"But you're gonna work forme, remember?"
"Yeah, well…" The guy with the uncle hesitated. "…that was before you gothimall pissed off."
Yeah.Iwaspissed off. And soon, they'd discover how much.
If they were smart, they'd come out and get their ass-beatings over with. It's not like I was gonna kill them,this time.
Anna turned to me and said, "C'mon, let's just leave, okay?" She tried to smile. "No harm, no foul, right?"
I saw nothing to smile about. "Wrong."
"But why?"
"You've gotta ask?"
"Yes. I do." She crossed her arms. "Because it just seems to me that you're blowing this way out of proportion."
From the inside stall, one of the guys called out, "Yeah! And just so you know, she wouldn't tell us dick."
Anna turned and hollered back, "You'renothelping!" Turning back to me, she said, "Remember that favor?"
I didn't like where this was going. "What favor?"
"The one from yesterday. You said you'd owe me, remember?"
Damn it.In a careful voice, I said, "I remember."
"Well…" She hesitated. "This is the favor." She pointed toward the stall. "Let them go."
No fucking way.
"And," she added, "pay for his camera too, okay?"
I didn't care about the money. But Ididcare about the girl in front of me. That camera had been used as a weapon. Againsther.
I had to say it. "Fuck the camera."
Anna turned to study the camera before giving me a pleading look. "But it's his uncle's."
I didn't give two shits about the guyorhis uncle. "Not my problem."
Her eyes narrowed. "So what are you saying? That you'renotgoing to pay up?"
I gave Anna a long, silent look. With the way I felt, I'd do just about anything to make her happy. But the rules were different when it came to her safety.
The wayIsaw it, the guys were already getting off light.
Anna paused as if thinking. But then, as if reading from a script, she announced in an overly loud voice, "If you really love me, you'll let them go."
As far as delivery, it wasn't so great.
Anna was no actress, but shewascute as hell, even as she tried to be something she wasn't. And that word –love– hit me harder than she knew. For years, I'd avoided the wordandthe concept.
Until Anna, this had been easy enough.But now? Not so much.
As far as the two guys, the way it looked, she wasn't giving in.
This meant it had to be me.This time.
