“Damn, kid! What’d he do to deserve that?”
“He wanted me to touch him. I didn’t want to.”
The laughter stopped abruptly and both guards stood a little straighter, sharing a cautious look.
“There are too many people in there,” the first guard told me, “I don’t remember the names of everyone who comes through. I’ll take you in there now and you can point out your daddy to me.”
“His name is Gerald, not daddy.”
“Fair enough. Let’s go find Gerald, kid.”
I followed the guard inside and tried to avert my eyes from the sight of so many naked women, all dancing with each other or spinning around poles. There was a thick smog in the air, a humid and sticky cloud that might have been the result of smoked cigars, or perhaps it was something less definable. The guard led me around the outside of all the booths of people. The patrons were sitting in groups of one to four, with either one or two women dancing in the shadowy center. I looked for Gerald, but I couldn’t see his face anywhere, and whenever the guard glanced back at me I shook my head.
Eventually, he led me into the middle of the club where people were perched on stools around small circular stages, waving money around and throwing it at girls dancing on the stages. I finally spotted Gerald on one of the stools, and I quickly tugged on the jacket of the guard in front of me, pointing him out.
“That one?” the guard asked, his eyes narrowing on Gerald.
I nodded.
“Why don’t you go wait outside now, kid. I’ll bring him to you. I just want to have a little talk with him first.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
I took myself outside, where the second guard didn’t seem the least bit surprised to find out that the first guard had wanted to talk with Gerald.
“You got any brothers or sisters?” he asked me, folding his meaty arms over his chest and regarding me with an odd look on his face.
“Sure.” I shrugged. “A brother.” I wasn’t accustomed to making casual conversation with strangers, so I didn’t ask him if he had any siblings.
“Older or younger?” The guard’s brow furrowed.
“Younger.”
“You look after him good, kid, and one day he’ll look after you.”
“I’ll look after him forever. He doesn’t have to look after me.”
The guard smiled—it seemed to be a genuine smile, different to the smiles he had flashed while laughing at me earlier.
“You won’t be able to stop him. One day, you’ll see… he’ll be protecting you and you won’t even realise it. Just like you’re protecting him now.”
“It’s my job.” I scuffed my shoe again, a frown pulling at my mouth.
“We’re people, kid, not robots. You can’t control what people are driven to do, only what influence and motivation you can provide them yourself. Or at least that’s what the wife always says… I guess it’s a bit too heavy for a kid to understand.”
I only nodded at him, though I had understood him perfectly. It reminded me of something my mother had told me once.
“People are not instruments to manipulate,” she had said. “They are musicians to inspire.”
My father would be inspired straight into the depths of hell, and my brother would be inspired to protect just as I was—because I was his influence.
“We had a nice talk,” a booming voice announced, as the first guard appeared on the sidewalk beside us, dragging Gerald along behind him. “Gerald is ready to go home now, kid.”
Gerald had been brutally beaten. He was cradling his ribs, his whole body bent forward in a crunch of pain, his bloodied mouth caught on a moan. Maybe they thought they were doing me a favour. Maybe they were… but it wasn’t very likely. Whatever they had threatened Gerald with, he wouldn’t remember it by morning. He’d be hurting, but he’d have no idea why.
Maybe they hadn’t done it for me at all.
Maybe they just wanted to warn him away from their club. It wouldn’t be the first club that Gerald had been banned from.
“Seph?” Cabe whispered in my ear. “Are you okay? You completely zoned out.”
“Fine,” I replied quickly, shaking my head.
Cabe caught my shoulders, turning me to face him, ducking down so that he could meet my eyes. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
“Yeah.” I nodded. “Sorry, I was just… thinking about something. I used to have to drag Gerald out of so many strip cubs when I was younger. I guess I never thought I’d be back inside one of my own volition.” I released a small, strained laugh.
Cabe’s frown deepened, but I noticed that the others had disappeared already, and I began searching around for them. Guessing what had distracted me, Cabe started to walk again, leading me toward a door in the back of the dimly-lit room. Clarin was leaned up against the wall beside it, and he motioning me inside with a silent tilt of his head. Cabe squeezed my hand before releasing me, and I walked through alone.