“Why you do that?” Chance asked Calliope.
“I took offence to being beaten with a chain,” Calliope sneered.
“Fair enough, you got a lot to pack?” Chance asked Calliope. She stared at Chance steadily.
“Who said I’m coming?”
“I did. You got family now, girl, and that’s something you want. My Clio did. She suffered similarly to you. Clio didn’t get lucky, like Thalia and Polly. Pack what you need, and let’s get out of this rat-infested shithole.” Calliope sagged under Chance’s words.
“And how do I know you won’t abandon me,” Calliope whispered, and my heart broke.
“Because you’re my twin,” Polly said fiercely.
“Because we quintuplets, and we stick together from now and forever,” I hissed. Calliope moved towards a door that must have held her bedroom.
“I don’t have a suitcase; I have little,” Calliope said, shame in her voice.
“What do you need to pack?” I asked.
“I’ve not got many clothes, and they’re second hand,” Calliope whispered, her voice almost inaudible. That must have grated to admit that, as Polly and I were dressed in expensive clothing.
“So pack a bag for one change of clothing, and tomorrow, when we arrive home, we’re going shopping,” Polly said.
“Sheesh, I don’t have the money for that,” Calliope exploded, and Polly stepped back.
“But you do, ten million dollars, in fact. That’s your inheritance,” I said, and Calliope stared at me dazed.
“What?” she said, sounding shocked. I explained about the money I’d inherited and how I planned to share it with the five of us. Calliope stared at me in disbelief.
“And that’s on condition that I come with you?” she asked.
“No! Do you have a bank account?” I asked. Calliope dubiously gave me her account number, and I logged onto my mobile banking. I knew it wouldn’t let me transfer the ten million over on it, but it let me move one hundred thousand.
“Check your account; that’s the maximum I can transfer on mobile banking. But tomorrow, I’ll move across the rest,” I said. Calliope drew an old phone from her pocket and dialled a number. She listened in disbelief as the automated voice confirmed her balance.
“I’ve never had over a thousand dollars, wow.”
“Well, you have much more. So the option is yours. Would you like to come and meet your siblings?” I asked.
“Yes,” Calliope said, hope blazing in her eyes. She scurried into the bedroom and returned with two carrier bags.
“That it?” Chance asked. Calliope nodded.
“I’ll take them; let Hellfire get the girls down safely,” Kelly said, stepping forward and taking the bags.
“Okay,” Calliope said.
“Tiny, tell the driver to come back; we’re exiting the building now,” Chance said into the phone as he opened the front door and checked it was clear. We climbed down the dirty stairs the exact way we came up. Calliope and I were surrounded by heavyset men and Polly. As we reached the ground floor, a group of men appeared, six in total, and Calliope shrank back.
“That’s One-eye,” she whispered. The man did indeed have one eye, with a patch over the other socket. He looked a nasty skanky type of man, with greasy hair and a pock-marked face.
“What’s going on?” he sneered, staring at Calliope.
“None of your fuckin’ business,” Chance snapped.
“This is my block, and that makes it my business,” One-eye snapped back.
“Fuck you, asshole, move,” Bear growled, stepping in front of me. One-eye sneered and drew a gun, and Calliope gasped.