WHERE IT ALL BEGAN

She snuggled into my arms as the smell of her shampoo filled my nostrils.

Underneath the sheets, we were only clad in underwear, and I moved close to her, only stopping because she didn't let me come any closer. “I'm on my period, love.” She whispered, and I was content to simply hold her to myself.

We had only been married for two weeks, and slipping the ring upon her finger was easily the best decision of my life, at least until I remembered the fact that we still hadn't made love in all that time, only restricting ourselves to quick lip kisses and night long cuddles.

I suspected she was shy, and I was trying to be patient with her too. We had a lifetime to be with one another after all, and two weeks seemed fair for me to keep waiting.

From the living room, the sound of breaking glass reached my ears and made me jump out of the bed in alarm, looking for a weapon against the intruder as my wife stared wide eyed at me.

“I'll protect you, sweetheart. I swear to God.” I said when I leaned close to her, putting a hand on her cheek to assure her that all was under control.

As I stood on my feet, my eyes fell upon an old, blunt sword that I hung on the wall as a part of my antique collection and I darted across our small bedroom to get it when our door was kicked open. Thankfully, the sword was in my hand, and I jumped back to attack, cutting through the air without a second thought and with all the force I could muster as the blunt edge went into flesh, and a yell greeted my ears.

A man crashed to the ground before me, and I would have rested if there were not others dressed like him, all big, muscular men clad in suits and wearing sunglasses.

Behind them all stood two easily recognisable faces.

One was the face of my father-in-law and the biggest estate owner in our city, Jacob Alves, and the other was our city's most powerful Mafia leader, Al Mancini. The both were well-known faces, but seeing them together in the small, humble abode I called home for myself and his daughter and at this ungodly hour disillusioned me.

What were they doing here?

A tough blow to the side of my face did three things at once — sent myself and my weapon crashing to the floor, took me out and then brought me back to my senses.

“Throw that piece of metal away,” Mancini spat as he lit a cigarette. “It won't do a thing against us.”

“Deb-Debbie… Run,” I yelled, and I saw the whir of her form as she jumped off the bed and then ran past me. I was thankful that she was smart enough to escape, and I would do whatever I could to hold them back and make sure they didn't chase after her.

Then she ran in the wrong direction…

She was running towards the men, instead of away from them.

I opened my mouth to tell Debbie to run elsewhere, but she was running into Mancini's arms excitedly, while my eyes watched in disbelief. If I was refusing to think that it was real up until then, it was their kiss that hit me harder than the punch that greeted me earlier.

It was long and lasting, so much so that it could have lasted a minute, which was a minute of torment for me, realising that she hadn't ever even kissed me like that. When he let her go, my father-in-law was smiling at both of them.

“Thank you for coming, Father.” Debbie squealed excitedly, going to hug her father.

“Do you love Mancini so much… that you rushed to his arms before coming to me?” He asked.

“I saw him first, Dad.” She continued.

My eyes went about, from the five men — including the one whom I hit the sword and who was also holding the shoulder I hit, to Debbie and her father laughing as though they were at a reunion, and they finally rested upon Mancini, an evil grin upon his face as the gold necklace resting on his neck glittered in my poorly lit bedroom.

He was staring straight at me, until he took his attention from me and started to look around.

“Paint falling off, cracks in the walls, so small that it's cramped up with shelves on the walls… You must have thought that marrying Debbie Alves could give you the money to get you away from all of this.” He spoke, waving a derisive hand about the room while drawing in his cigarette. “You dream a fool's dreams.”

That wasn't true, I thought. I married Debbie because she was Debbie, a girl I liked when we met in my final year of college.

“I've even seen a rat in this room.” Debbie's voice rang out, and it hurt me that she of all people should say such. I knew of the rats, and took caution to lay traps before she moved in, but there was one persistent, surviving one, the biggest of them all.

All of them laughed, including the five men, and I felt more humiliated than I'd been all my life.

Mancini took two steps forward and then sent a kick into my side that made me reel from the pain it caused, and at this the five others started to punch and kick me. The raining blows felt like they were coming from everywhere, and I could not tell where the next one was coming from. There was only pain, pain, and more pain.

After what felt like forever, they stopped before lifting me up roughly. My body shook terribly out of pain and I would have fallen backwards if one of them did not hold me up. My mouth filled with some warm liquid that had a metallic taste and something solid and hard, both of which turned out to be blood and a broken tooth when I spat them out.

Before me, Mancini was holding a white piece of paper.

“This was all an arrangement, you see. Debbie Alves only married you because we needed you for our own purpose, and you are now useless to us. Now sign the divorce papers.”