Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 64366 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 257(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64366 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 257(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
“What are you telling me?” I swallowed back a flood of bile and tried to shut out the grainy pictures that were threatening to become clear in my mind.
“You might not know this, but anonymous sex ain’t always anonymous. Not when you’re as recognizable as Michael Kage Santori. He never could understand the risks, or maybe he just didn’t care, I don’t know. Whatever the reasons, he never could keep it in his pants, you know? Refused to play by the rules. Every time he fought, we’d have to be on standby. Fun times down at the Tick-Tock, right Aaron? With Mr. John Brown.” He raised his brows at his companion and smiled. “Had to watch that shit. Keep an eye on things, because it could get ugly in the blink of an eye. Remember that one kid with the piercing? Little emo fucker. He was the first one that went south.” He looked at me and continued, as if he was just telling a funny story from his college days. “This kid had metal everywhere. Had a goddamn metal hook through the head of his dick.” He shook his head and winced. “Anyway, this stupid fucker had a thing for getting knocked around, right? And our boy Kage, well, you know how good he is at that kind of thing. So the two of them hook up, but the only thing is, this boy recognizes him. Or maybe he already knew who he was before he set up the date. You see where I’m going with this?”
I wasn’t sure that I did. All I could picture was Kage’s talented tongue dancing around a big fat Prince Albert piercing. Even under the threat of death, I was jealous. He’d done that to me.
“Um… he told somebody, and Kage almost got outed?”
Aldo laughed. “Not quite. Next day we get a call that this kid has shown up at the hotel, demanding to see Santori, and he’s got fucking bruises all over him. Looks like hell. Says your boyfriend raped him and beat the shit out of him, and he’s got DNA proof. See these so-called rape victims can go down to the hospital and get a rape kit done for free, but they don’t have to press charges. Not right then. They seal all that DNA evidence up, along with the details about the injuries, and then the police come down and get it. Then the victim has a year or so to decide if they want to report the assault.”
I thought of the night Kage first came to my parents’ house. How Layla had tried to get me to go to the hospital and do a rape kit. My stomach churned, and I closed my eyes, listening to Aldo blather on.
“Imagine how mad Santori got when he found out his kid’s DNA is just sitting down at the precinct. That he’s that close to being ruined. Of course it was all about money. The guy demanded some outrageous amount of money to keep from pressing charges. Said the DNA evidence was his insurance policy, like he was some big shot who knew what he was doing.”
Aldo shook his head and laughed. I waited for the end of the story, but he didn’t offer it. Instead, he pulled out his phone and checked it, remarking to Aaron that he’d received the text message he’d been expecting.
“Kage never went to jail,” I pointed out. “Did Santori pay the guy off?”
“Nope.” Aldo pulled up a chair and sat down facing me, our knees nearly touching. “The DNA evidence disappeared. Somebody fucked up with the filing or something.”
“And the emo kid?”
“He disappeared, too.” Aldo cracked his knuckles and leaned toward me. He didn’t have to tell me he’d been the one to make the kid disappear. I may have been an idiot, but I’d taken enough English classes to recognize the moral of this story.
“So I don’t understand why you said Kage was in danger. Why would his uncle go to such great lengths to protect him if he’s just going to turn around and hurt him?”
“A man can only invest in a loser for just so long before he’s either got to cut his losses and get out, or become a loser himself.”
“Has he tried talking to Kage? Reasoning with him? Kage is a smart man. He can figure it out and do the right thing, I’m sure of it.”
“Well, there is one way I think you can help him,” Aldo said. He held out his hand, and Aaron placed my cell phone in his open palm. Then Aldo passed the phone to me. It seemed too smooth, too quick, as if they’d already had a dry run without me. “Santori is torn up about having to hurt his own flesh and blood. He really doesn’t want to do it. He’s a lot like you, thinking that if he tries a little harder to reason with Kage, maybe the boy will stop being so hardheaded and listen for once. But the problem is, he’s so hung up on you, it’s got him blinded. He can’t see what’s good for him. Maybe if you were to call him and tell him that it was over between the two of you— and make it believable— he’d be able to make peace with his uncle. Santori said the only way he’d give him another chance is if he broke up with you. And since I don’t think he’s gonna do it himself, I guess it’s up to you, kid. His life is in your hands, so to speak.”