Now I wish I could hear him give me shit one more time. I wish we could have one more day in his room where he was reading comic books and I was making fun of him for being obsessed with superheroes. The little things like that are so special, but you never take the time to appreciate them.
If this is where it ends for me, I hope Hudson finds a way to live the life our parents always dreamed he’d have. It’s a strange thought to find comfort in.
I want to cry but I don’t want to give anyone on the other side of the door that satisfaction. If I was strong enough to stand up to my parents, I can be strong enough to stand up to my own untimely demise.
The broken pieces that will be left behind are casualties for what should have been a good cause. I wish I could turn back the clock and stop Bram from ever making his deal with Mr. Diaz. None of us were in danger when I was just a foolish girl sitting across the table from a loan shark and putting myself on a stage to pay that debt—now I’ve put everyone I care about in danger.
I won’t be able to forgive myself if they get hurt.
“Open the door.” I hear a voice echo. It’s recognizable, but it’s so muffled through the door I can’t quite put my finger on it.
“Mr. Diaz said none of his guys get in here. His orders.” A gruff voice responds.
“Well I’m not one of his guys am I?” That—that can’t be who I think it is.
Have I been in this room so long I’m hallucinating?
“No sir.” The lock clicks.
The door opens and the light blinds me for a moment, but I only need a silhouette to confirm who is standing there.
“Hudson? What are you doing here?” I feel my heart begin to race. “You need to leave! If Mr. Diaz sees you…”
A surge of panic floods my veins.
“I’m sorry, Kiana. He wasn’t supposed to do this.” Hudson walks straight to me and begins to untie me from the chair.
My thoughts are in disarray. I don’t want to be here, but Hudson shouldn’t be here either. But what he said…
“What do you mean he wasn’t supposed to do this?” I blink in confusion. “Hudson, what is going on?”
“I’ll explain everything, but we need to get you out of here first.” Hudson finishes untying the rope and moves to the zip-ties that are holding my wrists.
“Ah, the prodigal sun returns.” Mr. Diaz walks into the room. “I wasn’t expecting you for a couple of days.”
“You kidnapped my sister?” Hudson turns to him. “That wasn’t part of the deal…”
“Deal? What deal?” I look back and forth between them.
“I told you, I’ll explain it…” Hudson glances at me then back to Mr. Diaz. “I’m taking her home. I should have put a stop to it the second she got involved. This is too much.”
“I’m afraid we’re past that point now, Hudson.” Mr. Diaz’s eye twitches. “But I won’t keep you from having this joyous family reunion if that is what you really want.”
Mr. Diaz takes a step back and reaches for the door. Hudson rushes towards it, but Mr. Diaz slams it in his face. A second later, I hear the lock click.
“Diaz! Open the fucking door!” Hudson pounds his hand against it. “Hey! We had a deal!”
“Hudson.” I narrow my eyes and the panic flooding my veins turns into anger. “What fucking deal is he talking about?”
My brother’s shoulders slump forward. I hear a heavy sigh. Jagged pieces of a puzzle I can’t quite put together begin to form, and it’s enough to finally bring tears to my eyes.
“Kiana, I’m sorry…” He turns around. “It wasn’t supposed to happen this way.”
“Did you… Did you set Bram up?” I tilt my head in confusion and pull against the restraints he loosened. I can almost get them off, but they’re still a little too tight.
“Bram? No.” Hudson shakes his head. “This was about dad.”
“Dad?” My mouth falls open. “Oh my god, Hudson. How long has this been going on?”
“I borrowed some money from Mr. Diaz a couple of years ago, and when it was time to pay him, I didn’t have it.” Another heavy sigh. “Dad helped me out…”
“Yeah, I know that part. He helped you out and then you borrowed more money—and more money.” I nod.
“That’s not what happened.” Hudson sits down across from me and his head falls into his hands. “I didn’t borrow anymore money after that. I just told dad I did. Mr. Diaz was happy to go along with it as long as he got a cut…”
The jagged pieces begin to turn into ones that I can put together.
“It was a setup?” I stare in disbelief for a second and then my emotions get the best of me. “You didn’t owe Mr. Diaz any money!? You let me…”
“I didn’t know you were going to do that, Kiana!” He looks up at me and I see tears in his eyes as well. “My god, I would have never put you in that situation if I had known. I just wanted to bleed dad dry—for all of the shit he did to me—all the shit he did to you. I felt like he owed it to me.”
“You were golden child, Hudson! I was the one that always got the short end of the stick!” My jaw tightens as the anger continues to build. “You bankrupted him!”
“I know! I fucking know…” He exhales sharply. “That was the plan. Once he was out of money or just stopped paying, we were going to call it quits.
