Page 4 of Genesis

I stand up straighter. “What’s it to you if we did?”

I see her swallow in the moonlight, but there’s a sense of curiosity in her expression. And then she shocks me. Her shoulders lift in a shrug. “I guess you got your reasons.”

“Swear to us that you won’t say anything,” Johnny says.

She rolls her eyes. “I swear.” She bites her inner cheek. “Was there someone in there?”

I dart my eyes to Johnny. The streetlamp shines above us, painting us in dim yellow, allowing me to see his face and hers.

“What happened to your face?” she asks him.

His tongue darts out and he licks the cut his father gave him only hours before.

“Don’t worry about it,” he says. “Who are you?”

She’s quiet for a moment, studying Johnny and me. “I’m Bexley Walker. Just moved there,” she says, pointing to the house right beside ours. I see the moving truck in the driveway.

“Well, Bexley Walker, you better keep your mouth shut about what you saw,” I say to her.

“I wouldn’t tell,” she says.

“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll keep your word. I’m going inside,” Johnny says, holding on to the arm his dad bruised earlier today. He walks away from us, heading toward the house.

I exhale, hearing the commotion of a fire truck and men yelling a street over.

“I’m not going to say anything,” Bexley says again.

“That’s what you said,” I reply. I walk off, because I don’t care to stand here and talk to this girl. She was spying on us, and because of that, we now have someone who knows our secret. Someone who could get us caught.

“What’s your name, anyway?” she asks.

“Danny,” I say over my shoulder. “Keep your promise.”

Chapter Three

Bexley

First day missing

“Danny,” I say into the darkness. I wish I could see, make out where we are. My stomach growls in protest, and my head feels weightless. My shoulders ache from my arms being tied behind my back, and my wrists feel slit from rubbing against the plastic that cages them.

I woke up hours ago, but I’ve been fading in and out of consciousness, slipping in and out of memories.

Being unconscious is better, because I get a break from the reality of our situation. We’re in an abandoned building, I think, although I can’t see shit. Rats scurry across the floor, water leaks from somewhere, and Danny hasn’t said a word since I thought I heard him call my name hours ago. My mouth is dry, my throat raw.

“Danny,” I say again. “Wake up!”

Goddamn you.Hateis not a strong enough word for what I feel toward Danny O’Brien. I loathe him and everything he stands for. I close my eyes, wishing I were back with my husband. Wishing my life had turned out differently. Wishing I could beg my mama not to have moved us to the south side of Postings. Opening my eyes, I stare into the darkness, and without wanting to, I think back on a past that seems so long ago, and yet, I can still recall every last detail…

Chapter Four

Bexley

1998

I watch Danny’s back as he walks to his house. The other kid is already inside, with a busted face and an arm that looked like it was hurt. I turn toward the flames blazing one street over. Smoke fills the night sky, turning black to gray. I wonder about those boys and why they set that house on fire.

Neither one of them seems like nice kids.

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