"The little cunt." I hissed through my teeth. They had planned all of this. Liling hadn't just shot Mel out fear, she'd done so to clear the table. Normally in these situations, the governor would appoint the mayor.

"What do you want me to do?" Fedel questioned. "Declan was stopped by Ju-long and was told this was all some sort of misunderstanding."

If this was a misunderstanding...I wondered what would happen when we finally started to understand each other.

SIXTEEN.

"Certain motherfuckers think they can fuck with my shit, but you can't kill the Rooster. You might can fuck him up sometimes, but bitch, nobody kills the motherfucking Rooster. You know what I'm saying?"

~ David Sedaris ETHAN.

10:08 PM.

I was good at Italian...when everybody spoke slowly, I could understand. I wanted to know because I hated when people spoke around me and I couldn't get what they were saying. When the adults did that, spoke in other languages, it was because they didn't want us to know what they were saying, and if we couldn't know, it was because it was about us.

Cracking the window open slowly, checking back to make sure Dona and Wyatt didn't wake up, I crawled out onto the roof, sliding on my stomach until I got to the edge of it, staying low so the men in the yard wouldn't see me. There were so many, all of them dressed in black, holding big guns, just walking back and forth across the lawn in front of the gate. The men at the gate stood there with dogs. It reminded me of those war movies I saw on the history channel.

"Achoo!" Somebody sneezed under me.

"Salute," another man with a much deeper voice replied.

"Grazie," he said back, and I wasn't sure but I thought he said, "They say it's bad."

"Yeah. Hard to believe the boss dying like that. She's one tough bitch."

I frowned, not sure who they were talking about. The boss? A bitch? What?

"To think Melody Nicci Giovanni dies in the street like a dog."

Mommy? What? I tried to slide over farther when all of a sudden I was yanked back into the house, the grip on my ankles and the back of my shirt not letting up until I was flipped onto the bed.

"Have you lost your goddamn mind?" Uncle Neal hollered right in my face. He was so angry he looked like the Hulk; a vein was even sticking out in his neck. The only time I had ever seen him like that was when someone called Nari a bad name. He took a deep breath when I backed away from him. "You could have gotten yourself killed, Ethan."

"No, I do it all the time." I frowned; I was good at climbing up stuff.

"That's-" He started to yell again, but just shook his head at me instead, bending down in front of my bed. "That's not what I meant. You need to stay inside until we know it's safe okay?"

"Safe from what?" I asked, but he didn't answer. "Uncle Neal. Safe from what? Did something happen? Where is my mom? They said something happened to my mom."

Uncle Neal was a good liar, but Uncle Declan and Dad were better liars, so I could tell when he was lying.

"Your mom's fine. She's just working late." That was his lie, and I didn't want to be a baby. I didn't want to get upset or angry, but that pain came back in my chest. It hurt, it hurt more than when Wyatt said he hated me.

"Ethan-"

"You're lying." No. No. No. I don't want to cry. Big kids don't cry. Dad never cries. Wiping my face as fast as I could, it wouldn't stop. Damn it! "My mom! What happened to my mom! Is she dead?"

"No-"

"Then let me call her," I said, reaching to my bedside table for the phone my dad had given me for emergencies only, but he took it from me.

"Ethan?" Wyatt woke up, rubbing his eyes. "What's going on?

"Nothing's going on, go back to bed, Wyatt." Uncle Neal lied again, this time taking me by the hand and dragging me out of the room.

"Let go! Give it back!" I tried to pull away.

"This is the first time you've acted like a little brat in a long time Ethan. I'm disappointed." It wasn't Uncle Neal who said that. Turning back, I froze, staring up at my Nana, my nose running no matter how much I tried to suck it up. She crossed her arms, frowning at me.

"You're the oldest, so when your father isn't around, you're the one he counts on to take care of your siblings. If he saw you right now, he'd be disappointed," she added when Uncle Neal let go of my arms. I fell right in front of her.

"They...they said my mom was dead. It's not true, right?" I whispered.

"No, she's not dead. But-"

"Ma, don't." Uncle Neal cut her off, but she ignored him, brushing her hand on my face.

"Your mom is hurt, Ethan." She smiled sadly, and for some reason I couldn't move. "I'm telling you this because your brother and sister will find out and when they do, they are going to need their big brother to be strong."

"But...but is she okay?" Nobody could hurt my mommy. Dad always said she was the strongest. No one was stronger than her.

"She's going to be. Your mother is Melody Nicci Giovanni Callahan, do you know what her name means?"

I shook my head. "It's just a name."

"Melody, to sing, Nicci, of victory, Giovanni, the one shown favor, Callahan, wise. It's not just a name. It's who she is. And you are Ethan, strong and enduring. No one in our family makes a mistake when naming their children. Be strong when everyone can't be. Endure even when it feels like it's too painful, and you will never let your parents or yourself down."

Wiping my face, I got up, coughing until my throat didn't feel shaky anymore. "Sorry, Nana."

"My precious, you never have to tell me sorry for anything." She hugged me. Nana always smelled like vanilla and it made me feel better. "Now off to bed."

Nodding, I walked back into the room to find Wyatt poking his head out the same window I had.

"Wyatt, no." I ran over to him, pulling him back.

He frowned. "What is going on? Why are we here? Where are Mommy and Daddy? Why were you crying?"

"I wasn't crying."

He crossed his arms. "You suck at lying."

"Shut up." I pushed him out of the way, closing the window and stepping on my bed to lock it at the top.

"Ethan tell me, it's not fair, you know-"

"I don't know." I jumped back onto the bed. "I don't know what is going on. They said Mom got hurt-"

"What?!" he yelled, and I clasped my hand over his mouth.

"You'll wake up Dona-"

"I'm already awake." She rolled over, gripping her pet elephant to her chest. "You guys are noisy."

"Sorry, Dona-eww!" I pulled my hand back when Wyatt licked it.

"That's what you get!" He snapped at me. "What's wrong with Mom?"

"I don't know! But she's going to be fine-"

"How do you know?"

"Because it's Mom!" I screamed back at him. He stopped for a moment and I took a deep breath just like Uncle Neal had. "It's Mom. She's going to be okay, so stop yelling at me. I don't know anything else."

"Aren't you guys hurt?" Dona asked, still not getting out of bed. "I hurt all over."

It was only when she said it that I felt my legs start to wobble and my back was just painful. Wyatt lifted up his shirt and all over his skin were purple bruises.

"Aunt Cora said not to move around too much or it will hurt more. You guys don't listen." She shook her head at us, turning over.

"Thanks, Dona," Wyatt grumbled, stumbling back over to his bed. "You are an amazing sister."

"I know." She giggled.

"Sarcasm, ever heard of it?" He threw a pillow at her.

She took it and threw it right back. "Nope."

"Guys we need to go to bed-" Two pillows hit me square in the face, and they just laughed. Grabbing them both, I glared. "Oh, this is war."

MELODY.

9:07 PM.

"Mrs. Callahan?"

"Mrs. Callahan?"

"Mrs. Callahan, can you hear me?"

Yes, and your breath smells like stale hot dogs and bad coffee.

"Mrs. Callahan?"

Who is this?

I tried to lift my eyelids, but they felt like they were taped shut. Why can't I move? What the fuck? What's going on? Where am I?

"Mel, baby."

Liam?

I relaxed when I felt him beside me, stroking the side of my head, his hand in mine.

"Mel, I need you to open your eyes for me all right? Just for a second?"

When I tried again, my eyes snapped open and I had to shut them quickly, trying to turn away from the light blinding me.

"Ugh..." I tried to tell them to turn off the lights, but my throat felt like sandpaper on a cat's ass.

"Thank fucking Christ." Liam kissed the top of my head.

What is this?

Again, I opened my eyes. Everything blurred together as if I were drunk until I saw Hot Dog Breath above me. His hair was red, his eyes were brown, and he was far too close for my comfort.

"Mrs. Callahan, I'm Dr. Fortmen. Do you remember what happened?" he asked, shining a light in my eyes.

Stop it! I wanted to yell, but the only thing that came out of my mouth sounded like a grunt.

"L...iam..." I finally managed to get out, ignoring the pain in my throat.

"Yeah-"

"Ge...ge...t...him...a...way."

He laughed again, kissing my forehead.

"Bear with him, okay? He's fought to bring you back from the brink of hell more than once in the last twenty-four hours."

Is that why I feel like shit?

Closing my eyes, I tried to remember what happened...

BANG!.