I didn't sleep at all after leaving the kitchen. I just sat on the edge of my bed, watching the clock until the sun came up. By 7:30 AM, the house was already moving. I could hear doors opening and closing, and the muffled sound of Marcus giving orders to someone downstairs.
When I got to the front door, my mother was waiting. She was perfectly dressed, as usual, but she kept twisting her wedding ring around her finger—a nervous habit she’d picked up the second we moved in here.
"Your ride is ready, Scarlett," she said. She didn't look at me directly. She was busy checking the hallway. "Marcus wants you to go straight to school. No stops."
"I know, Mom. I heard him yelling it last night."
Two identical black SUVs were idling in the driveway, their exhaust thick in the morning air. Roma
