Page 40 of Among the Sins of my Father

“Wasn’t he? Tell me, what was he guilty of, hmmm?” The way he tacks on the little sound at the end reminds me of his wife. I wonder where she is now. I wonder what she thinks of the man she married. I never liked the woman, but surely she had no knowledge of the crimes he committed.

“Enough!” Michael yells, coming to stand between us.

Mr Gorman leans against the wall, arms and ankles crossed, grinning as though he’s enjoying the entertainment. “It’s okay, son. You’ll get your turn. I know you’ve always had a soft spot for the girl.”

It feels as though all the blood drains from my body. “His turn? What do you mean, his turn? What are you going to do to me?”

Dread settles in my stomach. The blood pumping through my veins starts to race, echoing a thudding sound in my head.

“Nothing.” Michael glares at his father. “They meant nothing by it.” Taking my hand in his, he pulls me from the cell. “You’re coming with me.”

As he drags me down the corridor, I look into the other cells. There are so many of them. Each of them has a woman with sad eyes peering back at me. None of them call out. None of them plead for rescue, they just sit and stare, already knowing their fate. It breaks my heart but it also fills me with fear.

“What’s happening, Michael? What are they going to do with me?”

“Nothing if I have anything to do with it.”

“Are you going to let me go?”

“You’re safer with me.”

chapter fifteen

BERKLEY

The doors of the car lock as soon as I’m inside. Michael looks over and shrugs. “You haven’t exactly been the most trustworthy person.”

I reach for the lock, attempting to pry it open but Michael just chuckles and reaches over to place his hand on my knee. His thumb rubs over my flesh slowly. The feeling of it travels through my bloodstream and twists in my chest, the need to vomit rising. I jerk my leg away and his hand falls. He chuckles again and makes a tutting sound.

“Where are you taking me?” I ask as he starts the car and pulls onto the paved road that’s lined with rectangle concrete blocks.

“They were only trying to scare you.”

“Well, they succeeded,” I reply. “Where are you taking me?”

He just smiles and winks as though this is all a joke. “Don’t worry. You’ll be safe.”

The squat gray buildings line both sides of the road. They’re arranged in a grid-like fashion, rows and rows of them. High wire fencing surrounds the compound. I think of all the women I passed along the corridor and wonder if each of the buildings are filled just the same.

“Do all these buildings contain—”

Michael cuts me off. “They’re storage units.”

“But—”

“They’re storage units,” he says again more forcibly.

We pass through the gates. “Storage units with armed guards,” I mutter.

“Everly,” he chides.

It’s as though we’re living in different worlds. Different realities.

“I don’t know how you can just sit by with all this going on.” I fold my arms across my chest, sinking deeper into the seat as fields of grass and sheep pass by.

“I don’t know how you can sit by knowing that children are basically used as slave-workers to make shoes,” Michael mocks.

“That’s different.”

---