Three Gangs and a Silver Sin

Chapter 15, Backstories in Raven

Slowly, Daniel stops pumping his fists into the air and his laughter dies down. He looks at Marigold with disbelief when he asks: "Did... did you just insult my manhood?"

"She's basically one of us," Jack chirps in from the back.

Marigold looks at Jack. Frowns. And then does a small curve of her lips again. Jack looks relieved. The frost in his hair and eyes suddenly melting back to a white Christmas. Nessa seems a little defeated, but it doesn't stop her from eventually grinning ear to ear. Insults to Daniel's manliness always cheers everyone up.

"Well, since Amberry over 'ere prefers the wiener, I'm sure she won' mind joinin' Xavier in the cockpit," Nessa smirks.

Marigold accidentally snorts and the rest of us smile. I walk over to the cockpit, hoping Marigold would follow. When I sit down, I feel a little disappointed at first, but then I hear the door click shut and Marigold sitting in the Co-pilot seat.

Her sitting as my Co-pilot means more to me than she'll ever know.

"Raven, you say. My car's name is Blue Jay," Marigold states - being the first to say something.

"I know," I smile.

"That's right, you know everything. I remember now, you're a stalker," Marigold says with an eye roll and slumps into her chair. I keep the smile, because she's so cute when she's angry. "Was anything you said actually real?" she grumbles.

"I'm not really one to lie, unless it's one hundred percent for someone else's benefit. Ask, and I'll answer truthfully," I say.

There's a moment of silence where I can feel Marigold looking at me while I start Raven and get her speeding down the runway. When we're at the right speed, I pull back and we make for the sky. Freedom. Utter freedom amongst clouds and nothing.

"The orphan thing. Are you really an orphan?" Marigold asks carefully. Even regarding her enemy she doesn't lose all of her kindness. Not even if she wants to.

I ignore the knot in my throat - wishing desperately to have a thread of maroon on me right now. "Yes, that was true," I admit, "My mother left me at the doorstep of an orphanage - hence the last name 'Jilten'. It comes from the word 'Jilted' and the orphanage ladies thought it was fitting since I was abandoned. Left alone..."

I suck in a breath, because I really feel like Marigold deserves to know. Not because I want sympathy, but because I want her to understand I wasn't born a monster... I was made into one.

"I don't remember too much," I continue, "I remember the other boys always picking on me. Hitting me. And when I asked for help... Those boys just laughed at me... I remember the shitty food. The one time everyone got Nutella on Christmas. I remember the maroon bed covers and how that maroon was the same shade of lipstick a nice young lady wore when she visited the orphanage with her husband.

"Her husband's name was Frederick Sauvage Deighton and he was the leader of the Northern gang. He needed a new messenger and through some odds picked me. He took care of me and even though his two sons were spoiled to the bone, I liked living at Isabella. The lady of the house was always so kind...

"And through the years I grew, turned myself into something unyielding with all the death that surrounded me. I had to deliver a message to your... I delivered a few messages until I was made the hacker and climbed the ranks. Everything was going so well until... The South striked...

"First, they made the East and West nearly kill each other. Then, they set a fire in Isabella during a party. Everyone from the Deighton family died, except Miss Sauvage of course. And when the time came to pick a new leader, somehow everyone pointed at me. At fist my biggest concern wasn't getting revenge, but just keeping afloat, but then...