I slapped my forehead. Bad mouth. Bad, bad mouth.
She only paused half a second before she fired back. ‘Me? Me? I’m being the douche!’ I ignored the cool rush of shock running through my body. It was still bizarre hearing Jenny’s voice. My voice.
‘Yes, you,’ I said, ploughing on. Now, all my hot, bubbly emotions were getting away from me. ‘Okay, I get it. I hurt you. But I’ve said sorry half a billion times.’ At least, I had in my head, but she knew. ‘When are you going to forgive me?’
Silence.
Suddenly it felt like someone had stuck a pin in my water balloon of confidence. I inhaled sharply. Nope. This nonsense needed to end. The Destiny Rat had practically said as much. ‘We need to talk.’ I could take whatever hurt she needed to dish out. We had to get past this.
‘I agree. Come home.’
‘That’s not going to happen,’ I said with a pained laugh. ‘And I can finally tell you why.’
‘Oh, you can! That’s great.’ Something in her voice covered my skin with ice crystals. ‘Forget all those times I begged you to tell me what was going on. I’m glad you’ve finally decided to fill me in on your life … our lives.’
God, it’s true what they say about hearing your own voice. It was grating—especially when it was saying things you really didn’t want to hear. ‘We’re getting off topic. Our father … he’s not a good person. And I don’t just mean in an emotionally cold way. He’s done things. Terrible things.’ I cast a quick glance over my shoulder. The teenaged clerks were looking at least ten percent more alarmed. ‘Once I knew the truth. I had to leave. I had—’
‘To leave me behind.’
‘I had good reason! I couldn’t take care of you! And I didn’t want you to have to live with Dad knowing the truth about him.’
‘Oh, well, thank you for making these life decisions for me,’ she said, voice taut. ‘Being disabled, I have no idea what that’s like.’
‘Oh … my … God!’ I shouted. ‘You did not just say that to me!’
‘Truth hurts.’
A few customers around the store were now looking at me. I brought my mouth into a tight pinch and angrily muttered, ‘If you were here right now, I would beat your newly abled ass!’ Given the shocked expression on an older gentleman’s face standing a few feet off, the volume of that last part may have gotten away from me a little bit.
‘I’d like to see you t—’ she stopped herself and took a breath. ‘This is going nowhere. Look. I know what you’re going to say about Dad.’
I chuckled unpleasantly. ‘Oh, I don’t think you do.’
‘He told me about Mom. He told me about her problems with alcohol.’
‘Brought on by him!’
‘No one can make you drink.’
‘Ohmygod. Ohmygod. Ohmygod! Would you stop talking like some freaking counsellor! He let her commit suicide with a biological weapon he invented!’ Shoot. I hadn’t meant to say that out loud. I looked back over my shoulder at the boys. Oh yeah, they had gone from alarmed to borderline terrified. ‘Video game,’ I said quickly. ‘You should try it. It’s called, um, Evil Dad.’
‘He told me about the drugs, Bremy.’
My mouth dropped. It felt like something was exploding deep in my head. ‘And you believed him! Come on, you know that is practically the number one go-to to shut people up.’
‘And he told me that you’ve been struggling with the delusion that you’re a superhero.’
My voice suddenly dropped to a whisper. ‘What?’
‘That you’ve been roaming the streets trying to stop crime, getting into fights with criminals.’
I opened my mouth, but nothing would come out.
‘Is it true?’
‘No … not like he’s making it seem.’ I struggled to find more words. ‘I’m doing good … I mean, well, I’m—’
‘Believe it or not. All I want is for you to be safe.’ She stopped, but I could tell she wasn’t done. ‘Dad can help you, if that’s what you want. It’s amazing the things he can do.’
‘Oh, wow … just, wow.’ I rubbed my forehead. This was going all wrong. I had to change the course of this. ‘Jenny, it’s still me. It’s still us.’
Nothing.
‘You can’t stay with Dad,’ I said, squeezing my eyes shut. ‘He’s … he’s dangerous. I know he’s helped you. And I’m happy about that, so happy. But the things he’s done …’
‘Oh, Bremy,’ she said sadly.
‘Oh, Bremy what?’
‘Nothing.’ She paused. ‘It’s nothing.’
‘No, what? What were you going to say?’
She sighed. ‘You … it’s just … you always had a thing for drama.’
‘Drama! Drama? When have I ever been dramatic!’ I saw the boys looking at me sceptically. ‘Oh, shut up. The both of you.’
‘Come home, Bremy. Just come home.’ A beep sounded on the other end, and she was gone.
Tears stung my eyes.
I slowly turned around and handed the phone back to the kid behind the counter.
Both boys studied my face and mirrored an expression of pity mixed with horror.
‘What?’ I said, quickly wiping my nose with the back of my hand. ‘You’ve never seen a girl lied to by a Destiny Rat before?’
***
I shambled my way over the city streets on my way back home. The rain had stopped, and the outskirts of the downtown core was once again bustling, but I couldn’t feel any of the night’s electricity. Stupid Jenny … and her stupid, hurtful words.
I’d show her delusional … wait, that wasn’t right. Whatever.
I kicked an empty tin can, enjoying the racket it made skipping over the concrete. In a strange way, maybe it made sense that Jenny didn’t understand what I was trying to do. According to Bart, every hero needed an origin story, and those stories were usually filled with a lot of pain. Maybe this was all part of a grander plan. My resolve was being tested.
I turned a corner a few streets away from my own, leaving some of the hustle and bustle of the city behind. Actually, most of the hustle and bustle. I looked around the familiar surroundings with new eyes. Hmm, maybe Pierce was right to be concerned about my neighbourhood. I stepped around a tipped over garbage can, trying not to focus on the sound my footsteps made echoing off the brick walls that lined the maze of side streets. I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something in the air tonight … something expectant … just like the day of the flash mob.
I shook my head and quickened my pace. I was overtired, that’s all. And maybe my father was getting to me. I had walked these streets a hundred times. Granted, this was the only time the hair on the back of my neck had decided to stand up, but there was no reason to be on edge. Everything was f—
A scream tore through the night.
I froze and listened.
My eyes darted to the mouth of the alley just in front of me. It had come from there. I was almost sure of it.
I waited a moment longer, not moving.
‘Somebody! Help!’
I jolted hard. Eyes glued to the opening in the street. Definitely there.
Oh God, what was I supposed to do? This was exactly the type of thing I had been wanting to happen, but I didn’t want to be responsible for someone getting killed while I practised my crime-fighting skills! I curled my hands into fists and took a few steps forwards before I thought, The police!
I snatched my phone from my pocket as I scuttled closer to the mouth of the alley.
‘911, what is your emergency?’
I quickly licked my lips before saying, ‘Um, hi, there’s a woman screaming for help in an alley.’
‘What is your location?’
Uh-oh. I looked around at the streets. You’d think I’d know the names of the side streets by my apartment! If they even had names …
‘Um.’ I edged closer to the corner of the building. ‘It’s the street I turn onto with the store with the cardboard-covered windows, to get to the other street, with the store with all the dead birds hanging in the window, to get to the street that leads to my apartment, which is on West, wait, no yeah, West 32nd.’
‘Ma’am, can you be more specific as to the street you are currently on?’
Finally a question I could answer. ‘No, I cannot.’
‘What is your name ma’am?’
‘Bremy St. James.’ D’oh!
‘Bremy St. James … Ma’am, are you aware that the misuse of emergency services is a criminal offence?’
This was not going well. I snatched my mask from the back pocket of my last pair of designer jeans and fumbled to get it around my face. ‘Look, you just need to send someone out to the area quick.’ I peeked around the corner. Shoot! I spotted a tiny woman struggling with a behemoth in a ski mask. ‘I’m going in.’
‘Ma’am? What? Where are you going in?’
A tiny moan escaped my lips.
‘Ma’am? Ma’am? Are you still there? Where exactly are you going in?’
I leaned against the gritty brick wall, closed my eyes, and took a deep breath. ‘The fray. I’m going into the fray.’