***LONDON’S POV***
I take Zane’s phone along with mine to the bathroom and shut the door behind me, making sure to lock it.
Madness. This is pure madness.
Putting the numbers, I dial Micah’s number and press call, waiting for him to respond to it.
I bet he will be somewhere sleeping. I am about to hang up when his scratchy voice comes through the phone.
“Allo?” he says, and I can bet he is frowning as well.
“Hey, Micah, it is me,” I say, a tinge of disgust in my voice.
I change my mood when Micah’s voice comes through the phone.
“London? How have you been baby sis?” he asks.
At the sound of his voice, the last bit of anger leaves me.
“Micah? Are you alright? What happened?” I ask as I start pacing the bathroom floor.
His voice is dark as if he is in pain, and when he coughs a few times, I feel tears hitting the back of my eyes.
Micah coughs into the phone.
“Yy… Yes, I am fine,” he manages to say to me.
“I know you are lying to me, come on, spit it out,” I urge him.
I wait, listening to hear him talk. After hearing his contemplative intake of air, he speaks out.
“I got into trouble again, London,” he says.
I know this wouldn’t end well, I can’t even bridge the topic I had with Zane with him because concern fills my features even though he can’t see me.
“Fuck! How much do you want this time?” I question lowering my voice to just a whisper.
“Thirty-five thousand dollars. I need to hand it over tonight by eight p. m.” he acknowledges.
How the fuck has Micah been surviving with his debt-addicted lifestyle? I wonder.
“Who do you think can lend it to you now, Micah? If I hadn’t called, what would you have done?” I cry out, hard to hold back the tears.
There is a long silence from the other side of the room, I know what Micah would do for me, I know what he did for me. He stole from a Mafia Don to give me. He has never asked me for the money, and I know he will never do such a thing, but this is the time for me to come out and help him, I will.
“That is too close, but I promise to send you some money before evening,” I tell him.
I don’t know I am holding my breath until my brother clears his throat before thanking me.
“I really appreciate this, London, that means a lot to me,” he says his eyes squirming with excitement, I truly love how good our communication is.
We don’t talk for a while but Micah feels the silence with coughs and little restraint cries.
“What hurts the most?” I ask gently.
“Everything. You getting married because of one mistake I caused, me getting myself into debt. shit to survive. Yes, everything, London,” he says the last part more to himself than to me.
I huff out, walking to sit on the closed toilet, composing myself, I ask the purpose of the call.
“Did you traffic drugs for Zane?” I inquire playing with the hem of my dress.
“Yes, I did,” he replies truthfully.
I nodded to myself since he couldn’t see me.
“Wow!” the words escaped my lips.
“If I had known you were involved with the bad guys, I should never have told you myself, but I guess some news isn’t word being buried,” he says.
I choke out in tears at how brutally honest he is.
“I am sorry I put you through this,” I cry out.
“Hey! Don’t cry, please, you know it breaks my heart when I see you cry,” he expresses himself.
I shake my head firmly, refusing to even admit it, but that is true of course.
If I were to tell Micah now that I felt unsafe, he would find a way to come get me or to get me out of the situation.
Siblings stick to one another and I want to be there for Micah when he needs me the most.
Sniffing, I ask, “How do you expect me to do the transaction, you know I am in Sicily,” I tell him.
“I know, news flies around here. Do a direct transfer a few hours before the said time, if not, I am as good as dead. Remember the time difference can play a little trick on how long I live or die,” he explains.
Shuddering, I make it a point to look for money and send it to Micah as soon as possible.
The G-PAY app will make sure the money goes super fast, and checking with my phone, the only open service is about a thirty-minute drive to town.
“Fuck! I love you, Micah, make sure you stay away from trouble,” I warn him.
“With the rate at which I take debts to borrow more debts, I will be dead before your baby comes to life,” he chuckles lightening the mood.
I didn’t find it funny to the least though.
“That’s not funny, if not, I should have been laughing,” I blurt out.
Micah’s annoying laughter I have come to love pierces my ears again.
“See you shortly, baby sister. Make sure Zane is of the accord that you send a dime to me, if not, you can leave it, I can find my way around,” he says.
I know what that means.
“Shut up and let me settle this, Micah, I can’t help you if you are dead, and you are of no use to me dead as well,” I mutter sternly.
“Okay! okay! I will stay away from trouble, London,” he says.
“Pinkie swear,” I say closing my eyes and pushing my last finger out. As if he can see it.
“Pinkie swear,” his voice is filled with pain as he disconnects.
This time, I have learned my lesson, I deleted the number from the call log twice, making sure recovery wasn’t possible. I hate having Zane eavesdropping on my conversation without me knowing.
I guess that is fair because I do that a lot to him.