Faithless (Mistress & Master of Restraint) (7 page)

“I treat her as my sister. I try my hardest to make her happy
, and when she’s not, I take care of it. So yes, if she needs a hug, I hug. As the oldest, it’s my job to care for her. I’m not a monster, pixy,” Wil mumbles so quietly that I’m not sure I heard him correctly.

“Why don’t you ever call me by my name?”
I wonder what my real name would sound like from his lips when it wasn’t laced with threat. In a twisted way, I keep thinking of the sister of mine he’s referring to, she’s me, not Fate. He’s trying to protect me like he protects Gretchen. Too bad he has the wrong sister. He’s protecting the entitled princess while the bastard child takes the hits. Fair? No. But Fate would have keeled over and died the first time he struck her. I know all about protecting your sister. He doesn’t have to drill it into my skull, punch after bitchslap.

Wil and
I have a lot more in common than he believes. This raw open honesty that he shows for Gretchen strikes a chord within me. The pressure of responsibility choking the breath out of you, I feel it too. It’s too bad he thinks I am a stupid cunt; otherwise, I might have liked him. The tinge of blood in my mouth makes me dislike him, too. 

“It’s best not to get too attached. I don’t want to know you. That’s why I
want you to shut up. Firstly, your voice annoys me to no end. My God, I doubt you realize how grating your voice is. Secondly, I don’t need to know you like kittens while I’m smacking you around. I do have a conscience, but I won’t allow it to get in the way of my duty. Your actions threaten my sister, and I won’t hesitate to hurt you or yours.”

“Wil, I get it,
” I exhaustedly murmur. I stare down at my bleeding knuckles, wondering where I got those wounds. “Besides, I don’t like kittens,” I say to get a smile out of him. It doesn’t work, but at least my imminent death is no longer shining from his gaze.

“What are you to me? What is this about?”
Wil is being reasonable, so I push my luck with some questions of my own.

“I’m your enforcer. I’m not here to coddle you or to cuddle you. I’m not your friend. I’m not some bad boy fantasy. I enforce the rules. I give you your assignments and make sure you do them, and
then I act accordingly. All you need to know right now is that I tell you what to do and you do it. Pretty socialites get the whore jobs. Trust me, you don’t want mine.”

“I doubt that,” I
disrespectfully mutter under my breath. I flinch, waiting for a hit that never comes.

“
While you had first communion and then cotillion and parties and graduations and vacations and acceptance to college, I was learning to hurt people. So if I ask you to please a man, you’ll do it,” Wil coolly warns.

I want to tell him I
’ve never experienced any of those things either, and that I’m more suited to con, cheat, steal, threaten, and hurt. I can’t. I’m Fate. I have to keep telling myself that I’m Fate. Daddy said Wil can never know I’m not.

“Cortez Ab
ernathy,” Wil begins for the third time, and this time I keep my mouth shut. “You need to befriend him, date him, and keep an eye on him. Later on, when we’ve established trust between you and I, I will give you specific things I need from you. Right now, all I need is for you to seduce him.”

“You make that sound easy,” I choke out. I know nothing of boys. I never fancied them. It ain’t that I don’t like them, just didn’t seem important at the time. “He’s… he’s a kid. I’m not, remember? We don’t actually run in the same circles,” I lie. We run in exactly the same circles. Like in a few days, four classes a day
, circles.

“I’ve done my homework. He’s a little douchebag who finds himself charming. He has ladies all over him, young and old alike. He’ll like a blonde,
blue-eyed older woman. Trust me,” Wil says in a voice that is deeper than usual. He secretly grins to himself- a grin I’d never thought to see on his lips- it’s purely sexual, and it looks foreign on his cold, round face. It lends warmth that I thought him incapable. Enforcer or not, Wil’s still a teenage boy.

“What do I do?” I whine. “What do guys like?”

“How would I know?” Wil grumbles.

“You’re a guy!” I start to shriek, but hiss it
out between my clenched teeth instead- mustn’t awaken sleeping beauty.

“So?” His eyebrows dip in confusion.

“What do you like?” slips out before I can stop it. I grimace as my eyes glue to the tabletop, fearing to look at Wil. It sounds too much like I want to please him, when all I need to know is how to please anyone. I’m as innocent as you can get.

“Do I look like I have time to date?
” he incredulously says before his voice hardens in anger. “Here you are bitching that I want you to go to the movies and kiss on this little fucker, but I’m running around breaking kneecaps for shits and giggles.
Oh, woe is me, my name is Fate Simpson
,” he mocks in my twang. “
I live a hard life. Boo-hoo
,” he faux-sobs, rubbing his eyes with his fists. “Get over yourself. Just go put on your three-hundred dollar mascara and bat your eyelashes at the little shit. How the hell should I know? You’re a girl, it’s inborn. Just shake your tits,” he nastily hisses as if tits offend him or women in general.

Maybe girls
do offend Wil. Maybe, just maybe, Wil likes guys. I hadn’t thought of that.

I don’t shade my glare; I give him the full blast of my attitude. I bite my tongue, though. I’m hurting as it is. I don’t want no more poundings.

Ignoring my glare, Wil says, “I want you to know that you may ask real questions.” His voice is sincere, as if he’s sorry for his nastiness. “I will do everything I can to remove your ignorance. If you have a question, ask. Suggestion?” he politely asks, awaiting my confirmation.

I shake my head yes, wincing when pain radiates down
my shoulder. “Don’t speak to Cortez. It will shrivel his dick,” Wil viciously hisses. “Next suggestion, read a book, or ten. Learn proper English. Listen to tapes. I don’t care what you do, just fix your dialect. I can tell you’re smart and your mind works really fast. But your speech will ruin you. Keep your mouth shut until you can use it the right way. Got it?”

I don’t verbally answer. I shake my head yes, ignoring the pain in my neck. He could haul off and punch my nose and it wouldn’t hurt
half as bad as the humiliation I feel in this moment. I’ve been worthless since I was born, before that even. I’m just disposable. Fate’s the real prize, that’s why Daddy raised her to be a princess while he taught me to survive. He knew he’d never be here for me, not really.

“What’s wrong now?” Wil asks, breaking me out of my miserable thoughts.

I blink to see if I have tears betraying my feelings- dry as a bone. “Why do you think something’s wrong?”

“Everyone has tells,
and you have a quite a few. When you’re upset your button-nose scrunches up and your eyes narrow. That’s how I know something is wrong. What is it?”

“I was just thinking of ho
w different my sister and I are,” I say as softly as I can, since Wil’s being kind of nice right now and I don’t want to upset him. “How my father treats her differently than me.”

“Baby sisters should be cherished, that’s why,” he says without hesitation. I snort at the absurdity of it. Reading me wrong, he chastises me. “They are. It’s our job as the oldest to take care of them. My dad is gone
and Gretchen has no mother, so it falls to me. The same goes for you. Dead or jail, it’s the same thing for those of us still living on the outside. I noticed you didn’t call him daddy.”

“I
ain’t slow,” I grumble. Wil looks at me for a minute, checking for tells, or maybe he’s determining if I was being disrespectful and he’s picking a fresh spot on my face to strike.

“Really, I want you to read- n
ew books, not the classics. I want you to practice your speech. I will give you two weeks to make contact with Cortez Abernathy. I will require proof after that. A public date that I will witness.
They
will require proof from me.”

“Yes, Wil,” I quietly mutter, trying Fate’s tone again.

“I won’t be here, so don’t come looking for me. Two weeks from tonight. Same time. Be exactly on time. You know the consequences,” Wil calmly threatens. “You’ve better have befriended him by then. You know the consequences for that, too. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, Wil.”

~Chapter Five~

“You’
re making my job awfully difficult,” Fate murmurs as she works on my face. I feel like she’s spackling over my bruises. “You really should have called the police,” her voice quivers with worry and fear, fingers affectionately gliding over my skin.

“Everyone gets mugged, it’s no big deal,” I play it off
, like I’m not hurting something fierce. A mugging was the only thing I could think of to cover my ailments. Add four hours of walking to my sore muscles and I could barely move. I hate that Wil has us meeting that far from my home, and after my bedtime. I didn’t get home until half past one in the morning. I spent the next few days recuperating from sprained muscles, and praying that my wounds would scab over and my bruises would fade. I didn’t heal up as good as I’d hoped before school started for the new year. It’s a great way to make a second impression. So much for my theory that Wil can’t whore me out if I’m bruised up…Wil just don’t care.

“Everyone doesn’t get mugged.” Fate looks at me like I’ve lost my ever loving mind
, makeup sponge extended an inch from my cheek in her frozen hand. “There aren’t even any muggings from where you were raised. I just don’t understand how you could get mugged on your way home from the library.” I’m sure you could if you tried, but my God, Fate’s gullible. She’d know the library isn’t open at two a.m. if she’d ever gone to one.

“
Are you alright?” Her concern makes my heart hurt about our fight a few days back. Fate really is a genuine person when she looks outside of herself. She’s soft and caring. Fate gives undivided attention. She’s spent every waking moment with me since I came home banged up. She tended my wounds and slept beside me in bed. I don’t want to know what it would feel like to lose her. Wil was trying to get me to understand what was at stake. I get it now.

“Where I come from, it’s ju
st called taking a licking,” I tease to ease her fears. Fate loves hearing my West Virginia-isms. She ooos and aahs and cowers in fear. I tend to overexaggerate for her benefit- but usually, I just tell the truth. “We don’t call the cops there, either. You just gather some help and beat them back. Aunt Amelia’s boyfriends usually did that for me or Daddy did when he came home.”

“This isn’t the first time you’ve been hit like this?” Her hand freezes
again, this time it’s eye liner dangling from her fingertips.

“Not even my tenth. Mind you, I prolly started the majority of the fights
, and I always finished them.” My sister just stares at me with her mouth agape. “What? You know I can’t keep my mouth shut or my fists to myself.”

“I… could ne
ver… I could never do that,” Fate mutters. Fearing she’s judging me, all pleasant thoughts flee me. “I’m not strong like you. I wish I could be more like you and Dad.”

“
You don’t wanna be like either one of us. We aren’t good. Daddy’s never gonna see the light of day and I’m trying to be good so I don’t end up in there with him. You really don’t want to be like me. Trust me.”

“Really,” she stresses and flashes me a pretty smile. “You’re so brave. I wish I was even a little brave. I’m working on it. Between you and Regina, I’ll be independent in no time.”

“I liked what you did with the toast this morning, that made me proud to call you sister,” I praise her. Yes, it was only cinnamon toast, but she did it all by herself and she did it just for me. She may be blind, but she’s sweet.

“I enjoyed it. I never realized that cooking could be fun. Seeing Regina’s baby made me realize that I’m not a baby anymore. My little sister shouldn’
t know more than I do. I promise I’m trying.”

“I believe you
… and… our fight upset me. You’re all I have, so I’m trying to speak correctly. It’s real hard. I’m working on the ain’ts. I’m getting better at not saying them out loud; it’s inside my mind that gets all bungled up.

“You’ll get there. Yo
u can always just be quiet,” Fate offers as a suggestion. She don’t mean no harm, but it still hurts my feelings. Why can’t I just be me? I understand bettering myself, but having everyone tell you how awful you are, sucks.

“I’ll stick with thinking before I speak. If all else fails, I’ll shut up. Last year at school I was as quiet as a church mouse. This year I need to make some friends,” desperation fills my tone and I wince.

“What kind of friends?  Are you finally thinking about boys?” She teases me while sorting through her cosmetics kit.

“Yeah, I had a crush on this boy last year, but I was invisible. How… how would I go about making him notice me?”
I blush deep red and bunch my shoulders in shame. I shouldn’t have to play my sister like this- damn Wil, damn Wil to hell.

“
Really?” Fate shrieks, jumping up and down, looking younger than me. “Oh my God, WHO?” A devious light shines from her eyes as she claps and giggles.

“Um… Cortez Abernathy,” I whisper under my breath
- hating Wil all the more- the sadistic bastard.

“Oh, sister,” Fate
says sadly, pity lacing her voice.

Shit!
This is hopeless. My own sister knows that Cort will never find me attractive. I’m destined to fail, and then Wil will cut my tongue out and kill sweet, vivacious Fate. My heart pounds wildly in my chest, my breath hisses between my lips. I’m amazed that Fate can’t see the beat as my heart pumps life-giving blood throughout my system.

“Ade’s been trying to date his best friend, Ezra. Regina s
ays they boys are together,” Fate stresses, waggling her eyebrows and smirking. She flawlessly slips into gossip-mode.

“Together? What?
Huh?” Fate laughs at how stupid I sound, sputtering out my confusion.

“You know,” she draws out. “Together, as in
together
…” She crosses her fingers and winks. “Ade denies it, but Regina said she saw them kissing a few months ago. Ezra had Cort pinned up against a wall at Whittenhower Estates, and was French kissing him. That means tongue,” she says in delight, eyes going wide as she points at her lips and sticks her tongue out at me.

“Fate, I know what French kissing means,” I growl, shaking my head to and fro. I whisper underneath my breath, “Too bad I’ll never experience a French kiss since Wil is going to cut my tongue from my mouth.”

“What?” She gives me a curious expression, lips tilted up in a smile- excited to be the fount of gossip.

“Nothing,” I grumble in disgust.

“It was that hideous party for Grant and Cora announcing Niel as their unborn son. You remember it. Mom made us all go as a family,” she keeps rambling on, but I stop listening.

I’m going to KILL Wil and his
I’ve done my homework
bullshit. How do you miss something this huge? He’s making me seduce a gay kid. Seriously? My fingers curl up into talons on my bare thighs. Sharp pricks of pain keep me from running across the city and beating Wil to death. That is until I realize he said he wouldn’t be home- the rat-bastard!

“Okay,” I mumble
to myself as Fate keeps on talking. My mind spins ways to fix this. I guess if I brought him proof that the kid has a boyfriend, he’ll let me off. No, this is Wil, he accepts no failure. He’ll just give me something worse. “What could I do to find out for sure?”

“First things, first, let’s get you sexed up.” She giddily skips around her room.

“You do know I’ll be in a uniform, right?” sarcasm warps my tone. “How much can you do to that?”

“
A lot,” she says with a smirk. She starts foraging around my closet. “First off,” Fate peeks at me from around the door as she speaks, “you don’t look like you did last year,” she says with a salacious purr. “When you came home after summer break, I was jealous. You’ve curved out. It must have been from your mom’s side of the family since I’m flat as a board everywhere. You’re still short, but your body rounded out.”

“Are you saying I’m fat?” I hiss. Makes fun of my diction and now my body, what a sister.

“No, silly,” Fate giggles. “I’m saying you have nice tits and a round ass. We’ll unbutton a few buttons on your blouse- enough to show a peek of lacy bra. No more white tights. Yuck. They’re for babies. You need a pair of thigh-highs, so when you cross your legs at your desk, the guys get a look-see.”

“I go to Catholic school… with Nuns. Remember? Things haven’t changed that
much in the last fifteen months,” I drily mumble.

“That’s exactly how we dressed. You’ll do fine. Next thing is some expert makeup. I’ll show you how to apply it. I don’t have any
early morning classes this semester, but I might next. Every girl needs to know how to accentuate their best feature.”

“Anything to keep Wil off my ass,” I inaudibly mumble.
I’d rather hit something than put makeup on. Fate, sure as shit, wouldn’t understand that. I don’t understand it either.