The Westbrook Games

The one that was left behind

James

James watched as his cousin settled back in her seat without asking further questions about what she had just agreed to or what consequences were attached to them . 

When she had even signed the papers , James had expected her to protest when she read the clause on bodily harm or loss of body parts but she had just read through and signed , she had asked James no questions when he had been prepared to practically dish out answers .

He sighed , he was in no place to be showing empathy , especially after getting his poor cousin to sign it .

He had not approached his cousin out of the goodness of his heart .

He knew why he had come for Clay .

Clay was his only chance of getting Westbrook if he wanted to ever do .

The car stopped moving and the partition came down .

Saul's voice came through the small Telecom device .

" This is the stop the child asks to be let down", he announced .

James watched as his cousin's eyes lazily opened , her eyes shocking him again .

It was like looking into a mirror ,an effeminate mirror but still one .

It was a shabby and very cynical mirror but it still gave off a reflection .

" Stay with your sister tonight but the game commences by exactly twelve midnight , I will be here before then to get you ", He planned with Clay .

James hoped vaguely that he would ask at least one question but She only nodded and opened the door , alighting Immediately .

James watched her button the weird suit before leaving .

The car moved immediately and Saul put on music , one of the classical pieces that James pretended to know about .

He watched Saul's reflection from the rear - view mirror , his face had a silent reproach to it .

" What ? You disagree with me ? " , he bellowed .

James laughed bitterly , Of course he did .

Saul had been one of his Uncle's trusted helps in the family , his mum had hated how she had not been able to turn him over to her aid when her brother had left. 

" You should not have brought David kids into this , it's not your place ", He insists.

James scoffed.

Kids ?

He shouldn't have brought them into it ?

Was everyone forgetting that he was a kid too ?

That he was even younger than Clay ?

Yet he had been brought into it .

" Just drive ", he snapped .

He reclined back into his chair , feeling saul's pitiful eyes on him.

Whatever happened , he would take care of the sister's heart because regardless of how the game turned out , if Clay won or not , she would still die .

No sub - player could ever leave the game alive.

CLAY

Jade was silent as they took the stairs to their apartment , she had expected her to be full of questions .

Clay watched her walk ahead , she knew she was waiting for her to tell her what had gone on in the car that she had not been privy of .

She pushed the key into the lock and used her weight to push the door open .

Clay quickened her steps and walked into their apartment , she closed the door after her self .

Jafe was at the sink , drinking directly from the tap like she always did .

She had warned her severally and only stopped when she had also caught her severally .

She jumped off the stool she had used to prop herself up and walked to their closet .

She went to the sink too and drank to her fill , when she turned around Jade was seated on their bed staring at her  

" I can't pretend anymore , what did you guys discuss without me ? It's obviously something  underhanded and dubious ".

Clay propped herself and pulled herself to sit on the kitchens countertop .

" You weren't even doing a good job of pretending but you are right , it does sound dubious ".

Clay wondered how much information she could give her before she figured out just what she was going to do.

Well, she could tell her it was a kind of job .

" What is it ? It's definitely not a job ".

Clay watched her job idea slide down the countertop and Into the sink before going down the drain .

" You're right , it's not a job . But, it does require me to be gone for sometime ".

She watched as her sister processed this tidbit of information .

She lifted her legs and placed them under her chin , wrapping her hands around her entire body .

" How long will you be gone for ?"

" Seven days ".

Clay could not bring himself to tell her that the seven days would begin count in a few hours.

She nodded gently .

" Seven days is enough time , a day for testing and cross checking any loop holes , another day for preparation . The third day would be for the actual transplant and then the remaining four days would be used to monitor how well the new organ adapts ".

Clay watched her sister ramble as she counted fingers .

" What are you talking about ? "

She lifted her head to face her sharply .

" Isn't that what he came to you for ? He needs something , an organ , bone marrow or even  more and you agreed to get me a heart , didn't you ? "

Jade was screaming now .

Clay jumped off the countertop and ran to the bed , she lifted Jade and threw her in the air , heights always made her let go of her anger momentarily .

She yelped and put her hand over her eyes .

" Put me down ".

She did as she said and put her down exactly where she had carried her from , she sat next to her .

" I know how you feel about becoming healthy only to find that I've become uhealthy , so I won't do anything that endangers me ".

She threw herself into her arms and Clay brought her arms around her after the ache from suddenly throwing her had subsided .

She was quiet about it ,but her shirt had grown wet .

Clay patted her hair down remembering a week ago when she had put her hair up into an extravagant twist and asked that she do a video for her tiktok with her , she had of course refused and she had done it with Tommy , it was Tommy's phone after all. 

" Everything will be okay , I'll be back in seven days time and we'll go straight to the hospital to put your name on the list . With money like that , we'll find a suitable replacement fast and in a months time , this will all be a bad dream ".

Jade lifted her tear stricken face from her chest , her heart broke more .

" W...what do you mean in seven days time ?" Jade asked .

Ahhh , she had messed up.

She mentally scrambled , looking for how to salvage that but she could not think of anything to say to her .

" You're leaving tomorrow ? You're actually leaving tomorrow ? "

Clay remained quiet and Jade pushed herself off her , burrowing into the blankets , scoffing unbelievably at Clay .

Clay let her be , she knew when her sister wanted to be left alone .

Now , how was she supposed to tell her that she was leaving tonight?

Clay stood up and headed back to the kitchen where she gathered ingredients for a large serving of lasagna .

She cooked and baked , turning every emotion she was feeling into an ingredient for all of the dishes she was making .

She had checked on Jade and found her asleep .

Sometimes around nine , she was finally done with cooking and stared at all that she had made .

She had made a large serving of lasagna , enough for Tommy and Jay to reheat for two or three days .

Enough chocolate chip cookies for Jade to eat when she read or studied her calculus.

She had made a small bowl of salad too , Jay liked her vegetables fresh .

And finally a medium sized apple pie.

It was safe to say that Clay had utilized every single food ingredient in the house .

She piled them together and sealed them , stacking them in a huge picnic basket .

She carried them over to the next apartment ,she knocked severally and got no reply .

She finally let himself in.

The place was .....clean for the first time in a really long time.

Not your regular clean but clean by Tommy's standards .

She threaded carefully and found him in him room , asleep on the floor .

"Tommy ? "

He rolled around to face her , he was sweating profusely .

Clay dropped to the floor and touched him .

" What's wrong ? "

His eyes were glassy , he had been crying .

" I missed my baby's visitation ".

Tommy had a kid that he had lost custody to , he now stayed with his other dad.

Everytime something happened with the kid , Tommy drank more .

The kid being away from him somehow made him worse.

" I need to get clean , I need to get clean to contest the sole custody . I want my baby with me too", Tommy wailed. 

He sat up and wiped his face.

" What brings ya by boo ? " , he asked .

He looked from her to the large basket behind her , looking at them for a while .

" I got a job ", Clay offered to him .

He studied her face .

" You do not seem too happy 'about that ", he observed .

Clay chuckled.

" No shit ".

" You want me to watch Jade while you working ?" , he asked .

" Yes , I am going to be gone a while ", Clay stated .

She expected him to ask questions but he only smiled.

" More time with your brat of a sister but it is all good, no better way to get sober than a kid high on power screaming insults at ya ", he proclaimed , her eyes lighting up as she laughed fondly over the memory .

Clay laughed at this.

" She's asleep now but I will be gone when she wakes up".

Tommy nodded and took her hand in his .

" Be safe beautiful ".

Clay stood up and left the apartment .

She returned to their apartment and got a pen and paper.

She wrote down everything she had figured out about the game and everything she wanted to tell her .

Told her where she kept emergency cash Incase she needed it and folded the letter .

She added her copy of the contract to the letter and placed the both under the picture of their parents .

In a few days when she missed their parents , she would find it .

Clay watched her from the entrance of their apartment , she was scared that if she moved close enough, she would wake up and she would chicken out .

But she honestly could not .

So , she stepped out and closed the door behind her .

She covered her head with her hoodie and jogged down to where she was supposed to meet James .