"Fine." My voice sounded foreign—terrifyingly calm. "If this is what you want, consider the debt settled."
I was speaking to the loan sharks, but my uncle's head snapped up. For a split second, panic cracked his mask.
It didn't last. The memory of his promise to Stella hardened his resolve.
This is the last time, he told himself. The final lesson.
Once Savannah endured this humiliation, he would take her home. He would spend the rest of his life making it up to her. He had a lifetime to fix this.
So he looked away. Feigning struggle against his captors, he manipulated the miniature camera hidden in his cuff. Captured me on my knees before those men.
Sent.
The crowd scattered.
I stayed on the ground, limbs heavy as lead, until sheer will dragged me upright.
My uncle crawled toward me, eyes rimmed red. He opened his mouth—probably to offer some excuse—but my hollow gaze strangled the words in his throat.
The next day, the doctor arrived to escort him to the capital for his "miracle cure."
Before climbing into the car, he gripped my hand, looking back with every step. "Savvy, wait for me. When I get back, you'll pick up your rifle again. You'll be the star of Fort Valor once more. I won't let anyone ever bully you again."
I offered a faint smile but said nothing.
I watched until the vehicle vanished over the horizon.
Then I doubled over. My hand flew to my mouth, but it couldn't stop the warm, metallic torrent gushing between my fingers.
The doctor had warned me: when the tumor ruptures, the clock stops.
Strange.
As I collapsed onto the pavement, fear didn't come. Instead, a peculiar calm settled in.
Memories washed over me—fragmented, bittersweet.
Him bringing me home from the cold martyrs' cemetery, his large hands clumsy as he tied my pigtails.
My first live-fire exercise. I missed the target; he scolded me sternly, then snuck milk candy into my pocket.
The nights I burned with fever. He stayed by my bedside, holding my hand, whispering over and over, "Savvy, don't be afraid. Uncle is here."
He used to say, Our Savvy deserves the best the world has to offer.
Tears mixed with the blood on my cheeks.
Trembling, I used crimson-stained fingers to unlock my phone. It took everything I had left to type the words.
Uncle, I'm not waiting for you.
In this life, I've repaid my debt to the James family for raising me. I've paid the price for Stella's "grievances." Bury me beside my parents.