Page 42 of Caged Bird

But in that moment, I so wanted to be.

He could be the one to choke.

Zane walked through the door from outside, wiping his hands on the back of his jeans. His gaze fell to me, kneeling at Eddie’s feet like the goddamn sex slave I was, and his eyes filled with an anger I couldn’t stand to see.

But he quickly drew his gaze from me to his brother. “We’ve got a sewage leak, right down the back of the property.”

Eddie’s gaze reluctantly turned away from me and onto his brother. “Then deal with it. That’s what you’re here for. To deal with shit I can’t.”

“It’s a two-man job. No way I can fix this alone. I need you to come with me.”

Eddie stared at him like he’d lost his mind. “How the hell do you expect me to walk all the way to the back of the property?Then get my hands covered in shit trying to fix the pipes, with a fucking gunshot wound? You never were very bright.”

“Then I need someone else. Now. There’s shit going everywhere.”

Eddie recoiled and pushed my head away. “Take her then. Just lost my erection anyway, with all the fucking shit talk.” He gagged in the back of his throat. “Fuck, Zane. You smell disgusting. You’re going to make me vomit.”

It felt a little like poetic justice that Eddie was the one gagging now and complaining about it when just a minute ago he’d literally told me to choke on his cock.

I got up, grateful to have dodged a bullet. “Otis is napping upstairs,” I told Eddie.

“So?”

I should have known better than to think he’d care where his son was or what he was doing.

But I also knew Otis would just stay in his room if he woke up while I was gone, or just quietly slip outside to play in the late afternoon light. He was smart enough to know to stay well out of Eddie’s way unless he couldn’t help it.

I followed Zane outside, really not dressed for yardwork in a faded sundress that did nothing to protect my fair skin from the afternoon heat. I didn’t own heavy work boots like he wore, that were much better suited to the uneven ground. My shoes were old, cheap white canvas sneakers that were a size too big because Eddie could never remember if I was an eight or a nine.

And it’s not like I’d ever been permitted to leave and choose a pair for myself.

Zane glanced over at me. “Will Otis be okay?”

I nodded. “He’s smart.”

“He takes after you then.”

I didn’t say anything because I knew Eddie was smarter than I was. Not in a book sense, but he’d been able to manipulate me,and I hadn’t even noticed. Not for the longest time. My family had been doing terrible things to people for years, and I’d never been able to do anything about that either, too stupid to come up with a plan to do anything but run from all of them.

And look where that had gotten me.

Right back where I’d started, in Eddie’s control.

Because despite his ninth-grade education, he was clever. Conniving.

And I was neither of those things and never would be.

I stomped out of the yard with Zane at my side, and then followed him farther into the trees and along a path I’d never seen before because I’d never been allowed this far from the house. The woods grew thick here, the trees old and untouched by whoever had cleared the ones around the building.

“How far back is the leak?” I hoped it was far. So, so far that it would take an hour to walk there. I had no idea how big the property was or where the neighbors were, but maybe if I could just get a glimpse of another house, I could come up with a plan to get to it. Run to it in the night. Beg them to let me use their phone or call the police.

Zane pointed ahead of us. “Not far. Just around that bend.”

I nodded, crinkling my nose at the smell wafting from Zane’s clothing. I’d need to wash those tonight. A stream trickled lazily somewhere nearby, and the faint smell of smoke clung in the air, like someone had made a campfire recently.

A zing of hope pinged through me. If there were other people out here somewhere, I could get help.

We rounded another bend in the path, and Zane stopped.

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