Two

                                    

                                          
More armed men entered the room. After them came a tall man with dark hair pulled back into a ponytail.
                          
"Stay on the floor where you are until we tell you to move" The blond man said.
                          
One of the men walked around the room with a picture of a blond haired kid. When he saw Shmem, he looked confused. She guessed it was because she was the only girl in the room.
                          
"They're looking for Donoghue." Billy said. Shmem didn't know who they were talking about or what was going on.
                          
This can't be happening. It isn't happening. I'll wake up soon and this all will just be a dream. I'll wake up safe and sound in my bed and realize that this never actually happened.
                          
But of course, it wasn't a dream. 
                          
After sitting on the ground for a while, the tall man with the ponytail came back into the room.
                          
"All the boys, get up and go stand over there." He said pointing to one side of the room.
                          
"Stay behind me." Joey whispered to Shmem.
                          
They got up and Joey shielded her as best as he could. If the men were going to do anything, he didn't want her to get hurt.
                          
Once they all gathered where they were supposed to, the man called out a name.
                          
"Anderson, Robert?" the man asked. No one answered. "ANDERSON, ROBERT!" He yelled.
                          
"Here" a boy said quietly.
                          
The man walked up to him and asked him a question about his father. The boy replied, "Yes sir" and man walked away.
                          
"Bradberry, Jonathan?"
                          
Snuffy slowly walked towards the man.
                          
"Your father is Steven Bradberry...chairman of the First Empire Bank of New York?"
                          
"Yes" Snuffy answered.
                          
"...and Vice chairman of the Republican Party?"
                          
"Yes"
                          
The man walked away and Snuffy hurried back into the crowd.
                          
"Giles, Henry III." The man called out.
                          
"Yes" Hank spoke loud and clearly.
                          
"Come here, Giles."
                          
Hank stepped forward.
                          
"Your father is Representative Henry Giles Jr.?"
                          
"Yes"
                          
"...chairman of the Armed Services Committee?"
                          
"Yes"
                          
"Trotta, Joseph."
                          
Joey stepped forward.
                          
"Your father is Albert Trotta from New York City."
                          
"Yes" Joey whispered.
                          
"...the Albert Trotta?"
                          
Joey didn't say anything.
                          
"What's the matter? Not proud of your father?" The man asked him.
                          
"No" Joey said looking him in the eyes without blinking.
                          
The man looked over Joey's shoulder at Shmem.
                          
He looked confused just like the other man before and he called the blond man over. They conversed for a bit.
                          
He looked back at Shmem.
                          
"Come here please." He said.
                          
She stepped forward but Joey stopped her from going any further.
                          
"What are you doing here?" He asked.
                          
"I'm visiting a friend." She answered.
                          
"Is he your friend?" He asked nodding towards Joey.
                          
"Yes"
                          
"What's your name?"
                          
"Emily Blair" She made up the name Blair. She didn't want to give him her real last name.
                          
He wrote it down and moved on. She took a step back and hid behind Joey. 
                          
He called out Ricardo's name.
                          
"Montoya, Ricardo?" he asked.
                          
"I'm afraid. What do these men want from us? And what are they planning to do to us?" She whispered to Joey. "Don't worry. We won't let them hurt you, okay?" He said. She felt better knowing that she had Joey there.
                          
All of a sudden, the man took a gun and hit Ricardo in the leg. Ricardo fell to the floor in pain.
                          
"Hey!' Billy yelled running to Ricardo. "Hey, don't do that!" Billy yelled as the blond man stopped him and backed him up against the wall. The other guys ran over to Ricardo.
                          
The tall man walked up to Billy. "Is he a friend of yours?"  He asked.
                          
"Yes, he is." Billy answered.
                          
"Well, tell your friend he's lucky I didn't shoot him."
                          
Billy didn't say anything.
                          
"What's your name?" the man asked.
                          
"William Tepper"
                          
"William Tepper...what does your father do, William?"
                          
"He's a contractor..." Billy answered.
                          
The man flipped open Billy's file.
                          
"According to this, he owns the third largest construction company in the world."
                          
"Yeah, he's a contractor." Billy said looking up at him. He looked away and the man moved closer to him.
                          
"You're not afraid?" he whispered.
                          
"Yeah, I'm afraid." Billy said not looking at him.
                          
"Good" He said moving closer. "Don't fuck with me."
                          
He shoved Billy into the crowd and turned to the blond man. "You're right Jack. We don't need Donoghue. We can play with this." He said.