Page 4 of P.S. I'm With You
“Zora, your father is not able to be a dad. I know it’s hard to understand right now, but one day you will see that this is for the best. Now come on, your fingers are getting wrinkly. Let’s get you dried and dressed, and we’ll have snacks and read stories.” I stand from the tub and grab my towel while noticing Zora’s big blue eyes looking at me.
“You have a lot of ouchies.” I give her a sad smile while wrapping the towel around me.
“They don't hurt anymore, flower, they’re called scars.”
“What’s a scar?”
“It’s a spot where you got hurt and your body healed over it.” Zora thinks as I dry her off, wrapping herself in her own towel.
“Why do they look different?” I give her a small shrug.
“To remind us of the past so we don’t make the same mistake twice.”
Aloud crash wakes me from my sleep with Zora. I bolt out of bed, my daughter letting out a cry of fear as something crashes again.
“Shhh…” I whisper, as I grab my girl and run to the closet. I hear heavy footsteps downstairs. How? How was I found?
Opening the door on the floor, I usher Zora into the small area with her blanket and teddy bear.
“Remember, flower,” I say as calmly as possible, “not a peep. Be good for your mama, alright?” Her watery eyes and look of terror are a knife in my heart. Closing the door, I cover the floor with a rug as I walk back to my bed and lay back down. I hear the different sets of footsteps, the different voices.
Four, five… fuck, there might be eight men. I’ll never get them all. Rigo knows where to find Zora, and he will. We have plans laid out for this exact moment. If I’m found, Rigo lays and waits until they leave, and he takes Zora to her father. Closing my eyes, I inhale deeply to calm my nerves, as well as my aching heart at having to leave her.
The door is kicked open and two large men wearing masks walk in. “Kasapin!” one barks, and I make no move to acknowledge him. The other man walks to me and grabs me by my braided hair, dragging me out of the bed and across the floor. I say nothing—I refuse to even grunt. The last thing I want is for Zora to hear and come out. The man throws me down the stairs and I land at the feet of another masked man.
“Fucking cowards.” I spit on his boots. “No fucking balls, you come into my house to throw your dick around yet hide your faces.”
The man I spat on lifts me by my shirt to meet his eyes before smacking me across the face with his pistol. “Let’s go.” He and his men start forcing me out of the house when a distinct smell fills my nose.Petrol.My eyes widen as I notice the men are saturating everything in it. Shoving me out of my house, I start fighting the laughing man.
“Kasapin, your fight is useless. Not so tough now without your men to act as your muscle.” The presumed leader sneers before whistling at the men. “Our lady is feeling cold, let’s warm her up, men.”
“NO!” I scream in horror as my house is engulfed in flames. I watch in panic, waiting to hear a window break, see Rigo running out with my Zora, but I don’t, there is only more fire. I scream again, driving my fist into the man’s throat before running toward my burning house. “Zora!!!” It’s a sob more than a call for her. Another man wraps his arms around my chest. “Let me go!” I scream through my tears as I slam the back of my head into his face. He drops me and I try to run to the door when something hard hits the back of my head.
Three
NIKA
“She hasn’t spoken or eaten in three days, boss,” the masked man states from outside my cell as I continue to sit on the concrete floor and stare at the space between the bars. Three days. I’ve been breathing for three days without my daughter. I put her in that room to protect her and it became her tomb. What kind of mother…
Rigo never got to her, I know it. He would’ve been locked in his room behind the bookcase waiting to go get her. The flames were too hot and too fast—as much as I want to hold out hope that my baby is safe, I can’t. And it’s all my fault.
The man smacks the bars with his gun. “How’s about you and I go have a little talk, Kasapin.” He adjusts the front of his pants. I refuse to acknowledge him. That’s fine, if he wants to fuck me, then he will have to come in here and get me. He won’t walk back out though. I will kill all seven men who are responsible for what happened to my baby. And then, I will turn the gun on myself. I refuse to live in a world she is not in.
Mama is coming, flower, I just have one more job.
“Hey!” the boss barks out, evidently irritated that a woman dares not give him notice when he speaks. “Look at me, bitch.”I don’t, instead I continue to focus on the same spot. “Give me the key,” he growls at his subordinate. I hear the door unlocking before he walks in. His friend chuckles and says something about not wanting to see his boss get his dick wet before turning and stepping around the corner.
“I can’t wait to make the great, fearless, Kasapin beg for help.” The sound of him unbuckling his pants is all I can hear. My eyes flick up to the door and I see the keys hanging in the lock. I grunt as he roughly pulls my face to his crotch, his unimpressive dick hardening as he strokes the shaft. “Suck it, you slut, it’s time for Kasapin to serve her master.” I glare at his dick before opening my mouth and trying to resist a gag as he rams the vile thing into my mouth. “Perfect,” he groans as I move my head. I give him a few sucks to make sure his guard is down before driving my fist into his balls and biting down as hard as possible on his shaft. My mouth fills with the coppery tang of his blood as he rips me away.
“YOU BITCH!” he cries as I scamper to my feet and reach my arm through the bar, locking the cell door before taking the key.
“You stupid girl!” His friend warns when he rounds the corner and sees what I’ve done. “You locked yourself in the cage with him!”
Smirking, I tuck the key into the front of my panties to ensure no one will get it before spitting out the mouthful of blood. “That’s where you’re wrong,” I growl out, giving the man a maniacal grin. “I’ve lockedhimin the cage withme,and I have the key.” The guy's face drops and I spin on my heel to the man––still in a mask––who is trying to shakingly aim his pistol at me.
“I will shoot you!” He warns, but I continue my movements.
“Then shoot.” I shrug as I grab him by his jacket and shove him against the brick wall. “You took someone from me,” I state, my voice cold while I rip the mask off his face. I’m disappointed.I don’t know him. Younger blond man with blue eyes… no one special. “Who sent you? How did you know I was Kasapin?”
