It was like all the breath in my lungs ceased to exist as I slowly turned to face my sister. She was standing there on the sidewalk with two other girls, one I didn’t recognize, the other was the woman who helped me get out of the Artillery alive by offering them a favor.
“Joey…”
“What are you doing here?” She looked at the other two girls nervously before the older one motioned her forward.
“It’s okay, Cherry Girl. The guys are out doing something, and I’ll keep the prospects busy. Go ahead and talk to your brother. You got five minutes.” The woman shot me a friendly smile. “Glad to see you’re still alive, kid.”
She walked away, carting the other female with her.
“I told you to stay away,” Joey warned, her voice breaking a bit. “It isn’t safe for you to be here.”
“I know, but I had to try, Joey.” I held up our signal for danger. “You made the sign.”
Tears pooled in her eyes, and that’s when I noticed the fading black eye she had. “Did they do that to you?”
She nodded. “Shotgun gets a bit violent when he drinks. But I’m okay, Dillie. You don’t have to worry about me.”
I moved forward, taking her hand. “Sis, you know I’m always going to worry about you. The Murdocks need to stick together, forever and always. We are stronger together than we are apart.”
The sides of her mouth barely ticked into a smile, but she was too sad to form anything but a scared frown.
“I’m going to get you out of here. All you have to do is tell me when,” I assured her.
She jerked her hand away. “This is my home, Dillie. I can’t just up and leave it.”
“Home? They beat you senseless and rape you, Joey. How is that a home?”
She looked ashamed, moving a step back. “It’s a roof over my head and decent meals every night. I always have a warm bed, and sometimes Shotgun shows me a little bit of love at times. We’re a family here. A fucked-up family, but it’s still more than I ever got in the system.” Her eyes were slightly dilated, and I realized she was high.
“Are you doing drugs now?”
She covered up her arms, crossing them before I could see what was there. I wasn’t stupid. I knew there had to be track marks.
“I do whatever I can to make the pain go away.”
This was not my sister. My sister would never do drugs. My sister wouldn’t be happy living in this mess, my sister wouldn’t be turning me away like I can already feel she’s doing.
“Cherry Girl, come on,” the older woman hollered.
“Don’t come back here again, Dillie. You’re eighteen now. You don’t need me to protect you anymore.” She started to walk away, but I halted her by grabbing her hand.
“I may be eighteen and not need your protection anymore, but it’s painfully obvious you need mine. So, here. This is my number. If you need anything, call me.”
She held the number in her hand, fighting the tears that were threatening to spill down her face.
“I’m serious, Joey. If you start to feel unsafe and need to get out of here, let me know. I have friends now, and they’ll help me get you out of here.”
“Friends?”
I nodded, knowing it was best if she didn’t know who. “They’ll help me get you out of here, Joey. You don’t need to be afraid. If they saved me, they’ll save you, too. All I have to do is ask.”
It was like a glimmer of hope sparked in her eyes. She really thought there was no way for her to get out of here.
She sniffed and nodded. “Okay, I’ll text you tonight when it’s safe,” she whispered. “But I don’t think there’s any saving me, Dillie. Anybody who crosses the Artillery ends up dead. It’s just easier to play along and take the beatings than it is to run away.”
“I don’t care what it takes, Joey. I’m going to get you out of here because I love you.”
She nodded, but didn’t say the words back. Not hearing them was like having my heart punctured by a knitting needle. Where was the Joey I left back at the Sinclairs? Where was the Joey that stayed strong even when everything else was broken?
