by A. G. Khaliq
“It’s too late for your motherfucking apologies!” Damon bellowed. “Do you have any idea of the fucking damage you’ve done to her? She and her sister were left alone in the big world to fend for themselves! She got fucking gang raped by members of a cartel and forced to swallow drugs! All because of you two!” Damon broke off, seething, and I could feel tears fall down my cheeks as I relived every painful memory. “Not fucking taking care of your children! She had her sister taken away from her for years! She was forced to become a stripper because it was the only way she could make enough money for a basic living! How fucking dare you think saying sorry mends that broken heart? She still has scars from what your husband fucking did to her!”
Mum broke into sobs, terrified at Damon’s revelation, looking like the guilt was eating her up inside and about to swallow her whole.
“I’m so sorry, I had no idea!” she wept.
“That’s not even the half of it!” Damon roared. “How could you fucking rape your own child? Have you not a human bone in your disgusting body?” He hurled at Dad again, kicking him in the crotch so hard that he fell to the ground, clutching his crotch area.
“W-What are you talking about?” Mum jumped. “Sure, we were fucked up, but her dad would never rape a child!” She stared at Dad with a sorrowful expression on her face, praying for it not to be true. Praying that she hadn’t been sleeping with a fucking child molester.
“Are you going to tell her, or shall I?” Damon roared, kicking Dad again, so hard that he began coughing out blood.
One of the waitstaff ran out of the restaurant, horror etched all over their face.
“I’m going to call the ambulance!” he cried out.
“No, that won’t be necessary,” Damon snapped threateningly.
“But he’s bleeding…”
“No. I don’t want an ambulance,” Dad barked. “It’s fine. I’ll be in a lot of trouble if you call anyone. Please, just go away and mind your own business.”
The waitstaff furrowed his brows, still darting his eyes to and from us to his phone, sweating profusely, frozen with indecision.
“I said don’t call anyone, if you know what’s fucking good for you!” Dad yelled through clenched teeth.
“O-Okay,” the man stammered shakily, still appearing horrified by the whole thing.
He turned on his heel, and began bolting away from us.
Damon turned back to Dad.
“Well?” Damon gritted, cocking his head to the side. “Spit it out!”
Dad began sobbing uncontrollably. “It’s true,” he breathed. “It was a mistake. I regret it every day. I’m sorry, Raven.” He limped, doing his best to get up on his feet. I couldn’t bear to look at him. His face fucking disgusted me, fucking terrified me. It felt like the walls were closing in on me, and I couldn’t breathe.
I couldn’t fucking breathe.
“You raped your own fucking daughter?” Mum barked in disgust. “How could you! And you kept it hidden from me this whole time!” She took her head into her hands, rocking herself as she screamed. “Raven was telling me the truth that day. I called her a fucking lunatic! I beat her up for accusing you of doing such a thing!”
Dad didn’t say a word, knowing there was no redemption now that he’d been exposed for who he truly was.
And now, even his wife didn’t love him anymore.
This sorry ass, pathetic excuse of a man.
“Quit the sorry act,” Damon seethed. “Don’t behave like you did nothing wrong. Luckily for you, I don’t hit women. But you better fucking move out of town, far, far away and not show your face round here again.” Damon shook his fists angrily as he held eye contact with my mother, who watched her life flash before her eyes. “Because if I see you again after today, I won’t hesitate to put a bullet in your fucking skull.”
Mum’s chest heaved in terror. She shot me a longing glance, as if to tell me that she was truly sorry, but I didn’t care. Sorry didn’t erase everything she put me through.
She knew now that she’d overstayed her welcome. She turned and began trudging away from us.
“As for you…” Damon breathed, cocking his head to the side to face my father, “you deserve everything that’s about to come to you.”
He wasted no time in hurling at my father, and this time he was relentless. He knocked Dad to the ground, clambering on top of him, punching his face repeatedly until his jaw snapped and three of his teeth knocked clean out. I had to put a fucking stop to this…
“Damon, don’t kill him!” I cried out desperately.
Damon took a few steps backwards from Dad, not satisfied that he’d put him through enough torture.
“He’s not worth it,” I pleaded. “Let him go, and let him live with the mistake he’s made every day for the rest of his life. Death is just an easy way out.”
I wrapped my arms around Damon from the back, sobbing against him, and Damon weakened beneath my touch, taking his head into his hands. He knew he was going to have to listen to me, since we were doing this on my terms…
“You got lucky, old man,” Damon sneered coldly, his voice dropping to barely above a whisper. “Now get the fuck outta here before I put your life to an end.”
Dad could barely move, but he knew that if he didn’t force himself to get the fuck up, he would have to watch his life come to an end. He clutched his body and staggered, slowly limping away from us. Damon turned around to face me, cupping my face in his hands, and drying my tears with his thumbs.
“Shh, baby, they’re gone now,” he whispered, pressing his lips to my forehead.
“What would I do without you, Damon?” I sobbed. “I feel so broken.”
“And I’ll try to mend you, piece by piece,” he whispered, giving me a soft kiss as our tears mingled together. “No matter how long it takes. Now let’s get out of here…in case that motherfucker from the restaurant actually has called the cops or an ambulance.”
damon
WEEKS LATER
* * *
I went down to the spot, where I was meeting Lazarus today for a briefing. I made my way inside, where Lazarus was waiting for me expectantly.
“So, do you think Raven is ready to go into work yet?” Lazarus asked curiously.
I nodded in response. “Yep. I’ve trained her well.”
“Thank you, brother.” Lazarus smiled. “I can always rely on you to help me out when I need you. I’ll show you my thanks by increasing your wages.”
I furrowed my eyebrows, disgusted at his every word, but I had to play it cool. He couldn’t know that things had changed between us and I wasn’t his friend anymore, or else it would fuck up my whole plan to save Raven.
I let out a chuckle in response. “Thank you, brother.”
Lazarus nodded, and then turned and left the building. Whilst he was gone, I took my phone out of my pocket and dialed in Raven’s number, needing to speak to her. I held my phone against my ear, patiently waiting for her to answer.
“You have reached Raven Emmerdale’s voicemail box. Please leave a message after the tone.”
I rolled my eyes, agitated that I’d been sent to voicemail. Where was she, and why wasn’t she picking up the damn phone?
“Raven, I’ve told Lazarus that you’re ready to go into work,” I said on the voicemail. “Now, we put the plan into action. I’ll come and pick you up in two hours, I’ve just got some stuff to take care of first.”
I hung up the phone, shoving it into my pocket, and made my way out of the building, where Lazarus was standing smoking a cigarette and flicking through his phone.
“Hey Boss,” I waved.
He turned around to face me, stubbing his cigarette. “What is it, Damon?” he asked, his hands on his hips. “I’ve gotta go with my men to collect a firearms shipment from the docks.”
“I was wondering if I could level up in the Mafia and do a more demanding role,” I asked. “I’m kinda tired of just taking care of the security system with Axel.”
Lazarus narrowed his eyes. There was a short silence between us, and my heart was pounding against my chest, worrying that I’d blown it.
“All right,” Lazarus said finally. “Starting next week, I’ll put you in charge of taking care of the shipments. The locations, the number of shipments we’re collecting, and all of that stuff. You can also work with Abdi with our plans to expand territory.”
I nodded in response, glad that things were finally starting to come together.
“Thanks, Boss, I won’t let you down.” I grinned.
He nodded and turned away from me, getting in his car and driving off.
I was exactly in the right position I needed to be in the Mafia now. I could get all of the information I needed to lure him into a trap.
“You’re going to pay for what you did to Raven, Lazarus Landucci,” I murmured.
lazarus
I parked my car in town and quickly stepped outside for a smoke on the street. It was dark now, and I was pissed off and exhausted with my day to say the fucking least. I grabbed hold of my phone, pressing it against my ear.
“Abdi, I’m running late,” I muttered down the line. “I’ll be there in an hour.”
As I looked up from my phone, I saw a massive shadow looming over me. My eyes darted upwards, and I was fucking shocked at who I saw.
Why the hell was Casper Payper here after all of these years?
That motherfucker Casper. I never liked this bastard, not even in school. I didn’t need him wasting my time right now. I had better stuff to do, and more important places to motherfucking be.
“Well, well, well.” Casper smirked. “If it isn’t Lazarus Landucci.”
“What the fuck are you doing here, Casper?” I barked. “Didn’t I warn you not to come near me again after we finished school?”
I really couldn’t be arsed to deal with this bullshit right now. Just seeing his face was enough to piss me off.
“Why so cold, Lazarus?” Casper seethed, folding his arms and narrowing his eyes, his voice laced with venom. “Are you forgetting everything I did for you? Everything I taught you about levelling up in the game, about pushing more product?”
“Yeah, and you had my respect back then. We were two kids trying to make it on these streets,” I shot back. “You lost my respect when you crossed me and helped the fucking opposition.”
Casper rolled his eyes, yawning. “That was out of necessity. They were going to put a bullet to my brain. You know how it is out here, brother. Kill or be killed, eat or be fucking eaten. We gotta do what we gotta do to survive.”
I stared back at him blankly, not knowing what to fucking say. All of this was so many years ago, so why the hell was he bringing it up and bothering me with it now?
“Casper, are you just here to fucking annoy me, or did you actually want something?” I snarled.
“Actually, I’m here to warn you about one of your closest men,” Casper sneered, the corners of his lips curling up into a smirk. “You’ll never guess what I saw Damon doing.”
“Why should I believe a word that comes out of your filthy mouth?” I seethed, balling my hands into fists.
“Because I want to get back into the game with you, and put our differences aside,” Casper stated matter-of-factly. “I have the plug to the biggest distro and connects in the country. You just have to say the word, and I’ll tell him to contact you.”
I could feel my shoulders tense as Casper said these words. I’d been wanting to expand territory and level up for a long time, taking out any opposition. If what Casper was saying was true, and he did have the plug…
Then it would help me out more than I could have ever imagined.
I narrowed my eyes. Maybe I should hear him out for the sake of business. Maybe this motherfucker wasn’t such a waste of time, after all.
“What did you see him do?” I asked finally.
“I saw him snogging your bitch at the beach,” he sniggered. “Like, full on lip-locking. They may as well have been sleeping together.”
I roared with laughter, amazed at this far-fetched fucking story. Did he really think I believed this bullshit for even one second?
He knew how to make me laugh, I’d fucking give him that.
“Damon’s one of my most trusted men. My best fucking friend,” I snarled. “He’s never ever crossed me. He wouldn’t want to get on my bad side over a basic filthy fucking bitch.”
“You might not believe me now…” Casper shrugged. “But what if I told you I overheard him telling Raven on the phone that he was going to pick her up in two hours to ‘put their plan into action’?”
“What?” I exclaimed, my blood suddenly running cold.
“I’m telling you, they’re plotting something,” Casper warned. “You have a chance to put a stop to it.”
“I’m supposed to collect a shipment from the docks right now,” I muttered.
“I’ll go for you,” he offered. “You go home and find out the truth for yourself.”
I sighed heavily, not able to believe this was happening. I was sure the whole thing was just a misunderstanding on Casper’s part, but nevertheless, I needed to put my mind at rest. He wouldn’t just spin this bullshit tale out of nowhere.
“All right, thanks, Casper.”
Casper nodded, and I made my way back to my car, driving down the motorway as fast as I possibly could, needing to get back to my penthouse and see things for my fucking self. I was just praying that Casper had got it wrong.
But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Damon and Raven had been training together at my spot for weeks and weeks. Spending all that time together…
What if they had gotten closer?
I shook my head, pushing my foot down on the accelerator.
I slowly made my way into my penthouse, being careful not to make a sound. I couldn’t risk myself getting made, and them hearing me walk in.
When I walked into the living room, there was nobody there. This was a good sign.
I trudged further into my apartment, my eyes scanning the surroundings.
And then I heard moaning.
The sound of Raven’s goddamn moaning.
I followed the sound. I stopped dead in my tracks as I reached her bedroom door. I peered through the gap in the door…and I jolted in shock, unable to believe my fucking eyes.
Raven standing there, in just her lingerie, tongue-tied with Damon, moaning and whimpering at every kiss, every fucking touch.
Her body was only mine to touch. In this moment, I wanted to kill. I wanted to murder. I wanted to wrap my hands around Damon’s neck, and squeeze it for all I was fucking worth, making him beg for his life while his lungs fucking failed him.
This couldn’t be happening. This couldn’t be fucking happening. My best friend…lip-locking my fucking whore.
I couldn’t watch this for a minute fucking longer, because I knew I’d end up doing something fucking stupid. I snuck away from the door, and left my apartment, needing to cool off and get my head together.
I sat inside my car, my whole body feeling like it was on fire. My head felt like it was going to explode.
I was so angry. So fucking angry.
Damon and Raven were having an affair this whole time, right behind my motherfucking back, and I didn’t even fucking notice it…I was blind because of my loyalty to Damon. I never would have suspected the son-of-a-bitch of any foul play. Sneaky fucking bastards.
Raven was going to pay for this. She was going to pay for this bad. Not only that, Damon was going to pay for crossing me. How dare he come between me and Raven? How dare he fuck his best friend’s bitch? How dare he take what’s mine?
At least now that I knew, I could put a stop to whatever the hell it was they were both planning.
Because now…I had an even better plan to pull them both apart.
lazarus
It was night, and the apartment was eerily fucking quiet. Raven was asleep, and her sister Sophia was in her ro
om.
It was time to put my plan into action.
I headed towards Sophia’s bedroom, stopping dead in my tracks as I reached the door, which was open slightly. I was wearing a mask that covered my face, and a blue Stone Island jacket paired with blue jeans.
I peered through the hole in the door to see that Sophia was standing next to her bedside table, laughing and giggling, immersed on her phone.
There was no more time to waste. I had to make my move now.
I bolted into the room at full speed, punching her head from behind, causing her to fall down unconscious to the floor before she could even realise what was happening. I smirked before I grabbed hold of her body, and began dragging it out of her room, ready to take her to my fucking car boot.
THE NEXT DAY
* * *
I’d taken Sophia across the country, leaving her in a locked room inside an abandoned bunker, where nobody would be able to find her. Kidnapping Raven’s sister was the first part of my fucking plan.
I made my way inside of the room, checking to see if she’d woken up yet. She was lying in her bed, and she began to stir.
She rubbed her eyes groggily before she screamed as she took in her surroundings, and leapt to her feet.
“Where—where am I?” she cried out.
I rolled my eyes, amused at how terrified she fucking was. Poor little bitch.
“Nice of you to wake yourself, bitch,” I sneered.
She turned around to face me. “Who are you?” she wept. “What is this place?”
I removed the mask off my face so my full countenance became apparent.
She jolted, shocked as she came to the realization that it was me who brought her here.
“You!” she accused. “Why are you holding me hostage, you psychopath?”
“I’d watch your mouth if I were you, or you’ll end up like your sister,” I snarled. “With bruises all over that beautiful body.”