Page 33 of Under Control

Much less that would do this to her.

“They hit you,” I say when it looks like she’s not going to continue.

“Yes, Karine, they hit me. They told me that if we can’t pay them what we owe, then they’ll come back, and next time they’ll make sure you’re home too.” She chokes back a sob and starts pulling at her hair. “I’m sorry, honey, I’m so, so sorry.”

“Mom, stop it.” I restrain her before she rips her scalp clean off. “Tell me who they are.”

“My brother.” She gazes at me with a deep, horrible sadness. “He’s the head of the Armenian Brotherhood in Baltimore.”

I have no idea what to say. I’m too confused to find words. I’ve never heard of the Armenian Brotherhood before, and I didn’t even know Mama had a brother. But slowly, the implications of what she’s saying weigh me down, and I sink to the floor beside her.

Mama tells me everything. The men came to the door, pushed it open, and rushed inside. Her brother had sent soldiers, street-level enforcers, and they weren’t gentle just because she’s related to their boss. They roughed her up, ripped the downstairs to shreds, and made it clear that if she didn’t begin paying her brother back soon, they’d return and hurt me as well.

Her story finishes, and a heavy, freezing silence falls over the bathroom.

“I wanted to tell you earlier, but I never knew how,” she says after a while. All the sorrow’s been drained from her, and now she seems like all her energy is gone. Mama’s normally so vital. It’s strange, seeing her this way.

“I guess there isn’t an easy way to tell me that we’re related to mobsters.”

“No, honey, there isn’t, but I still should have. I knew Aram would come for his money eventually, I just hoped we’d have something to give him by then.”

“Your brother’s name is Aram?”

“Aram Sarkissian. Head of the Armenian Brotherhood. My god, Karine, your father and I moved here to get away from that partof my life, and yet I still went back to them when I was at my lowest. I was such a fool.”

I rub her back. “It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.”

“It won’t, honey, it won’t. Aram won’t stop just because I’m his sister. If anything, he’ll use this as an excuse to punish me for turning my back on the family all those years ago. He hasn’t forgotten the way I left, and my brother is a very bad, very vindictive man. I’m afraid, Karine. And I’m so sorry.”

I try my best to comfort her. It’s clear what this Brotherhood thing is very, very bad, but it feels so bizarre and distant. I’m learning about that side of my family for the very first time, and it’s like getting thrown into a frozen ocean as an introduction to swimming. I can’t even begin to process it all.

Eventually, Mama calms down. She puts on the shower and I leave her to get cleaned up. I head downstairs, ready to survey the damage and to find out what’s salvageable, when I stop at the bottom of the stairs.

Valentin’s sitting on the couch.

Chapter 11

Karine

Idon’t move. He only stares at me. Neither of us speaks for a long moment.

“I should’ve known you’d show up,” I tell him, taking a step forward. I crunch over shattered pottery. “Did you know this was going to happen?”

“No, I did not.”

“Could you have stopped it?”

“I wasn’t aware anything was wrong until you came home. I haven’t been watching your mother.”

My heart’s racing in my throat. The implication is pretty obvious: hehasbeen watching me.

So much for that dinner date being the end of this.

I never really believed he’d get the message though.

“Did you know? About my uncle?”

He pushes himself to his feet like a glorious angel spreading its wings. Power and malicious intent roll off him in waves.A horrible feeling crawls into my guts, and I’m sure beyond anything I’ve ever been sure about before in my life that Valentin is a very, very bad man.

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