Perversion (Perversion Trilogy #1)(12)

My heart hurt for her. My brain swam with confusion. Mona was a little uptight, but she’d never been hateful toward me. She was more like an annoying older sister who chose homework and school activities over pick-pocketing and petty theft. But, she was an annoying sister that I care about. And her normally very serious attitude had turned into almost happiness when she found out she was going to live with Marco.

Miss Andrews opened the front door. “I’ll be waiting in the car. You have five minutes to pack.” She looked at Mona. “And say your goodbyes.”

“It’s got to be a mistake,” I said again, not able to believe what was really happening.

“It’s not a mistake,” Mona said. She sniffled, wiping her runny nose with the back of her hand. “Marco doesn’t want me.” She narrowed her eyes at me. “He’s taking Gabby…and YOU.”





Five





Lacking was a much different town than the one we came from, even though it was only an hour’s drive away. Brighton was generally poor, but well kept. The streets were always clean. The people were friendly.

Lacking might as well have been another world.

Empty beer cans and trash lined the sides of the road as we entered Lacking. Gabby and I were holding hands in the back seat of Miss Andrews’ sedan. I couldn’t say I wasn’t happy that I got to be with Gabby, but as we headed further and further into town, a pit began to open up in my stomach.

“Do you remember any of this?” I whispered to Gabby.

She looked out the window. Shock written all over her face.

“No.” She looked down to her hands. “Do you think Mona’s going to be okay?”

Miss Andrews answered, looking at us through the rearview mirror. “Mona will be more than fine. She’s been awarded an academic scholarship from the state to a private boarding school for gifted young women. A hundred percent of their students graduate and go on to college.”

“How?” Gabby asked.

Miss Andrews shrugged. “I’m not sure, but someone had to apply for it. Either Mona or one of her teachers on her behalf.”

Gabby’s face was still lined with worry.

“She’ll be okay,” I told her. “Maybe, using all of her brain power will help her be less grumpy all the time.”

Gabby offered me a small, sad smile. I squeezed her hand.

“I tell you what. When she gets all settled in, I’ll forward you her contact information,” Miss Andrews offered.

Gabby looked up from her lap. “Thank you.”

Miss Andrews nodded. “She’s going to a great place.” She turned the wheel, and we came to a stop at a closed gate connected to a six-foot concrete wall covered in spray paint, barbed wire spiraling along the top. Two men with yellow bandanas around their necks held large guns across their chests.

It looked like a fucking prison.

Mona was going to be fine, but I was growing less and less confident about our own situation by the second. When Gabby’s hand tightened around mine, I knew she was thinking the same thing.

A large, spray-painted symbol of a skull with another yellow bandana around the lower half of its face adorned the gate. Below it were words I recognized as Spanish but had no clue what they meant.

“Los Muertos,” I whispered.

Gabby looked at me. “The Dead.”

“Here we are,” Miss Andrews announced happily like she’d just pulled into the Disney World parking lot. One of the men came up to the window and looked at Gabby and me in the back seat. He waved us on and nodded to the other man who pushed open the gate.

Inside the gates was a dirt driveway surrounded by tall unkept grass. Five brick buildings, each three stories, sat in the middle. Bent grass and dirt paths lead from one to the other. Each building was just like the gate, covered in spray paint and graffiti with different variations of the same skull symbol and the words Los Muertos.

“What the hell is this place?” I asked in a scared little whisper.

Miss Andrews parked in front of the middle building. She opened my door, and Gabby and I shuffled out with our backpacks in tow.

“It’s your new home,” she said brightly. “Smile girls.”

A monster of a man walked out of the building flanked by two others at his sides.

“Marco,” Miss Andrews greeted.

“Olivia,” he replied, taking the toothpick from his mouth to plant a kiss on her lips. Gabby and I hovered close to the car.

Marco towered above Miss Andrews. He had a dark goatee and deep brown eyes. He was shirtless, elaborate guns tattooed on each side of his lower torso. He pulled up the waistband of his baggy khaki pants while he and Olivia talked like they were old friends.

She played with the heavy gold chain around his neck and giggled, whispering something to him we couldn’t hear. She looked back at us and then to Marco. She ran her hand down his shirtless body before turning back to the car.

“Tell your brother his debt has been taken care of,” Marco said. “And wait.” He raised his chin to the man on his right who tossed a thick envelope to Miss Andrews. “For your troubles.”

She looked inside and smiled. “Gracias, to you as well,” she said with a nod. She climbed into the car, and Gabby and I stepped away so we aren’t run over. She backed out through the gates without so much as a goodbye or glance in the rearview mirror.