Page 49 of Sweet Sin

I find a can of nonstick cooking spray. Thank God.

I whisk the eggs, throw them in the pan, and once they’re done, I plate them. Then I pour two glasses of water.

I set Savannah’s plate on the table and hand her a fork. “Eat,” I say.

She takes her fork and spears a piece of scrambled egg, brings it to her mouth.

She swallows audibly.

“You okay?”

“Feel kind of nauseated.”

“That’s because of what you’ve been through today. But your body still needs fuel. So please, Savannah. Please eat your eggs.”

14

SAVANNAH

The eggs are flavorless. Yellow globules that feel gross in my mouth.

Scrambled eggs are no longer my comfort food.

Nothing can comfort me right now.

This day is surreal.

I can’t get Mr. Shaw off my mind.

And when I do manage to get past him, all I can see is Giancarlo, lying on his back, blood spurting from his neck.

Is he even alive?

Are the police going to come after me, charge me with his murder?

No.

I have a degree in criminal justice, and I’ve worked in the system for the last five years. What happened was pure self-defense. He had a gun trained on Falcon.

I stare at my plate as images form in my mind, and I find myself rolling back through time.

Was there a reason why we moved? Why I had to finish my senior year of high school away from my friends? Away from everything I knew?

There was.

And that reason’s name was Michael.

He just got married, but he’s not happy. He was forced into marriage at the young age of twenty.

And now, here I am in Austin at a new high school where I don’t know anybody. Great. Not a fun senior year.

Back in New York I went to private school. But here? Mom and Dad decided to have me finish out in the public school system.

Mom and Dad think I don’t know. But how can I not? I know why my oldest brother left the country. He didn’t want to get into Dad’s and Grandpa’s business.

I’m not naïve, and certainly not ignorant.

You learn things after a while, after you see some of the things I’ve seen.

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