Series Wednesday: Family game night page 65

   “We need to get off this roof.” Hope says to Frankie and I. “The only way I saw off was the way we came up and it sounds like someone is coming from that way right now.” I tell Hope. “Go to the fire escape on the side of the building. Just get down to my men and I will meet you at the spot. My men have the location.” Frank says as he kisses Hope on the lips. I think there is way more going on with them then I thought. I look away as he kisses her. “Hope please be careful don’t make me come hunt you down again.” Frankie says. “I’ll see you soon.” Hope says not so lovingly back. She grabs my hand and we start to walk to the end of the large roof.
            I can hear the shooting behind us. We start to run to get to the end of the roof where the fire escape is. Hope is breathing very hard and stops running. “Come on we are almost there.” I tell her. She lifts up her shirt to show me bandages. “What is that?” I ask. “He punctured my lungs and had a doctor sew me back up. To ensure I couldn’t run away.” Hope explains. “You must be in so much pain.” I tell her. “Not pain, I’m use to pain this is just very annoying. It’s like my body can’t breathe the way I want it to.” Hope says as she holds her side. I can hear the gun shots behind us, they do not sound like they are getting closer. They sound like they are not moving. Maybe Frankie is keeping the shooters back.
            I for some reason can’t shake this memory of my mom Rose. I keep thinking of the time she told me the best way to really make someone suffer is to make them focus on the pain. When she is torturing someone she likes to make them tell her what they are feeling. So that way they cannot find relief in their minds from her. Maybe it can work both ways maybe I can make Hope focus on something else so that way she won’t feel her body fighting her to breathe. “Who is Frankie to you?” I ask her, I am trying to change her focus but I also really want to know. “Frankie is the closest thing I have to a childhood friend. His father bought me as a baby. As you know I was raised to serve the fantasy of others. I was never mistreated in the way you might think. I just was always for sell to a high caliber of men.” I can see Hope choosing her words carefully. As Hope is telling me her story I am picking her up and making her walk toward the fire escape. We need to get off this roof is all I am thinking as I continue to listen to Hope’s story.