City of Saints & Thieves(86)

“Guuh,” he says.

His eyes roll back. Then he stumbles sideways. The big knife slips from his hand. I spring up after him, get on top of his chest, and smash the rock against his head once, twice, pull back to hit him again, and suddenly see what I’m doing.

I am a picture of horror with blood and dirt and urine all over me, holding a rock, ready to pound this boy’s skull in.

Ketchup’s eyes flutter, his body contorts, and then as I hold the rock over him in a shaking hand, he goes still. A sob heaves out of me, and the stone falls out of my bloody grip.

For a few seconds I kneel there, staring at him, gasping for breath. His chest is moving, but he’s out cold. The birds around us are silent.

Move, Tina, the voice in my head is screaming, and so I do.

I button my pants. I use my bobby pin to undo the wires around my wrists. I stuff them, along with Ketchup’s phone and gun, into my pockets and waistband. There’s a half-fallen tree a few meters away, and I grab Ketchup’s wrists and drag him to it. Boyboy will help me carry him farther soon, but for now this is the best I can do. I’ll tuck him into the space under the tree and pull branches and leaves over his body. Someone can go unnoticed like that for days if they need to. I should know.

Before I cover him I take the satellite phone and snap a photo of Ketchup’s bruised face. For a second, I can’t look away. He looks fragile. Young. The impulse to be sick washes over me again, and I allow myself to heave what little is left in my stomach into the leaves next to him, out here where no one is watching. I keep staring at Ketchup until I’m sure he’s still breathing. I wonder if I’ve cracked his skull.

I hope not. I need him.





FORTY


Rule 17: Let them fall on their spears.

? ? ?

You have to know your enemies’ weaknesses, Bug Eye says. That much is obvious. What he also taught me, though, and what thieves and thugs and kings have figured out—the good ones, anyway—is that your enemies’ strengths can also be their weaknesses. Take my roof, for example. It’s a fortress. I feel safe there. Too safe. Surround it, and it becomes a cage.

So when I think about what the king of the Goondas’ strength is, well, number one, he’s got about a million thugs at his disposal.

And there is his weakness: his thugs.

Specifically, one thug in particular.

Maybe I have one more friend who’ll help me. Or if not a friend, at least someone I can trust to have his own particular weakness.

? ? ?

I don’t like how far I have to go to get a satellite connection for the phone, but the tree cover is dense. When I finally have network, I dial the number I know by heart with shaking fingers. It goes through immediately.

“Ketchup.”

“Not Ketchup,” I say.

A pause. “Tiny? Does Mr. Omoko know you’re calling me?”

“Don’t hang up.”

“I can’t talk to you, kijana.”

“Wait, Bug Eye.”

His voice sounds tired. “Look, I know why you’re calling, but there’s nothing I can do. I don’t like this either. But your sister is fine. Just . . . do what Omoko wants.”

“I can’t, Bug Eye.”

“I’m hanging up.”

“No! Listen, I want to make a deal with you.”

“You haven’t got anything I want.”

“I do.” The phone is slick in my sweating hands. It’s a strain to keep my voice from breaking, but I know I can’t let him know how shaken and frightened I am. This could all backfire if I don’t lay things out exactly right. I’m playing a long game here. I can’t put all my cards on the table at once. “Omoko’s my father. Did you know that?”

Bug Eye doesn’t answer.

“He raped my mother. Tortured her. Killed her. I’m going to kill him. I’m going to steal his crown for you.”

Bug Eye stays silent.

“For you and for me. I know you want to be where he is. You should be. And you know me. You know I mean it. I’ll do it. But”—I pause to make sure my voice will be steady—“only if my sister is safe. I need you to save her. Take her to the Greyhills’. I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure the crown goes to you once Omoko’s out of the way. This is your chance, Bug Eye. Take it.”

“You’re talking crazy, Tiny Girl.”

“I think you should listen to me, Bug Eye. I know it’s a lot to take in so quickly, but this is your moment. You help me, I kill him, you become the boss. Why does it have to be any more complicated than that?”

I hear Bug Eye take a breath. “Where are you, Tina? How did you get this phone?”

I close my eyes, picture my sister, tied up and scared. I might hate Ketchup, but I don’t want to do this to Bug Eye. Bug Eye is violent, terrifying, and ruthless. He’s holding my sister hostage. But still, for the last five years he and the Goondas have been the closest thing I have to family other than Kiki. He taught me how to fight and defend myself. For some of us Goondas, he’s the only adult we trust. We know that if we’re loyal to him, he takes care of us. That’s the rule. That’s law. The Goondas may be a crazy-violent dysfunctional family, but they’re still my crazy-violent dysfunctional family. I break this rule, and it’s all over. There’s no going back to being Tiny Girl, Goonda.