Total pages in book: 152
Estimated words: 154368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 772(@200wpm)___ 617(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 772(@200wpm)___ 617(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
Then, a face followed—smiling wrong, eyes too wide, lips stretched just a little too far.
Nika shook her head. “Shit like this will bring bad spirits to you. We shouldn’t be watching this.”
Thankfully, it was more funny than scary. At the parts meant to be terrifying, a group of girls laughed so hard one of them dropped her slushie.
Other teens talked through the slow scenes, shouted at the screen, and at one point someone launched a fistful of popcorn three rows back like it was a sport.
Yoichi went down there and ended that fast. Two boys slunk out with their heads down like they’d just been expelled from life.
Once over, the teenagers filed out still buzzing.
The theater went quiet for a few minutes while the staff quickly cleaned.
The next crowd came in hushed for the French romance with Japanese and English subtitles.
Tons of women in elegant coats, silk scarves, and expensive shoes.
A group of three near the middle spotted me before the movie started. One nudged the other, pointed up, and gave a friendly wave.
I waved back.
Nika leaned against the railing. "You're popular here. Lots of people have been looking up and watching you."
I shrugged. “You know I’m that bitch.”
Nika snorted. “Naw. Your man must be Him-othy.”
Kaoru eyed her. "Him-othy?"
"Him-othy." Nika held out her hands. "As in, Nyomi’s man is not just Him. He is the Him of all Hims. The Timothy of Him.”
Kaoru smiled. “The Timothy of Him?”
“The greatest of the greats." Nika winked. “Him-othy.”
Deja chuckled. “Ignore her."
“Well. . .” I grinned. “My man is actually Him-othy so. . .we don’t have to ignore her.”
Deja laughed some more. “Look at my girl, Nyomi, so happy to have a man. Last time you were in my chair, talking about how no man could do nothing for you and you were all about your career now.”
“I hadn’t met the right man.”
“Naw.” Nika snapped. “You didn’t get the right dick.”
Kaoru loudly laughed.
I frowned at him. “It wasn’t that funny.”
"It was a little funny," Kaoru muttered.
Yoichi nodded once.
Traitor.
When the French romance started we went quiet. And in the quiet, Kenji crept back into my thoughts and the anxiety rose. I did my best to focus on the story.
I found the film interesting.
It was about a prostitute who fell in love with her top customer’s son. She’d met the son as she stood beneath a street lamp in the rain outside of his parents’ house. Her red lipstick had been smudged from sucking his father off. Her mascara bled slightly at the edges.
The son gave her a ride home, and the next she was fucking him in shitty hotel rooms.
Every scene was drenched in lies, sex, and inevitability. I could feel the collision coming long before the final reveal happened and father and son fought.
Many of the women cried discreetly.
The other half dozed off whenever the dialogue got too philosophical.
But there was one moment when Deja's fingers slowed in my hair, when on screen, the prostitute pressed her forehead against the son's chest and whispered something the subtitles translated as "I'm tired of being chosen for the wrong reasons."
Deja's hands went still.
Just for a second.
Maybe two.
Then she cleared her throat, pulled a new section of hair, and kept going. "This movie is dramatic as hell."
But her voice was quieter than before, and then Deja kept on braiding. “Anyway. . .your man is going to be kitty lips all night when he sees you.”
“Kitty lips?”
Nika pointed to my crotch. “Eating it up all night like it’s a budget Chinese buffet.”
“Wow.” I laughed.
“And for the next time you need your hair done, make sure you go to Amsterdam or Paris, so a bitch can do some shopping.”
“Noted.”
And then my phone rang.
Oh shit. Please let that be Kenji.
I pulled it out and looked at the screen.
Yes. Kenji.
My heart stopped.
"Hold on, Deja." I held up my hand. "I need to take this real quick."
“Okay, girl.” She stepped back.
“Shoot. I’ve been working hard.” Nika got up too and headed away. “Girl, I’m going back to our villa to take a nap.”
Deja rolled her eyes. “Bitch, you haven’t done shit.”
“I’m still tired.” Nika waved and left.
I stood and rushed out of the box.
Kaoru was immediately behind me, along with Yoichi. They followed me into the hallway and had their guns out.
I pressed the phone to my ear. "Kenji? Are you okay?"
His voice came through rough and ragged. "Tora. I'm fine. I'm safe."
My voice cracked. “Oh my God and everybody else? How’s Hiro?”
“He’s fine. Reo's safe too along with the Claws."
“Thank God. Did you find your father?”
"My father wasn't there. It was a trap by my brother, but we have some possible clues.”
“Dear God. Okay.” Relief flooded through me. My knees almost buckled. But then I realized he hadn't said everyone.
My stomach dropped.
I raised my eyebrows. "And Hiroko?"
There was a pause.
My body tensed.