Andrew screams when the pepper spray gets him in the eyes.
The nozzle is about three inches away from his eyes, so he gets a good dose of it. And then I press it a second time for good measure. While I do it, I turn my own head away and close my eyes. The last thing I need is to get pepper spray in my eyes, although itโs hard not to get a little bit of residue.
When I look up again, heโs clawing at his face, which has turned bright red. His phone has fallen from his hands onto the floor, and I scoop it up, being very careful not to touch anything else. Everything has to go exactly right in the next twenty seconds. I have spent over six hours planning this while three books were resting on my belly.
My legs are wobbly when I stand up, but they work. Andrew is still writhing on the cot, and before he can get his sight back, I slip out of the room and close the door behind me. Then I take the key Nina gave me and fit it into the lock. I turn the key and pocket it. Then I take a step back.
โMillie!โ Andrew screams on the other side of the door. โWhat the hell?โ
I look down at the screen of his phone. My fingers are shaking, but Iโm able to get into settings, and I shut off the
Lock Screen setting before the phone locks automatically, so the phone wonโt require a password anymore.
โMillie!โ
I take another step back, as if he could reach through the door and grab me. But he canโt. Iโm safe on the other side of the door.
โMillie.โ His voice is a low growl now. โLet me out of hereย right now.โ
My heart is beating fast in my chest. Itโs the same way I felt when I walked into that bedroom all those years ago and found Kelsey screaming at that asshole football player,ย Get off of me!ย And Duncan was laughing drunkenly. I stood there for a second, my body paralyzed as my chest filled with rage. He was so much bigger than either one of usโit wasnโt like I could pull him off of her. The room was dark and I felt around on the desk until my hands made contact with a paperweight andโฆ
I will never forget that day. How good it felt to smash the paperweight against that bastardโs skull until he became still. It was almost worth all those years in prison. After all, who knows how many other girls I saved from him?
โIโll let you out,โ I say. โJust notย yet.โ
โYouโve got to be kidding me.โ The outrage in his voice is palpable. โThis isย myย house. You canโt keep me hostage here. And youโre a criminal. All I have to do is call the police and youโre right back in jail.โ
โRight,โ I say. โBut how can you call the police when I have your phone?โ
I look down at the screen of his phone. I can see him standing there, in vivid color. I can even see how red his face is from the pepper spray and the tears on his cheeks. He checks his pockets, then scans the floor with his swollen eyes.
โMillie,โ he says in a slow, controlled voice. โI want my phone back.โ
I let out a hoarse laugh. โIโm sure you do.โ โMillie, give me my phone back right now.โ
โHmm. I donโt think youโre in any position to be making
demands.โ โMillie.โ
โJust a moment.โ I slip his phone into my pocket. โIโm going to grab a bite to eat. Iโll be backย realย soon.โ
โMillie!โ
Heโs still calling my name as I walk down the hall and go downstairs. I ignore him. Thereโs nothing he can do when heโs stuck in that room. And I have to figure out my next move.
The first thing I do is exactly what I said I was going to doโI go to the kitchen, where I drink two heaping glasses of water. Then I make myself a bologna sandwich. No, notย abalone. Bologna. With lots of mayonnaise, and white bread. After Iโve got some food in my belly, I feel a lot better. I can finally think straight.
I pick up Andrewโs phone. He is still in the attic room, pacing back and forth. Like a caged animal. If I were to let him out, I canโt even imagine what he would do to me. The thought of it makes a cold sweat break out at the back of my neck. While Iโm watching him, a text message pops up on his phone from โMom.โ
Are you going to serve Nina with divorce papers?
I scroll through some of the previous messages. Andrew has told his mother all about his falling-out with Nina. Iโve got to answer her, because if he doesnโt, she might come over hereโand then Iโm screwed. Nobody can suspect something has happened to Andrew.
Yes. Just speaking with my lawyer right now.
The reply from Andrewโs mother comes back almost instantly:
Good. I never liked her. And I always did the best I could with Cecelia, but Nina was extremely lax on discipline and the little girl became quite a brat.
I get a jab of sympathy in my chest for Nina and Cecelia. Itโs bad enough that Andrewโs mother never liked Nina. But to speak that way of her own grandchild? And I wonder what Andrewโs mother had in mind for โdiscipline.โ If itโs anything like Andyโs idea of punishment, Iโm glad Nina never went through with it.
My hands are trembling as I type my reply:
Looks like you were right about Nina.
Now I have to deal with that asshole.
I shove his phone back in my pocket, then I climb the stairs to the second floor, then all the way up to the attic. When I get to the top floor, the footsteps in the attic room go silent. He mustโve heard me.
โMillie,โ he says.
โIโm here,โ I say sti๏ฌy.
He clears his throat. โYou made your point about the room. Iโm sorry about what I did.โ
โAre you?โ
โYes. I realize now I was wrong.โ โI see. So youโre sorry?โ
He clears his throat. โYes.โ โSay it.โ
He is silent for a bit. โSay what?โ
โSay youโre sorry that you did a terrible thing to me.โ
I watch his expression on the screen. He doesnโt want to tell me heโs sorry because heโs not. All heโs sorry for is that
he gave me the chance to get the better of him.
โIโm so sorry,โ he finally says. โI was absolutely wrong. I did an awful thing to you, and I will never do it again.โ He pauses. โWill you let me out now?โ
โYes. I will.โ โThank you.โ
โJust notย yet.โ
He inhales sharply. โMillieโฆโ
โIโm going to let you out.โ My calm voice belies the pounding in my chest. โBut before I do, you have to be punished for what you did to me.โ
โDonโt play this game,โ he growls. โYou donโt have the stomach for it.โ
He wouldnโt talk to me that way if he knew I beat a man to death with a paperweight. He has no idea. But Iโm betting that Nina knows. โI want you to lie down on the floor and put those three books on top of you.โ
โCome on. This is ridiculous. โ
โIโm not letting you out of this room until you do it.โ
Andrew lifts his eyes to look into the camera. I always thought he had nice eyes, but thereโs venom in them as he stares at me.ย Not at me,ย I remind myself. Heโs looking at the camera. โFine. Iโll humor you.โ
He lies down on the floor. One by one, he picks up each book and stacks them on his abdomen, the same way I did only hours earlier. But heโs bigger and stronger than I am, and he only looks mildly uncomfortable with those books on top of him, even when all three are stacked on him.
โHappy?โ he calls out. โLower,โ I say.
โWhat?โ
โMove the books lower.โ โI donโt know what youโโ
I press my forehead against the door as I speak: โYou knowย exactlyย what I mean.โ
Even through the door, I can hear the sharp inhale of his breath. โMillie, I canโtโโ
โIf you want to get out of that room, youโre going to do it.โ
I stare down at the screen of his phone, watching him. He pushes the books down his chest so they are squarely on top of his genitals. He didnโt look very uncomfortable before, but that has changed now. His face is frozen in a grimace.
โJesus Christ,โ he gasps.
โGood,โ I say. โNow stay that way for three hours.โ
