Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 106839 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106839 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
“When are you getting here, Ma?”
“When am I getting there?”
“Yeah! Daddy says we’re gonna live down here now.”
I turn away and the tears are falling down my cheeks before I can stop them.
“All right, Cross. I’ll be back soon and I’ll see you then. Your mama will come tomorrow, OK?”
“All right, Daddy! See ya tomorrow, Ma!”
The call ends and there’s a bit of silence. But then Erol says, “You’ve got twenty-four hours. That’s all the time I could talk them into. I’ll call you on your house phone at noon tomorrow and we’ll make arrangements.”
I don’t look at him and my words come out as a whisper. “And if I say no?”
He scoffs behind me. “You’re not gonna say no. We both know that.”
Then he walks away and all I can do is watch him.
I’m still sitting on the porch when Rosie pulls into the driveway. I stand up and meet her at the car. “You left work early? It’s only ten o’clock.”
She doesn’t look at me. Just walks right by me. “I’m going upstairs to bed. You should go home, Amon.”
“What? No. I’m not going home. I’m staying right here with you. The search has started again—”
Rosie whirls around so fast, I stop talking. “They’re not gonna find him, Amon. The search is pointless. He’s with Erol. And he’s not coming back.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do know it.” She’s glaring at me. Like I did something wrong. Or… like something happened.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
Rosie sucks in a deep breath, then slowly lets it out. “Erol. I saw him. We talked.”
“What? Where? When did this happen?”
“Just a little while ago. In Revenant. Jonesy told me to take a walk because I was acting like a zombie, I guess. So I went down to the river and Erol showed up.”
“What did he say?”
She shrugs. “He’s got Cross. He took him. He even called him on the phone and let me talk to him.”
“To Cross? What did he say?” Rosie laughs, but a tear slips out and starts rolling down her cheek. “Rosie?” I pull her in and give her a hug. “It’s OK. It’s gonna be OK. We’re gonna get him back.”
But Rosie is shaking her head. “He doesn’t wanna come back, Amon. He’s happy this happened. He’s happy as can be. Erol got him a gun. His daddy is back in his life and he got him a gun! What more could this boy want?”
“Well… we’ll just go get him. Where are they staying?”
“You don’t understand, Amon.” She stops crying now and wipes the tears off her cheeks. “You don’t understand. Erol? He’s part of Blackberry Hill. Cross is with them.”
I turn around and stare at the valley across the street. I knew it.
“That’s not all, either. It’s much worse than that. Because this Blackberry Hill is some kind of secret military thing. There’s like… a city underground.” I turn back and she points to her feet. “Under us, Amon. There’s some kind of secret city underneath us. And we all know that Lowyn saw something up there when she festival-married Ike and that’s why she wanted to leave. That’s what started that whole thing. So I don’t care if you don’t believe me, this is real. There’s something weird and wrong going on here and my son is now a part of it. Do you know what Erol said? He said Cross is half his. Cross is half Blackberry Hill and he belongs with them. And it’s not even a lie.”
“Rosie—” I take a step towards her, ready to hug her again.
But she puts up a hand. “Don’t. Just… just go home. Because it’s over, Amon.”
“What’s over? Nothing’s over.”
“We’re over.” And she says this so seriously, my heart feels like it just got stabbed with a pitchfork. “We’re over. Because he said that I can come with them.”
“What does that even mean, Rosie?”
“Tomorrow. He said he’ll call me at noon tomorrow to get my answer and then he’ll pick me up and I can go to Blackberry Hill and be with him and Cross.”
“But—”
“Oh, trust me. I would rather stay with you. But this is my son, Amon.” She shakes her head. “He’s my whole life. I cannot choose a man over my son, even if that man is you.”
“So you’re just… what, gonna go? Gonna give in? That’s not the answer, Rosie.”
“Then what’s the answer? You tell me. What do I do? Because he’s got him, Amon. He’s got my boy and not only that, my boy wants to be there. He’s not coming home! That’s his daddy. This is like a fairy tale coming true to that kid. His father returns after twelve years and not only that, he’s some kind of secret military guy?” Rosie scoffs. “There’s no way he’s coming back to Disciple. Not now. Not after seeing the secret underground city.” Now she laughs. “It’s so ridiculous, I can’t believe those words just came out of my mouth. But there it is. That’s what’s happening. And you should leave now because I’m just gonna go upstairs and cry all day and I don’t want anyone around while I do that.”