Favorable (Jamilton)

25. Maria

"We can't just leave him down there, James! Someone's going to notice!" Maria practically shouted at her boyfriend. "It's cruel, he didn't do anything to any of us." 

James turned around to face her instead of trying to walk away. "Someone's going to notice if you don't keep your mouth shut. King thinks he did something, so he did. That's that, Lewis. Drop it." 

"But he didn't--" 

"I said drop it!" Reynolds swung his arm back, smiling sickly when she blocked her face. "What is it that you tell the new members? 'You agreed to be here'? That goes for you too, you agreed to be here and you knew what that meant for you and for everyone involved."

Maria sighed and nodded. She agreed to be there and she had to deal with those consequences, even if it meant waiting for the day when they finally got shut down and sent to jail. People like their 'visitor' in the basement didn't deserve what was happening and, no matter what their slogan was, the organization wasn't helping anyone. 

Sure, it got people jobs, but if you ask the poor sap in the basement, he'd disagree heavily with feeling helped. 

"What if someone goes to the police? What are you going to do then?" 

James rolled his eyes and wrapped his arms around Maria's waste, forcing her closer to him. 

"Oh please, Mari, like the cops'll do anything. King's got what he needs to keep this thing floating, and you should really not question that. Not after all he's done for you, don't be selfish."

Maria only nodded again, trying to end the conversation before anything else happened. 

"Why don't we go back to the apartment, huh? Have some fun?" 

Maria pushed away, surprised when he actually let her. "You go, King probably needs me to do a few things for him first." 

Reynolds nodded before walking away. He didn't seem happy about it, but really there was no way to tell if she was telling the truth. King hated nothing more than to be questioned. 

Maria watched as left the room and listened to his footsteps recede down the stairs until finally a door opened and slammed shut. She quickly darted out of the room, peaking into all the other ones to make sure everyone else was either gone or asleep. Luckily for her, they were. 

She made her way into the kitchen and threw together a plate of things that King wouldn't know were missing and a glass of fresh water. She went to the cellar door, which was a removable piece of a wall in a closet covering an actual door, stopping only to think of how she could open it without any hands. Before she had any time to act on any of her bad ideas, a hand reached from behind to help.

Maria spun around, almost knocking everything out of her own hands in the process. She was dreading seeing Adams or King or even James standing behind her, instead, she saw a confused smile on the surprisingly handsome face of John Andre. She realized then that she knew too many Johns. 

"I just-- I can't just leave him down there for who knows how long with no food or water, it isn't right," she reasoned, trying her best to be as confident as possible. Andre was one of the newer members, so really she didn't have much to be afraid of, but being the only girl in the entire set up and spending the night with all of the men of the operation. . . Let's just say, she didn't have many fond memories to look back on since joining the organization. 

"I understand," he replied, taking the tray from her hands. He gestured down the dark stairs, careful to move the door as quickly as possible to avoid the squeaking. "It does seem a bit harsh to keep him locked up down here."