“What are you going to do with me?” I asked.
He stopped and looked at me, a smile on his face. “Ah, finally she asks the right question.” He crouched back down in front of me, and I could smell the sweet stink of whatever cologne he was wearing, and the rotten food on his breath. “Truth is, probably nothing. We can’t afford to kill someone like you, with friends and family and such. Too much heat when people start investigating. You’re lucky you’re a regular person; otherwise, you’d be easily expendable. But Rex, we can kill him. He’s a bullshit street urchin, a piece of shit junkie.”
“He’s clean now,” I said quietly.
Michael let out a long, loud laugh. “I’m shocked you’re still defending him, the man who got you in this cage.”
“You put me here.”
“No, lass. I didn’t put you here. I never got you involved in this. Rex, he knows what sort of man I am, and he still brought you into this life. Rex knows what I’m willing to do to hold on to power, and the threat he poses to me. Does that sound like some great hero?”
I didn’t respond. Michael didn’t know what he was talking about. Rex really was clean, I saw that for myself, and he was fighting for his life. He had tried everything to get me to stay away, and it was my own fault that I had ended up in a cage.
“Rex is a junkie, don’t ever forget it. And a junkie will do anything to keep himself safe. Even if he’s not using anymore, he’s always a junkie. To him, you’re just another score.”
“I don’t believe you,” I said. But the doubt was planted there, deep in the core of me. Was it possible that Rex was just using me for a safe place to stay between fights? Could he really be as cruel as Michael seemed to think he was?
“Believe me or not, Darcy, it doesn’t matter. But he’s the reason you’re here. I can’t just forgive him now. If things were more stable with the right people, if my power weren’t waning, I probably could let him walk. Now though, he’s put up too much of a fuss, forced my hand. I need to win against him, or else I’ll look weak to my enemies. And once I look weak, they’ll all pounce. Hopefully, he’ll be forced to do something fucking dumb today, and give me the excuse I need to kill him. And if he doesn’t, I’m hoping you’ll throw him off enough during the fight for my guy to win. I have to admit, the kid is strong and a damned good fighter.”
“So I’m just bait.”
“That’s exactly right, good job! You’re just bait.” He smiled like I was some idiot first grader who got a spelling question right, and it made me want to vomit.
“And you’re not going to hurt me.”
“No, I’m not going to hurt you.”
I looked at him long and hard, and in that silence I knew he was a liar. He had said it himself. There was something in his face that told me the truth: if Rex lost his fight, Michael would kill us both. He couldn’t afford to let me go, not with everything I knew. He needed me against Rex. He needed me to throw Rex off as much as possible. I had to buckle down and remain strong.
“Fuck you then,” I said. I was disgusted and angry and terrified, but Rex was still out there, and Rex could fix everything. It was my own fault that I mixed myself up with those people, but Rex wasn’t the kind of man to let me die. He’d keep his cool and win the fight. I had to believe that.
Michael laughed. “That’s the spirit. All you need to do is stay pretty. Rex will do the rest to himself.” He stretched and grinned at me. I wanted to scream at him. “I’ll send someone down with some water and food. You just stay right there.”
He closed and locked the cell again, but he didn’t put my hood back on. I felt incredibly relieved to have my vision back, and realized how stressful and hard it was to be unable to see. He kept my hands and my feet bound, which were beginning to ache. Even though Michael was clearly a maniac, at least he wasn’t cruel enough to keep me blinded.
Michael waved and then disappeared up a staircase. I looked around my cell and noticed a small, thin mattress in one corner, and a bucket toward the back. I replayed the conversation in my head, and was amazed at the insight Michael had given me into his life. He must have assumed I wouldn’t have a chance to tell people about what he said, or at least people wouldn’t believe me. Rex clearly was the last straw in this man’s tenuous grip on his gang, and the fight would be the turning point for everything. I didn’t think he would hurt me, because I was worth more to him alive and in one piece than I was dead.