“T-the police?” Daniel said with a stammer, his eyes wide open like he had just seen a ghost or heard the screams of a zombie. “The police were here?” All eyes turned to Daniel with his sudden reaction to Dorothy’s information, and the unusual fear skittering all over his face. Haylee in particular, squinted her eyes, and could not but imagine the worst. “You got a problem with it?” Haylee deadpanned.He regained his composure, and cleared his throat, “Why would I? I don’t even know why they are here.” His words betrayed his voice, but it did not matter, as long as he was able to fool them. “Why were they here?” Mrs. Greene asked, facing Dorothy with sheer curiosity. “Someone made a report that a member of this family kidnapped Elijah,” Dorothy answered, her eyes still obvious that she was keeping out more details than she ought to reveal. “Ridiculous! Who made such a report?” Daniel retorted immediately, looking sideways. “I don’t know about that I was wonderin
He remained at a standstill, hoping that his grandmother was not talking about what he did. She knew him better than anyone else did. His weaknesses and inability to keep a perfect lie were not strange to her, and for that reason, she forced him to spill the beans. “I know you did it for us, but where is he?” She asked one final time, building on the damage her first set of questions had done to him.Daniel swallowed his lies, “If only you knew who he is,” he said subtly, and then voiced out, “I never intended for it to get worse.” “I know that. Where is he?” “Grandpa’s old warehouse outside the city,” he mentioned, his face down at the table.Mrs. Greene could not conceal her dissatisfaction and disappointment in Daniel, however, getting everything out of him was what proved to be the most important thing at the moment. If the police were on to them, she has to keep them off their tails. Her image is seemingly worth more than just a fool who ruined her birthday. “Since
“What do you think we are going to do now?” Elijah whispered to Hank as they were tied side by side to each other. After Daniel departed from the warehouse, each minute was as if they awaited their deaths, living on a string. They only lived on hope and hope could only last them a little while. Individually on their own, they thought of means that never saw the light of the day but only expired in their minds. However, Elijah’s ruptured ribs only allowed him to think as far as his pain relieved him. He felt more pain than he was able to devise a plan. It was left to Hank. “Give me time,” Hank said, one of his eyes swollen and about to close. Elijah might be a blackbelt martial arts fighter, but he has never suffered as much pain as he did with Daniel, compared to Hank who’s been in worse beatdowns than the ones Daniel subjected him to after his departure. All he needed was just a single strand of life for him to hang on to continue living, and that was all. He required little
A man’s journey begins the moment he comes to the realization of who he is supposed to be, and not the day he was born. The very day he knows what he is supposed to do, the kind of life he is supposed to live, the very purpose he is meant to fulfill.That is the day he is born. Hank thought he found that day. The day he was to become a father, he thought he had found purpose, something to live for, and something to die for. It was meant to be the happiest day of his life until it turned out to be the worst nightmare for him.Rather, he became a convict and someone the world despised, including the very people he was supposed to live and die for. “What happened to you? W-what made you…” the words could not flow from Elijah, the pain that ravaged his body, and the pity he felt for Hank, regardless, his speech was diminished.Hank let out a sigh, and heaved out like a cold was stuck in his throat, “I am not supposed to tell you this I have never told anyone about this. Not even Morgan,”
The silence that ensued in the warehouse was something no one could imagine. The clash of the two juggernauts transitioned into a cold war, the only difference being Hank on the receiving end. A cold war that turned into a round of punishment to Hank. “You think they love you?” Hank said summoning every living strength in him, “they don’t love you. None of them do. In fact, you are nothing but a narcissistic dictator who is too scared to admit how much of a loser he is.”Hank scanned his eyes through the rest of the gang members, then finally returned his gaze on Gusto, with his words piercing Gusto’s heart like a two-edged sword. Those words only subjected Hank to more punishment. “Fifty thousand dollars,” a man yelled from behind me.The auctioneer’s persistent gaze at me made my stomach churn. I looked away and rolled my eyes. I decided to attend this auction because the auctioneer insisted through daily mail and phone calls that I should be there. I turned him down the
“I am going to need that knife with you right now,” Hank said, as he lay helplessly after being tossed on the floor by his men. There was a momentary confusion coursing through Elijah’s veins after Hank’s words, wondering how he was discovered.Hank struggled to sit, with his whole body aching, each bone grinding, and his blood threatening to spill out. It was the worst moment he’d been through, as memories of how he betrayed Richard flooded his head.He had a taste of his own medicine. He has always been betrayed from the very beginning of his life, with his father turning his back on him and his mother when he was yet a little boy of seven years. They struggled to make ends meet, struggled to get by in life, and he promised himself to pay him back with the very sting in which it struck him. His mother had to pick up odd jobs to feed him and give him a quality education till she lost her life in a shootout on one of her side hustles. He hated everything that had to do wit
No matter how hard he tried, he just could not help thinking about Daniel becoming the last man standing. He could not imagine the three years of shame at the Greene mansion becoming a thing of the past. He refused to picture the lightest possibility of Daniel, with that smug grin of his, getting away with shooting him in his feet.The worst nightmare that could happen to him. He sensed his freedom coming closer, and he savored every moment that would lead to then. Every second of waiting felt like an eternity to him.Hi patience dwindled, and he just could not wait anymore. “How long do we have to wait?” he asked again, barely two minutes after Hank’s instruction.Hank banged his palm against his forehead, unable to bear any of Elijah’s incessant requests. “Will you shut up? I told you we have to wait. It is very crucial at this point that we pay attention to every detail.” “Then set my hands free. I am not going to sit here with you, holding a knife in your hand and your ha
Slowly, Elijah and Hank lowered Gusto on the floor, searching all over his body for where the cell phone could be at, but could not find it. “Roll him over,” Hank said, as he stood away from Elijah in order to secure the door, although he feared what might happen if Gusto clawed himself out of consciousness.Elijah grunted, pushing over the heavy pound man. As he stuck his hand into Gusto’s backpocket, he found the cell phone and his wallet, however, the worst happened.Gust pulled Elijah from behind and tossed him forward, springing up to his feet. He fought through the foggy blurriness in his eyes, making a mental picture of Elijha, and paid no attention to his aching head.Who would have thought a sleeping pill could make one feel like the weight of the whole world was hoisted o the person’s head? Gusto has always been a man who showed no affiliation to pain, and that was the very reason Elijah refused at first to get back the cell phone. He staggered a while on his feet