Chapter 02

Olivia’s POV

I fumble the key, the metal clinking loud in the quiet. The second he’s back upstairs I bolt for the kitchen, grab eggs, milk, bread from the fridge. No baconmoney’s too tight last time. I start the eggs, rush back down, shove into my only pair of holey leggings and the maroon sweatshirt that still smells like him. I twist my long curly black hair into a messy bun and carry the plate up.

“Breakfast is ready, Dad.” I set it in front of him. He’s already reading a letter, squinting at the fancy handwriting. His scowl deepens until he tears the paper in half, again and again, like he’s angry at the air.

“Olivia, go get money. Buy me bacon.” He waves me off like I’m nothing.

I duck into the bathroom, pull the mirror down, and wince. My face is a map of bruised left eye swollen shut from last night, split lip reopened when he backhanded me this morning. Skin still looks like Mom’swarm caramelbut the rest of me is all sharp bones and hollow cheeks. Dull brown eyes that don’t smile anymore. I need cash today.

I step outside. The sun blinds me for a second; I haven’t been in daylight in weeks. Across the street a sleek black car sits in the same spot it was in yesterday. What the hell is that doing here?

Snap out of it, Olivia. Just keep moving.

I head toward Cormac’s house. The path feels too long, too exposed. I glanced back oncecar still there, windows tinted dark. At the end of the block the blue house comes into view, white steps, porch swing. Looks like any old couple’s place. I know better.

I knock three times, then tap twice quick. Cormac opens the door in low gray sweatpants, shirtless, hair messy like he just woke up. Jet black, same as mine. Deep blue eyes that have seen too much. Full sleeves of ink, including a portrait of his dad on his right hand. He’s five years older than me and turns twenty-one today too.

“Hey, Olivia. What’s up?” He steps aside so I can slip in and shut the door.

I rub the back of my neck. “Cash. Can I run for you?”

He nods toward the kitchen. “Come on, let me ice that lip first. It’s swelling again.” He doesn’t wait for an answer.

I bounce on my toes while he fills a bag with peas. “I need help, yeah, but not with a run.”

“So what do you want?”

“Major drop. A few hundred if you get it done right. Take the package to the club, knock, tell them Cormac sent you, go straight upstairs, hand it to the guy in the office. Come back here and get paid.”

Cormac raises an eyebrow. “Curious cat?”

“Still want to know, though.”

“It’s just some odds and ends. Straight there, straight back.”

“Fine.” He pulls out a small black box and drops it into my bag. “Bike’s out back. Ride it.”

I grab it and head outside. The black car is closer now, like it’s been inching forward. Please don’t be cops. I pedal fast, checking over my shoulder the whole way. It stays put.

The drop goes smooth. I tell them Cormac sent me, hand over the box, ride back, give him his bag. He counts out five hundred and two hundred land in my pocket before he counts the rest and tells me to keep it. I still hand the rest over to Dad. Later he expects the drug money, not this.

On the way home I buy bacon and milk, and come back to the smell of beer and weed that hits me like a wall. Tonight’s going to be long.

“Come here, girl.”

Dad rises slowly. The belt slides out of his belt loops with a whisper. I try to slip past him toward the basement. His hand lands across my backfire exploding down my spine. My knees give out. I slam my hand over my mouth, swallowing every sound, because every whimper makes him hit harder.

“You’re a stupid, selfish brat,” he growls, yanking my hair until my scalp screams. “You cost me everything.” He punches me under the right eye, then again when I try to curl up. The world tilts. I wait on the floor, forehead to the cold concrete, until he’s done stomping and kicking.

When he finally leaves I limp downstairs, cuff myself, and stare at the wall.

Happy birthday, Olivia. You survived the night again. Keep fighting.

The pain drags me under and I fall into blackness, the way I always do.