Cassie giggles. It was a tower.
She is six. I am eleven.
I frown. Right. A tower. So, anyways, this girl was in the tower and she was, like, pretty upset. ‘Cause, you know, how would you feel if you had to be locked up in a rusty old tower your whole life because of some evil witch woman ?
I’d be pretty upset, Cassie says wisely.
We are sitting opposite each other, cross-legged on the floor of our closet. Clothes and dresses and too-small skirts are hanging from the rack above us, swishing over our heads. The thin walls rattle, ever so slightly, and I hear their shouting from downstairs.
Why have you been coming home so late this week ?
It’s none of your fucking business, lady !
That’s right. My mother is in tears. She’s always crying, and I don’t know why. I’m only your wife. Why tell me anything ?
My stepdad sneers. It’s always the fucking guilt trip with you, Crystal.
I try not to let the pause linger too long. I know Cassie is listening too, because her pale eyes widen, and her lower lip trembles.
So one day, this girl goesoh, and her name is Rapunzel by the way, like some vegetableand she goes, I’m going to sneak out with a hot guy I just slapped with a frying pan.
That’s the movie, Cassie says. You know, Tangled ?
Oh, right. Silly me. Okay, in the actual story, this girl is singing randomly because her mother is always gone. And this prince is lost, wandering in the foresta very handsome prince, by the way, named Flynn Rider
That’s still the movie.
Okay, his name is Kerkylas of Andros. And he’s some super handsome prince who hears her singing. He falls head over heels, he climbs up to her window, he’s like, Damn, Rapunzel, let down your hair ! So, Rapunzel is a lady, right ? She has manners. She’s like, Nah.
Cassie giggles. Rapunzel didn’t say Nah.
No, she totally said Nah, I was there. So the prince is like, Okay. ‘Cause, you know, he respects consent and the girl said no. So he goes home and she never sees him again.
Kaya, Cassie moans. That is not how it goes.
Sure it is, I say easily. But I’m not done yet. So Rapunzel says no, the prince is respectful of consent, and she decides she’s gonna save herself.
The princess saves herself in this one ?
All princesses save themselves, I say fiercely. Rapunzel is totally cool. She cuts her hair, uses it to strangle the horrible witch, and she goes free to sing to her heart’s content by the seaside all day.
Are you sure that’s how it goes ?
The shouting fades for just a moment, and I think to myself, Who needs a prince anyway ?
I am eleven, and I think I might want a princess instead.
Positive, I say.
Kaya, she giggles.
Cassie, I say in the same tone, tickling her. She is so tiny, so bright-eyed. Want to hear the next one ? It’s about a girl with a glass slipper and an army of vermin.
They have my daughters ! Jude shouts, slamming her fist on the table. I almost jump at the sheer force in her words.
I’m still recovering from the humiliation of fainting.
It was only for five minutesbut still. And in front of
It doesn’t matter who it was in front of, I tell myself.
Hunter, Jude, Veah and a few other people I don’t recognize are gathered around a table on the bottom floor. The lights here are dimmer, and Veah’s body angles slightly towards me.
I don’t miss the way some of the others are looking at me. Desperate.
And I know, no matter what Hunter and Jude say, I am not safe.
One man in particular is staring, like he doesn’t care if I see. His eyes are hard, and I heard Hunter call him Derek.
They have our daughters, Hunter agrees. But if we act irrationally now, they won’t hesitate to kill everyone up there.
Give them what they want, the man named Derek says roughly.
His eyes find mine. A dark glare.
I see a few other people nodding.
Veah stiffens, and the air becomes hotter. Palpable with tension. Somehow, without even a word, I know she will not let anyone hurt me.
I don’t say anything. I can’t.
They have my sister.
They have Cassie. I brought her here. I brought her into this.
I push myself to my feet. It takes every ounce of courage I have to stand in front of a table of armed, trained Mafia killers.
Almost immediately, the attention around the table flickers to me.
Tommy shoots me a warning look, shaking his head fiercely.
I ignore him. I say, I have a plan.
And it goes like this.
Are you sure I can’t talk you of this ? Tommy asks. Because, even for you, this is an all-time record of stupidity.
Thank goodness, I say. What was my previous record ?
That time you thought it would be a good idea to teach an advanced economics class to a fourth-year class.
What ? The professor told me to.
You were correcting him ! He said if you were such a Miss Know-It-All, you should teach the course yourself. He didn’t think you would actually accept.
His mistake, I say, shrugging. Where’s I hesitate. Where’s Veah ?
I don’t know, Tommy says. After you proposed your plan, she walked out. Didn’t say a word. Haven’t seen her in maybe an hour.
Oh, is all I can say.
Come on, Tommy says, holding a hand out to me, helping me climb out of the stairwell into the fresh air of the aboveground.
I feel for the small black device in my pocket.