Chapter Text
When Anthony turned eighteen, he began to feel more worried about what the future would hold for him. He knew how it worked in his family. He saw it when Arackniss turned eighteen. He saw it when his father’s allies had sons that turned eighteen. Eighteen was a big milestone for the sons of the higher ups in the local mafia, and Anthony’s father happened to be the highest up there was.
Arackniss’ eighteenth birthday happened a few years before, but Anthony remembered many of the details from that day. The moment his brother walked in, Henroin presented him with a gun and an order: to join him in his work and finally become as dangerous as he was. Arackniss had been ecstatic, jumping at the opportunity to be the criminal he knew himself capable of.
There was no cake that day. No parties being held, no loving hugs from friends and family all day, and certainly no other gifts from their father. Instead, Arackniss began training harder than he did before, not caring when he began to wear himself out.
Anthony was sure that a similar scenario would go down when he made an appearance today. He was sitting alone in his room, one he shared with his twin sister, trying to calm himself down. Unlike his older brother, Anthony did not want to go into the family “business.” He wanted to go out and be free to do whatever he wanted, not follow strict orders and do everything his father wished. He was sick of that life already, and he wasn’t even part of the big leagues yet!
As the morning passed slowly, Anthony decided that he had to go and get it over with. He needed to hear what his father’s plan for him was so that he could then figure out his next move.
Walking towards the kitchen, Anthony prepared himself for the worst.
And somehow, the reality of his situation was even worse than he thought it could be.
“Happy birthday!” Molly exclaimed as she ran up to hug him.
“You too!” Anthony grinned at her, always happy to see his twin. “Have you heard anything about-”
Anthony was cut off by Henroin stepping into the room, clearing his throat as he approached them. Molly gave him a sad look, one Anthony could not interpret. What could have made her so sad? Surely Henroin couldn’t have done something too much more terrible than what he feared.
“I have done something much more terrible than what you feared,” Henroin practically said when he opened his mouth. Okay, so those weren’t the actual words that he said, but that was fairly close to what Anthony heard.
“I’ve sold you,” were the actual words that came out of Henroin’s mouth. There was a glare on his face, directing all of the hate that he had held towards Anthony through all of the years right at him. Anthony was used to his father despising him, but he had assumed that he would still want to bring him up in the family business. Sure, he didn’t want to be trapped in a life like that, but he was also offended that his father didn’t seem to have even considered it.
“Sold?” Anthony asked, wondering what that meant.
“He… He sold us to that guy he met with a few months ago… the one who owns a whorehouse,” Molly told him, looking down in shame at the thought.
“What?!” Anthony exclaimed. “You sold us off to become sex workers?”
“You’re useless to me here. You barely know how to hold your own in a fight, so how would you expect to join your brother in our work? You’re an embarrassment,” Henroin sneered.
“And what about Molly? Even if I’m worth nothing to you, she’s not useless!”
Henroin began to laugh. “No woman is joining my gang! That would make us the laughing stock of the entire city! Who do you take me for, boy? We’d lose all of our allies and resources!”
Anthony looked sadly at Molly, but she just shrugged at him as if she already knew this was going to be her fate. She seemed to have accepted her future, and that pissed Anthony off even more.
“Why did this man even buy me? I thought he only bought girls,” Anthony pointed out, hoping he can get himself out of this situation, and then, eventually, maybe he could get Molly out of it too.
“Normally he doesn’t invest in anybody but girls,” Henroin said, “but I convinced him to buy you anyway. See, there are a lot of people in this neighborhood that have many secret fantasies, and even more outside of this area who don’t have a source to live out that fantasy in their own hometown. I figured you’d be best for the job since there’s no way you could become less of a disgrace than you already are.”
Anthony knew what that meant. His father sold him to become the plaything for men who were not satisfied with the ladies of the world. That kind of love was not tolerated in their time and world, so this would put Anthony in a lot of danger if he were to be caught having sex with other men.
But he saw that he had no other choice. This was demeaning to both him and Molly. He might have liked boys more than he liked girls, but that didn’t mean he wanted any old, creepy man! He had standards!
“You two are leaving tomorrow,” Henroin said. “You’re lucky I decided to give you one last day to live here before sending you off. You’re welcome.”
With that, their father walked out of the kitchen again, and soon the sound of the front door shutting told them that he left the house altogether to head to work.
Anthony and Molly were silent. Neither knew what to say to comfort the other. They were in such a horrible situation that nothing seemed right to talk about at the moment.
A second passed before Anthony realized that Molly had started crying. It was also then when Anthony realized what they had to do.
“Awe, darling, it’s okay,” Anthony said, giving his sister a hug. She broke down in that moment, clinging to him as she started sobbing. Anthony would be lying if he said that he didn’t shed any tears himself.
“I knew this was going to happen,” Molly sobbed into his shoulder, her arms tight around him. “I’ve known for so long that he would end up selling me. He’s never worked with women before. He barely tolerates mother.”
Anthony frowned harder, squeezing her in a futile attempt to make her feel better. He was hurting, but he knew his sister was hurting more than him. She was more scared than him. With what she told him, he now realized that she had gone years being terrified of this outcome while he just now found out about this being a possibility for him.
He had to do something to get them away from there.
“We could escape,” Anthony suggested. “We could run away and never come back. We could be free.”
“How?” Molly asked, sniffling as she pulled away enough to look Anthony in the eyes.
“I know where our father has been storing some of his money in the basement.”
“You went into his room down there!” Molly exclaimed. Anthony quickly shushed her, but it wouldn’t have mattered anyway. She reassured him that they were home alone now that Henroin left the house, so there was nobody there to hear them. “You know we aren’t allowed to go in there! If dad found out, he would have killed you!”
“Yeah, but it’s a good thing I did because I know where we can get some cash! We can take the money, take a train out of here, and then hitchhike our way to wherever the farthest point is away from this house.”
“But what if we get caught?”
“Then we get caught, and it’ll be all over. But we have to try, Molly. We have to try to get out of here before we never get the chance to do so again.”
Molly stared at him for a moment, and Anthony was scared for a moment that she wouldn’t agree to go. Anthony desperately wanted her to agree.
“I’m not leaving you here,” Anthony told her. “If you decide to stay, I’m staying too, but I really think we can get away.”
Finally, Molly sighed before giving a nod. Anthony grinned as he told her to wait upstairs and keep a lookout for anybody coming home. As she kept watch, Anthony snuck downstairs. He stood in front of the door that Henroin threatened them all from going inside, telling them that their deaths would be long and painful if they ever entered.
Of course, Anthony had gone inside many times while his family was out. He wanted to see what his father kept in there. He had been disappointed to find that most of it were documents and items relating to those he had employed and/or killed. None of that was useful to him at that moment, but the thing that made it worth coming back to was the envelope of money Henroin kept down there. Anthony didn’t know why he didn’t keep it in the large safe in his office that he could never crack the password to, but he was thankful that it was there now. It must have belonged to somebody that Henroin had blackmail on or something for him to keep it separate from his prized stack of cash in the safe, but Anthony did not think much about that as he grabbed it and sprinted back upstairs.
“Alright, let’s both pack a bag we can carry with us and then get the hell out of here,” Anthony said as he slipped the money to Molly. She was more reliable to hang on to it, as he was scared that he’d end up losing it somehow before they got to the train station.
Once they were both ready, they headed out of the house. They made their way across the city, making sure to be careful of who saw them. The plan would be ruined if somebody who worked with their father saw them and told him where they were going.
At the train station, Anthony waited with their bags as Molly went to buy two tickets. He told her to get two tickets to wherever they could afford that was far away and to leave enough cash for them to eat when their food that they packed ran out.
“I got tickets to a station in New Orleans, Louisiana,” Molly told him.
“There was enough money in there for that?” Anthony asked, baffled. Molly simply nodded before handing him his ticket, slipping her own into her pocket before he could see what seat she was in. He assumed it was right next to his, so he didn’t bother to ask. “Don’t you want to hold on to both? To keep them together?”
“I don’t want us to get separated and one of us get stuck without their ticket. If we get lost from each other, promise me that you’ll just get on the train. I’ll make sure not to miss it either, so then we’ll know that we can meet up with each other back on the train.”
“You’re so smart,” Anthony told her. “If that happens, go straight for our seats so I don’t have to worry about where you are on the train. No stopping to talk to anybody else.”
“Deal.”
Their train was set to leave in an hour. They waited on a bench near the boarding station, both of them impatiently fidgeting due to their nerves. They had their tickets, but they weren’t out of New York yet. They would not feel safe from their father until the train took off with them inside of it.
When there was about ten minutes left before the train was set to allow passengers on, Molly told him that she was going to go to the bathroom.
“I just want to go before the trip,” she said. “I’ll take my ticket just in case I can’t find you, but can you hold my bag? I don’t want to take it into the bathroom.”
Anthony agreed, and he watched as she disappeared into the crowd of people waiting on the train.
Five minutes passed. Anthony didn’t worry. Maybe she was taking care of something in the bathroom. That was none of his business.
Another five minutes passed. People were being let onto the train now. Anthony found it strange that Molly was not back yet.
A few more minutes passed. The train was still letting people on, and he knew that he and Molly would have to board soon or else it would be gone without them. Deciding to check on her, he got up, grabbed their bags, and looked for the nearest lady’s room. When he got there, he asked a woman nearby if she could go in and see if a girl with Molly’s name and description was inside. When she came out and told him that there wasn’t, he began to get super worried.
Perhaps they did end up getting separated after all. The train whistle blew, and he knew that he had to get on now if he was going to make it. He had faith that Molly got on the train without him like she said she would. She did have her ticket, after all.
Anthony quickly ran over to the boarding station, both bags hung over his shoulder, and showed his ticket to the staff letting people in. He was one of the last people to board, and he had to pass a lot of noisy people to get to his seat.
When he got there, he did not see Molly. Instead, there was a different woman sitting in the seat next to his. He had the window seat, so Molly should have had the one next to that where this stranger was.
“Excuse me, ma’am,” Anthony said as he sat down. “Are you sure you have the right seat?”
The woman showed him her ticket, to which he also showed her his to make sure he was also in the right seat. When they both determined that they were in the right place, Anthony began to panic.
Where was Molly?
He was about to stand up to go search the station for her, New Orleans be damned, when he felt the train jerk into motion. Looking out the window, he found that the station was beginning to slowly move by...
...and he looked on in horror as they passed Molly waving to him, still standing in the station. She did not appear to be panicked about the train leaving without her. She did not seem to care that she was not leaving with it like he was.
Looking down at Molly’s bag, Anthony began to have a bad feeling about this whole plan. Opening it up, he was shocked to find that it was filled with more food and items for him to use on the trip. The only clothes of Molly’s in it were a skirt and dress that she knew Anthony liked to wear when they were alone in their room.
On top of everything, there was a note. Unfolding it, he felt tears begin to fall down his cheeks. He tried to keep from sobbing as he read it.
Anthony,
I’m sorry for tricking you. I knew there wouldn’t be enough money for the both of us to get away easily, so I faked buying my own ticket. Promise me that you’ll be free wherever you end up and that you won’t forget about me. I’ll be careful around dad. It’ll be as fine as it can be for me here.
I’m sorry, twinsie,
Molly
Molly stayed so he could get away. He knew that it was because she was worried about what would happen to him if he was caught with another guy by the wrong people, but he didn’t care about that. He only cared about having his sister by his side, but now he didn’t have that.
She sacrificed her freedom for him.
This absolutely sucked.
Anthony wanted to jump off of the train and run back to Molly, but he knew that was impossible. They were going too fast, and somebody would stop him before he even made it to the door. There was no going back now.
Looking in Molly’s bag, he saw that there was still a little bit of money left over, but it would not last him long. He doubted if there was even enough for a room anywhere. It would be better if he saved it for when he needed to buy more food.
Digging around some more, Anthony was shocked at what he found hidden in the bag: one of his father’s hand guns. He quickly closed the bag before anybody around him could see that he was armed.
Sighing to himself, Anthony decided that he needed to take a nap. He needed to take his mind off of how alone he was now and how Molly was going back to that monster just to be sold off tomorrow. He hated to think what would happen if Henroin found out that she helped him escape.
He needed to forget about all of that for the next few hours. So, he closed his eyes, and, eventually, he fell asleep.
***
When the train arrived at its destination, Anthony exited the train as quickly as he could. He felt numb after everything that happened, but he knew that he had to get out and find somewhere to sleep before it got too dark out. He wouldn’t be able to stay inside anywhere, so he had to find a nice alley before anybody else took it.
New Orleans was a lot different than New York. Some of the streets reminded him a little of home, but every time he turned a corner expecting to somehow be back there, he was met again and again with unfamiliar buildings. He had no idea where anything was.
Eventually, Anthony found himself out of the busier part of the city. It was starting to get dark, and he knew he had to find somewhere to sleep now. He found himself near some sketchier roads, all of the buildings looking rugged as if nobody bothered to take care of them. There was another homeless man here and there, so Anthony figured this had to be as best a place he would be able to sleep that he could get.
Laying down on the hard ground away from the other people he saw set up in the alleys, Anthony began to think about home. He wouldn’t miss his father getting him up way too early to teach him how to use a gun, nor would he miss his older brother always gloating about how much better he was than him. However, he already missed Molly, and he even found himself missing the rare nice moment he had with his mom too.
New York was so far away now, and Anthony didn’t know whether he valued his freedom or if he’d rather be sleeping in the bed next to Molly’s again.