Page 39 of Genesis

“And you know this because?”

“Because none of your business.”

He looks over at me, narrowing his eyes. “You shouldn’t have brought her here.”

“Why the fuck does it matter to you?” I ask.

“Why the fuck do you care if she’s sitting at home on her birthday?”

“You don’t care about Bexley at all?” I question. “She’s kept one of our biggest secrets, Johnny. She can be trusted.”

“She’s a distraction for you.”

“Distraction from what?”

“The life we’re going to have. She doesn’t fit into this world.”

I look at her playing poker with the guys. She’s put her brunette hair up and she’s makeup-free. She laughs when a guy folds and she shows her cards. And like a punch to the gut, I really see her for the first time.She’s not just pretty. Bexley’s beautiful. Normally, she doesn’t smile a lot, and she never looks carefree, but right now she does. Tonight, she looks like a weight has been lifted and for once she isn’t thinking about what her future holds.

However, I also see something else. I see the harsh truth of the situation. Bexley is playing poker with a bunch of first-degree murderers. She’s taking money from men who don’t regret the bad shit they’ve done.

And after this is over, she’ll still go home to a mother who’s dying. She’s still going to leave.

And she needs to. Bexley is too good for this neighborhood and the monsters living in it. Including me.

Johnny’s right. She doesn’t fit into the lifestyle we want to live. She may be having fun now, but if she knew what these men did, she wouldn’t be cool with it. She would probably be horrified and would run far away from here.

“You’re right,” I tell him. “She shouldn’t be here.”

I see the game is over, so I stand up. Walking over to the table, I lean down. “We need to go. It’s getting late.”

“Aw, one more round,” Nugget says.

“Nah,” I say. “We need to go.”

He stands up, a little drunk from the way he’s swaying. “I said one more round, you little shit.”

I feel my jaw tighten. I can’t stand this motherfucker and I don’t trust him.

I’m only fifteen but, I swear to God, if he comes around this table, I’ll break a chair over his face.

“And I said, it’s time for us to go.”

He points at me. “You got a bad attitude, little kid.”

“Don’t call me that,” I say with a deadly smirk.

He laughs. “Or you’ll what?”

Without a second thought, I lift the chair and throw it at him across the table. Before he can react, I round the table. Picking up the chair, I shove it into his ribcage, causing his drunk ass to hit the floor on his knees. I grip the chair, hitting my foot against the leg of it. Snapping it off, I whack him on the head like I’m Derek Jeter hitting the lead-off home run in game four of the World Series. Blood splatters from his face, and the crowd goes wild, extremely satisfying me. I hit him repeatedly, over and over until his face is nothing but…

“That’s enough,” Moretti says from the chair he’s occupying.

I snap out of my daydream as I grip the chair Bexley sits in.

“Better listen to your boss,” I say to Nugget. “Come on, Bexley.” I stand by her seat, waiting for her to get up.

She does and I take her hand, looking at Nugget one more time before we turn to leave. I look overat Johnny as we walk out the door. He stares at Nugget, clearly watching my back.

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