Page 604 of Call Me Baby 2: Side B
Everything except for Andrew.
He tips his head toward Raymond.
“We done here?”
Raymond waves him away.
As if it was all a setup.
As if I was a fucking job.
“Is this all it ever was?” my cry cracks, tears sliding down my raw throat as I throw my body forward, trying to get closer to him. “Give me something, fuckin' anything, Drew!”
The cops yank me back,
the metal cuffs biting into my skin.
Andrew slips right past me,
his shoulder brushing mine,
not bothering a second glance.
“You're leaving me,” I choke out,
turning,
trying to catch him over my shoulder,
but he’s already halfway down the hall.
“Allison, don’t be angry with yourself,” Raymond says. “The kid’s good, this is what he does.”
He raises a smug palm.
“That’s why I picked him.”
The words hit me,
and they keep hitting me—
they don’t stop hitting me,
they don’t stop hurting.
The cops pull me out of Raymond’s office, where Soundwave’s on their feet, watching. Someone shouts at them to put their phones away.
And when I lift my head,
I look down the hallway,
and my eyes land on Andrew’s back.
Every distant step he takes stings
like a whip cracking against my spine.
The elevator doors open.
