Page 45 of Monster's Edge
“I’ll let your boss know that you’ll...be late.”
Then he leaves.
Warning bells are firing off. What the hell is going on? What’s with all of the strangeness happening right now? My father has never asked me to have breakfast with a strange man. He’s never asked me to do any of this.
While I’m experiencing an explosion of inner turmoil, however, Mr. Ricci seems like this is just an ordinary, normal day. He doesn’t seem the least concerned with me or my opinion about missing work, and as I slowly sink back down onto my chair, I realize that something about this entire situation is very, very wrong.
6
He reaches for hiscoffee. Georgetta comes back into the room and stops when she sees him. The look on her face says that she’s both surprised and horrified that he’s here. Okay, so she knows who this man is and what he wants. Awesome. She looks at me sharply, but she doesn’t say anything. Maybe she knows more than me about Mr. Ricci.
Perhaps I should take her stare as a warning.
Mr. Ricci seems oblivious to the look on Georgetta’s face. He’s much more concerned with me and my “fatness” than anything else. Okay, so he’s the kind of guy who ignores people he views as lesser. Strange. This guy seems like a complete piece of shit, which means that if my dad wants me to suck up to him, something is seriously wrong.
There’s a sinking feeling in my stomach as I realize that my father may have done something really, really bad. Is he going to make me go with Mr. Ricci? Is he going to like, sell me to this dude? Because even though it’s not legal to sell humans to other humans, sometimes people still do it. My father holds no love for me, after all, and I’ve always known that there would be a day when he tried to marry me off.
I just didn’t think that day was today.
I’m wearing jeans and my phone is in my pocket. I can’t slip it out to send a message or call for help. Not that I have anyone to call, anyway. Besides, there’s still a chance that I could be overreacting.
Then he speaks again.
“Tell me about yourself, Rose.”
“Why?” I ask stiffly. I’m hoping that he’ll be able to offer me a couple of clues as to what he really wants. Georgetta is still hovering around, pretending to mess with the coffee and she adjusts the position of the food on the table. Mr. Ricci ignores her as he stares at me.
“That’s rude, Rose. I expect you’ll have better manners once you’re living with me.” He glares angrily. His hands are balled into fists.
So that’s it, isn’t it?
It’s so fucked up that it can’t possibly be real, but I know that it is. My father has sold me, traded me, or bargained to get me off of his hands. He’s sending me with Mr. Ricci and there’s nothing I can do about it. It’s not until that moment I notice a man standing outside of the dining room. He’s lurking just outside of the doors, and I just know that whatever is going to happen next is going to change everything.
My entire body is screaming at me to run, but I don’t know how to get away from this guy. My father has likely hidden the keys to the cars or blocked off the exit somehow. Our home rests on a huge estate with more than a hundred acres of trees. If I run into the forest, I could disappear completely. If I run for the road, someone will catch me easily. Plus, there’s the matter of actuallygettingaway.
How am I supposed to slip away from this dude unnoticed?
