Rodney could barely sleep that night as he thought of his predicament. By morning, he had not yet made a decision. He woke up before Lilly and went off to work, hoping he would figure out something while there. He supervised the premises and the workers, glad that everything was going well. He checked on those he had left in charge. An hour later, Lilly arrived. She did not seem very happy to see him. He was in assistant manager’s office when she arrived and headed straight to her office.Seeing that she was not very happy, Rodney decided to go and check on her. “What do you want?” she asked.“What’s wrong?”“I was so such a fool to believe in you,” she said. “If only I had taken more precaution, we wouldn’t be in this awkward situation.”“Which awkward situation?” Rodney asked, feeling confused. He didn’t understand why Lilly was speaking like that.“I thought you’d be happy, but my poor fatherless child will have to live knowing that his father wasn’t pleased to hear that he’d been
Rodney thought all was gone, but when Lilly returned in the evening, she seemed calmer. He was in the bedroom, staring at photos of him and his late mother when she walked in. he expected a rude comment, or even an insult but she just came and sat next to him. She placed her head on his shoulder.“I’m sorry, I’m just really emotional right now and I didn’t know how to deal with everything.”“You don’t have to be sorry for anything,” he told her. “You’re in this mess because of me.”“I wouldn’t want to be in a kind of mess like this with anyone else,” she said. “Ever since I met you, my life has been great. You brought light and joy into my life, things that had been missing for a very long time. I was just existing, dead inside, but you made me feel alive again. i have been thinking and I know you’re right. Something needs to be done about Alberto. None of us will ever be safe while he roams free.”Rodney turned and hugged her. Warmth and joyful emotion spread all over him. “I love yo
The next morning, Rodney arrived in Los Angeles. His uncle picked him up and took him to the house. When he stepped in, he came face to face with Rodrigo. Rodrigo groaned. “What is this idiot doing here again?” “Who are you calling an idiot?” “You,” Rodrigo said, taking steps closer to Rodney. Rodney stared back at his brother, meeting his intimidating stare. A few months back, he would have felt scared, but he did not feel that way anymore. He had become stronger and felt that he could fight back. “I’m tired of seeing your face around here. I don’t even know why you would show up when there’s nothing here for you. No one wants to see you.” “Don’t talk to your brother like that, Rodrigo.” Their uncle said. Rodrigo raised his brows and glared at his uncle. “Look, who’s speaking. The mooching uncle who lives off my father’s hard work.” His uncle turned and grabbed Rodrigo by the neck. Rodrigo looked very uncomfortable. When he tried to pry his uncle’s hands off, they became tighte
When he entered the market, he stuffed the gun into his pants the way he had seen Alberto do it and slowed down while looking around for a hiding place. He spotted a young woman at a piñata and flower stall and went for it. When he got to where she was, he quickly pulled out a gun and went to the space in between the flowers. The girl was too scared to say anything.He found a tiny space in between the flowers and looked at the route he’d used to enter the market. There were two burly shifty looking guys making their way inside. They scanned the place while moving.“He went over there,” a skinny lad pointed to a corner of the market which had an exit. Rodney felt relieved when they started going there. He wasn’t worried because he knew that Rodrigo could take care of himself. Rodrigo was, after all, Alberto Roco’s true son. He was the one that would follow in his father’s footsteps.After some minutes, Rodney hid the gun and decided to come out. He was sure those men did not know him.
Emilia’s skin was very pale and her eyes looked sunken. Her left cheek was covered with a bandage. Maybe he imagined it but Rodney thought he saw a hint of a smile covering up her features.“Hey,” she said. Her voice was low. She was understandably weak.Rodney didn’t know what else to say to her. He didn’t understand why he had decided to come and check on her when she clearly hated him.“Thank you for coming,” Emilia said.Rodney nodded. “I’m glad that you survived the attack. We were attacked as well.”Emilia smiled. “Thank you. How is Lyra holding up?”“I was not able to see her,” Rodney confessed. “I’d just arrived when we were told about the attack on you.”Emilia looked like she was struggling to keep her eyes open.“I’ll just sit here,” Rodney said. “It looks like you need to rest.”Emilia nodded, and Rodney went to sit on the couch that was pushed up against the wall. He glanced at the man standing guard. There were two guards outside the door and one inside. Rodney didn’t un
Later that day, Octavio came home. Octavio was Rodney’s cousin who had warned him about Alberto when he first arrived at the mansion. Octavio went to Emilia’s room and was in there for a long time. When he came out, he went to the living room and started to drink. Rodney decided to join him.“Emilia told me you were around,” Octavio said.“Yeah.”“I don’t believe that you’re only here for the little girl,” he said, taking a long sip of his beer. “What do you think I’m here for?”Octavio stood up and looked around. “Let’s go outside and talk if you want.”“Okay,” Rodney said without questioning the rationale behind it. It was possible that there were recording devices here and there. For Alberto Roco to evade capture like that, he had to be very cautious. Rodney was pretty sure the man did not trust his own family.“What is it?” Rodney asked Octavio when they were outside.Octavio stood near a tree trunk, placing his leg on it. “You hate Alberto, and you wish you could do something to
“Get out,” the man seated with Rodney at the back pulled out his blindfold. Rodney opened his eyes and stared up at the imposing building in front of him. It was a large, gray concrete structure, with bars on the windows and a wall fence surrounding the perimeter.He opened the door and stepped out. Octavio who had been at the front also got out with the driver. They were at the headquarters of the most notorious drug lord in the city, his own father.The place said a lot about the man. Rodney knew that anyone who crossed his father would most likely never be seen again. Octavio had told him stories of ruthless violence and ruthless retribution, of bodies left in the streets and families torn apart. Rodney knew he was treading on dangerous ground but he had accepted to join the business so that he could take out Alberto from the inside. He could not get any information if he returned to New York and Alberto would continue to harm people and destroy their lives.But despite his fear, R
Rodney and Octavio spent the night at the big house. Thankfully, Alberto had left soon after they arrived so Rodney had not had the misfortune of running into him. There were about thirty guys living in the large two storied building. Most of the room upstairs were bedrooms, some with bunk beds. The ground floor was filled with loaded boxes and packages and the basement was basically a drug factory. Drugs were being produced, weighed and packaged there. There men working there seemed to never stop working and they were guarded by people with guns at all time.Phones were not allowed for people except the top guys, the gun wielding ones. They did not have some phones but button phones for only calls and messages. Octavio’s and Rodney’s had been confiscated before they even got into the car. The men had also ensured that the boys did not get to know where they were. Rodney could see that the security was tight and it was going to be hard for him to reach his goals. Still, he decided to