GUN IN MY HAND

CHAPTER 41: SMALL WORLD

'Lay your head down

Down, down

Lay your head down

Down, down

My love's gonna pull you down

Down, down

One shot and you're 6ft down

Down, down'

Yet in spite of all my willingness, the crash still happened, my wide eyes taking in each detail of the scene illuminated by a single light, and my slow steps freezing, and it was worse when I was fully aware of everything until each of the erratic bangs of my heart.

Bang, Rye was here, in this courtyard, surrounded by four tall walls where his voice could bounce easily and reach the small window above his head. The clutter was about to untangle, yet the bad feeling was only tightening in my insides.

Bang, he was talking with Douglas Thornton. The light above them, emphasizing the outlines of his tailor-made suit and the same bulbous shape as his father's nose, left no shadow of doubt. Yet nothing cleared, and the tangles became frozen, like the rest of my body.

Bang, the trash bag slipped out of my fingers, and their gazes turned to me, spotting me, even in the shadows, even if I wasn't moving from behind the trash can.

Maybe it would have been better if I had rushed, but I realized it too late, as in a few steps they were standing on my way to the only door.

"Dorothy Duncan?!" The shock that widened Douglas's dark eyes quickly gave way to another look, though as large, as he took in my petite figure. "I wouldn't have expected to run into you here, but what a sweet surprise..."

'Sweet' wasn't the word I would have chosen. 'Freezing', 'sour' felt more appropriate for what was expanding from the deepest part of my guts to my dry lips.

"Wait, you know each other?" Rye pointed his finger between us, his wide gaze following as he looked as confused as I was, and I would have surely turned the question if my mouth hadn't been frozen like the rest of my body.

How? When? Where? What? Why? All the question marks and whatever tickle of curiosity arising in my insides were annihilated by the shivers seeping in under my skin.

"Yes, her dad works for mine. They're about to do great business together, aren't they?"

My fists clenched at his words. It was the truth, yet the intonation and gestures could change everything, and those lifted eyebrows, lifted nose, and undertone were twisting it.

That superiority and hypocrisy in his voice, I should have recognized it instantly; it would have avoided me all this trouble, especially the one coming when Rye made me jump again.

"Blade's chick?! You know Blade's chick! That's the best of the year!" He burst out laughing, bending over and slapping his thighs at whatever joke I still hadn't caught, and I wasn't sure I wanted to find out as this sick twinkle was shining on all his features.

Yet between the two sets of eyes on me, I still preferred looking at that mocking glint than at Douglas's unreadable dark gaze.

"Such a small world indeed..."

I turned my head to the left, not towards Douglas though. My gaze was running on the surroundings, the darkened concrete walls, the windows on the upper floors that were either broken, covered with planks, or both, the cigarette butts on the ground along with other unnameable things, and the trash container beside me.