All She Can Take

T H I R T Y - E I G H T

"Student loans, huh? What did you go to school for?" He leaned against the counter amused and folded his arms. Like he was Professor at the head of the class, waiting for his star pupil to give the right answer.

"Culinary Management."

"Hmh." The sound Kru made was somewhere between respect and reverie. "The apple really doesn't fall far from the tree, does it?"

Sid felt the walls around her begin to shake. Like an earthquake starting, until she realized it was starting in her own body. Small earthquakes going off in every corner of her. Her heart slammed against her ribs and her lungs heaved causing her ribs to quake. The massive plates that had been stacked on one another, undisturbed for years, had all of a sudden slipped. The tremors were all through her chest. Right where her heart broke the day she lost her dad. It spread rapidly through her limbs causing her fingers to grip the arms of the chair she sat in. It's stiff fabric squeaked under the pressure. The quake reached her throat and threatened to drown out her voice.

But it came out anyway. She squeezed her eyes shut and let her father's image crystallize beneath her eyelids. His smile. The cocky way he wore that hat. The fear in his eyes once he knew that he was about to die.

"You killed my father." Sid's bloated words filled the quietness. Weighing everything she said went out the window just that quickly. She felt like she was goaded into acknowledging what she now knew they both were aware of. He knew that she was Roland Berry's daughter. She wondered how long he knew it. The second he saw her? Or had he known who she was since she had been walking the streets of her childhood for the past few years? That anxiety she felt before, the same one when she in her car on the day she bought it with his money, came flooding back. Like there were a million eyes on her. Watching from every place. Her every move.

Only the sounds of Phil's painful groans filled the air. With her eyes still shut, Sid thought that Kru may have left. That by saying what he did out loud, caused him to vanish into the ether like some ancient boogeyman. But she knew he was there. She could still hear his even-paced breaths across the room. She cracked her eyes until they were small slits. Her sneakers came into sight. She willed herself to lift her head more. To meet his gaze head-on. Maybe she couldn't stop him from taking her father's life that day, but on this day she could at least look him in the eyes and call him what he is. A murderer.

But when her eyes were finally fully open, lasers focused on him, she couldn't speak.

"Ro was a good dude. But there's a thing that he, and it seems you, just don't seem to get." He took a step toward her. One hand gripping his other that was tightened into a fist. On instinct, Sid's eyes snapped shut again bracing for impact. Look him in the eye. Face him. Her eyes opened and locked in on his frame, closer to her but still not within striking distance. "You can't fuck with my business. I put food on the table for a lot of people. Ro cost me a lot of money," He sighed, "You, Sidney, are costing me a lot of money."

Her eyebrows crinkled in confusion. How could her dad ever cost him anything? Sid watched for years as got dressed and went to work every day. Sticking to his plan, working his way up slowly but steadily. The fact that her father and Kru seemed to know one another beyond that day at the subway station sent chills through her. She wanted to ask him more. Drill him about what it meant but it seemed a lot like asking the big bad wolf if he was really Grandma.

Regardless of anything he could say it would not change the fact that he was a killer. There was not enough money in the world worth taking a person's life. Especially, since he knew her father. He knew that the man he was pushing to death had an entire family that would miss him so much it would change the very fibers of each of them. Her vision blurred with tears and anger roiled beneath her skin at the thought. Her legs seemed to move on their own, fueled by grief and sadness that had festered and grown into rage over the years.

Sid cleared three-quarters of the distance between them, her eyes locked on that scar. On those empty eyes, the ones that tried to convey remorse or consideration but could never quite reach there. Her fingers ached to claw his face. Gouge out his eyes. Make him hurt and bleed and whimper. Just as her foot landed and sprang off the beige carpet in her last stretch toward him she felt two arms wrap around her waist. Luke. She'd forgotten he was there. He pulled her kicking, cursing, and pretty much foaming at the mouth back into the chair and stood in front of it to keep her locked there. She peered around him to keep her eyes on Kru.

Kru shook his head in pity.

"I want my money back. Every single penny of it." He said that and motioned to Luke to stand down. Kru wasn't scared of her. Waves of rage surged through her and her chest heaved. "Go get him." He told Luke as he turned to make his way over to the door.

The groans from the bathroom intensified as Luke tugged at the body on the floor. A moment later, Luke was leaving the bathroom.

Sid shuddered at the sight of Phil. His eye was buried beneath bulging sockets. His swollen cheek sagged over a jaw that she could tell was broken. The collar of his new shirt was soaked crimson. Another groan erupted into the room but this time from Sid. She started to get up again.

"Sit the fuck down. I swear." Kru said from the door. Sid stopped but did not sit down. Luke dragged Phil along, his feet barely underneath him.

"Please, just leave him here," Sid begged. Her anger slipping away to desperation as she saw Phil being hauled away.

"Nah, he's got to learn some lessons too." The look he gave Phil's limp body was full of disappointment. "You'll get your boyfriend back after I get my money." Luke hauled Phil closer to the door. Before they left Kru zipped up the hoodie that Phil was wearing to cover the blood staining his shirt. He pulled the hood tight over Phil's head to hide some of the damage. The motion almost looked endearing if you didn't know that he was the one who put those bruises there. No one would see them, though. It was late and guests were either out on the town enjoying the nightlife or retired to their rooms. Sid felt her stomach lurch as Luke hauled Phil out of sight down the hallway. Kru turned back to her.

"For Ro...I'll give you a week." He nodded at Sid and waited for her to do the same. She shook her head to show she understood. Once he got his answer he closed the door politely behind him. Sid, completely hollowed out from all the emotions she was feeling, collapsed onto the floor. She stayed there, half wishing that he would decide come back and finish her off. Decide that the joy of killing her was worth the loss of fifty grand. If her father was able to die over money, then she would be alright with going out that way as well.

Torn apart after just reconnecting. And POOR PHIL. My god. How are you guys doing with all this? Any thoughts on Sid...on Phil...on Kru. I'd love to hear it. I'm thinking about doing a character page and I may need your help deciding who the proper actors/actress to play our characters are. Any suggestions? Drop a comment. 

I've never done this before so bear with me, but this week I'll post two pics of possible actresses for Sidney and you guys tell me which of the choices you think fits better? Deal? 

If it goes well we'll do Phil...Kru...possibly Tomi and Aiden? Right? Cool. Let me know if this sounds fun or not.