Frankie felt a few tears fall down her cheeks, but she quickly wiped them away, not wanting to cry, no, she couldn’t. She closed her eyes and tried to calm herself down, she wasn’t supposed to be an emotional wreck, she was supposed to get her stuff and go, this wasn’t supposed to happen. She brought her knees up to her chest and shook her head. “I’m already in trouble for lying to him once tonight,” she whispered. “I…I’m terrified to see what he’ll do if I leave too,” she whispered. “He…he could make it so much worse for me…”
“Please, Frankie, I’ll protect you. Vince won’t do anything to me.” Arlene was convinced that though he may try, nothing he threw to her would really hurt. She had a thick skin, plus she was new, so who really knew? He might be willing to give Arlene a warning. “There are people out there who would protect you other than me too. Your dad has bodyguards too, so he’d have them around you 24/7. Franks, he can’t do much damage when there are so many people up against him.”