Chapter 606

Ruby left, and the others went right back to torturing Francis Coleman. He clenched his teeth, forcing himself to stay conscious. His mind raced—he had to hang in there, he needed to get what Ruby had done to Beckett. "Kid can really take a beating, huh?" One of the thugs sneered as he stomped down on Francis' fingers. "Heard he played piano since he was a kid. Look at these hands—prettier than a girl's." Francis barely kept from screaming. Everything was starting to go black. It felt like falling into an old memory—back when he and his mom were hiding out in Kingsbury, running from Stanton. "Mom, why do we keep moving? Why do I have to keep transferring schools?" He didn't understand back then. Couldn't understand why his mom was always running. "Francis, sweetheart. You're too little to get it right now." "I met a man today. He said he's my dad." "He is your dad, Francis." "Then why can't we live with him? Everyone else has a mom and dad at home." "Because I made mistakes… I took som