Back to Be Mr. Green

5. Criminals

Criminals.

To be a criminal, one had to go against the rules.

The first time will make you regret it.

The second will make you think twice.

The third time might be thrilling.

But at 4th, 5th, 6th… you will stop counting anymore.

Xavier went against a rule. But he stuck at first, which is the level of regrets.

Because not all criminals were born as one. Sometimes, it happened because you had no choice.

To eat.

To live.

To survive.

Those are the essentials of life.

Therefore, when Xavier was looking at the members of the Mafia, who bowed their heads in front of him, he doubted if he was still in phase one of being a criminal.

Driving for the corpse is his first.

Killing goes for the second.

But deceiving the mafia members might be for infinite numbers. One thing is for sure, Xavier did not feel the thrill of being in this crazy situation.

‘I am the Mafia boss?’ The boss of the criminals?’ Xavier asked himself.

He wanted to shake his head and deny that this was his reality. Because ever since he came across Cesar's wife, it seems like danger always comes after another trouble. And this time, he couldn’t find a glimpse of the escape route.

‘I am freaking dead,’ he thought.

Well, for some people who saw him drink the drug, Xavier was indeed dead. Yet, for these hundreds of pairs of eyes in these halls, he is alive. AND HE IS THEIR BOSS!

“This is such great news! We really thought that you were dead, boss!”

With Lynx Fur around his shoulder, Xavier looked at the middle-aged man standing beneath the railing. The man is wearing dark brown suits, Fedora brim hat, and black leather gloves. But the oddest thing that man was wearing is the excessive smile on his face while staring at Xavier.

He looks happy but not really happy.

“We are elated to see you come back in great health,” the other man said.

Xavier stared at the other man, who had his white hair tied. He wears a monocle glass and the way he placed his hands behind his back shows what kind of person he is; a person who always goes by the book – by the rules he made.

Next, Xavier’s eyes tended to the younger guy who was in his early 30’s.

“Just where did you go, boss? We searched for you for three weeks, but we couldn’t see any dust. We all thought that you left us,” the third guy, with a huge scar on his left cheek and gold tooth, said.

Xavier didn’t know what to say. He decided to pretend as what they think he is, but since he doesn’t know their identities, he couldn’t utter a thing. He knew that if he made a mistake, they would get suspicious.

One wrong word, they might shoot him dead. It is possible because all of them have guns on their waist.

Xavier gulped as he was trying to assert the situation. According to the third guy with the scar, they looked for their boss for three weeks. But they couldn’t find him. Now, they thought that the missing boss came back because Xavier’s face resembled the real one.

‘Then, where is he? Is he really dead?’ Xavier asked inwardly while biting the flesh inside his mouth.

His hands tightened at the railings as he skimmed a look around the wide space again. He broke into a sweat and his hands began to feel clammy against the railings. He could feel his heart in his throat, as it pumped blood through his veins.

They were all waiting for his answer, and yet Xavier felt like all courage and words stuck inside him. He felt like a prey standing in front of the predators.

“Boss.”

When he heard the voice calling him from his side, he took a sharp breath. Xavier tilted his head and looked at the brown-haired guy.

“Why don’t you give a piece of encouragement to everyone? They were all waiting for you to say something,” he said.

‘A piece of encouragement?’ Xavier pondered about that. What would a Mafia boss say to encourage his members?

Xavier stood straight. He tried to mimic the arrogant posture of Cesar Fugito by lifting his chin.

When he opened his lips, everyone anticipated the first thing he would say. And that is…

“E-Everyone, cheer up,” he said as he slightly raised his fist.

As soon as he said those, the silence echoed.

Did the boss just say, ‘Cheer up’?

‘What? Is this not how the boss gave his encouragement?’ Xavier wondered as he placed his fist down.

Silence continued, and every second passed by, pushed Xavier to his edge. What to do? What to say? What to act? He was panicking. Thankfully, the brown-haired guy stepped up and saved him again.

“What the boss wanted to say is that now that he came back alive, there’s nothing to worry anymore,” the man with brown hair explained. He looked at Xavier and asked, “Right, Boss?”

Xavier slowly nodded his head and agreed, “Y-Yeah.”

After that, loud roars filled the hall. Members raised their guns while shouting, as if they gained victory. Xavier pictured it like a scene of a commander giving his speech before going to the war.

The experience of seeing hundreds of scary looking men raising their guns wasn’t something Xavier could write in his life journal.

When the shouts subsided, the man with the scar spoke again.

“That’s right! We don’t need to worry anymore! You also agree, Spade,” he said to the man wearing a hat and gloves.

“Of course, Alas,” Spade replied. “We paused a lot of activities. I am sure Clover has many things to report.”

The man with monocle glasses walked a little bit closer. He bowed his head to show respect as he looked upon Xavier.

“Boss,” Clover called. “The La Cosa Mafia Family caught some of our members. Particularly in my family, the Clover family. They were beaten and tortured to death. I think we need to get back and teach them their place.”

“And the gambling site in Lily Dale was caught by the government. We lost $4 million because of that. It’s a small amount but you should be aware of it,” Alas reported.

“Also, the new business building built in the East Unizamp street declined to pay $1 million a week for our protection. What should we do?” Clover added.

Xavier frowned while swiftly blinking his eyes.

He heard members were killed, and that they lost $4 million because the government caught their gambling site, and then they were asking money from business owners. These are activities that clearly show how dirty this organization works.

Cesar Fugito was an evil guy who killed many people. Including Xavier. But this Mafia group is way more than killing. They were doing a wide variety of illegal activities for the sake of money.

Hearing all of this, Xavier’s stomach churned.

Suddenly, all the reports he received faded one after another until he couldn’t hear a thing anymore. The loud ringing in his ears overlapped the voices.

“Everyone shut up.”

For the third time that the brown-haired guy talked, Xavier snapped out.

All noises subsided. Then a pair of eyes diverted away from Xavier’s.

He turned his head to the man beside him. Xavier wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination. But the brown-haired guy kept saving him, as if he knew that he was having trouble.

“Our boss came here to show everyone that he is alive,” he said. “However, he got into an accident last night. I don’t think it is right to bring up matters. We should prioritize getting him in good condition.”

He looked at Xavier with a smile that was only painted on his lips, but not his eyes.

“I think the boss would also agree,” he uttered while staring at Xavier.

His statement favored Xavier. So, he quickly agreed, “Yeah. I need more rest. But later, I will tend to that.”

Xavier turned around.

Breathing heavily, he walked away.

The other members of the group followed right on his tails, but Xavier raised his hand and commanded, “I want to be alone.”

All bowed their heads.

With that, he walked alone and back to the room where he woke up.

He closed the door and walked towards the window.

Xavier was catching his breath as bullets of sweat trickled down his face.

“What the hell…” he whispered, trying to process what was happening.

Last night, he was still a driver of the Fugito family. But when he woke up, he suddenly became a mafia boss!

How can he get out of this?

How about his family?

Panicking, Xavier looked outside the window. He saw men guarding around the gates of the huge mansion. Surely, escaping from here is like surviving two atomic blasts on the same day.

His hands gripped on the windowsill.

Xavier never wished for this. He only wanted to live happily with his family. But guess, heaven was never on his side.

“No. Let’s think,” he said himself while nodding his head. “There’s must be a way.”

His face changed the moment he drank the drug from the Fugito family.

‘That might be the reason why my face changed,’ he concluded.

While he was thinking about how to solve this mystery, he heard the door open and close.

Footsteps approached behind his back.

Gathering his courage as he tried to act as the boss, Xavier turned around while complaining, “I said I wanted to be alo…”

Xavier stopped complaining when he saw the brown-haired guy. Even if he couldn’t trust him, that guy unconsciously helped him a lot.

“I am sorry for disturbing your rest,” he said. “I just wanted to know if you wanted to eat something. I bet you haven’t eaten all night.”

Xavier subconsciously held his tummy.

‘Now that he mentioned it, I am feeling hungry.’

“Do you want me to bring your favorite food?”

“Favorite food?” Xavier asked.

‘I don’t know the boss’ favorite food,’ he worried.

As he does not want to make a mistake, Xavier responded, “A-Alright. Just give me the usual.”

“You mean Quina with Pork, Spaghetti squash sauteed in garlic and Stuffed Peppers with Wheat Berries?”

“Yeah. Give me those.”

The man shut his lips for a moment. When he smiled, he nodded his head and left the room without saying more.

Xavier breathed sharply.

‘Let’s think about escaping after eating. I need energy,’ Xavier said while holding his aching tummy.

He looked around the room, searching for things he could use to get out, but he found nothing. There was also no phone to contact his wife.

‘I was dying to know what happened to them, but I was caged here,’ Xavier complained as he was getting impatient.

Sitting on the bed, Xavier waited for the food. Soon, the door opened. The one who delivered them with a tray wasn’t the brown-haired guy but the young boy.

“Hi, boss! Did you wait for so long? I am sorry, the chef got into an accident and accidentally cut his finger.”

Xavier widened his eyes and held his breath.

The boy blinked his eyes and uttered, “I thought that would make you laugh.”

Xavier, then, forced himself to laugh excessively, “Ha, Ha Ha.”

Satisfied at his laughs, the boy chuckled as he put the food on the table next to the bed.

“Here, boss. Quina with Pork, Spaghetti squash sauté in garlic and Stuffed Peppers with Wheat Berries. If you want more, just call me.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

The boy blinked his eyes again as if dumbfounded.

“Boss. Since when did you learn to say, ‘thank you’?”

Xavier, then, realized that the real boss might be a hot-tempered guy. So, he quickly changed his tone and said, “Just leave me alone if you are done. You’re irritating me.”

“Now, that’s what I was waiting for,” the boy laughed while pointing at him. “I will go outside now, boss. Have a good rest.”

With the tray in his hand, the boy walked towards the door.

As soon as he walked out, he saw the brown-haired guy waiting for him in front of the door.

“Brother Gian,” the boy, Kija, called.

Holding a cigarette in his hand, Gian looked at the boy who served food to Xavier.

“What happened? Did he accept the food?” Gian asked.

“Yes. He even thanked me,” Kija answered then frowned. “But it’s odd. The boss hates foods like those. I wonder what happened to him for the past 3 weeks that even his taste buds changed.”

Gian leaned his back on the wall. Then, he lit his cigarette.

“Who knows?” he said, blowing sweet smoke into the cool air. He turned his head to Kija and smiled. “Go now. The boss needs rest.”

“Ahh, right. Just call me if the boss needs something!” Kija cheerfully left the place while holding the tray.

Gian inhaled another smoke, then exhaled with a frown. Next, he threw the cigarette on the floor and stepped on it.

“I doubt if that is what you really called ‘Taste-buds changing’. Because allergies don’t change,” he murmured before his sharp eyes went to the Boss ‘room.