Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 100791 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100791 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
I jumped on two words. “Your folks?”
“That’s how we know this place.” Liam’s voice reached me through the dark. “There used to be apartments in this very spot, but they were torn down and the movie theater was built in its place. That apartment building was once our mother’s home.”
My brows shot up.
“She lived here when she met our dads, and then they kidnapped her away from all of this.”
“Kidnapped?” Sienna asked absentmindedly. She was still staring at the Get Out poster.
“Oh, yeah,” Bane chimed in. “Mom likes to very heavily emphasize that her first date with our dads was them kidnapping and putting her in a cage because she witnessed them committing murder. And after she says that, they all bust up laughing.
“Bunch of weirdos,” he muttered, almost making me laugh.
Almost.
I rubbed my arms, somehow warding off a chill in the stuffy, overheated room. There were a million eyes on the floor, and it felt like they were all watching me. I knew I should be searching with the guys, but I didn’t want to move too far from Sienna, and Sienna wasn’t moving at all.
“Sienna?” I probed, but she didn’t look away.
“Our parents bought the property and built this movie theater on it,” Sunny continued the story as he slowly opened the theater door and shone his phone light inside. “It was a part of their effort to help the old neighborhood. Breathe life into it. Make it a safe place to live again.”
“But it didn’t work.” I didn’t make it a question, because it wasn’t one. This building wouldn’t be standing empty in a neighborhood I was always warned to avoid if it had worked.
“No,” Bane confirmed. “A local gang started running a drug ring out of the place. Slip a few baggies in with the popcorn. Slide a couple bills in a dark theater. Plenty of people coming and going and all of them having a legit reason to be there. After all, officer, we were just watching a movie.”
I shook my head. There was something criminally ingenious about that.
“All the employees were being threatened. They were too scared to tell my mom what was going on, but she found out real quick when rival gang members blew into the place and shot it up. Ten people were killed.”
“Holy shit,” I cried, clapping a hand over my mouth. “How come I’ve never heard about this?”
“It was before you were born.” Bane ducked around the concession stand, gaze sweeping over stale and ancient candy. “I was three, but I remember that night. Mom came home crying harder than I’d ever seen her. She blamed herself.”
“Why would she blame herself?” I tugged on Sienna’s hand, silently urging her to help with the search.
She didn’t move.
“Because no one was dealing drugs, being threatened, or getting shot when the place was just a run-down apartment building. She tried to help her old neighborhood and instead she kicked off one of its greatest tragedies. Or at least that’s how she saw it.” Bane sighed, backing out from behind the counter. “This place has been closed ever since.”
“I see.” My voice was flat. Dead. “That’s why the Brotherhood chose this place.”
“What do you mean?” Sunny asked, shutting the door on the empty theater.
“This place wasn’t just owned by your parents. It’s also a monument to their failure.” I tossed my head. “Failure by the Brotherhood’s standards. Of course, it wasn’t Adeline’s fault, but I bet in their eyes, this place is proof that everything the Merchants touch turns to ruin. It’s proof they’re bad for the city.”
“Yes, Kenzie.” The shadows released Liam, allowing him to step into the circle of dim light. “And that’s why I should’ve figured it out and raided this place before. Now that we know, it’s so cringingly obvious.”
I could only nod. It was true. Now that I knew the backstory of this theater, it was obvious why the Brotherhood holed up in this place. This hideout, like everything they did, was a fuck-you to the Merchants.
“There are more theaters to check,” Liam continued. “Plus the projection rooms and offices upstairs. The tracker says Genny is in here somewhere, so, Bane, you go with Sienna. Sunny, search with Kenzie. Anything moves, you shoot—”
“No!” Sienna burst out.
I jumped half out of my skin. “Sienna? What’s wrong? What—?”
“This poster is a message.” Sienna launched at it, scrabbling at the sides to pry it open. “Yes, the bad guys in Get Out are a bunch of racist, piece-of-shit pricks who think black bodies are objects for them to use, buy, and trade, but don’t you see?” she cried. “In the Brotherhood’s twisted minds, we are the bad guys!
“The Merchants are the fake, smiling folk who pretend to be nice and harmless, while all the while, they’re gutting innocent people from the inside out and using them as pawns.” Sienna finally found the latch and smashed it with the butt of her gun. “So if we’re the bad guys”—bang—“and they’re the good guys”—bang—“how does our movie end?”