6:49 PM, New York City
PIPER
In the city, you’re used to having everyone ignore you. When you’re on the street no one meets your eyes, as if they’re scared of what they might see in them. If you ever accidentally look someone in the eye you look away as soon as possible because you don’t want to invade their privacy, or something. It’s ironic, in a way. People value their privacy so much in the city, and yet we’re all packed tightly around each other in cramped little apartments with walls you could hear a whisper through. I suppose that’s why we avoid people’s eyes. Because it’s the only true form of privacy we have.
Which is why you know something’s wrong when someone looks you in the eyes. In my case, I knew exactly what was wrong.
I didn't give him a second thought at first; he was just a normal teenager. He wore a black hoodie and baggy jeans down to his knees. I ignored him as I moved from street to street in order to reach my destination. Until I realized that I had seen him not just on one street, not just on two, but on every street I passed there he was, just a few steps behind me. He was following me.
When I reached the subway I climbed into one of the cars quickly, hoping vainly that he wouldn’t follow me. Unfortunately, he did. As I stood hanging onto one of the bars he took his place beside me, not even bothering to apologize as he knocked into me when the train took off.
My first thought was that he was some sort of stalker, or rapist. That didn’t bother me so much, knowing my can of pepper spray was right in my purse. But then I noticed the tattoo on his wrist.
I looked around the train for a way to escape. I took a few steps forward and started to tentatively make my way toward the tiny train bathroom, glancing back at the teen nervously. If I could hide in there and find a way out the window...
Suddenly I heard the screech of breaks as the train began to come to an immediate stop. I was thrown forward, only to be stopped by a few unfortunate people standing in front of me. I didn't bother to apologize, because I was too busy worrying about what was outside the windows. We were still in the tunnel, and nowhere near the next stop.
The other passengers looked around at each other in confusion. When the car door opened they all stepped back, and I looked around in panic. The teenager I had left was reaching into his pocket, to pull out what I could only assume was a gun.
Not stopping to think, I shoved the people in front of me out of the way and jumped out the open car door. I landed in the gravel and stumbled, bashing my head into the concrete tunnel wall opposite. Dazed but conscious, I tried to keep moving in the small space there was between the train and the wall. Then I heard a crunching behind me. I glanced over my shoulder only to see that the teen was following me, already breaking into a run. Because my head was still foggy, it was hard to stumble along the tunnel at an even pace, but my spirits began to lift when I saw that the train was about to end and I would soon have more space to run.
Suddenly, I felt him crash into me, throwing me onto the gravel with him landing on top of me. I tried to scramble away until I felt the barrel of a gun press into the back of my head.
“Since you tried to run,” he said, sounding slightly out of breath, “I’m guessing you already know who’s been asking about you.”
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“Ah, Piper Woods. You’ve been avoiding me.”
I stood at the entrance of an office in some kind of abandoned warehouse. It was nicer than the rest of the place; kept clean and furnished for “The Boss.”
“I can’t think of many people who wouldn’t avoid you, Cerone.”
He had dark hair and eyes and wore a nice suit. He was quite well groomed, in stark contrast with the teen that stood behind me.
The crime boss chuckled.
“Always good with your words.”
I watched as he pulled out a glass and bottle from a cupboard in his desk and began to pour himself a drink.
“But tricky words aren’t going to get you out of this mess, you know that, right?”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
“I’ll have the money soon, I just need a few more days-“
“Soon,” he broke in. “You know the funny thing about the word ‘soon’? It’s never really means soon.”
Cerone stood up from the chair he had been sitting in and moved to stand in front of me, carrying his glass with him.
“The last time you told me soon,” he continued, “I only ended up with half the amount you promised. You can’t take out loans and not expect to pay them back.”
He was standing just a few inches in front of me now as he took a sip from the glass. I took a small step back, still painfully aware of the boy behind me.
“I just got laid off from my job last time. I have a new job now, and it’ll only take a couple of weeks…”
“A couple of weeks?” he laughed. “Piper, what would I do if all of my customers waited ‘a couple of weeks’ to pay off their debts, hmm? I’d be broke in a month. We can’t have that, can we?”
I stared at him silently, feeling my panic rising. His calm demeanor was unnerving, and I could tell that under his cool façade he was boiling with anger. And the last thing I wanted to do was get him angry…
“You have one day to get my money.”
My eyes widened.
“One day?! But I-“
“You have a beautiful face,” he interrupted once more, seemingly off topic. “I’d hate to see something…” he reached his hand up and brushed brown strands of hair out of my face, “…unfortunate happen to it should you fail to meet your deadline.”
He placed his hand on my cheek and I gritted my teeth. I wanted to scream, or punch him in the face. The last place I wanted to be was here, which was why I practically sighed in relief when he removed his hand and nodded to the teenager behind me, signaling it was time for me to go.
As we turned to leave he took another sip from his drink. “One day!”
Once we left the room I took a deep breath and exhaled with a shudder, not even caring if the teen heard me.
