The old quarry was the one place in Cinderhollow where no one came looking for me.
I went there after my smokehouse shift with my burned hand wrapped in a rag.
The logging job up north was still two hundred eleven days away, and I counted them like coins.
I started slow because my right palm screamed under the rag.
Then I hit the old post with my left hand until my knuckles split.
Each hit pushed the smokehouse out of my head and reminded me I was more than Sabine's sister.
I smelled him before I saw him, woodsmoke and clean sweat.
Ansel stood at the top of the quarry road with his hands in his jacket pockets.
Ansel: Don't stop on my account.
My stomach dropped.
Attention from Ansel was a bill I could not pay, and Sabine had already burned me for one look.
Ansel: I said don't stop.
Boots crunched on gravel behind me. Nash and Dov came down the quarry path with their work coats open.
Nash: Well. The smokehouse bitch is playing warrior.
Dov: Sabine said you been sneaking out here.
I let my shoulders drop and made my voice small, because that was the trick that kept me alive.
Liora: I was just getting air.
Nash: Fuck that. You were fighting, and Sabine wants to know why.
Nash grabbed my wrapped hand and squeezed until pain shot up to my elbow.
Nash: You think you're better than us?
Dov: She don't think. That's the problem.
I could take them. I had known that for years.
But Ansel was watching, and every witness made Sabine more dangerous.
Then Nash twisted my wrist, and something in me snapped.
I broke Nash's grip with my left hand and hit him in the throat.
Not hard enough to kill. Hard enough to shut him up.
Nash: You crazy bitch.
Dov came at me from the side, so I stepped into him and threw him over my hip.
His back hit the quarry floor with a flat crack.
Nash swung at my head. I ducked, caught his arm, and put him down beside Dov.
My burned hand throbbed when I landed the last hit, but I did not stop.
For a moment the quarry was quiet except for their breathing.
Ansel walked down the path slow, and he did not look at Nash or Dov.
Ansel: Leave. Now.
Nash: You put your hands on me again, and I'll break your fucking wrist.
Dov: Sabine's gonna hear about this.
They limped off, and I felt the cost start to climb.
Ansel turned to me and stood close enough that I could see the dirt on his boots.
Ansel: You beat two pack fighters in under a minute.
Ansel: Why do you hide how good you are?
His eyes stayed on my face, and my skin went hot and then cold.
Liora: I don't know what you mean.
Ansel: Bullshit. I've watched you pull every punch for months.
I wanted to tell him that Sabine would hurt anyone who saw me as a threat.
Liora: Because being good gets people hurt.
Ansel: Who?
I did not answer, because the answer had a name.
I picked up my rag and walked away with my heart pounding.