Page 160 of The Friend Scheme
I hate the Donovans… but this is mass murder.
“I suggest once again to call a peace meeting and then eliminate any Donovan who shows up. All opposed, raise your hands now.”
I am opposed.
Obviously.
But nobody else is responding. Grandma is still, her expression hard to read. So I keep my hand down.
“Good,” says Dad. “All those in favor?”
Grandma raises her hand, then every single hand in the room but mine raises.
We can’t do this.
It’s evil.
Still, I know I have no choice, and I know it doesn’t really matter. It’s clearly going ahead no matter which way I vote.
So I raise my hand.
Dad’s lips twitch up into a small smile. “Good, it’s settled, then.”
I hope I find a way to forgive myself for this.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
The meeting is happening this weekend.
The school bell rings. I’m in final period, calc, but I’ve spent the entire class staring out the window, thinking about the meeting. Dad has hired contract killers. Every Miller who goes to the meeting is supposed to be armed, too.
Even though this is a double cross, Dad’s expecting a firefight. One last battle for the city.
I’m expected to go.
I pack up my books and head to my locker.
I’m feeling mostly like myself again. I still hate the Donovans, but…
I don’t want them all to die.
I need to find a way to stop the meeting. To make Dad, and the rest of my family, see reason.
That feels impossible. I’m just one guy. And what I’m going up against is massive. I need to stop the wheels turning on a business that has successfully run the underbelly of this city for decades. It’s something not even a well-equipped police force with heaps of funding has been able to do.
I head out to my car and drive home.
When I get there, I go straight to my room. I toss my backpack onto the ground and then fall onto my bed. I try to zone out my thoughts with an episode ofMy Favorite Murder, but it doesn’t work.
I can’t just sit by and let my family do something I know in my gut is wrong.
Jason didn’t.
His family wanted him to betray me. But he stood up to them. He knew what he was doing to me was wrong, so he stopped. My situation is more complicated than his, though. And way harder to escape.
Or maybe I just feel that way.
I know it was a big deal that he stood up to his parents. It terrified him, like what I’m facing now terrifies me.
