Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 129571 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 518(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129571 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 518(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
“No?”
“No, put your gun away.”
I often thought of that night later on. Did Sophia understand how close she’d been to being raped, tortured, and choked in an alley? Scar didn’t seek his victims out, but if they strolled around and matched him in verbal play, he might take them and have some fun. Their families usually discovered the bodies a week later, whether by the cops or some poor homeless man rummaging through dumpsters ...
Bile rose in my throat. The plane’s engine hummed, but we still hadn’t taken off yet. Nevertheless, the machine’s steady rumbling brought me back to my reality and out of Benny’s gruesome world.
Shutting the journal, I focused on catching my breath.
Someone touched my shoulder.
I jumped.
“Are you okay?” Sophia stood right next to me.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” I’d read more than I wanted to about Sophia. Being next to her set me on edge.
She glanced down at my lap. “What are you reading?”
I turned it around. “Benny’s journals.”
“Why?”
“Does it matter?”
She flinched. “I doubt there’s anything in there. And truthfully, I’m just making conversation. This is going to be a long flight.”
“Sorry, I’m not me today.” I set the book on the seat next to me.
“When are we taking off?”
“Soon. I never rush the pilots. I work on their time. I like to get to places safely.”
She directed her attention to the stack of journals in the seat next to me. “You’re just going to read about Benny the whole trip?”
“I haven’t decided yet.” I changed the topic. “Have you ever been to France?”
“No.”
“I’m surprised Benny hasn’t taken you.”
“Why would he?”
“He liked you a lot.”
She eyed me suspiciously. “He didn’t like me as much as you think.”
“No?”
“No, not really. He has a weird way of loving people.”
“Could you explain?” I asked.
“Why do you care so much?”
“It’s good to know your enemies.”
Sophia widened her mouth into a mischievous grin. “To know your enemies, is to become your enemies.”
“Sun Tzu said that.”
“Yes, he did.”
“I didn’t know South End was big on Sun Tzu.”
“The hood has always been a battleground. In order to survive, you should study war.”
Benny’s friend was right, she is dangerous. Each time I see her, I meet a new Sophia. Each time, she shows me whatever she thinks I need to see.
“Tell me about Benny’s love,” I said.
“He loves in a hazardous way.”
“How?”
My phone rang. The screen said it was an unpublished number.
Now who is this? What new puzzle will go on the table?
“Excuse me, Sophia.” I picked it up. “Hello?”
The other person said nothing.
“Hello?” I asked again.
Benny is that you? I hope so. Are you mad that I walked right into your bizarre garden?
“Say something,” I said. “Stop being a coward.”
“Chase,” Jasmine whispered.
Dear God. Tesoro.
“Yes. Yes.” I jumped in my seat, knocking journals and coffee over. Sophia stepped back in the aisle.
“Hold on,” I told Sophia. Like a madman, I unbuckled myself, rose from the seat, and rushed to my private bedroom in the back of the plane.
“Chase?”
“Yes.” The word rode the panting of my breaths as I hurried to get some privacy. “Y-yes. Don’t hang up. Please, don’t hang up. I just needed to get away from others. Don’t hang up, tesoro.”
“Are you with my mother?” she asked.
In my small bedroom, I closed the door behind me and leaned on it.
“Chase, did you hear me? Are you with my mother?”
I tried to keep the pain out of my voice, but it was too hard. “Jasmine ... .why did you go?”
“I ...” Jasmine wouldn’t finish the damned sentence, and I hung on hoping that she would. “I wrote you a letter.”
“And you think we’re done? That I would understand from your letter? Not even a doctor’s note could excuse your absence from me. Where are you?”
“Chase—”
“Where are you?”
“Just answer my question. Is my mother with you?”
The plane’s rumbling increased. Now was not the time to take off. I had to finish this conversation. “Where are you?”
“I can’t tell you. Is Mom right next to you?”
“No.” I closed my eyes while my heart crushed right there. She hadn’t called to come back to me. Of all the people in this situation, I hadn’t expected her to be the one to keep things from me. She was just checking on her mother.
“Yes, your mother is here.”
“Don’t trust her.”
“Now that’s a twist.”
“I’m serious, Chase. Stay away from her.”
“She’s helping me find you.”
“She has no idea where I’m at.”
“But she could help me find you.”
“No, don’t trust her.”
“I only trust you.” I gripped the phone hard and wished she stood right in front of me. “Are you safe?”
She stayed quiet for a few seconds and then answered, “Yes, I am.”
“Our love is worth everyone else’s death. You hear me?”
“Chase, don’t say that.”
“Let them all die.”
“I can’t.”
“Let Benny kill every last one of my friends and family.”
“You don’t mean that.”
“I do.”
“Chase, you have to focus.”