Page 77 of Rafi

But I can’t. I can’t process what I’m hearing. My vision blurs, my legs trembling beneath me. I stagger back, away from both of them.

Igor doesn’t stop. His voice grows stronger, more insistent. “He lied to you your whole life. He let you believe?—”

“Enough!” my father roars, his voice shaking the cabin.

But it’s too late.

Igor looks me straight in the eye, his expression a mix of triumph and sorrow. “I’m your father, Tayana.”

The words hit me like a physical blow. My knees buckle, and I grab the armrest of a nearby seat to keep from collapsing.

“No,” I whisper, shaking my head. “No, you’re lying.”

“I wish I were,” Igor says softly.

Anton takes another step toward me, his face etched with anguish. “Tayana, I can explain?—”

“Don’t,” I snap, cutting him off. My voice is shaky, but there’s a steel edge to it now. “Don’t say another word.”

The cabin falls into silence, the tension thick enough to choke on.

I turn away from both of them, my mind racing, my heart shattering into a million pieces. Everything I thought I knew about my life, my family—it’s all been a lie. All my doubts, all my insecurities, everything I knew now had to be reassessed. But instead of putting things into perspective, instead of giving me a clearer focus, I’m more confused than ever, and I feel more unwanted, more unloved than I ever have. How can a girl possibly have two fathers and not be raised by either?

And as the plane sits motionless on the tarmac, I realize that I’ve never felt more lost in my life.

“Isthis why you sent me away? Is this why it was so easy for you to toss me away?” My eyebrows are knitted in confusion as I look at Anton. “You know what? Don’t answer that question. I don’t think I want to know.”

“Tayana…”

“No. You two are cooked. I always thought it, but now I know it! You’re fucked in the head, with these wicked little games you play!” I scream. “What about that poor woman out there with a fucking bomb strapped to her body! Did you eventhinkwhat that would do to her? Did you even consider the damage you were inflicting upon her? She almost died today!DIED!”

“You need to calm the fuck down,” Igor says, from his seat in front of me. I’ve been standing before the two of them, ranting and raving for the past five minutes, until Igor slumps into a chair, aging almost ten years as he looks at me mournfully.

“Don’t tell me what I need to do,daddy!” I’m near hysterical as I scream at him. “Disarm and unstrap the fucking bomb off her – now!”

Igor nods in the direction of one of the men, and I watch as the man walks toward Maxine, who’s watching us with some interest, and explains to her what he’s going to do.

She lifts her shirt, eyes still glued to us, as he goes to work on the belt, unstrapping it and tossing it in a nearby waste bin.

“That’s it?” I ask the soldier. “No danger of it exploding and knocking this damn thing out of the sky?”

The soldier laughs then shoots me a smirk. “It’s a stopwatch,” he tells me. “There was never really any danger.”

“I can’t fucking believe this,” I mutter, as I turn away from the two men and walk towards Maxine, who looks at me in complete and utter disbelief as I approach her.

“I don’t know whether I feel more sympathy for you or for myself,” she says, lifting her eyebrows in confusion. “This is a lot.”

She rubs at her wrists, as though smoothing away a tension that’s been sitting there for months.

“I somehow think your situation was worse, Maxine, but you’ve come out the other end stronger for it.”

She gives me a weak smile, but it’s the truest one I’ve seen from her so far.

“What’s going to happen now?” she asks.

“Well, you’re going to go home. You’re safe now.”

“Home…” she whispers. And I know she’s wondering where home is. Mia had told me all about how the girls became homeless before they went missing. Maxine has gone throughsome massive changes; she’ll need all the help she can get, and I know that Mia is waiting for her.

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