Page 45 of Repossess My Heart

“I- I don’t know.” I lie. There’s only one thing he could be talking about. Mom got CeCe from a waste plant. She was scheduled to be decommissioned, she said. Mom was furious anyone would toss out such a well-maintained bot. Dad in the rare times he was around, helped her steal CeCe. That was a mere five months before I was born.

“You’re fucking lying.” He taunts lowering me further. Part of me wants to kick off, to drag us both to the gears. My eyes slip to the small, rusted strip of railing, knowing he’d catch himself. I have no desire to kill him, that’s not what this is about.

A small gasp pulls his attention from me. A mistake. My arms that have been bent uncomfortably behind me muscle memory demanding I try to grip onto something… release him. My knuckles ache as I force them to remain open.

“Don’t move kid, or I’ll feed you to the gears next. Got that?”

I don’t look at the child, I can’t.

“Y-yes sir.” The little girl stutters.

“Code five-nine-three-zero. Repeat that back to me.”

“Five-nine-zero-“

“Wrong!” He snaps, “This is fucking important.”

My chest heaves. “Don’t yell at her.”

A growl slips from inside his mask. “Five-nine-three-zero.”

The little girl stutters again. I squeeze my eyes shut as she repeats it wrong two more times before finally getting it right. My scalp burns, my legs, the only things still on the platform are shaking.

“You’re going to run home, fast. You’re going to tell every grown up you see that code. Tell them it’s the way out.”

“W-we aren’t allowed to leave.” She retorts.

“That sounds like a shit deal to me.”

“What if we get in trouble…”

“You see, the boss man pissed me off kid, so I plan to fuck his shit up a bit on my way out. You’ll be out before he can do a thing about it. Can’t get in trouble if you can’t be found.”

The girl doesn’t respond and I can’t take my eyes off the gears. The weight of what I’ve been wrapped into settling on my chest.

“Trust me.”

“You’re a Repo Man.” She replies, her small feet shuffling on metal. I’m sure she’s terrified. I’m grateful I can’t see it. At the same time, I hate myself for not comforting her, not that I’d be any good at that. He’s putting so much on a child, saving everyone from whatever nasty thing he’s got planned.

“Even more reason not to be down here with me. You’ll be a good little shit, yes? Do what the big, scary murderer tells you?”

“Y-yes sir.”

“What’s the code?”

“Five-nine-three-zero.”

He makes an approving sound and I’m all but forgotten. Another mistake.

“What does it do?”

“It lets us go up?” she whispers, sounding more than a little doubtful.

“Run.” He whispers.

He knows where I live. He can fix CeCe; he can get everything all his answers there. He doesn’t need me.

I don’t have to do this.

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