Game Over Boys, page 69
“We will never get back together, you fucking psycho. And you know what? When this is all over, you’ll either be in jail or you’ll be dead.” Tess stands up straight, panting heavily, and I see how far this has escalated. Things are rising to a boiling point. The pressure for something to happen is almost unbearable.
“As long as we share a coffin,” Justin replies, and then he’s jerking his car into reverse and revving his engine so aggressively that reporters dive out of the way. He plows an aggressive course through the crowd without actually managing to hurt anyone. I’m selfish: I wish he had, so that he’d go to jail and maybe all of this fear and worry would stop.
“He knows you’re here,” Tess replies, looking over at Saffron. My mom nods … at my mom. Confusing, I know, but I think I could get used to this. “What do you want to do?”
“I’m glad he knows I’m here,” Saffron breathes fanatically, her new red hair the most suitable color she’s ever had in her life. It brings out a blue I wasn’t even aware she had in her eyes. They always seemed dark to me, almost black. She turns that wild gaze to me. “If he wants to come for me, I’ll welcome the challenge.”
“Stay in groups, always,” Tess warns us yet again, looking at us with a sadness in her eyes that says she’s failed so many times that she will not allow herself to fail again. “Like I said, don’t even go to the bathroom alone.”
“Eww, Mom, seriously?” Kimber asks, standing in the entryway to the living room with Paul at her side. She hesitates slightly, looking at Tess as if she fully trusts her mother’s judgment. “It’s that serious, huh?”
“It’s that serious,” Tess asserts forcefully, inhaling and lifting her shoulders. We all pause at running footsteps in the hall, and I turn to see Maxine with tears brimming. She comes sprinting down the length of the foyer and sweeps me into her arms.
“Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap. I thought we’d never see you again. Holy crap.” Maxie pulls back and strokes my face. “Grandma and grandpa?” she asks, but I just shake my head.
“I’ve only been awake for a few minutes.” I purposely don’t mention last night. Can’t tell my sister that I was covered in a podcast host’s blood and then decided to shower it off/have a foursome at the same time. Not appropriate. Maybe later, when it’s dark out, and we’re lying on our backs and staring at the stars the way we used to do at home. Probably Parrish’s glow-in-the-dark stars though. It wouldn’t be safe to go outside.
Maxie nods, pausing to look over at her mother without any surprise registering in her face. Has Saffron been with them all this time?
“Mom, come with us?” It’s practically a begging plea. I’ve heard Maxine use this voice before on Saffron, but it never seemed to work before. Saffron hesitates even now, and then nods. Maxine pulls me away from the boys. They’re reluctant to let me go; I get the feeling. After all we’ve been through, I want to spend every moment together.
“Last time,” I promise, turning around as I walk away and lift one hand to my heart. “Last time we’ll be apart until … he dies or he’s arrested.” I smile at them as Tess observes me leaving the room to be with the Banks, a begrudging understanding in her face.
Before I turn the corner, I see her take a step toward me, pause, take a step back. She doesn’t want me to cloister myself in another room with the kidnapper and her family, but she isn’t going to stop me. Parrish moves up beside his mother, putting a hand on her shoulder and offering his support the way he’s always done.
I love him for that. Gives me enough peace of mind to keep going.
My grandparents are in one of the downstairs bedrooms, located in a separate hallway not too far from the pool. Maxine knocks softly, and Carmen opens the door up, looking like she’s just gotten up and refreshed herself to start the day. I wonder what time it is? I guess I never thought to look.
“Oh, Kota …” The words are a breath. Carmen hugs me so tightly that I can’t breathe, looking up and over my shoulder at her daughter. “Saffron.”
“Hello, Mom,” Saffron says softly, almost sheepishly. I’ve rarely heard her sound like that, but it isn’t the first time I’ve caught a flicker of shame in her voice.
“Come in, come in.” Carmen steps back and holds an arm out, yelling over her shoulder for my grandfather. “Walter! Your granddaughter and your daughter are back!”
He comes running, his shirt not entirely buttoned, hair still damp from a shower.
“Oh, thank God.” He finishes buttoning his shirt as he crosses the room—it’s more like a large hotel suite—and lifts me into another proper hug. It’s been a while since I’ve felt like this, alone in a room with the Banks family. It feels oddly fragile somehow, like I’m being gifted with something that may not last.
That scares me.
“Pop.” Saffron exhales and looks away, tucking her hands into her pockets. “How are you?”
“Where have you been?” he asks, looking to Carmen, but my grandmother simply shakes her head.
“She’s been helping Dakota, that’s what,” Maxine says, lifting her chin proudly, an emotion she’s rarely if ever felt for Saffron. This may be the very first time. “She’s hunting Justin.”
“Hunting Justin?” Carmen asks, nearly choking on the words. We have yet to have a proper conversation about what happened. All they know they got from either the online videos, the boys, Maxine, or Tess. Nothing from me directly. We’re long overdue for a talk. “What do you mean by that? Saffron, this is a job for the authorities.”
“Mom.” Saffron turns back to look at her and sighs heavily, like we’re the ones who are being unreasonable here. This is yet another common thread in our interactions: Saffron always thinks she’s right, that the rest of us are nuts, that she makes good decisions. Historically, she hasn’t. Her record isn’t good. “The FBI knows about Justin; the world knows about Justin. If either of those things were going to help, he’d be dealt with by now. Did you just notice that my daughter has been missing for two weeks?”
It’s ironic that Saffron is talking about me being kidnapped, isn’t it?
Walter puts his arm around my shoulders and holds me there while he contemplates his child.
“Why do you think you’re more qualified to take on a mass murderer than the FBI? Explain that to me, honey. I’m willing to listen; it just seems like a far-fetched fantasy.”
Saffron looks over at Maxine and smiles tightly, reaching out to stroke her hand down her daughter’s cheek.
“I’m going to go now,” she says, but Maxine shakes her head violently and pulls away.
“You always do this; don’t do this to me now.” My sister swallows hard and stares Saffron down, challenging her like she always has. I just don’t expect my mom to listen this time. “Stay, Mom. Please.”
Saffron sighs again, but she looks back at her parents, begrudging them a response.
“If a mother cannot protect her child, then who is going to do it? Who?” Saffron raises her arms out, like she’s asking me for a hug. I don’t hesitate; I happily give her the hug, let her wrap me up the way she always has. Her visits were few and far between at times, but I know she loves us both. “I’m going to keep Dakota safe—no matter the cost. Somebody has to do it.”
Carmen and Walter say nothing; there’s nothing to say to that.
“We should probably talk now,” I admit, drawing away from Saffron and turning to face them. I wonder what they think of my hair? I know everyone’s too relieved to see me alive to care about it, but … I care. I reach up a subconscious hand to touch the short strands.
“Hey,” Maxie whispers, taking my elbow in her hand. I look over at her. “We can’t add the length back, but we can restore the color, can’t we?” See what I mean? Same suggestion that X made. I hold back the tears and nod too vigorously to be anything but undignified and sloppy. And happy. Because I’m with my family again, and it feels really good. It feels weird, too. I’m not the same person I once was, and we can never go back to the way things were, but that’s okay. Being with them is enough. “Let’s just … put in an online order, and have it same-day delivered?” Maxine looks around, like she doesn’t know where her phone has gone. “Oh. Right. No service.”
That makes me laugh. It’s not really funny at all if you think about it, that we can’t just go buy hair dye. And also that our phones are blocked.
“I’ll run out and grab it,” Saffron says with nothing but confidence in her voice. “Be right back.”
“Please don’t,” I beg, but this time, she doesn’t listen to me. She just smiles and gives my head a rub.
“I’ll be back before you know it.” Saffron heads for the door, even when her parents try to stop her.
“She’ll be okay,” Maxine promises, looking down at me. “She’s been coming and going this entire time.” My sister smiles at me, but I can see that I’m not the only one who’s worried.
If Justin had a proper ‘enemy’ in all of this, I don’t think it would be Tess: it’d be Saffron.
He’d give anything to see her dead.
Maxine ends up raiding the kitchen for snacks, setting up one of the suite’s dining chairs in the center of the sitting area.
“This place is like a palace,” Carmen remarks, seated in one of the oversized armchairs as she looks around. By palace, I think she’s referring to the size of the house and little else. She’s one of those ‘if you don’t have anything nice to say, sometimes it’s best to keep your mouth shut’ people. I’m sure she finds the house as gross and modern as I do. I blame her and Walter for raising me in a charming farmhouse.
“Or a tomb,” my grandfather adds under his breath. He’s not wrong. With all the curtains closed, it’s a bit dark down here, so we’ve got all the lamps on. It’d be nice if we felt safe enough to let the sunshine in.
Some summer break this is, huh?
“My end of the summer outings used to be kayaking with Sally or taking night walks to look for fireflies with Maxine. This blows.” I lean back in the chair, reverting to a more infantilized version of myself for a brief instant. It’s nice to feel like a teenager, even if it’s only for a few minutes.
I’ve grown a lot since I first came here.
“I had all these twilight hikes planned,” Maxine remarks, brushing my hair absently in preparation for the dye job she’s about to give me. I’ve always relied on Maxine to do my hair for me when I couldn’t get a timely appointment in town or if we didn’t have the money for it. My grandmother had taken to doing low-cost surgeries for the community; she doesn’t make a lot of money anymore. “Plus, there were tons of cute guys whose numbers I saved just in case Maxx and I didn’t work out …” She trails off there and clears her throat.
“About that boy,” Walter begins, and I give him a pleading look, “I don’t like him.”
“Oh stop that,” Carmen reprimands, glaring at him from across the room. “If what Maxine has told us is true, then he’s a brave boy doing the best he can in a horrible situation.”
“Still don’t like him,” Walter adds, shaking his head and looking at me to make sure I’ve heard him. “I don’t like any of them.”
“I’m sorry? Question mark?” I grin at him when he gives me a look. “They’re amazing when you get to know them, I promise.”
“When did Justin first make contact with you?” Carmen asks, breaking the ice I’m trying so hard to skate across. Feels like I just got dunked in freezing water.
But I have to tell them the story, huh? The whole story, from my lips.
There’s a knock at the door, and Maxine checks to make sure it’s safe before answering.
“I’m back, and I’ve got the dye,” Saffron says with a smile, setting the bag on a side table. Maxine immediately begins to go through it, checking to see that Mom’s gotten everything. “Do you want me to help? I did my own hair recently.” She fluffs it with her fingers, shaking out the bloodred strands. “Looks pretty good, don’t it?” She pauses and frowns at me softly. With her standing behind me, I’m staring at her reflection in the dark screen of the wall-mounted TV. “I’m sorry about what happened with Maxx.”
My mouth twitches. That’s a pretty small apology for Maxx’s brush with death. If I’d known they were working together, that they were keeping secrets, maybe I could’ve prevented us from ever getting to that point? But this is typical for Saffron. I’ve received the same, lackluster apology for missed birthdays and months-long absences, for shitty boyfriends and trips to rehab.
I say nothing, so she continues. I’m not angry at her. How could I possibly be?
“He told you that we’ve been working together since I was in New York, right?” she asks, and I spin around, nearly toppling my chair over. Saffron snatches the back and keeps it from falling, offering me a smile to go along with the rescue. “Your sister got attacked by one of Justin’s people early on; Maxx was there to help her out.”
Maxine blushes—see how similar we are?—and tucks some hair behind her ear. Is that what X meant when he said that Maxie asked him for help? How did I not figure any of this out sooner?!
“Nothing happened,” she murmurs, as if it’s not a big deal. It is. It’s huge. “This was way back at the beginning of things, shortly after you moved here. I think the dude was trying to kidnap me, to be honest.”
Was it Mr. Fosser, the nasty pervert? Oh my God. I bet it was. It had to be.
“Seriously?” I ask, wondering why Maxx didn’t tell me any of this himself. That self-righteous dickhead.
“There are some things we need to talk about …” Maxine trails off. “First, I should apologize for pretending to sleep with him; that was disgusting. It made me feel …”
“Like you were losing yourself?” I whisper, because that’s what Justin excels in, breaking people down, brick-by-brick. In the beginning, I thought I was strong. I was strong. But he took me down with a chip to my self-esteem, a break in my morality, a stolen piece of my dignity, until I was so weak and full of cracks that I began to falter.
“It was horrible, and I’m sorry.” Maxine wrings her hands as my grandparents look on, sympathetic to her distress. They know us both well enough to know that we’d never try to sabotage or hurt one another that way on purpose. “There are … well, there’s more.”
“More.” I exhale and look back at the TV, pointing at my hair. “Then break the bleach out and let’s get started; we both have confessions to make.”
I peep around the corner of my bedroom door to see all three boys lazing around inside, waiting for me.
“Does it make me a dick that I’d rather she was hanging out with us instead of her family?” Chasm asks, and it actually sounds like a genuine question. He looks over at Parrish. “Pretty sure that makes me a dick.”
Parrish drops the book he’s reading to his chest. My eye twitches when I see that it’s Stepbrother Inked again. Fuck that book! I’m going to burn it, I swear. Err. Not a good metaphor seeing as this must be a replacement copy (um, gross, who purchased the replacement copy? the insurance people? LOL) as the original copy really did get destroyed in what could’ve been a deadly fire.
“I don’t worry about being a dick as long as the thoughts stay inside my own head. If I did, I’d struggle with the implications.” Parrish adjusts himself and returns his attention to the book. He’s lounging perpendicular across my bed, back to the wall, one knee propped up.
“Okay. So that most definitely means that you’re a dick, but I was asking more about myself. It was semi-hypothetical and a little bit rhetorical.” Chasm mumbles all of this, lying on his stomach next to our study table that sits low to the floor. He’s got his hips propped by a pillow, head folded on his arms.
Maxx is seated at the desk with his arm slung across the back of the wooden chair, green eyes focused on his hand as he tries and fails to make a proper fist.
Oh Maxx …
I stand up and walk into the room, chin lifted proudly, hands clasped behind me.
“How do I look?” I do a little spin and then fluff my short, wavy hair with my fingers. The left side, well, it’s lime-green and the right is a perfect black. Just the way I like it.
Parrish sits up suddenly, dropping the book to his lap as Chasm rolls over to stare at me, holding the pillow to his crotch. Maxx stays sitting, crossing his hands over a questionable location between his strong thighs.
“Oh my God, gross. Are you all pretending to have hard-ons?” I whisper this last part. I’m teasing. Can’t help myself. I feel good after my conversation with my family. Maybe I cried a tiny bit, and maybe I reverted to OG Dakota just a little, but that’s what the Banks are here for. They’re my emotional support. Also, Saffron is a pretty decent hair stylist. Better than stupid Raúl. DRIP—Don’t Rest in Peace.
I walk into the room and take a seat on the edge of the bed. I imagine I’ll be whisked back for another interview with Agent Takahashi soon enough. I can only assume Danyella will have told her parents everything. Lumen will have snapped by now, worried for her own parents. There’s also, you know, the corpses left at the Hearsts’ mansion to stress over. I’m so sorry that we couldn’t save you, Veronica. You deserved better than that. I wonder if the guys have told Tess about her death yet. Or about Saffron shooting Jack Larae (aka murder-porn guy).
“Pretending to have a hard-on?” Maxx asks, raising a brow. “Sure.”
“Definitely not pretending,” Parrish grumbles as Chasm adds something in Korean.
I ignore them all.
“Had a little conversation with my sister,” I begin, trying to quickly change the subject. If we start talking about hard-ons or last night or the way I’m fidgeting on the bed, we’ll end up naked with Tess walking in on us during the act. I am not okay with that. I focus on Maxx’s handsome face. “She told me all about how you guys pretended to two-time me after your breakup so Justin would think he had leverage, so he’d watch you both in his efforts to find Saffron.” I take a deep breath, overwhelmed with love for Maxim Wright. All three of them really, but X is the highlight for me today. “Oh, and also how you protected Maxine when she was attacked.”
