Page 28

CHAPTER 28

I skid around the corner and run past Guo’s shop. A car idles at the curb, the driver’s face lit by a phone screen. Guo’s security gate’s up, but I keep running until I’m standing below Mei’s window.

I lean over and catch my breath, my heart pounding an internal bruise in a chest full of hot anger and desperation. My phone buzzes incessantly in my pocket so I pull it out. Four missed calls and a text from Dad: I’m sorry, M.C. Come home. Let’s talk about this. You can’t just run at 2 AM. If you don’t come home, I’ll come to you.

No. If he can go wherever he wants with whoever he wants, so can I. I drop my phone in my pocket and turn back to Mei’s fire escape. Dad is not gonna ruin this more than he already has.

The ladder to her fire escape is still up but I’m so mad, I could probably scale the building. And if Nick’s guys are around, I’ll wreck them tonight.

I size up the garbage cans lined across the alley. If I stack them, I could grab the lowest rung. But when I dart toward them, the car in front of Guo’s drives off and my inner alarm blares. Guo’s shop should’ve been locked hours ago. And there’s a light in the back, one in her upstairs window.

Visions of her lying unconscious skid across my mind, and I sprint to the door, but it’s locked. I cup my hands around my eyes to look inside. The light’s coming from her back room and I don’t see any shadows prowling her shop, no Guo lying on the floor, but I dial her number, anyway.

The other end rustles after two rings. “Where are you, boy?”

“You okay, Guo? Why’s your gate up?”

“You need to come, now.”

“I’m right outside.”

“Stay.” The call ends and I stare at my phone, torn between going back to Mei’s and staying here. Guo’s obviously fine, but her voice wasn’t.

My cold, worried thoughts about her mix with my dad-anger and slosh around in my stomach, hissing and steaming. Shoving my phone in my pocket, I rub my hands down my face while I scan the empty street. A crosswalk sign blinks on and off like my anger got inside it and messed with its wiring, too. What’s Dad’s problem? None of this had to happen. Yeah, I’ve been lying to him, too, but my lies didn’t totally mess up his life. He still has his girl and whatever he wants. Because of him, I’m not going to Stanford, and I might never get Mei back. What else has he lied about? My mom? Maybe there’s more to that whole story.

I swear under my breath and scan my apartment windows up the street, hands on my head. I’m not gonna stick around to find out what else he’s keeping from me. Thirty minutes ago, I was afraid to leave him. Now…I don’t wanna be anywhere near him. After I talk to Guo, I’m talking to Mei, and after that, I’ll go to Johnny’s. Email Stanford. Like Dad told his girlfriend: I’ll hate him from there. If only I can still get in.

The shop door scrapes open, and I whirl around, scanning Guo in her robe, her hair matted on one side. She reaches for me and pulls me through the door.

“What’s going on, Guo…?” The mini fridge under the counter kicks on and hums, the cat clocks on the shelves tick, but she shakes her head and locks the deadbolt, pushing the button to lower the security gate.

I snap my head toward it, back to her. “Are you holding me hostage or something…?”

“I’m so glad you are here. So glad.” Her red, puffy eyes close slowly then open again.

“Is everything okay…?”

“NO! Everything is not.” Her words burst from her, and she bows her head, shoulders sinking. “Sorry. Not your fault. But now she must go away.”

I frown. “Hold up. Who’s leaving…?”

“Mei Li.”

Her name is a force field that sends ripples through the shop as I slam into it, rattling my brain and my body. Feelings erupt, flinging questions and fear through my head until I’m swerving around Guo, shoving aside racks of robes to get to the light in the back faster. My chest has a jetpack in it, hurling me forward, my heart straining to beat me to her.

I rip aside the curtain covering the backroom entrance and scan the empty table, two abandoned teacups. Two empty chairs pulled away from it. I whirl around. “Where is she?”

Guo steps to me, her hand firmly on my arm as she looks up at me. “She is here, but…”

“But what? What’s going on? Tell me.” I search Guo’s eyes for clues, but she pats my arm.

“She will not want you to see her like this.”

My stomach clenches. “Like what?”

Guo takes a deep breath, sighs it out. Her shoulders slump, holding invisible weight. “She is very hurt, Marcus Miller.”

“What did he do?” My voice is hard, fighting rage, and her silence is all the answer I need. I wanna puke words and mental pictures. I wanna smash things. Break him into tiny pieces. “Where is she? Does she need a doctor? I need to get her out of here and—”

“No.” Guo shakes her head. “No hospital. No doctor. No Ray, just you. Understand?” She holds up her finger. “She will be okay. I gave her something for the pain. If you care about Mei Li, you will do as I say. Tell me you understand.” Her voice is low, but her eyes pin me.

No. I don’t understand. At all. But I nod, afraid if I open my mouth, I’ll yell or sob.

“She is upstairs in the shower.”

Mei. Hurt. Upstairs.

“What do I do?” I ask, panic swooping over me. I have to see her, have to stop the pain, have to keep her here. This is my fault. If I’d just talked to her instead of freaking out that night at The Clubhouse, she never would’ve left. She never would’ve been near Nick. He never would’ve—

“What did he do to her?”

“Things he will never do again. I made arrangements for her to leave so she will be safe from everything.”

“No.” The word shoots out of me like a missile, attacking the thought of her leaving. “No way. She can’t.”

“She must. Things are not good here.”

“But I’ll keep her safe. She can stay at The Clubhouse. My dad can’t say anything. I’m not letting her out of my sight again. And why won’t someone call the cops? He can’t just do this and—”

“The police will already be involved and that is another reason she must go away from here, but I will let her tell you why. She will not want you to see her like this, but she needs you right now. Go to her.” She points a knobby finger toward the stairs that lead to her apartment over the shop.

I look at Guo, at her finger, at the stairs, back to her, then take the stairs two at a time, my heart struggling to break free. But the locked bathroom door stops it short. I stare at the wood grain, my hands fisted at my side.

Water slaps tile on the other side of the door. Mei’s on the other side with the water and the tile and…so close. Hurt. How bad? I lean my forehead against the door, hand on the locked knob I could break off.

I turn and slide down the wall, leaning my head back against it, hands clenched over my bent knees while I work to control my breathing and wait for the water to shut off. Squeeze my eyes shut. Listen. Wait.

Guo eases up the steps past me, walks through her bedroom door, and perches on the end of her bed, hands in her lap.

When a cry comes from the bathroom, my eyes snap open and I’m on my feet. “I need to get to her, Guo.”

She hesitates, then nods and shuffles to her nightstand, pulling open the drawer and rummaging through it. She hands me a paperclip and I bend it, shove it in the lock until it pops, then slip inside the bathroom.

Mei’s a sobbing smudge huddled in the corner on the other side of the frosted glass, and I choke down steam and fear to make room for my voice. “Mei?”

A fresh sob cuts through the spray and I curse, grab the handle, and fling open the shower door. Mei’s on the tile floor, arms locked around her bent knees which are pulled to her chest, her black and blue body trembling.

“Please leave,” she chokes, pulling herself into a tighter ball.

I drop to my knees in the shower, water pelting me, streaming over my head, down my neck. “I’m not leaving.” I blink water and tears out of my eyes as I wrap my arms around her and hold her against me, resting my chin on her head.

Her breaths are shallow, her body shaking even in the scalding water. I reach to yank it off, then squeeze her tighter against me, my fingers flexing against her bare back, slick with water. I wanna punch a hole in the wall, but Guo Mama’s soft voice deflates my rage.

“Marcus.” She stands in the doorway, holding out a thick purple robe. If I reach for it, I let go of Mei huddled against me. If I pull away, I see everything—all of her. Everything I’ve fantasized about. But not like this—with signs of Nick all over her.

I clench my jaw and snatch the robe with one hand. Keep my eyes on Mei’s face, while I slip the robe around her, then gently pull her arms from around her legs and slide them through the sleeves, swallowing as I fight to keep my eyes from sliding south of her face.

Once it’s mostly around her, I gather her to my chest and lift her, carry her out of the shower, out of the bathroom, across the hall. The robe falls open and her bare chest burns a hole through my soaked t-shirt. I clench my jaw and lay her on the bed, pulling the robe across her body. But every time I blink, I see what’s been done to her and anger boils inside me.

Instead of punching the wall or throwing something, I crawl onto the bed, lay in front of her, my lips pressed to her forehead while my head yells at me to throw something. Find Face Eater. Break him.

Mei stays curled in a ball, her eyes closed, hands covering her face to keep me out. I sweep her hair away and uncover a welt on her cheek like the one she had the night she came to The Clubhouse the first time. Blood has dried on her eyebrow and along her hairline. Her earlobe is torn, swollen and red.

My stomach crawls up my throat and I’m gonna puke, but instead, I run my hand across her forehead and down her face, avoiding the bruise. “Mei,” I whisper. “Look at me. Please.”

She turns her head away, exposing purple, finger-shaped bruises circling her throat. Like he tried to strangle her.

Shooting off the bed, I barely make it to the toilet before I lose it. Every emotion from tonight heaves out of me—the excitement and adrenaline from prom and Tavah, curiosity, hope, Dad’s betrayal. Finding Mei like this. I vomit again, clutching the toilet for dear life. What did Nick do to her?

But I think I know, and the thought drops me to my knees. I lower my forehead to the fuzzy bathmat, wrap my hands behind my head and squeeze my eyes shut, trying to separate my anger from sadness. Nick will never get close to her again. I’ll keep her with me. I don’t care about Dad or Stanford or Kenna or anyone. I care about Mei, and if I have my way, Nick will be locked up, no matter what Guo says.

I haul myself to my feet. Talk myself into calm before washing my hands and searching Guo’s cabinet for mouthwash. I swish it around, use a hand towel to wash my face, then toss it on the ground along with my wet t-shirt before going back to Mei and whatever happens next.