Page 32 of Sing For Us

“That’s not important, and I’m in a time crunch.”

“Anel, what did you do?” his wife asks him as she puts her arms around her children, who have stopped doing their homework. Their eyes are still focused on the papers in front of them.

“Honey, go upstairs with the kids. I’ll handle this.” He orders her, but I make a tsk-sound and make a motion with my hand for them to stay seated. Everybody stays where they are, but I am the only one in a good mood. Anel’s eyes dart to the fireplace poker, and he runs toward it.

Wrong fucking choice.

I grab my gun and shoot the poker right before he reaches it. The bullet ricochets off it. He flinches, but his wife and kids scream.

“What the fuck is wrong with you! And there is no way you are from any governmental department!” His voice is reaching a high pitch, but he can’t intimidate me; I am quite bored, actually. I keep my eyes focused on this piece of shit.

“Bingo. I am an independent party, and I want you to do something for me.”

“Like what?” His arms are up, afraid that I will shoot him next. I have no qualms killing a parent, but not in front of their kids.

“You are going to call one of the students and tell them that they need to sign a form; otherwise, they won’t be able to graduate.” A simple order he will probably try to dispute because he will suddenly have a moral.

“I can’t do that. That’s fraud.” What did I tell you?

“Fine.” Without hesitation I shoot in his wife’s right foot. She tumbles down to the ground, and her kids are wailing at this point. I stand up and crouch down beside his wife, pressing my gun against her head, and then I look at him. Actions have consequences.

“Your next course of action better be good; otherwise, your children will become a statistic in the single-parent household.” His wife is smarter than him and shushes their children with just one whisper. I really fucking like her.

“You better do whatever she tells you to do. Otherwise I am going to hurt you.” Women. Women. And again, women.

“Honey, I didn’t mean to-“

She doesn’t even let him finish his sentence. “I am so sick and tired of you trying to manipulate everything and everyone. I never should have married you! I knew this day would come.”

“Bitch, because of my influence, we can afford to live like this.”

“I am working as a bookkeeper for my father’s hotel business. I have more money than you.”

“Anel, please don’t let her hurt mama!” The older kid pleads with him. She called him by his name, not with baba or tata. The kids hate their father. That’s what happens when you are an abusive piece of shit. But enough of this.

“I’ll pay for the best divorce attorney in the city myself, and if you need another job, call me. But I have business to attend to.” His wife, Amina, nods at me and he sighs in defeat.

“I will call the police and have you arrested after this.” Why is he still fucking talking?

“You will do no such thing,” Amina tells him sternly. “I don’t know if you have noticed, but she is not from the right side of the tracks.” I’ll take that as a compliment.

“At least one of you has a brain,” I start. “Trust me when I tell you I won’t be caught. And if you try anything, I’ll have you arrested for embezzling, fraud, and money laundering.”

“What do you need?” Finally, we are getting somewhere. My gun is still pressed against his wife's head.

“I want you to grab your phone and call Hana Ivanovic.” He scrunches his nose and grabs his phone from the table behind him. I rattle off her phone number.

“Where do I tell her to come to sign the form?” He is typing in her phone number.

“Disney World in Orlando.” I purse my lips, and his wife throws her head back in disbelief. Even the children shake their heads. I retract my earlier statement; he is not that smart.

“Tell her to come tonight to the facility at nine o’clock.” He dials the number like a good boy, and she picks up—time to exact revenge for what he did to me. Hurting Noa won’t do shit, but hurting the one person he values more than anything will.

Chapter thirteen

Hana

This is such bullshit. I hate I must go to my college to sign a fucking attendance sheet for the last exam I took. The administrator called me up and told me that for my grade to be valid, I had to sign an attendance sheet for the exam. Apparently, the professor forgot to give me that shit, and now I am being punished for it. Without it, I can’t graduate. I didn’t tell Noa where I was going, and I know he isn’t following me because I installed all the trackers and he hasn’t injected me with shit.