Corrupt

The narration switches to Michael’s point of view.

Michael watches Rika flee but knows she won’t go far. Kai wants to go retrieve her, but Michael tells him not to go. He reminds the guys that, if she doesn’t return, they will have to accept the money as their revenge and move on with their lives. Michael realizes that he doesn’t want Rika to come back, because he doesn’t want to share her with his friends.

Michael goes to the kitchen to check on a bleeding and injured Damon. He hears Will taunting Rika over the house’s intercom. Rika snaps back at Will. Damon is furious, and he and Michael begin to argue. Damon doesn’t understand why Michael is involved with their revenge plot, since he didn’t go to prison like the rest of them. Michael argues that he suffered too. Michael orders Will to go retrieve Rika, but she is already walking into the house.

Rika comes into the kitchen and asks where her mother is. She tells the guys that she is not afraid of them. They tell her they will give her the answers if she submits to them and confesses to sending them to prison. Rika says she is not sorry they went to prison because their terrible actions were caught on tape. Michael reflects on how his friends got arrested: Videos of their exploits were uploaded onto the internet the night after Devil’s Night. Will, Kai, and Damon’s faces were on camera, leading them to be arrested for various crimes. They assumed Rika uploaded the videos because she was upset about Michael rejecting her. Furious, Rika attacks Will. As Michael goes to help Rika because he cannot bear to hurt her anymore, Kai accuses him of choosing her over them. Rika angrily asks if they typically kidnap their friends for fun, which causes Michael to ask what she is talking about.

The narration flashes back to three years earlier and returns to Rika’s point of view.

Rika begins to run out of the warehouse. The guys have left, so she grabs her sweatshirt from the booth and runs out. She reaches into her pocket and realizes she actually has Will’s sweatshirt because his phone is in the pocket. As Rika leaves, she contemplates how close she came to having Michael romantically.

Suddenly, Michael’s car pulls up next to her, and Damon tells her to get in. She gets in, noticing that Kai is in the front seat in a mask. Damon tries to ask her questions about her relationship with Michael, but she ignores him. Damon drives past Rika’s house, prompting her to ask Kai what’s going on. The car locks click. Damon tells her that when a girl joins a gang she can be initiated through a beating or sexual assault. They pull Rika out of the car as she pleads for them to let her go. Damon begins to kiss her and then throws her to Kai, who tosses her on the ground. Will’s cell phone falls out of her pocket. Kai climbs on top of her and says, “The devil always has my back” (320). Before Kai can go further, Damon stops him. He tells Rika to leave them alone and never bother them again, and Rika runs off into the woods.

The narration returns to the present.

After hearing her story, Michael accuses Rika of lying, saying Kai was with him. Rika realizes that they think she posted the videos in revenge for the night. Michael accuses her of having Will’s phone, and she explains that it fell out of her pocket in the field. Rika repeats the story, insisting that Kai was there and said, “The devil always has my back” (323), something that Kai vehemently denies. Suddenly, Michael remembers hearing those words from his father, and he realizes it was Trevor in the mask, not Kai. They begin to piece together what happened that night: Trevor wore Kai’s mask to trick Rika and then stole the phone when it fell out. Damon, realizing he has been caught, lashes out at Rika, causing Michael to physically attack him. Rika tries to leave the house, but Michael won’t let her. Instead, he tells Damon to leave.

Michael asks if Rika is okay, but she angrily rebuffs him, feeling like what has happened is unforgivable. Rika asks where her mother is and learns she is in a rehab facility in California. He then tells her that he changed the numbers in her phone to call a fake phone, which is why she hasn’t been able to get ahold of anyone. Will, Kai, and Michael explain why they were so sure it was her: Michael saw Will’s sweatshirt hanging in the kitchen the morning the videos were uploaded. Rika reiterates that she wants to leave, but Michael says she cannot. Michael, Kai, and Will decide to drink to forget the night, and Rika angrily retreats to her room.

Rika takes a shower and thinks about the night’s events. While she is furious at the guys, she is proud of herself for fighting back. When Rika gets out of the shower, she hears music. She realizes Michael, Will, and Kai have decided to throw a party. Furious, she goes to confront Michael on the basketball court. She berates the guys for their actions and demands that they let her speak to her mother tomorrow, hire a contractor to fix her home, and give her her money back. Michael says that they were going to, but he’s curious about what will happen if they don’t. Rika says she knows where Trevor hid the phone, and she will withhold that information. Michael, frustrated that Rika has the upper hand, pulls a girl onto his lap and instructs Rika to go to bed.

Rika goes to her bedroom, and Kai comes to see her. He apologizes for what has happened and admits he doesn’t know who he is anymore. He reveals that prison forced him to see how ugly the world is, and he’ll do anything to avoid going back there. He admits that he has not had sex since leaving prison. He tells Rika that Michael came up with the plan to seek revenge so it would give his friends something to focus on in prison.

Michael comes in, and Kai leaves. He tries to make up with Rika, but she tells him to get out. Michael begins to kiss Rika, and, to frustrate him, she moans other men’s names as he does. Furious, Michael goes in search of another woman to have sex with. To prevent Rika from hooking up with another guy at the party, he announces to everyone that Rika is “Horsemen property,” (343) and they should not touch her. Rika spots Alex and asks her how much she charges her female clients.

The narration switches to Michael’s point of view.

Michael realizes he doesn’t want to sleep with any other woman at the party. He begins to worry that he’s gone too far with Rika and that she won’t want to be with him. Rika comes outside and asks Michael to confirm that he said she couldn’t touch any other men at the party. He sees her go back inside with Alex and head upstairs to her room. Realizing that Rika plans to have sex with Alex, Michael charges after her. Michael finds Rika and Alex making out. Michael orders Alex to leave and then pulls Rika toward Trevor’s bedroom.

Michael tells Rika to get in the bed, and she begins to cry, asking him why he’s doing this. Michael tells her he likes to hurt himself, and he needs to see her in Trevor’s bed to know what he’s been missing. Rika asks if they are going to have sex and begins masturbating. Michael begins to digitally penetrate her but stops to ask her to promise she’ll never say no or withhold herself from him. She promises as long as he sexually satisfies her. They begin to have sex. When they finish, she tells him she still doesn’t forgive him for what’s happened, but she can’t say no to him.

Michael flashes back to the day the videos were posted. He remembers waking up drunk with Kai and then seeing images of Will, Kai, and Damon on his phone. Soon the police came for Kai, and Michael was left feeling like everything was his fault.

Michael returns to the present. He wakes up next to Rika and then begins to make plans to help her get in touch with her mother and find a new lawyer to manage her estate. He makes sure all her money is returned to her accounts.

Later, he discusses what to do next with Will and Kai. Will wants to go after Trevor, but Michael isn’t ready. Rika joins them for breakfast. Will argues that Michael is only holding back from attacking Trevor because of Rika, and Rika argues that she wants nothing to do with the situation. Rika leaves to call her mother, but Michael soon sees her sneaking out with Alex. Kai and Michael discuss how Michael might have met his match with Rika, and Kai encourages him to be in a relationship with her before someone else—maybe even him—is.