“Um, it already happened…”
She turns, her eyes glassy and confused. “Huh?”
“Mum, it already happened, like, an hour ago. You missed it.”
“I missed…” Her voice trails off, her face screwed up as she took in the information. It looked like she was piecing something together before her expression twisted into an ugly grimace. “That fucking asshole! Fuck!” She kicked one of the chairs at the table and almost lost her balance. She clutches the edge of the counter and lets out a strangled yell that made the hairs on my arms stand on end.
I jumped up from my seat at her unexpected outburst. “Mum? What’s wrong?”
“Mina!” Mum faces me, tears falling down her face and remorse evident in her eyes. “I-”
Before she could finish, there came a rattle at the door. We both froze and stared for a moment as the knob tried to turn, but because I’d locked it, nothing happened. I moved towards it, thinking for a moment that maybe James and Shay had decided to come home early after all, but Mum threw herself forward and shoved me back. “No! Don’t! Let me...” She rushed forward, stumbling slightly as she was still a bit inebriated.
I laughed softly, shaking my head at her drunken paranoia. “Mum, what-”
“Shhh!” she hissed at me. I bit my bottom lip and rolled my eyes, hands on my hips, watching as she stumbled to the window instead of the door. She pulled back the curtain and peeked out. “Oh… my… God…” she whispered.
“Mum, what is it?” I felt my mood shift at the unsettling tone she used. When she didn’t say anything, I moved up at her side and peered through the crack in the curtain, too, and to my horror, saw four huge black clad bodies standing on the porch. It was fully dark now, but the light was on, and I could see that they were wearing skeleton masks to hide their faces.
“What the hell?” I half-screamed and launched backwards. “Mum! Get away from the window!” I grabbed her elbow just as a loud bang against the door shook it in its frame. They were trying to break the door down! “Mum! Come on! Let’s go! Where does James keep the gun? Where’s your phone? We need to call the police!” I looked around frantically, caught up in the fear of the moment and forgot where I had put my bag when I’d gotten home. My phone was inside it.
“Mum!” I pulled on her arm again and we both stumbled backwards. “Mum, where is the gun? Where does James keep it?”
My mother became as still as a statue, her eyes slightly unfocused as though she was remembering something.
“With him. He always takes it when he goes out… we don’t have anything…” she muttered, more to herself than to me. Desperately, I grabbed one of the large kitchen knives from the block and grabbed a handful of my mum’s sleeve just as the door crashed again, and a gaping crack appeared close to the knob.
Tears were stinging my eyes as I gripped my mother’s arm and gave her a shake. “Where is your phone?! Your phone, Mum! Call the cops! Call James. Call the club!” She seemed to come out of her trance and stumbled along with me, seizing the first thing she could, a large saucepan which sat on the dishrack. I half supported her by holding her elbow and guided us down the hall to my room. She fell forward onto my bed while I slid all the locks I’d installed in place, something I’d done the day James told me Shay was no longer allowed to sleep in my room with me. As my mum watched, I ran to my desk where I’d tossed my bag and dug through it until I found my phone. From the kitchen, we could hear the pounding against the door. There wasn’t much time.
“Don’t call the police!” my mother suddenly hissed at me when I started dialing 9-1-1.
“Why the hell not?!”
“James… call the club. They’ll get here faster. Now, Mina!” She was leaning against her elbows, looking like she might be sick.
Too panicked to really think about what she just told me, I dialed James and waited, my eyes locked on my bedroom door. It felt like my heart was going to break through my ribcage. Who were these men? Why the fuck were they here? What did they want?
But as the phone rang for James, I realized how obvious it was… it was something to do with the club… a rival group or, or… shit, I don’t know! I don’t know what kind of crap James and his club are involved in? But who else would come to James O’Hare’s house in the night and try to break in wearing masks? There was no other explanation…
“Mina?”
The sound of his voice on the other end was like a lifeline being tossed my way. “James! Oh my God… okay, listen… four guys are trying to get into the house! They’re-they’re…” My voice cracks when I try to speak. I quickly clear it and whisper urgently, “They’re breaking the door down!” The hand holding the phone to my ear is shaking so badly, I’m worried I’ll drop it, but my other hand is still clutching the huge kitchen knife, so I fight to steady myself. Mum is still on the bed, the pan in her hands as she watches the door, her expression unreadable.
“What the fuck?” In the background, I can hear several members' voices suddenly call out, sounding concerned.
“What’s going on, Sheik? Is she hurt?”
From the kitchen there came a sudden, loud, crash as the door was finally broken down. I fell back on the floor at my mother’s feet, crying out in fear at the sudden explosion, and one of her arms wrapped around my shoulders across my chest, holding me back against her legs. “James! They’re in! They’re in the house… I…” It’s taking everything I have to keep my voice quiet and not to scream, and it comes out strangled. They haven’t found us yet, I need to keep my shit together.
“WHAT?! They’re in the fucking house?” James shouted and as the yelling and cussing of the others in the background suddenly erupted. “Where are you? Where is your mother?” he demanded.
“We’re locked in my room,” I managed to whisper, my eyes on the door as tears streamed down my face.
“Okay, listen up, Baby Girl… I want you and your mother to sneak out the window and run. You got me? Fucking run north, along the creek. We’re all on our way.”
“James,” I whisper again as footsteps thump heavily along the wooden floorboards of our home. They were searching… I felt a shiver of pure terror flood my veins at the realization that they were inside. How long did we have until they came back here?
“Give your mother the phone, Mina. Now!”
I immediately pressed my cell into my mother’s palm and she held it to her ear. “Yes?”
I couldn’t hear what James was saying, and my mother was silent as she listened to him speak, until she gently said, “Yeah… I know, babe… I know…” Her voice cracked a bit, like she was fighting back tears. She took a deep, steadying breath, and whispered, “I will. You, too…” She pulled the phone back, pressed ‘speaker’, and then shoved it into her pocket. Looking suddenly determined, she jumped to her feet, and unlocked my window just as the doorknob rattled. I had to bite my lip to keep from screaming. Even if I had, it didn’t matter. They knew we were in here.
“Mina, come here,” my mother murmured to me and held out her hand. I took it and got to my feet, my other hand clutching the knife, as she led us to the window, yanking it up just as the loud banging on my door began. We both jumped in response, my heart stopping for a moment. They were going to break it down, too.