Page 148 of Dissolving Prejudice

We walked inside in complete silence, our footsteps echoing around us. As expected, the place was empty and cold. All the furniture was covered with white sheets so they wouldn’t gather dust, like that wooden cabinet we just passed by. The one Camilo made me sit on that time he came to rescue me.

Can you wait just a second?

Those were his words from back then, and they still managed to warm my heart to this day. Sadly, my other memories from this place weren’t as sweet, and the farther we walked inside, the colder it got. Looking around, I could almost see them: my dad, Orson, even Rosa, walking as if they weren’t all dead. And when I closed my eyes, that’s when it all really came back: the beating, the raping, the mocking. But mostly, the paralyzing fear that struck me whenever I stepped into this house, feeling caged, like a bird without wings and a boy without a future.

“I think this will do,” Oro said, jolting me back to the moment.

Glancing around the living room, I frowned. “And why’s that?”

Oro walked farther into the room and stopped by one of the couches. “It looks like a nice, large room to shoot yourself in. Don’t you think?”

Is this dude for real?

“If I came all the way here to kill myself, wouldn’t it make sense if I did it in a place that would be more sentimental? Like, I don’t know… my bedroom?”

Oro snapped his fingers before he pointed at me with the damn gun. “That’s right, it does make more sense.”

Maybe this wasn’t the smartest way to stall time, but it was something. Now, I’d have a couple more minutes to find a way out of this. Maybe—

“Dylan?” someone said, and we both turned around in time to look at Jordan.

Wait, what?

“Shit,” Oro hissed from beside me while I still attempted to follow through.

Hold on just a second. Did he just call him… Dylan? I frowned at Jordan, then at Oro, when everything clicked together, and my jaw dropped.

“Ain’t no fucking way,” I called out loud in frustration.

“Wait, you know each other?” Jordan cluelessly gaped, and fuck, now I truly wanted to shoot myself.

“This is your friend Dylan?” My voice cracked, and I stepped closer when something else occurred to me. “Wait, are you a part of this?”

“A part of what?”

I nudged my head at Oro, who was still swearing under his breath. “Of this, you little shit. Of this plan to kill me.”

Jordan’s face paled, and he shook his head. “Hell no! I just followed you from the hospital. What the fuck is going on?” He turned to look at Oro when his eyes widened. “Is that a gun?”

“No, it’s a stapler… of course it’s a freaking gun!” I yelled when Oro sighed beside me.

“God, Jordy, now I understand what you talked about all the time,” he said before he began walking toward him. “He really is a pain in the ass, isn’t he?”

“D-Dylan, what’s going on?” Jordan asked, his eyes still jumping between us until Oro placed his hand on Jordan’s cheek.

“Don’t ask him questions! Just take his gun, god damnit, the guy’s a lunatic,” I shouted to no avail because in the split second Jordan took to process the situation, Oro had already managed to hit his head with the gun and knock him out cold.

Fuck. Me. Sideways.

Now not only did I need to rescue my ass but also Jordan’s.

“W-what happened?” Jordan grunted, his eyes half closed as he finally woke up.

“You’ve been an idiot. That’s what happened,” I hissed under my breath.

“What the hell?” He frowned down at his body, which, the same as mine, was tied to a chair. “How did this happen?” He moved and wiggled like a fish out of water without success since Oro made sure to tie us to these chairs as if he was trying out to be a Boy Scout.

“Like I said, you’ve been an idiot.” I turned to face him, a deep scowl on my face. “What part of ‘take his gun’ wasn’t clear?”