[Dawn.]
I scream and try to jump away, but I’m tied to a fucking chair. Which my brain forgot. I feel a hand grab ahold of my foot. I kick harder and achieve nothing because of the ropes.
Andre is screaming away, and the man pulls me back onto my feet. I smash down on all fours the right way up. The man, whose name I presume is Ilya, is smiling widely.
“Too much fun,” he says. “I love families.”
Andre stops bucking around for a second, and the two men hold him cautiously. The leader takes a final drag of his cigarette and puts it out on Andre’ foot. He flinches.
“I haven’t even gotten to the good part. You see, while there were offenses caused by Andre here, what really rankled my boss was the debt. You see, the girl doesn’t know much, and she can’t really give the FBI too much without implicating herself, but it’s the principal. Anyway, the debt needed to be repaid.
And Andre here assured me that he was going to come good. He weaseled a bit more time out of my already very generous boss, and then poof!” He blows into his hand and throws it into the air. “He disappears.”
I look at Andre in pure fury. “That’s why you came home? I mean, I knew you’d fucked up, but-”
“But wait,” Ilya says. He squats down and grabs Andre’s foot, holding the shears very close to his pinky toe.
Andre begins struggling again, and the men restrain him. Ilya holds his toe firmly and smiles at me.
“He disappeared only to return. He called saying there was a way he could repay the debt and maybe even make a little bit of profit too.” He swivels round and pins his foot under his arm, squeezing the toes right to a stop at the crook of his arm.
“He told me he was going to be driving a van full of drugs up to New York in a few days. A deal between the Colombino’s and Kumarin’s that was being made. He also said that he would be driving with his friend, and that his friend would understand.” He looks and grins at me.
“We both know that didn’t happen.”
He jams the shear around Andre’ pinky toe and closes it slightly. Andre screams and bucks, and I do the same. The room is a hive of fury.
Again, Ilya stops, laughing more heartily than the first time.
“What the fuck is wrong with you!?” I scream.
“I love families. You’re so codependent. It’s pitiful.” He licks his lips though and looks about satisfied. “Where was I?”
“You’re a fucking psychopath! Why are you doing this? What is your problem?”
“Really? Is that all you’ve got?” he says. “I’m a little disappointed. Where’s your tough girl attitude from before? You know, when you thought you had a chance?”
I strain at the ropes and try to break free. All I want to do is throttle this idiot and then my brother. I fall weakly back into the chair. “Andre, did you know that the Russians would be there on our trip?”
He says nothing and Ilya grins. “Oh, he called. He called to say it was all off, that he wasn’t driving up but you were… He is a very caring brother.”
“And you didn’t say anything?” I say to Andre. “Is that why you picked us up? Because you were glad we were fucking alive?”
Andre doesn’t answer and only keeps wrestling against the men.
Ilya is enjoying himself. He’s looking at all of us like this is the best day he’s had in his life.
“Oh, he said plenty in the end. That’s how we came up with this plan. Of course, after all these miles we’ve been doing, we didn’t want to end up empty handed.
Which is why, when he was pleading for his life. He said he could promise me Luca Colombino. Luca Colombino! Of course, I was very dubious of it all at first, but he explained to me your friendship with Sophie, that her husband was Luca.
He also said that you and his best-friend were dating, and that his best-friend was also friends with Luca. Well-” he puts down the shears and begins clapping.
“Happy plan! Finally!”
I don’t know what horrifies me more: my own brother’s actions or the plan to lure in Luca. All because of my stupid brother’s debts…
“Right,” Ilya says, replacing the shears. “Let’s cut the little piggy first.”
Andre begins screaming again, and I go along with him. The room is awash with noise until we all hear the new one.
A phone is ringing.
My phone ringing.
Ilya stops what he’s doing and looks at the desk. My phone is ringing and vibrating along the surface, heading for the edge.
He smiles. “Oh, perfect timing. We can have even more fun.”
He squeezes the shears and cuts off my brother’s toe as we all start screaming.