Page 48 of Always Mine

They kept vigil.

* * *

The basement was dank and smelled of mildew. And dark. Annie could just make out the outlines of cots, a small television and chairs. As her eyes adjusted, she saw two couches. This was a gang crib. The kids had told her the lingo but of course, she’d never seen one.

She was lying on a cot, her arms and legs tied to either side of it. Denzi left for a few minutes. At least the woman had taken off the handcuffs. When she returned, she seemed a little out of it. Drugs. Oh, Lord, she was doing drugs.

“Now we start,sista.”

“Start what?”

She leaned over and pulled a switch blade out of her boot. “I was with Marco when he died. It wasn’t fast. Neither will your death.”

Annie’s eyes widened at the blade. Denzi sat on her right side. Oh, dear God, she put the tip of the knife at her shoulder and drew a line with the blade. “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.”

“Hurt, Chica? Just you wait.”

Denzi wiped Annie’s blood on her own face but since the cut was shallow it stopped bleeding. “Until next time.” She got up and walked to the other side of the room. Sprawled out and took out a joint. Lit it.

Annie’s heart pounded so hard in her chest she thought it might jump right out. She’d never been physically hurt by another person intentionally. Her tussles with her sisters and brothers were mild and no one got hurt.

But now…she was going to be tortured. Was she strong enough to tolerate it? What was the alternative? Maybe somebody would find her, but she couldn’t depend on that. How could she get out of here on her own?

She studied the room. It was underground, but she saw a big whitish door. Was Denzi going to let Annie go to the bathroom? Maybe then she could escape. But she’d begin to feel weak if Denzi kept cutting her. Would Diego and the cops be able to find her? There was probably a better chance of that than escaping. Still, Annie had to try. She closed her eyes prayed to God that she’d get out of here before Denzi killed her.

She tried something else. “How old are you, Denzi?”

The girl didn’t look at her. But finally, she said, “What does it matter?”

“You look young.”

“I’m eighteen.”

“Eighteen? How long have you been in the gang?”

“I hung around them until I turned twelve. Then they let me in.”

“Dear God, twelve? You were a child.”

Denzi snorted as she took a hit from a joint. “By then, good ole dad was raping me and I ran away. I lived on the streets. Marco saved me.”

“You had no childhood.”

“Not like you, slut. I’ll bet you had a nice house, family, friends.”

“I did. I was lucky.”

Denzi sat back and hooked her ankle over her leg. “Not anymore, girl. Not anymore.”

* * *

Night fell and Diego swore when the chief, Katie and Will walked back into the house without Annie. Thomas said, “Nothing. There’s no sign of them in any of the spots we targeted.”

“What are we gonna do?” Diego asked.

A knock on the door which was open to the screen. Maisy had left for a bit and now walked in with a man Diego didn’t know. Maisy said, “After the police struck out, I called someone in to help. Diego, this is Jackson Kane. He started Pathways and other small schools around the state for troubled kids.”

“Okay.”

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