All These Things I've Done (Birthright #1)(95)

The next day, I returned to Liberty. I was greeted by Mrs Cobrawick. She was wary of me, but couldn’t resist saying, ‘I had a feeling we’d be seeing each other again,’ before leading me to the Children’s Orientation area for the long-term special (minus the tattoo, as I already had one). I found Liberty no better or worse than the last time I was there. Perhaps it was easier because I knew how long I would be there. Also, I had learned to avoid conflict. Keep your head low. Don’t make eye contact.

By coincidence or design, I had the same bunkmate, Mouse. Welcome back, she wrote.

‘What do the papers say about me this time around?’ I asked.

‘Mob Daughter Saves Boyfriend.’

Mouse was quiet, but good company. And truthfully, I did not mind the quiet. It gave me time to think about all the things I would need to do once I got out. I had to find a school for myself. Maybe a new school for Natty, too. If she was as bright as they said, maybe a place like Holy Trinity wasn’t enough for her. Maybe I’d even take time off before finishing high school. I didn’t know.

Sometimes I thought about Win, but I tried not to.

In any event, I was not without visitors.

Scarlet came to see me as often as she could. Once, she even brought Gable. I suppose they were in love, as much as that disgusted me. She claimed he had atoned for his sins, but part of me would never see him as anything but that boy in my bedroom who – I can admit this now – had so terrified me. Part of me doubted that a person could ever really and truly change. I suppose I was just as prejudiced as everyone else in this stupid world.

One day, my cousin Mickey showed up. I was surprised to see him, and I didn’t hesitate to tell him so.

‘Dad’s dying,’ Mickey said. ‘I doubt he’ll make it to the end of the year. He wanted me to come and see you, though.’

‘Thanks.’

‘I was glad to. I mean, I wanted to see you. I love Dad, but he never should have been the one running this family. Dad was just a chocolate salesman. He wasn’t good about being on the opposite side of the law. He let things get disorganized. He wanted to do right by people, but he didn’t know how. It should have been your grandmother, but there was resistance to the idea because she was a woman.’

That’s not the story I had heard, but whatever. ‘These foolish men.’

‘I agree. That’s why I think this family shouldn’t repeat the same mistake again. You and I should run things together,’ Mickey said. ‘Chocolate wasn’t always illegal, and, maybe, some day soon, it won’t be again. Maybe if we’re smart, we can win the fight with lawyers instead of guns. Charles Delacroix will win the election and he is a pragmatic man. I believe he will listen.’

I said nothing.

‘Yuji Ono thinks very highly of you,’ Mickey continued. ‘My father thinks very highly of you. My wife, Sophia, thinks very highly of you. I think very highly of you. Next year is your last year of high school. You’ll have a choice to make. Whether you want to be a bystander or a participant. It’s up to you.

‘Listen, Anya,’ he continued. ‘I know what lengths you went to, to protect that little family of yours. Those acts did not go unnoticed. Have you ever wondered if it would be easier to protect them if you were the one calling the shots?’

‘Calling the shots with you?’

‘Yes, with me. You’re very young. And you are, as you said, just a girl. We could be a team. I’ve been watching you for some time. I believe, with the right moves, our business can become completely legitimate again. And if chocolate were legal . . .’

He did not have to finish that thought. We both knew exactly what that would mean. If chocolate were legal, Natty would be safe. We wouldn’t need to carry guns or involve ourselves with black-market operations. And maybe I could be with a nice boy like Win again.

Or even Win himself, if he would have me.

‘You and I were born into this,’ Mickey continued. ‘It was not our choice. But we can choose what happens next. Our birthright was to be Balanchines, but our birthright does not have to be violence and death. You said as much in your speech at the Pool. Violence should not always beget more violence.’

I nodded. A bell indicated that visiting hours were over. ‘Thank you for coming,’ I said. ‘You’ve given me a lot to think about.’

Mickey grabbed my hand. ‘Come see me when you’re out of here. September fifteenth, right? We can talk more then.’ He ran his fingers through his white-blond hair. ‘I’ve been thinking about making a trip to Kyoto,’ he said as he was leaving. ‘Perhaps you’d like to come with me?’

I wasn’t sure what Mickey meant by that. Was it a threat against my brother? He seemed to be on very familiar terms with Yuji Ono, so perhaps it was about seeing Yuji and nothing more.

My seventeenth birthday was 12 August, and this, like every other day of that summer, was passed at Liberty. Scarlet had wanted to throw me a party in the visiting room, a proposition I seriously discouraged.

‘But, Anya,’ she protested, ‘I hate the thought of you alone on your birthday.’

‘I’m not alone,’ I assured her. ‘I sleep in a room with five hundred girls.’

‘Can’t I at least come to visit?’ Scarlet insisted.

‘No. I want no reason to remember my seventeenth birthday at all.’