exchange...” I hold out my fluffy ball to her. “I’ll give you Killer.”
Her dad has a foul mouth, but he’s kind and I often see him giving food to the neighbourhood cats.
Cindy’s blue eyes widen and she gasps for so long, her voice comes out breathy. “Really?”
“Yes, really.” With one last pat to Killer’s head, I hand him over. He snuggles into Cindy’s embrace. The fluffy ball always liked her.
I reach into my bag and give Hayley the boxing gloves she always admired.
She abandons her resting bitch face – or angsty teenage face. I can’t actually tell the difference. Her eyes widen and she holds the gloves like they’re Holy Scriptures. Even her hands shake. “The ones you won that championship with?”
I poke her. “It’s an underground championship. Doesn’t count.”
“’Course it does!” She throws me a calculative glance. “You’re giving them to me? For good?”
I nod and ruffle her blond hair with pink and green strands. “Don’t sell them on eBay.”
Hayley places a hand on her heart in some sort of an oath. “I promise to be a champion like you one day.”
“That’s my girl.” I mess her head some more when little hands pull on my jeans.
David’s huge brown eyes consider me with anticipation. “Can I get all ze chocolates, Elle?”
I burst into laughter. Demon.
“You get this.” I produce the old train toy; the only toy Ma ever bought me and the only toy I ever owned. “Treat it well.”
“I will!” He hugs the train to his chest protectively and holds out his other hand. “Now, can I haz ze chocolates.”
I give him a bag of Snickers. “Divide it amongst each other.”
God, I’m going to miss these little demons. They remind me so much of my childhood. Although I was never as innocent as them, and there was anger – lots of anger. The mischievousness has always been Zoe’s and my trait. Then, Liam joined us and we became unstoppable.
I never had blood siblings, but if I did, they couldn’t possibly have been better than Zoe. She protected me when I was too little to do it myself. Before we were taken into the system and bounced from one abusive family to another, she shoplifted and begged so we could eat.
No one understood a street urchin like another street urchin. Zoe and I were each other’s home.
And then she was gone. Poof. Without a trace.
The world tore and threw us from one foster home to the other, but we never got on our knees. We didn’t do it when we were young. We won’t be starting now.
I fought and I will continue to fight these damn streets. No way in hell will I let them swallow her.
In the kids’ excitement, only Hayley lifts her head, suspicion in her small eyes like she just realised something. “Are you going somewhere, Elle?”
When I don’t answer, Cindy pats Killer’s head with a trembling hand. “Are you gonna disappear like Zoe?”
“Are you?” David repeats, his upper lip quivering as if he will cry.
No crying in front of the kids, Elle.
“I won’t disappear like Zoe,” I say, determination bubbling in my veins. “I will bring her back.”
“Let’s go over this one more time.” Liam drums his fingers on the steering wheel of his old BMW while I sit beside him in the passenger seat.
We’re meeting in the neighbourhood for the last time. In front of Khaled’s greasy old restaurant that’s existed for decades.
My duffel bag with Zoe’s and my personal papers rests between my feet. It will remain with Liam. I’m fussing with the pink suitcase he gave me. It’s full of dresses and shoes and makeup I’ve been using in the last weeks since Zoe disappeared. “Does it have to be this… pink?”
“Listen, dammit.” Liam runs a hand through his dark blond hair. “I’m not even supposed to send you on this mission. We’re talking about gangsters. Drug dealers and damn killers. This is their version of the mafia in the UK, and you know what happens in the mafia? People disappear and don’t return. Let’s rethink this. It’s not a place for you.”
“It’s not a place for Zoe either!” I quit fiddling with the suitcase and face him. “She’s our family, Liam. How could you send her on that mission in the first place? You knew she was going to a nest of monsters.”
I don’t know who to be madder at. Zoe for hiding it or Liam for being an accomplice. Or both for keeping me in the dark.