Page 5 of Unlocked

“What we should have done a long time ago, father.” I reply. Jonathan pulls out the lighter in his pocket and flicks it open. Our mother screams out in surprise when she realizes what is about to happen.

“Allow me,” I say, closing my hand around my twin's wrist, noting his hesitancy. His bright blue eyes meet my dark ones.

“Don’t you fucking dare!” our father screams from the bed, while rolling around in an attempt to escape.

“I need to do this,” Jonathan says. His eyes never leave mine as he tosses the lighter onto the bed and it erupts in flames beside us. The sound of our parents screaming assaults us immediately. We don’t stay to watch. We can’t take the chance, so we quickly make our way back to our wing of the house.

“Jamison?” The woman questions, ripping me from my memory. “Are you sure you guys didn’t hear anything?” She’s looking at us both skeptically.

“Nothing,” I reply. “We never hear anything on that side of the house.” The woman nods her head before writing a few things down on her clipboard and walking away. I watch as she walks over to another officer and they both speak in hushed tones.

“Do you think they suspect anything?” Jonathan asks me, worry in his tone.

“It doesn’t matter,” I reply. “They won’t be able to prove anything. It was set up to look like a break in and everyone who’sanyone knows our parents might have made a few enemies in their lifetime.”

“What do you think will happen now?”

I stare at the burnt walls on the side of the house as I pull a pack of cigarettes from my back pocket. “The lawyers will take care of helping with the estate.” I say as I light a cigarette and inhale. “Normally, we would be sent to stay with someone else, but since we are almost eighteen, there won’t be a need. Whoever is in charge of the estate will take over until then. It’s only a few months away. After that, everything is ours.”

I feel Jonathan’s hand grab mine and squeeze. “So, it’s over?”

“They won’t ever touch us again, brother. From now on, it's just you and me, and no one will ever hurt us again,” I reply, squeezing his hand back.

Chapter 5

Kaz

Seventeen years old

“No, no, no…where is it?” I mutter to myself while searching my closet for the third time. There is no sign of the zipper pouch containing the money I have been saving up for the past year anywhere. I don’t know why I am still looking. I know exactly where it was—safely shoved in an old shoebox behind a small pile of clothes in the back of my tiny makeshift closet. The shoebox was there when I came home, closed up tight.

I knew the minute I walked into my room that something was wrong. I slump down against my closet wall and wipe the lone tear that slides down my cheek. All of my savings just…gone. I can’t escape this hellhole if I can’t pay for college. That was enough money to get me through at least the first year. I planned on earning the rest each summer in between.

“Charisma, baby, where are you? Can you bring me some water?” I hear my mother yell groggily through the paper-thin wall of our trailer. I walk out of my door and turn into her room to see her slumped over the side of her bed like she dropped something on the floor. Her hair is a matted mess, and the dingy nightshirt she is wearing has burn holes scattered across it.

“Jesus, Mother,” I say, rushing in and lifting her body up to sit against the wall. Track marks cover her arm, making megrimace. My foot kicks something on the ground, and I lean down to pick up the lighter she must have dropped.

“Were you in my room, Mother? Did you go through my things?”

“I have no idea what you are talking about," she mumbles incoherently, with her eyes closed. No doubt, nodding off again. How convenient, I think to myself as I roll my eyes. She doesn’t notice as I pocket her lighter and leave the room to head to our small kitchen and fill her a glass of water. The screen door slams, causing me to jump, and I spin around quickly. Pete, my mother’s dealer boyfriend, waltzes in like he owns the place before leaning against the wall and crossing his arms. He stares at me, wetting his lips with his tongue.

“She’s in her room,” I say, gesturing to her doorway before turning around and putting the glass on the countertop. I close my eyes and try to conjure up any image in my head to erase Pete’s disgusting face from my mind. A body pushes against me from behind, making my stomach roll. Pete puts both hands on the counter, caging me in.

“You’re filling out more and more every day, Kaz. When you gonna let me tap this?” He grinds his dick against my ass, making me cringe. I spin around attempting to push him back, but he is much bigger and stronger than me. He cages me in further, causing me to lean back over the counter.

“Never gonna happen,” I grit out.

He laughs in my face, showing off his yellow teeth.

“Never say never, sweetness. Your mama likes this dick. Hell, every other drug whore in this trailer park likes this dick. It’s only a matter of time before you’ll be down on your knees begging for a bag of rocks, too.”

I push him again, and he steps back this time. Grabbing the glass of water from the counter, I shove it into his hand.

“I’m not a whore, and I’m never gonna come begging for drugs.”

I hear his laugh follow behind me as I grab my hoodie off the couch and escape out the front door. The sound of the screen slams behind me, and I throw my hood over my head as I jog across the dead lawn and onto the small road. I can still hear Pete laughing as I make my way out of the trailer park. Fucking disgusting asshole. I’m a block down the road when a beat-up Ford F-150 pulls next to me. A smile forms on my face when I see my best friend, Ben, in the driver’s seat.

“Hey, sweet cheeks, you need a ride?” he asks in his most obnoxious, trucker voice.

---