It’s such bullshit!
My father has never once tried to help the less fortunate in this town. He sees money and money only; the rest are just steppingstones. He knew giving to the wealthy in this town would keep him in power so that’s what he did.
“As you are aware, the southern district has now fallen into a state of disrepair. We have helped where we can but there is only so much that we can do. And with all the fires and recent condemning of one of the schools, we must now look toward alternatives.”
“Fires?” I blurt out, unable to hold my tongue.
“You didn’t know?” Damien asks.
“My sister doesn’t tend to keep up with town news,” Liam says through gritted teeth.
“Ah,” Damien frowns but he doesn’t seem convinced, “The storms several months ago now brought to light a lot of electrical issues with buildings down in that part of town. Several buildings were destroyed by electrical fires in a matter of weeks. Not to mention the flooding in the school that led to its complete shutdown. I’m surprised you don’t know about that.”
My mouth opens and closes a few times. I don’t think anyone knows that, not on this side at least or it’s just been kept so hushed that only a few people are aware.
“It’s such a shame,” Timothy flicks to the next page in his folder, “A young man lost his life in one of those fires. Sinclair, was it?”
My brother is stiff on the other side of the table, but horror is working through me. I feel the blood drain from my face.
Fire. The burns on River’s arms, chest and neck. His brother.
Oh my god.
River’s brother died in one of these fires.
“So, what do you propose?” Oliver asks my brother directly.
I can see my brother ispissed, his anger is a palpable thing I feel pressing against my skin, but he puts on such a good show, the men in the room don’t notice, or at least two of them don’t. Damien, however, is proving to be different. His face is expressionless, but his hands are curled into fists atop the table, so tight the skin across his knuckles has turned white.
“I see no other way,” My brother sighs like he’s disappointed, “We must demolish seventy-five percent of the area.”
“Seventy five percent!?” I hiss in shock.
But my brother continues like I said nothing, “It will create more jobs in the area and provide more comfortable living arrangements for the residents.”
Except they’ll price them all out and make it impossible for them to work.
“We have already started the process of getting approvement to do so and once we have the paperwork all squared away, we will start making eviction notices.”
“You can’t do that!” I stand abruptly, panic settling in.
My brother ignores me.
“The seventy five percent of land has a low buy rate, most of the residential properties are rentals and we have already struck deals with the landlords to buy the land.”
Sickness rolls through me, “I can’t do this.”
Damien turns to me, his own look reflecting mine. Horror. Absolute horror.
They’re discussing kicking people out of their homes. Shutting down businesses. Schools. Libraries.
For what!?
“I believe a mall could go here,” My brother completely ignores me as he points to a section of the map where… oh god. That’s where River’s garage is. That’s where he lives, where he races.
“That land is taken,” I snap.
“It can be bought.” Timothy dismisses me.
