Page 64 of Wreck My Mind

My ears rang as the gun fired and my eyes slammed shut. When I dared to open them, I saw both Baba and Jadd frozen in shock, no longer struggling against each other, but holding each other in an awkward hug. For just a sliver of a second I thought they’d come to their senses. Blood pooled between them, both of their robes turning red. Slowly my father’s body sank. He sagged to the floor in a heap and Jadd dropped to his knees still trying to hold him.

Tears sprang to my eyes as I raced to my father’s side. I expected Jadd to try to help or cry, but instead he wheeled at me.

“This is your fault, Mira! Your lies have caused this!”

He scooped his arms under Baba’s, lifting his upper body as he dragged him. “Get your father’s feet,” he barked.

Fearing Jadd’s wrath, I scurried to help him move my father. My uncontrollable sniveling and shaking made it impossible for me to keep hold of Baba’s heavy feet and my dropping them only served to annoy Jadd further. “Just forget it, Mira. You’re useless and lazy. You want to make this better? Go clean up the rug. And bring me my gun.”

Eager to get away, I ran back to the living room. In that short time, the water had begun seeping through the carpet and the bloodstain had spread. The captain slogged across the room, paying no attention to the stain or me. I begged him for help, but I couldn’t form the words to explain what had happened.

“We all need help, Mira,” he grunted.

“Where are you going?”

“The ship’s sinking,” he said, matter-of-fact. There was no invitation to follow.

“What about us?”

“Find your father and grandfather and tell them to hurry to the deck. Once I release the rafts, I won’t be able to wait long.”

“My…my father…”

“Now, kid! Did you hear me? I’m not going to go down with the ship. This ain’t like the movies.”

I scrambled to go find Jadd, quickly grabbing up the gun he’d shot my father with. My steps splashed as I ran toward the galley. When I turned the corner the sight paralyzed me. I watched as Jadd dragged the son he’d murdered, my father, into the deep freeze.

I no longer saw my distant, but generous grandfather. I saw cold eyes. I saw evil and hate. Any doubts I’d had about Jadd being capable of the things Am’maty Z and Zanji had said he was had vanished.

He glanced up, no longer looking at me like I was his ten-year-old granddaughter. “You, Mira, you did this. This is all your fault!”

“It wasn’t your fault. You aren’t his scapegoat,” Coop whispered, encouraging me back to the present with his lips against the back of my head. “You’ve been living in this cage of his for far too long. You know that, right?”

I started to agree, but the truth came out instead, because that was all Coop and I had anymore. “He looked like I was already dead to him. He wanted to kill me.”

“Kill you? But you’re his granddaughter? You were just a child.”

“Yes, he said that as well.”

“And who in the world would believe a child’s lies?”

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