Page 32 of The Runaway
“Joci—” Even Carlyle Santino looked mortified when I glanced around, ignoring Jacob’s croak. In the silence, one of the kids sneezed, and the sound rolled up my spine to bang against the sensitive part of my brain. I held the plate on one hand, whirling around to smash the sandwich in Jacob’s mom’s face as hard as I could.
She screamed, shattering the quiet stillness as she stumbled back, peanut butter smearing on her chin and clumping her eyelashes. Clenching and releasing my jaw, I wiped bitter tears from my cheeks while Jacob jumped into action. His arms wrapped around me, half holding my back, half comforting me, but— what could I do? I couldn’t punch her. I couldn’t rear back my arm that far.
What was her name?Oh— yes. Lisa. Gaping at me like a fish out of water, Lisa was shocked—shocked!— by the piece of bread hanging from her chin. Crumbs clung to her curly hair, and peanut butter smeared down her sternum and shirt.
“Fuckyou! You dirty fuckingyanki pizda! Let me go!” Struggling against Jacob’s grip, I ground my teeth when he didn’t release me so I could punch his mom in the face— my arm be damned. Trembling with anger, I breathed fire and teared rivers of oil that ignited on my skin. Somehow, Jacob only had a grip on my shirt, and I tore myself from him with a grunt.
Thecrunchof broke breaking wasn’t from Lisa’s face, and goosebumps blanketed my body when I blinked. A tiny dribble of blood seeped from her nose, but the rattling, pin needle pain that shot up my arm was almost unbearable. Watching her crumple, holding her face, I panted harshly as I spit on her wailing, shivering self.
“You think I’m stupid! I’m not stupid! I’m tired of being acted like I’m stupid!” I flung out my arms as my own shouting reverberated through me— like I was hearing it, feeling it, not saying it. The pounding in my ears was too loud, and my heart tried to squeeze through my ribs. “I come here for making you feel good about me, and you’re mad! For what! For Jacob and Caleb, not for me! I didn’t do anything! Maybe, you are the one that can be kicked out! It’snotme that fucked up!”
“Hey—” Jerking out of the hands that tried to grab me, I whipped around to watch through watery, achy eyes as Jacob held up his palms in surrender. “It’s just me.”
“Why!Whydoes everyonehate me? I’m trying! I’m trying! Anatoly was right! I have no one! I’mdisgusting— I wish Aleksander let him kill me!” Somewhere in the fog of my mind, I realized… Carlyle would have a gun on him. He’d be stupid not to have a gun on him everywhere he went. He dropped his plate, the ceramic shattering with a horrible clatter when I rushed over. Everything moved in a blur, but he must’ve known what I was going for.
“No!” Wrapping my hands around the cold metal, I wheezed short, furious breaths before Jacob grabbed me. This time, he wasn’t so gentle, and I sputtered as he stumbled back onto the bottom of the stairs. Long, lean legs wrapped around mine, his arm across my sternum and his palm against my forehead. “No— no— no. I don’t hate you. I don’t hate you.”
“Mom— what the fuck iswrongwith you, huh?” The deep voice— but not Jacob’s— floated just over the scope of my comprehension. Even sobs couldn’t break free beyond the tightness in my chest, and it took all I had just to breathe short, shallow wheezes. “Sandra, pack up the kids. We’re leaving.”
“Sh-h… you’re not gonna die. I won’t let you. I just got you.” Whispering desperately in my ear, Jacob kissed my temple as tremors rattled my whole body. My hearthurt— not the physical kind of ache that engulfed my hand, but the pain that my brain created. It beat so hard, so fast, and my lungs screamed for fresh air.
“Yeah… we’re gonna go, too.” Why didn’t anyone ever give me a chance? Because my English wasn’t that great? Because I was foreign? Did people just glance at me and decide I was bad?
“I’m taking you to the hospital, Joci. Your hand doesn’t look good at all.”
“I’ll bring you.” Carlyle sounded noticeably troubled by what he’d witnessed, and Jacob tensed against my back even as different hands grabbed me to pull me up. “It pays to be me. There won’t be a record of her.”
“Why would you do that for her?” The world spun through my bleary vision, and I managed to breathe a little better once I was standing. “I don’t want to owe you shit, Carlyle. The whole point of this is for her to get out, she said.”
“Are you in a position to not accept my help, Jacob?” Turning my watery eyes to Carlyle, the only clear thing I could see was the disturbance swirling in his iron gaze. “I’m not Aleksander Makovich. I do not do humanitarian deeds expecting to be paid back, nor do I allow suffering to continue right in front of me. You won’t owe me anything.”
Carlyle stuck out his hand like he was making a business deal, and Jacob hesitated only a second before taking it. Everything happened around me once removed, the people around us gathering their stuff in complete silence. Even the children were silent. Sniffling hard as Jacob fixed a few buttons that’d come undone on my shirt, I gulped down snot and spit once the shock started to wear off.
“You really hate Aleksander, don’t you?” Maybe, they didn’t think I was listening— or that talking about something other than the fact that Lisa had thrown out my food and given me a sandwich instead would distract me. Leaning against Jacob’s chest, I closed my eyes and focused on breathing while my heart slowed. The fierce ache in my chest began to die down… but with that loss, the pain started to build.
But that was okay. I liked this pain that slithered up my arm. I knew punching Lisa would probably break my frail bones, dislodge the pins holding my hand together, but it was worth it.She fucking deserves it.
“I think his business practices are disgusting and underhanded, and I’m not fond of him as a person, either. Considering he came to me, you’d think he would be open to negotiating, but all he does is demand. I’m not expecting to make a deal with him unless his negotiator can get him to bend. That being said…” Heavy eyes bored holes into my face, and I blinked sluggishly as I looked over. Carlyle stared at me like I was prey he was no longer interested in eating. “I am more than open to accommodating Joci’s stay in the States.”
“If negotiations fall through, she has to go back.” Cold air shocked my face, and I gasped with a shudder as it curled up my nose and cleared my head some.When did we walk? What’s going on?We were out of the house and going down the stairs, my shaky exhale clouding in front of my face.
“He can try. Makovich might be important in Russia, but he doesn’t matter outside their borders. I have a very good idea of what he’s trying to do, and I’m going to do everything in my power to make him fail… and I have a lot of power to play with.”
33
Joci
Staring at the pale purple bandage holding my left hand together, I still had a hard time wrapping my head around the past few hours. I thought everything was okay— I managed to avoid making a fool of myself in front of Jacob’s family. Carlyle showed up, and I was willing to put aside what happened at the pizza place for peace’s sake. I maintained a conversation with his brother, who seemed to like me well enough for someone he’d just met.
Everything was goingtoowell, though. I should’ve expected things to go south; now that I thought about it, Jacob’s mom was avoiding me the whole time I was there. She talked to other people in her brief leaves from the kitchen but stayedfaraway from me. Even Jacob had a terse, short conversation with her, but she didn’t so much as glance at me.
“She gave me a sandwich.” My rasp earned me a chuff of a scoff, and I glanced up through throbbing eyes at Jacob. “She did it to be mean. Like it was payback, maybe. For Caleb.”
“I don’t know why the fuck she thought that was a good idea, but I guarantee you, Joci— I’m not the only one that’s pissed.” Now, I felt soclearand empty. I was horrified that I’d reacted by punching her in the face, but I couldn’t see myself doing anything else. Lisa’s whole family had left, if Jacob’s phone trilling non-stop with texts about how upset they were was any indication. Supposedly, even his dad went for a ‘long walk’, and Emily had gone with him. “I’m cutting her the Hell out of my life. This isn’t even about you, either— it’s about how bored she is. It’s been getting worse over the years, like Em said, but this… this went way too far.”
“Excuse me—” The doctor entered the room with a long, wide file in his arm and cleared his throat faintly. “Do you have a moment to talk about your x-rays? Mr. Santino provided me with an interpreter for you.”
“Yes.” I held up my bandaged arm, and he nodded his bald, shiny head that reflected the white lights streaming from the ceiling. The woman from the tarmac when we’d landed in America slipped into the room, shutting the door behind her. She was pretty, still, and she smiled brightly at me as she shuffled to sit in the chair opposite Jacob. “Are you interested?”