Series Wednesday: Family game night Page 64

    Frankie pulls Hope out of the fake AC unit. She has her hands tied behind her back and her feet tied together. “HOPE!” I say as I pull the tape off her mouth. “Frankie what are you doing here?” Is the first thing she asks? “I have come to save you my little warrior.” He says. Frankie is untying Hope’s feet as I untie her hands. “Who is the girl?” Hope asks as she looks at me. I get the feeling that she really doesn’t want Frankie to know who I am. “She is your precious Rose’s daughter. You haven’t met her?” Frankie asks as he helps Hope up. “You know what I think I did briefly before I was taken. Where is that psychopath by the way?” Hope asks as she looks around. “He is down stairs with the boys. I brought a good amount to come save you.” Frankie smiles. “Thank you, does your dad know you’re here?”  She asks him. “Of course he does and he knew I had to come save you. You are mine and no one can take that away.”  

            “Is the little boy Percy okay?” Hope asks. “Rose’s son is okay and with her.” Frankie says. Hope nods. “Hope why did he take you?” Frankie asks. Hope looks at Frankie and touches her head. “I haven’t had any water in two days. I will answer all your questions after I get some water I feel dizzy.” Hope says. Frankie looks at me. “What about the girl?” Hope looks at me. “We give her back to her family, give her back to Rose.”  Hope says. I think he wants to kill me by the way he is looking at me. “Is Rose her family? Because she looks a lot like your mother.” He tells Hope. I see Hope slowly moving herself in front of me. “My mother? I don’t remember her, seeing as she sold me to your father as a baby.” Hope sounds almost angry.

            Hope is standing between Frankie and me. “Are you not happy with the life we gave you?” Frankie asks her. “This is not the time or place for that conversation.” Hope says. “You are acting like a completely different person right now. One who does not know her place. You should be thankful to us for all that my father and I have given you. You could have walked away from the travel but you didn’t want to get married and slowdown from the only life you have ever known. That is what you told me.” This seems like a conversation that has been going on long before today. I hear the gun shots from down stairs coming closer. “Do you hear the gun shots?” I ask. “It’s headed toward us.” Frankie says as he pulls out his gun.

Series Wednesday: Family Game Night page 63

      I tap on the AC when I notice a lock on it. There isn’t a lock on any of the other ACs.  Something inside taps back. “FRANKIE!” I scream. I think Hope might be in here. Frankie runs over. I just point at the AC and he walks around the unit. He starts tapping on the AC unit. The unit once again taps back. Frankie smiles as he starts taping rhythmically on the AC unit. The AC unit seems to be taping back rhythmically. “It’s her! She is in there.” Frankie says to me. “That’s great but how do we get her out?” I ask him.

            Frankie looks at the fake AC unit puzzled. “I would say just rip into it but we don’t know how she is tied up in there and I am afraid to hurt her.” Frankie says. “You really care about her?” I ask him. “Have you ever had a pet before?” I look at him confused by his question. “Yes I did for a bit but my mother made me kill it.” I tell him. “Well then you will never understand what I feel for her. I could never hurt her. She is mine to protect.” He talks about her as if she is more of an object then a person.

            Frankie is tapping as he walks around the AC. I can hear in the distance gun shots. “We are out of time!” Frankie says to me as he starts kicking the AC unit wall. “Hope if you’re in there duck!” Frankie is yelling as he keeps kicking. I hear the fake AC unit breaking. Frankie starts to pull the now broken AC unit apart. The gun shot sounds seem to being getting closer. Frankie is pulling pieces of the AC unit away and I see hair. “HOPE!?” We both yell.

Series Wednesday: Family Game night page 62

  We go to open the door. “You better pray that Hope is on the other side of this door.” Frankie says to me. He has no idea how much I’m praying for her to be on the other side. Frankie opens the door and pushes me through. I look around the roof and I don’t see Hope. I see a lot of AC units but no Hope. I am starting to get a little scared that I am never going to see my mom again. I put my head down. “She has to be hidden somewhere up here.” Frankie says to me. I turn to look at him. “Hidden? Where?” I ask him. “Yes hidden. He wouldn’t leave her out in the sun, plus he wouldn’t risk someone finding her on accident. So he hid her. That’s what I would do.”  Frankie says.
            I look around and I don’t see where he would hide her. I look back at Frankie as he is looking around. I want to walk around the roof but Frankie has a good grip on my arm. “I say we walk around and see where he would hide her.” I tell Frankie. “If you run I’ll shoot you.”  He says as he lets me go. “I won’t run I promise. I just want to help you find her.” I start to walk off to look at the lined up AC units.
            Why is this roof so big but nothing is up here. I walk through the rows of AC units. I hate the humming sound they make. I can’t stand how loud the humming sound is. I feel like my brain is humming. I keep walking through the rows and the humming stops. I stop and sit next to the AC unit making no sounds. Finally a moment of peace, I felt like my brain was rattling in my skull.  Why is this AC unit not on? All of the other AC units are on. So why not this one? I start to circle it when I notice that this AC is a lot cleaner than the other AC units up here. I wonder why.