The Ex Project by Nia Arthurs
Chapter Twenty-Four
“How did the football tournament go?”Zaka asked, stirring the pot of beans on the rusted stove. There was foil around the base of the burner holes and it looked like a serious safety hazard.
“In a word? Eventful.” Yolanda sighed through the phone. “But it’s over now. Tay-Tay’s team won and so did Duane’s team.”
“Of course he won. He played in the pro leagues. I’d be surprised if anyone got a goal on him.”
“Someone did,” Yolanda mumbled.
Zaka froze, her spoon lifted and dropping bean stew on the ground. “What did you just say?”
“Nothing.” Yolanda sighed again. “It’s been a long day and I’m exhausted.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t be there cheering for Duane and Tay-Tay.” The oven made a beeping sound. She padded over to it and pulled the door.
A beautiful roasted chicken sat amidst the smoke. The golden-brown color assured her it was baked to a crisp. The aroma made her stomach gurgle.
Yolanda spoke gently, “It’s okay. There will be plenty of tournaments for you to come watch. Duane is going to make his dream happen.”
“That much I believe.”
“Have you seen your brother yet?” Yolanda asked.
Zaka checked her watch. “It’s strange. He’s not home, but he should have finished work by now.”
“That’s the risky part of a surprise visit. The person being surprised is not expecting you.”
“I’m sure he’ll be home soon.”
“I hope you have a nice time together,” Yolanda murmured. “It’s been a while since you’ve seen each other. I know you miss him a lot.”
“I do.”
The sound of Garifuna drums exploded in the background.
Zaka pulled the phone away and stared at it. Putting it back to her ear, she asked, “Are you at the after party?”
“No, we’re still at the football stadium. The Garifuna players are getting on a bus and they’re playing a parting song while they go. They have a long ride back to Punta Gorda.”
“There were Garifuna drummers at this thing? I missed out on a lot.”
“You have no idea. I’ll tell you everything at our next K-pop sesh.”
“Looking forward to it.” Zaka said her goodbyes and hung up.
Having an older female friend to talk to was proving to be such a gift. Zaka used to be friendly when she was younger but, after her parents died, she didn’t have time to worry about makeup, boys or whatever the latest trend happened to be.
Her entire life revolved around keeping her and Casey together. It forced her to mature early. Though she was several years younger than Giselle, Latoya and Yolanda, she felt comfortable in their company.
“Casey,” Zaka murmured, taking a seat at the table she’d set and staring at her phone. “Where are you?”
Time dragged by. Zaka busied herself mixing Kool-Aid and adding a little more seasoning to her potato salad. When she’d run through all the small tasks, she got impatient.
“I’ll just call him and slyly check to see where he is,” she said. Pulling out her phone, Zaka dialed her brother’s number.
It rang and rang.
She was about to give up when he answered, “Hey, Zaka.”
“Casey.” Her tone was bright.
“What’s up? You need something?”
“Just calling to check on you. What are you doing?”
“I’m at home. Chilling.”
Her blood ran cold. “At home, you said?”
“Yeah.”
A lump formed in her throat. She glanced around Casey’s empty basement room. It looked like those college dorm rooms that she always saw on TV. One cot to the side. A dresser. A closet. A kitchenette. The door to her left led to the bathroom. The door behind her led to the entrance.
“W-what are you doing at home?”
“Nothing much. Relaxing on my phone and watching TV.”
Her breath caught in her throat.
“Did you need something, sis?”
“N-no.”
“Alright, then. I’ll catch you later.”
The dial tone buzzed like a mosquito in her ear, but she did not put the phone down. Her heart sped up and her body turned as heavy as a giant barbell.
Casey lied to her.
Zaka didn’t know what to do with herself. How to react. How to process that betrayal.
They were in this together, weren’t they?
Obviously not.
Casey was running around telling lies. He definitely wasn’t home right now. So what the hell was her brother up to?
Trading her excitement for anxiety, Zaka waited around the kitchen table.
Time slowed to a crawl, but she did not move.
Her eyes remained on the door.
At last, a quarter after midnight, she heard keys jangling in the lock. Every nerve sprang to attention and she sat on the edge of her chair.
The door pushed open.
Shadows sprinted out of the way as light from the hall spilled into the entrance.
Her sixteen-year-old brother plodded into the room. The strong scent of fish and fried chicken oil floated with him. He sighed wearily, groaning as he pulled his fingers into fists and pounded it against his shoulders, seeking relief.
“Casey,” Zaka said.
Her brother’s response was immediate. He dropped to the ground, his hands raised over his head and his voice cracking, “Please don’t hurt me. Don’t hurt me. I’ll get the money.”
“What?” Zaka launched to her feet, her heart pounding.
Casey’s head lifted slowly. He saw her and his eyes widened.
Zaka charged around the table and flipped on another light. The sight of her brother’s face made her stumble back in horror. Casey’s dark skin was covered in bruises. His left eye was swollen and closed up.
Tears crept to her eyes. Her brother, whom she’d mothered and adored since she was a teenager, was in so much visible pain.
“Zaka?” Casey climbed to his feet. “What are you doing here? How did you get the key to my room?”
“The landlord knows you’re my brother. She let me in.”
Casey blinked.
It was painful to watch his face so Zaka pointed her stare at the ground. “What happened to you?”
“Oh, I got into a fight.” Casey chuckled. “You know how it is when construction workers get drunk and agitated. I—”
“Don’t freaking lie to me, Casey.”
Her brother snapped his busted lips shut.
She breathed in deeply, the sound rattling against her lungs like an old man with bronchitis. “Tell me the truth.”
Silence fell.
She gave her brother a furious look.
Casey kicked his busted sneakers. He was taller than her and bulky for his age, but she could see the innocence in his eyes and the uncertainty in the way he clasped his hands behind his back.
“Casey.”
“Some guys came to look for me,” he admitted softly.
“What guys?”
“Debt collectors.”
She balked. “The collectors have never been violent before. They understood our situation. They were giving us time because they knew mom and dad—”
“Our parent’s debt got transferred to another group. It’s their problem now. We’re their problem. They don’t know mom and dad and they don’t care about our situation either.” He pointed to his mouth as his eyes flashed. “This was their introduction to me.”
“Casey.” She rushed to her brother and inspected his injuries. The wounds to his face looked severe. Her hands swept over his sides and she winced when he did. “They hurt you here too?”
“No, not really.”
“Casey, you should have called the police.”
He took her hands and swept them down. “I can handle this.”
“You’re sixteen. You shouldn’t be handling this.” Her eyes darted back and forth as her mind spun. “Where’s my phone? I need to call—”
Casey snatched the phone from her and slammed it on the table.
She whirled around. “What are you doing?”
“You can’t call the police.”
‘”Are you afraid they’ll find out you’re working? Because that’s not illegal in Belize.”
“It’s not that.”
“What is it then?”
“I’m still a minor,” he said tersely.
She went still. If their social worker found out about all this, they could take Casey and put him in a group home. Even though she was an adult now, her financial and living situation was a nightmare. What responsible adult would let their sixteen-year-old brother move to Orange Walk to work construction?
Solve one problem at a time, Zaka.
“Okay, no police.”
Casey nodded.
“So these guys. They cornered you and asked for the money back. What timeframe did they give?”
“The due date for the principal was yesterday.”
“Yesterday? I…” She bit down on her bottom lip. Their parents’ debt was sizable. She had no money and no way to get that kind of cash.
“I called coach.”
Zaka went cold. “What?”
“I called him.” Casey’s Adam’s apple bobbed. “After they jumped me.”
It was getting harder and harder to breathe.
Her fingers tightened.
A spasm started in her neck.
Zaka could live with being ridiculed and scorned by others. She could live with being the poorest in the room, working for minimum wage and getting abused by rude customers on the job.
She’d do all of that and more to make an honest living.
But she could not, under any circumstances, inconvenience her friends and the people she respected.
Even if she had nothing, she had her pride.
“Why?” Zaka hissed. “Why would you bother him when we owe him so much?”
“I didn’t know who else to call!”
“Me!” She smacked her chest. “You call me, alright?”
“You’re just as broke as I am.”
Her mouth snapped shut and Zaka glared at her brother.
“Besides,” he glanced away, “I didn’t want you to get hurt.”
Zaka would feel touched if she wasn’t so stressed. “What did Coach Marden do?”
“He got me checked at the hospital.” Casey squirmed. “And he paid off the principal.”
“Coach Marden isn’t made of cash.”
“He used the money he’d saved up for the tournament. He said not to worry about it.”
“Of course he’d say that. Of course! He’s a freaking saint!”
“Zaka.”
“You shouldn’t have accepted it. He needed that cash for his competition. He probably had to borrow to make everything work in the end. How could you…” She bit down on her bottom lip.
“I’m going to fix it, okay?” His voice cracked and Zaka knew her brother was trying not to cry from the pressure. “I got a job at a Chinese restaurant up here. I wash dishes and clean up after they close.”
“Casey, that won’t pay much. And working all night is dangerous if you’re doing construction during the day. You could make mistakes and get hurt.”
“There’s another option.”
“What?”
His eyes darted to the moonlight trickling through the lone, tiny window in the wall. “The thugs offered me a job to pay off the interest.”
“A job doing what?” Her lips went firm.
“You know.”
She stalked over to him. “Casey, if you told them you’d push drugs for them I’ll…”
“I didn’t.” He shook his head. “I knew you’d kill me.”
“Are you lying right now?” She searched his eyes.
“I’m not. I told them I already had a job and they’d get their money. But it’s an option.”
“It is not an option. You saw what going down that road did to our friends from the neighborhood. You know where that life ends. We’re not doing anything illegal.”
Casey’s voice shook. “What are we going to do, Z?”
“I’ll figure this out.” She rose stiffly. “Don’t worry. I’ll handle everything.” Another step back. “You’ll quit that bus boy job. You’ll quit the construction job. I’m your big sister. I’ll take care of it.”
A tear of relief slipped down Casey’s cheek.
Zaka fought tears of her own as she kept walking and talking. “You’re sixteen. You shouldn’t be worrying about this. You should be prepping for football season with Coach Marden. You should be looking at football scholarships to study abroad.”
Her brother wiped the tear away with his big hand but another followed.
“I’ll do it. I’ll take care of this.” She pointed to the food that had gone cold. “Eat and go to sleep after a shower. I’ll call you.” The door clicked shut behind her.
Panicked, Zaka hurried up the stairs and into the dark night. She glanced around the empty streets, unable to see anything.
In desperation, she called one of the girls from her old neighborhood. They used to be great friends before her parents died and she moved to live with her grandmother.
The line rang.
Zaka waited, praying desperately that her friend’s number hadn’t changed.
Finally, she heard a click and a sleepy, “Hello?”
“Heavenly,” she swallowed hard, “this is Zaka.”
“Zaka! Girl, I haven’t heard from you in forever. But what are you calling me this late for? Do you know what time it is?”
“I’m so sorry, but I’m kind of in a situation.”
“Uh-huh.” Heavenly yawned.
“Do you still work in the adult…um… is there any job you could…?” She squeezed her eyes shut and leaned back. “I need cash. I need a lot of it and I need it now. I’m willing to do anything.”
“Anything?” Heavenly sounded intrigued. “The good girl, Perfect-A student is willing to work in adult entertainment?”
“I need the money, Heavenly.”
Her friend paused and then said, “Alright, baby. Let me see what I can do.”
