Aragua Must Fall

A Brother's Betrayal

“No. I can’t call this number.”

Micah sat on her couch, staring at the crumpled receipt in her hand, talking to herself. The phone number stared back. “Call Dad.”

“... I can’t call the police either. When she recovers, I’ll send her away. I have a lot more trouble to deal with. I can’t add to it...”

She glanced at Miranda who was finally asleep and breathing soft and even after Micah cleaned her up. Her eyes still swollen purple, lip crusted with dried blood, but the fever seemed to be dropping. Micah had gone out at dawn, bought bandages, antiseptic, children’s painkillers, and some antibiotic cream from a chemist two streets over. She didn’t go to a hospital because hospitals asked questions and may call the police. Police meant trouble for her and her brother, and trouble was the last thing Micah needed right now.

She whispered to herself, “I could just keep her here… feed her, watch her heal… nobody has to know.”

But the note in her palm kept troubling her. ...Who was this “Dad”? A good man? A bad one? What if he was worse than the ones who did this or even a cop? What if calling brought the same kind of men who beat a seven-year-old half to death right to my door?...

Micah rubbed her temples, her head still throbbed from last night’s drinking. “Maybe I wait a day to see if she remembers more when she gets better. Then decide.”

She set the paper down carefully on the coffee table. That’s when the front door flew open. Scott burst in panting, sweat soaking his shirt, Micah jumped up. “Scott? What the hell—”

...he slammed the door behind him and leaned against it like the world was chasing him.

“Micah! Thank God you’re here.”

“f*ck Scott! You scared me to death...”

He didn’t let her finish. “They’re after me. Right now. I messed up bad, sis. Real bad.”

Micah’s stomach twisted because she knew that look on his face. She’d seen it before. “What did you do?”

Scott paced, hands shaking. “I took something from the boss and it’s a big shipment of coke worth millions. Thought I could flip it quick and get out clean. But they caught me on the count sis. Now they want my head.”

He stopped talking the minute his eyes flickered toward the bedroom door where Miranda slept.

Micah stepped in front of him. “Don’t even think about it.”

Scott’s voice dropped. “Whose child is that?”

“I don’t know. I found her helpless last night. Take your eyes off her Scott. She’s barely alive.”

“I can use her to fix this sis. You know the boss has been looking for fresh kids for trade business. This girl? She’s perfect. If I bring her in, he will forgive me and let me live. We both live.”

Micah’s blood went cold. “No. Hell no. She’s a child, Scott. You’re not handing her over to your psycho boss.”

“I have no choice. No! Sis, we both have no choice. You know my boss. He’ll come after me and he’ll kill you too.”

“I have my own way of escape now. You brought this upon yourself!” She whispered angrily.

Scott’s face twisted with fear, anger, and desperation all at once. “You don’t get it! They shot up my car on the 95! Bullets everywhere on my car glass and tires. I lost them downtown, took the back routes, I escaped the cops who tried to tail me. My car’s armored, but it won’t hold forever. They know where I sleep and they know about you.”

He grabbed her arm. “One kid. That’s all it takes. Let me hand her over, we’re square. You will never see me again if you want. But I’m dead if I don’t do this.”

Micah yanked her arm free. “Get out.”

Scott’s eyes narrowed. “You’re gonna let your own brother die over some random kid?”

“She’s not random. Someone beat her half to death and took her mother. And you want to sell her to the same kind of people?”

Scott laughed short and bitter. “You think the world’s fair? You think anybody’s coming for her? Look at her, sis, she’s trash now. Nobody’s looking for trash.”

Micah felt sick. “Get. Out.”

Scott stared at her for a long moment. Then he nodded slowly, like he’d made up his mind about something.

“Fine. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

He turned and walked out. Micah locked the door behind him, her hands were shaking already. She went back to the couch and picked up the receipt again, knowing her brother was desperate and desperate people did stupid things, even dangerous things. She couldn’t keep Miranda here and wait for Scott to come back, and she knows he would come back.

Micah grabbed her phone and dialed the number. It rang once and again, then straight to voicemail. She swallowed hard and quickly opened messages. Her thumbs hovered on the screen as she typed:

“Your family is in trouble, your daughter is with me. She needs you. Please come to the old pier tomorrow night, we will be there. I am Micah.”

She hit send before she could talk herself out of it. Micah set the phone down like it was a hot object, then she looked at Miranda sleeping.

“I’m sorry, kid,” she whispered. “I don’t know what else to do.”

.

Micah woke on the floor beside the couch as morning light shined on her face, her mouth was dry as she yawned. The apartment was too quiet. She sat up fast. “Miranda?”

But no voice answered her. The bedroom door was open, bed was empty and the blanket was on the floor. Micah’s heart slammed, she ran to the kitchen but it was empty. She checked the bathroom, empty. Then she saw a note on the table with Scott’s messy handwriting.

‘I have to do this Micah. Stay away from getting involved, or it won’t end well. Forget the girl, you won’t see her again.’

Micah’s knees weakened “No… no no no…” she crumpled the note in her fist the moment she felt anger rising in her heart, anger at Scott, at herself, and at the whole damn city.

Her phone rang, she picked it up, thinking it was Scott calling with one of his fake numbers.

She answered, voice shaking. “Scott, you son of a bii—”

“I got your message.” A deep, calm voice cut her off.

Micah froze.

The voice was low, and steady, like it had seen too much to be surprised by anything. “I’m coming from Iran. I will meet you within 24 hours.”

Micah’s mouth went dry. “Who… who is this?” there was a short pause before...

“Her Dad.” And instantly the line went dead.

Micah stared at the phone in her hand, fear crawling up her spine because she had lost the girl. And now the stranger dad she sent a text is coming.

She sank onto her couch trouble because the man sounded like he didn’t scare easy, definitely someone coming from Iran must be tough. She wanted to tell him to forget about the text, ignore it and stay away, but something told her this man wasn’t the kind who let things go.

Deep down Micah’s stomach, she knew her quiet and broken life was about to walk through fire greater than what she had escaped.

A bigger trouble was coming and there is no getting away this time.