“When the time comes, I want you to close the shop, sell the building, and live your life.Find something that inspires you.Something to love or someone to love you.”
She couldn’t hold the tears back and burrowed into Marilisa’s arms.Devastation filled her with despair.She couldn’t lose her rock.Her hero.Her savior.For a long while, she just cried and cried, until she had no more tears left.Emotionally drained and dehydrated.Marilisa pulled away and reached under the counter for a bottle of water.She broke the seal and handed it over.Adalyn drank then leaned her head on Marilisa’s shoulder.
“I’m not leaving you,” Adalyn told her firmly.“Don’t mention it again.I will be with you at every doctor visit and every chemo infusion.Okay?”
“Okay,” Marilisa whispered, patting her head.“What’ll keep your awful sister from doing this again?”
That was a question Adalyn had been asking herself, and the only answer she had she didn’t like.Luckily, a customer walked in, ending the conversation.Work kept the past twenty-four hours firmly locked away behind a rust-proof door in her mind.
As day turned into night, Adalyn kept glancing at the clock.The time for the payoff drew near, and anxiousness settled in her chest.Then, right at closing like the previous night, the thugs were back.Mohawk dude smirked, and she could tell he didn’t think she had the payment.
“Got the money?”
Adalyn reached for the bag and laid it on the counter.He picked it up and looked inside.His eyes rose high as he glanced at her.
“How did you get this?”
“I just did.”
His eyes narrowed.“Trying to be a smart ass?”
She dropped her gaze.
He handed over the bag to his associate then leveled his cold, mocking stare on her.
“You know,” he said, licking his lips.“The boss man will just toss that money into his lockbox with all the rest.But you.I think you should be my reward.You’ll be coming with us after all.”
Adalyn took a step back, shaking her head.“You got your money.”
“Yes, but you’re still a prize.”
He marched forward, reaching over the counter, but Marilisa stepped in front.
“She’s not yours.Leave us alone!”
“Get out of my way, Granny.”
“No,” she snapped.“Leave.Right now.”
In the blink of an eye, a gun was in his hand.The flat black matte of the weapon looking deadly.Fear spiked, not for herself but for Marilisa who stood in front, blocking with her body.
“If you don’t move, you old bitch, you’ll be breathing out of your forehead.”
“Please, don’t,” Adalyn begged brokenly.
She tried to move Marilisa out of the way, but despite her age, she wouldn’t budge.The air turned thick as an unnatural silence descended, and then the gun went off.Adalyn screamed as Marilisa was pushed back from the force of the blast, right into her, and they both went down in a tangle of arms and legs.
“No, no, no,” Adalyn cried.“Please, no.Marilisa?Can you hear me?”
She was unceremoniously yanked away, and that’s when she saw Marilisa’s eyes were wide open, but no life remained in them.Seeing that vacant stare broke everything inside of Adalyn, and she gave up.Too numb to feel.Too numb to cry.Too numb to care.Mohawk man dragged her through the doors, into the cool night air, where a car idled by the curb.Adalyn looked back at the craft store Marilisa loved, where her empty body now rested.Her friend was gone.She had used her body to defend Adalyn, knowing these guys weren’t playing around.
Marilisa would be so disappointed that she gave up, and she couldn’t do that to her memory.Adalyn looked down at the hand that held her and she bent to bite it.Her teeth sank into the soft tissue and immediately opened as purely a reflexive response.
“Bitch!”he yelled, letting her go.
A grim flash of satisfaction filled her a moment before he backhanded her.The force spun her around, and she lost her balance.Her head hit the side of the building, and pain exploded through her skull.A little whimper escaped her lips, as something wet ran down her face.When she inspected, her shaking hand came away with blood.
“I was gonna play nice with you,” Mohawk snapped as he loomed over her.“Now, your cunt will be used to entertain the boys.How about fucked five ways to Sunday before I put a bullet in your brain?How’s that sound?”
