposed to be headed south, but the fucking idiot is on his way here. Do you know what the Murdoch Devil Riders will do to me when they realize this didn’t work? They’re going to kill me. So, I thought up a plan B. I’ll take you, and Ford will follow.”
“Rodney, stop.” I tried to fight him, but he kept twisting my arm with a bruising hold. My heart thrashed as I tried to get my feet under me. I knew self-defense; I could use a move to stop him if I could get him to stop pushing me for two seconds. Even digging my boots into the dirt to add resistance so I could pivot didn’t work. He shoved my back, making me lose my balance.
“No, Ford is already on his way here. I have to get you out of here.”
That meant Ford might be able to hear me. Without giving it another thought, I opened my mouth and screamed.
Rodney slammed the butt of the gun into the back of my head, making me fly forward.
“That was a warning, but if you do it again, I will be forced to knock you out. Now move.”
With my head throbbing, my vision blurring, I kept shuffling forward.
I couldn’t get in the car with him, or allow them to bait Ford. He wasn’t thinking clearly where I was concerned. I had no idea what sort of president he was, or planned to be, but I knew from hearing things from Dad, and a few comments Mom let slip that Ford couldn’t afford to rush into a trap. I was still angry with him over the lies, but I also still loved him enough to do whatever I could to prevent it.
Up ahead there was a small ditch, which would force Rodney to lose his grip while navigating the terrain below it. When we nearly approached it, I dropped my weight, which forced us both to fall, and the gun he was holding landed out of reach. I maneuvered to my feet before he did. He wouldn’t actually shoot me because he wanted me alive. Which gave me the edge I needed and ran.
Without looking back, I took off toward where we’d come from. I remembered what Rodney said about Ford being close, so I let out another scream. Although uncertain if he really was on his way, I knew it could help me if he had a direction in which to go.
I kept pumping my arms, lifting my legs as I covered more ground. My mind kept going back to Ford. To seeing his hazel eyes again, that warm smile that he’d finally started sharing with me. I thought of Gus, and how Ford and I had barely started our relationship, and someone was already threatening to tear it from us. I began whispering his name as I ran, my heart pounding angrily. My pulse hammering.
There was someone ahead, I could make out their shape. I knew it was Ford. It had to be him. A smile stretched along my face, as tears slid down my cheek. Relief nearly made me falter, but I kept running. He was here. He’d come for me.
He was running toward me, when suddenly a loud shot rang out through the orchard. I worried that Rodney had seen Ford and shothim, but it was me who went down to the ground, my hands landing in the loose dirt and my face sliding against it. It was me who had blood coating my skin, and I realized that perhaps it worked to Rodney’s advantage for Ford to see me die as much as it would to discover that I’d been kidnapped.
I’d fucked up, and now I was going to die because of it. My eyes were on the sky, and my pulse felt really weird, my body tingled, my extremities going numb. I wanted to hang on until Ford got there, but it wasn’t easy. Darkness clung to my vision, and then I couldn’t see anything at all.
TWENTY-FIVE
FORD
AGE FIFTEEN
Our entire schoolhad gathered in the gym to watch the talent show.
Personally, I thought it was childish to still have to go to these, and now that I was in high school, I had hoped to skip it. In fact, I had told Connor I was going to leave at lunch to avoid this event. He, of course, told me he’d be front and center for Royce. He wanted to show her support.
Because, of course, he did.
Royce had many talents, but singing wasn’t one of them, and the fact that someone had put it into her head that she could was a travesty. Maybe she thought because her mom could sing, she’d try it too…or maybe it was one of her dumb friends that convinced her, but either way, I knew Royce would not like the outcome of this show.
I suppose deep down I slid onto the wooden bench for the same reason that Connor had decided to show up. More than supporting her, I wanted to see her step up to the microphone and open her pretty lips. I wanted to see what outfit she wore. I wanted to see how her hair looked under the house lights. I couldn’t seem to stop this small obsession that I had with her, and adding this mental image of her standing on that stage was a necessity.
I already knew Connor was sitting down on the gym floor in one of the chairs. I stuck closer to the back where Royce wouldn’t catch me staring.
There were a few acts ahead of her, each of them boring and none of them pulling me away from my sketchbook long enough to watch all the way through. Then I heard Ms. Mulligan introduce the only girl I’d ever watched so carefully that I knew exactly when she planned to laugh, or cry, or hit someone. I knew every twitch of her lips, every meaning behind that left brow raising. This unfortunately meant I knew when she liked what Connor said to her. She walked onto the small stage wearing a pink dress that fell to her knees. The top was strapless, which made her insecure because she kept pulling it up every few seconds as she walked. Her golden hair was curled and bounced against her back, which meant her little sister had done it for her. Anytime Royce did her own hair, the curls didn’t last, and they looked too frizzy. I, unfortunately, found it endearing and it made me like her more.
She closed her eyes as she stepped up to the microphone, then wet her lips. Before she even opened her mouth, I knew what tune I’d hear. Mostly because I knew her, but it was no secret that she had a deep obsession with music from the ’90s. Sure enough, she began singing along with the guitar to the dramatic tune to “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls. She started off strong, but as the song transitioned, her voice couldn’t quite carry the right tune, and then her voice cracked. I could see her face flushing even from where I sat, but things got worse when a group of guys started laughing.
I glared at the backs of their heads as they crowded together and joked. One of them pointed and then yelled. “Isn’t her dad in jail or something? Is she singing for tips?”
“She’s fuck hot, but her voice sounds like it got trapped in a garbage disposal.”
