CHAPTER 5: NOT MY FAMILY.
"Smack the shit out of that ungrateful moron. She's made her choice. Be happy that she chose someone like Joey," Mrs Adams said.
"Language Magdalene, language," Mr Adams cautioned his wife this time.
"Oh, whatever," Mrs Adams snorted disrespectfully at her husband. Her attention was on her favorite child, Joey.
Joey and Justin stood, glaring at each other. As face off was imminent. Justin peered hatefully at Samantha and Joey, but refrained from swinging a punch at either of them.
"Because you're all grown now, you think you can take me on? Huh? I don't need all that muscle to beat the living day light out of you," Joey snarled.
Indeed, Justin who was once little had grown up to have a moderately muscular build on his six foot body frame, which appealed to most folks who beheld him. He was a good looking young man, but he lacked the things that would make that handsomeness of his stand out from many.
Justin suddenly chuckled, shaking his head disappointedly, pursing his lips. He finally came to terms with the reality he had always known.
"So, this is what it is huh?" You all- You all turned on me, even when you know the truth?" Justin began speaking, sniffing in, pulling himself together.
"And you, you of all people Samantha, you. God! How could I have been so naive, when I saw the signs clearly, all those vacations I brought you here? I thought you loved me the way I loved you. Hmm... But it's cool."
"Quit the whining boy. This is life, and it is always unfair to the weak," Mrs Adams said. Justin sighed, calming himself down.
"Thank you for doing whatever you did for me, from the kindness of your cold heart. Adios familia," Justin said, walking upstairs to get his bag.
Joey snorted, saying, "Pathetic."
Returning down, he Mrs Adams speak up, saying, "We were never family." Justin halted hearing that, as he got to the front door.
"Never family huh?" he scoffed. Turning to look at them one more time, he smiled, and walked out the door.
He heard the door open and closed and a voice calling his name. Turning around, he saw it was Geoffrey. He ran and hugged him, sobbing.
"Don't go. Please, don't go," Geoffrey cried.
"Hey hey buddy. Don't cry. Handsome boys like you shouldn't cry. What if a girl's passing here right now? And sees you like this, hmm?" Justin tried to console him.
"Why are they all being so mean to you?" Geoffrey innocently asked. Justin didn't know the right answer to give the young boy. He just hugged him tightly, fighting back tears.
"Where will you go?" Geoffrey asked.
"Well, I've got a place at SJC. I'll be there," he replied. "We'll always be a team, okay? Nothing's going to change that. Okay?"
Geoffrey nodded, still sobbing. Justin patted his head and walked away from him. Geoffrey stood there crying. Buy Justin had to harden his heart not to yield to the child's tearful plea.
Gritting his teeth, he walked away from the folks he once held in his heart as family. But not anymore.
Justin went to the bus station to see if he could get a bus back to where he came from, but there no bus available. It was already late. So, he had to book for the next day.
He went to a near by motel by the bus station and got a room to rest for the night. He hadn't had his bath even, after the hectic road journey he had embarked on earlier that day.
In his room, he found that the motel had a tub in the bathroom. So, he had it filled with hot water. Taking off his clothes, he got in, gently placing a bottle of beer he had bought beside the tub.
"Mmm..." Justin's voice trailed off, moaning. The warmth of the water was soothing. He needed it to release the pent up tension within him.
He laid in there, as hurtful memories at the Adams' residence replayed in his head.
"I'll never be the one to suffer such a rejection again. Never!" Justin resolved in his heart, with a tear managing to escape and roll down his cheeks. He wiped it off and gulped down the beer he kept beside him on the floor.
_________
Back at the Adams' residence, they were done eating, and had cleared the table. Except Geoffrey, who ran to his room and locked his door behind him, crying profusely in his room.
"Aren't you going to check on Geoffrey? He didn't finish his meal," Mr Adams asked Magdalene.
"He's your son as well. Why don't you go check on him? Besides, as long as he's crying over that moron, he can cry himself a river, and drown in it for all I care," Mrs Adams replied, totally unconcerned.
Mr Adams stood up quietly and headed upstairs to go check on Geoffrey.
"Hey Julie, come help me do the dishes," Samantha requested.
"Well, I don't do dishes. Perhaps that's why you're here," Juliet replied. Samantha gasped at the level of disrespect Juliet expressed towards her.
"No worries. I'll just take care of it myself then," Samantha said, smiling. But she was pissed and couldn't do anything about it.
Joey and his mother sat in the living room, watching TV.
"I'm glad that son of a bitch is out of our lives," Joey said.
"Well, he's like a leech. I won't be surprised to see him coming back after all this," Mrs Adams said.
"If he does, we'll make him know he's not accepted here, once and for all. We can't keep carrying that dead weight," Joey said, gulping some wine he took from the dining table.
"It was really smart move to come at the exact time he came, and put him in his place," Mrs Adams commended.
"All thanks to you, letting me know early enough," Joey said, as they smiled at each other.
Mr Adams returned and sat down quietly in the living area, sighing.
"How'd it go?" Mrs Adams asked her husband.
"He's still locked up, refusing to open the door," he replied.
"When he's really hungry, he'll come out," Juliet responded. Joey smiled at her.
Just then, Joey's phone rang. He got his phone and looked at it. Suddenly, his demeanor changed, but he quickly tried to mask it with a smile.
"Um, I need to get this business call. It's a client of mine," he requested.
"Sure," Mrs Adams acknowledged.
He walked outside the house and towards the garage to pick the call. Everyone wondered why he'd have to go that far to answer the phone call.
CHAPTER 6: THE BIG APPLE."Dude, what those folks did is outrageous. Jeez," Duke said over the phone, speaking with Justin. He had arrived his shared apartment at SJC a day after the altercation he had with his foster family. "Tell me about it," Justin retorted, snorting detestably."It makes me wonder how you were ever raised by those maniacs.""Point of correction, I wasn't raised by them, I only lived with them," Justin pointed out."That's about right," Duke agreed. "So what are you gonna do now?"He sighed, and replied, "I don't know man. Well, am thinking I should just take up Professor James' offer. What do think?" "Hmm," Duke pondered for a bit. "You have big dreams man, and I know you have a shot at pulling it off and getting your footing in the big apple, unlike some of us who've been tied down to run the family business. So I think you should give your dreams and aspirations a shot.""You really think so?" he asked."Mm-hmm. Despite all that you sacrifed for that self ce
CHAPTER 7: THE INTERVIEW.Justin hurried to his apartment and locked the door behind him. He leaned on it as he inhaled and exhaled, doing his best to calm his nerves down as his heart raced. He quickly went to his window which faced the street and hid by it's corner to have a look at the street. From the angle he stood, he didn't see the vehicle. So he went to the other side, and slightly parted the curtain. Peeking through, he found no trace of the car that followed him.He sighed in relief, and sat on his bed. Anxiety had made a bit sweaty, so he wiped it off his face. "What the hell was that? Am I being followed or what? But- But, I didn't offend anyone. Did I?" Justin questioned himself, trying to be certain he wasn't just being paranoid."Could it be the pick pocket?" he pondered. "Or, could it be the Adams?" Those were the two folks that he could come up with in his wildest imaginations that would want to hurt him. But he did nothing wrong to them, so that made him even the
CHAPTER 8: OUT COLD"What?!" Justin gasped at what he heard. His name was the last to be mentioned to not have passed the second phase of the interview. The man who had tried to sow a seed of discouragement in him blurted out a laughter, but crossed his hand over his mouth to prevent it from being audible."Am sorry, but it's time for you to take your leave," the interviewer who called out the names instructed, unapologetically. Disheartened and disappointed at the turn of events, Justin got his bag and walked slowly out of the interview hall. Gloominess was written all over his face. He had high hopes, and all of a sudden now, everything seemed bleak.Mr Frank Alvaro watched Justin as he walked out of the interview hall, walking behind all the other disqualified candidates, heading to the elevator. He shrugged, pursing his lips, and faced the remaining candidates who made it to the third and final phase of the interview.Justin disappointedly walked out of the building, wondering
CHAPTER 9: QUESTIONS UPON QUESTIONS.Justin was suddenly awakened as a result of his head bumping hard into the car seat in front of him. Shards of glasses were scattered within the car as the car was ran into by another car as his abductors conveyed him.An unknown group of men had kidnapped him, having paid off the neighbor some reasonable amount of money to have him sedated.Gaining a bit of consciousness, but drowsy still, he could hear an exchange of heavy gunfire for some moment. He could see some figures falling to the ground, as they were shot. But he had no strength, neither was he cognitive enough to do anything to keep himself safe from harm's way.After a while, the gunshots stopped. He saw the figure of a person approach him, flashing a light right at his face. Examining him, the man found that he was okay, except the concussion in his forehead."Wh- What's happe- What's happening?" Justin questioned faintly, squinting his eyes as he blocked off the light from entering hi
CHAPTER 10: MOMENT OF TRUTH.Justin looked at Mr Bishop, wondering why he smirked."Why did you do it, sir?" Justin enquired.The men standing guard were sulking, wondering who the hell that Justin was, that their boss allowed him to speak freely with him."Well, let's just say they were suddenly interested in what I've had my eyes on for a while now," Mr Bishop answered.Justin raised his left eyebrow, looking intently at Mr Bishop. He knew Mr Bishop's answer was way too bogus. He could sense there was more to it than meets the eye."You think I had a hand in your abduction?" Mr Bishop said. "Here. Why don't you have a look?"He handed Justin his cellphone after he flipped through it, showing him a surveillance footage of the rescue. Justin played it and saw that he was actually resued."I truly am grateful sir, for the rescue. But, who are those folks who came after me? Why me, of all people? What did they want?" Justin asked.Mr Bishop sighed softly, and looked at Justin."This was
CHAPTER 11: SETTLING IN.Gomez headed out of the study, in obedience to Mr Bishop's instruction. Making his way through the main entrance, he sighted Justin standing outside the house.He stood there for some minutes, Justin couldn't take notice of his presence. And for a moment, he noticed how Justin was troubled. He had both his hands on his head, squinting his eyes, and sighing frustratedly.Immediately, Gomez returned to the study. He was granted permission to enter the study by Mr Bishop."Anything the matter?" Mr Bishop asked."Justin seems restless and unsettled.""Mm," Mr Bishop sighed, tapping one of his fingers on the table. "Go and get him settled in.""Right away sir," Gomez responded and bowed as he exited the study. He quickly sent one of the guard to go fetch the chief steward of the Bishop estate, summoning him immediately. Shortly after, the chief steward arrived with a sense of urgency. He bowed his head then said, "You called for me, sir?""Yes," Gomez responded.
CHAPTER 12: THE INFORMANT.Gomez walked into a restaurant in Chinatown, alone, while his men waited outside. He was in a turf he had little leverage in. Standing at the entrance, he scanned and assessed the room. It was filled with Asians. They threw stares of disgust at him, but he ignored them. Adjusting his suit, he walked straight to the bar, and sat on a stool. A male bartender stood behind the counter."What can I get you?" the bartender asked."Tequila," Gomez said simply. "Coming right up," the bartender nodded, as he went ahead to serve Gomez the drink. Gomez received it, and chugged it down with one gulp, gently placing the cup on the counter. And took a deep breath.'Where could he be? I've looked round this bar and there is no sign of him,' Gomez reasoned within himself."Am looking for someone, the informant. Do you know where I can find him? Gomez asked the bartender."I don't have any idea," he replied sluggishly."You sure don't know where he is?" Gomez persisted.
CHAPTER 13: PROGRESS REPORT. Gomez and his men returned to the Bishop Estate that evening. As they park the SUV at the usual spot, one of the men came down and opened the door for Gomez, bowing slightly as Gomez came down from the car.Gomez walked through the entrance, heading straight to Mr Bishop's study, wearing an unpleasant look on his face.On entering the living area, Gomez bumped into Frank, the Chief Steward, who was on his way to check on Justin. Frank bowed his head as Gomez walked past him.Seeing Gomez's demeanor, Frank could tell something unpleasant was up.'Whatever it is, I'm sure it'll be sorted out. Gomez is capable of handling any situation,' he said within himself, continuing to Justin's room.Gomez stood before the door of the study. He took a deep breath in, and exhaled heavily. Then, he pressed onto a button on a control panel outside the study as he spoke into the mouth piece."Sir, it's Gomez."Mr Bishop unlocked the door from his own end within the study,
CHAPTER 130: HERITAGE.Justin's personal guard struggled up from the ground in pain and grabbed Gomez and both fell down on the ground, as they were at the base still confronting the Night Clan.Justin rushed and grabbed Gomez's gun as the gun fell off from his hand when Justin's personal guard grabbed him, Justin pointed the gun on Gomez's head."Look at you, you can't even hold the gun properly and you want to take over your father's property. You are as dumb as your mother, " Gomez said, as he was still on the ground."You are already a loser. So you couldn't approach me or my father in a better way, so you resorted to kilingl him," Justin said."I don't expect someone who was birthed by rape to understand my operations. Because I had left your father a long time ago. I was just there to provide information to Mr Russell," Gomez said, provoking Justin the more.Justin got angry and shot him to death. He walked towards his personal guard and helped him up, offering him a hand. As he
CHAPTER 129: FINAL COMFRONTIONDetective Savannah wasn't clear with Justin's response to her about his involvement with the mafia, the way his father was. She knew it wasn't a good idea for Justin to follow the same path with his father, so she tried convincing Justin but his response wasn't clearShe knew if Justin began headed down that path, his father's enemy might come for him as well. So she decided to secretly follow Justin, watching him.She was on her way to the Estate when she saw Justin and his men driving out from the Estate. She wondered where Justin was headed to by that time of the day. She knew Justin only goes out at night whenever he needed to hangout with her and his friends.But seeing him going out, with the circumstances surrounding this, she knew it wasn't to hangout. And from their conversation the last time, she guessed that he was heading to the base again.So she secretly followed him, making sure Justin and his men did not notice her. The drive was taking l
CHAPTER 128: FRIENDLY ADVICE.Certain areas of the city was tensed up as the hunt for Gomez and Russell was underway. Justin I'm conjunction with the Bulls Clan scoured the city in an attempt to have the duo apprehended. But they seemed to have disappeared into thin air .Justin requested hi men to call it a day so they could find a better way to approach the matter.Grizzly had teamed up with Justin, so he did as Justin had requested, giving him the honor of his father. He got on the phone and called the others to pause with the search, as it had yielded nothing, yet. Justin got into his car and drove off, heading back home. Shortly after, he arrived at the Bishop Estate. He came down from the car and walked into the house. He was stunned to see Detective Savannah seated in the living room as she waited for him."What are you doing here?" Justin asked, looking surprised."I came to pay my friend a visit. Can't I no longer do that?" she responded. Looking at Justin, she wondered whe
CHAPTER 127: VISITING THE BASE.The chief of police was requested to come over to the Bishop Estate by Justin, regarding the search for Gomez. It was days after the furneral and Justin hadn't heard anything from the police. So he requested to see the chief of police so he could know what was happening.The chief of police granted his request and came over. He drove to the Bishop Estate accompanied by some cops. He walked into the house meeting Justin, as the cop driving the car had parked it where they were asked to park.Justin had been unable to begin his normal daily activities at the office because he was clouded by revenge, and the police seems not to be doing their job as fast as he wanted."Good to have you here," Justin said to the chief of police."Thank you. My condolence once more," the chief of police said, and took his seat. His men were outside waiting for him.Justin nodded his head in acknowledgement."What's happening? I haven't heard anything from you," Justin said,
CHAPTER 126: QUEST FOR JUSTICE, OR REVENGE.Mr Russell, the leader of the Night Clan heard about the death of his enemy Mr Newton Bishop. He was happy as his plans were finally coming to pass. All he has been after was to make sure Mr Bishop dies, and everything about him fails. So he plotted with Gomez to bring Mr Bishop down by all means.Now that Gomez had succeeded in killing Mr Bishop, his next target was Justin. But he needed to wait for some time, after Mr Bishop's burial before he takes the next move. He knew that by killing Mr Bishop, he could finally dethrone the Bull Clan from it's dominance.He heard about the date set for the burial of Mr Bishop, and he planned on sending his men over to observe all that was going to be happening there, as he couldn't show his face at the funeral.He knew that men of the Bulls Clan were going to be everywhere at the funeral, so there was no way it would be safe for him to be there.____________Gomez finally met up with Mr Russell at the
CHAPTER 125: THE BOARD MEETING.Justin was able to forgive his workers and they all returned to their duty post. He knew they were innocent because they trusted Gomez just as his father trusted Gomez. But they didn't know Gomez wasn't who they thought he was.The doctor and the lawyer had returned back to their bases, waiting for Justin to have his meeting with the heads of the Conglomerate before the burial.Justin was able to give attention to Alex after he was done with his staff and the police. They were all in Justin's room trying to make him feel better."Indeed, the battles of the wealthy are endless," Justin quoted, as they were all laid on the bed."Indeed. But you're going scale through," Alex affirmed, without knowing the full details of what Justin was talking about."At least, it's better to be wealthy than to be poor," Duke said, turning his face away."You two don't understand. I have a serious decision to make after my father's burial," Justin said, looking up to roof.
CHAPTER 124: THE POLICE INVESTIGATION.Alex arrived at the Bishop Estate meeting Justin standing outside, trying to figure out what to do with the guards and the staff that left his father for Gomez to carry out his wicked act."Hey Alex. You're here," Duke said, as he sighted him and walked towards him."Yeah. Where's Justin?" Alex asked, looking round."Over there," Duke responded, gesturing his hand as he pointed at where Justin was standing."What's happening here?" Alex asked, as he walked towards Justin but he couldn't understand what was happening."He's trying to address all the people standing here," Duke lied, as he didn't want to begin explaining things to Alex.Duke couldn't approach Justin so he could informed him that Alex was there because of how angry and busy Justin was with the people."What punishment is deserving of them?" Justin asked his father's lawyer."I think we should involve the police on this," the lawyer suggested, looking at the doctor to see his reactio
CHAPTER 123: PUBLIC AWARENESS.The media were gathered with their cameras ready to capture whatever Justin had to say. Justin walked up to the stage to make the announcement. He stood there for a while without saying anything as he wasn't strong enough to say whatever he wanted to say.He looked at his father's doctor, and the doctor nodded his head encouraging him to go ahead with the announcement.Everything was looking at Justin wondering what he wanted to say to the public. They expected his father to be the one calling for the meeting and going up there to announce whatever he might want to announce, not Justin. So everyone stood waiting to hear whatever he was going to take to the public.The speculations on the internet were about to be addressed, whether what the media had been assuming was going to be true or not."Firstly, I will like to say thank you all for coming out," Justin appreciated, trying to put himself together.The media began mumbling as that wasn't what they w
CHAPTER 122: A CALL FOR A PRESS CONFERENCE.Speculations were all over the internet as the media had been suspicious about what was happening in the Bishop Estate. They had seen the ambulance coming into the Bishop Estate and leaving. So they suspected that something was wrong. But they weren't sure of what it was exactly.They had also observed the movement of the doctor and the lawyer, as they visited the Bishop Estate. So they knew that something was definitely wrong, and they couldn't wait to find out from Justin.The media were gathered by the gate of the Bishop Estate, seeking to go in and inquire from Mr Bishop or whoever, what exactly was happening in there. But the guards had refused letting them in because they weren't given the go ahead.One of the guards by the gate reached out to Justin's personal guard and informed him of what happening at the gate, letting him know that the media were at the gate seeking to go in.Justin's personal guard instructed them to drive the me