Bug Eye stays silent.
“For you and for me. I know you want to be where he is. You should be. And you know me. You know I mean it. I’ll do it. But”—I pause to make sure my voice will be steady—“only if my sister is safe. I need you to save her. Take her to the Greyhills’. I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure the crown goes to you once Omoko’s out of the way. This is your chance, Bug Eye. Take it.”
“You’re talking crazy, Tiny Girl.”
“I think you should listen to me, Bug Eye. I know it’s a lot to take in so quickly, but this is your moment. You help me, I kill him, you become the boss. Why does it have to be any more complicated than that?”
I hear Bug Eye take a breath. “Where are you, Tina? How did you get this phone?”
I close my eyes, picture my sister, tied up and scared. I might hate Ketchup, but I don’t want to do this to Bug Eye. Bug Eye is violent, terrifying, and ruthless. He’s holding my sister hostage. But still, for the last five years he and the Goondas have been the closest thing I have to family other than Kiki. He taught me how to fight and defend myself. For some of us Goondas, he’s the only adult we trust. We know that if we’re loyal to him, he takes care of us. That’s the rule. That’s law. The Goondas may be a crazy-violent dysfunctional family, but they’re still my crazy-violent dysfunctional family. I break this rule, and it’s all over. There’s no going back to being Tiny Girl, Goonda.
Why can’t he just take what I’m offering now? I know he wants to be king. I know it. Can’t he just agree to let Kiki go? He doesn’t like holding her hostage either. That’s what he just said. And I don’t like being the thug that gets to someone by threatening his family.
I try one last time. “He doesn’t trust you, Bug Eye. He’ll make someone stab you in the back. You won’t see it coming. I don’t want it to happen, and you certainly don’t. It’s not good for the Goondas. It’s not good for anyone.”
“How did you get Ketchup’s phone, Tina?” Bug Eye asks again, his voice as low and bloody as I’ve ever heard it. “And don’t forget for a second that I have your sister. I’m looking at her right now.”
I haven’t forgotten. His words are the push I need to turn my insides to ice. When I open my mouth, I know that what I say will break my bond with the Goondas forever. And I’m okay with that. “I need for you to make a decision, Bug Eye. Do you want to be the king of the Goondas with your brother by your side?” I pause. “Or do you want to be nothing, with no one?”
There it is. My final card: Ketchup. “I’m going to kill Omoko,” I say. “With Ketchup’s gun. And after I do, you can take the Goonda crown. And then everyone gets their brothers and sisters back. And we go our separate ways. But otherwise . . .” Every thread of my body is tensed, waiting to hear what Bug Eye will do.
His silence seems to go on forever. “I don’t believe you really have him,” he finally says. “You’re bluffing.”
“I thought you might say that,” I say, and realize that I’ve said basically exactly what my father said to me a little while ago. I am just like him. I swallow, forcing myself to go on. Kiki’s life depends on just how nasty and thuggish I can be in this moment—on just how much of him I can find in myself.
“I’m sending you a photo,” I say.
? ? ?
When I hiss at Boyboy from behind the tree, his head jerks toward me. Too late he realizes what he’s done as one of the Goondas looks over at the motion and frowns. Dude’s noticed I’m still gone. I stay perfectly still while Boyboy sweats, looking for all the world like he’s about to go into hysterics.
After a while the guy watching Boyboy fishes in his breast pocket, pulls out a liquor baggie, and rips it open. He squirts the contents into his mouth, tosses the bag aside, and settles back down.
I can feel a beam of sunlight on the top of my head. Time is getting short. Finally, Boyboy looks back at me and I mouth at him to come on.
He shakes his head, making eyes back at the camp. I get it. Everyone is awake and looking bored now. As soon as he bolts, they’ll be after him. I bite my lip, unsure what to do next. I creep closer, making sure to stay blocked by the trees.
“Are you okay?” he whispers.
I nod, even though I’m still shaking. “He’s going to do it.”