by J. J. McAvoy
Taking off my coat, I threw it on the bed. Liam rose and we followed him out. We hadn’t had much time to speak about this, but a family meeting was needed. The hallways were silent with expectation as my heels clicked on the marble floor. Neither Liam nor I stopped until I stood in front of a postmodern contemporary painting of a female nude done by none other than famed painter Léo Lémieux. It was covered in reds and pinks, with a hint of dark blue around her heart.
“Boss?” Fedel called, holding open the door to the study for me. Liam was already inside. Turning from the painting, I walked into the study, once again annoyed at the sight of the place. Because Liam was such a nerd at heart, he had modeled it like some sophisticated hybrid of a comic book cave/lair and his father’s old office. There was even a glass case by the window filled with all his favorite comics. Every time I went in there I wanted to roll my eyes so damn hard they would come out of my head. It looked like an overgrown man-child with far too much money decided to have a field day. Over the years, Liam had gotten much more serious about being the head of the family, but there were some things he could not let go of, like his undying love for comics and superheroes.
“I feel like I have less and less dignity the more I come in here.” I groaned, putting my hands over my mouth. The door shut behind me.
“Woman, I added the mahogany desk and cabinets, what more do you want?” He also groaned, kicking up his foot on said 1930s prime mahogany desk I had bought for him.
“Man…I want to walk in here and not see that.” I pointed to the Stormtrooper in the corner. “You’re the head of the fucking mafia, not fucking Stan Lee.”
“What does Stan Lee have to do with Star Wars? Do you mean George Lucas?” he asked so seriously I wanted to hit him.
“Are you fucking kidding me right now?”
“That’s what I want to know. Stan Lee or George Lucas? How do you not know the difference—”
He stopped at the sound of Coraline’s laughter. It was so weird and unique that you couldn’t help but stop. She sat comfortably in Declan’s lap on the opposite side of the room, dressed in casual jeans and a white blouse.
“I’m sorry.” She wiped her eyes. “But really? I came here expecting the Liam and Melody ‘let’s burn them all’ speech and instead you’re fighting over Stormtroopers and Stan Lee? Thank you for lightening the mood, really.”
“Is she done?” Liam asked Declan, who just leaned back, biting the corner of his lips to stop from smiling. He glanced up at Cora, who smiled brightly and nodded, saying with a perfect accent, “Done, I am. Continue, may you.”
Declan lost it, as did Neal, and even Mina looked like she was trying her best to keep her composure. I looked to Liam, but he smirked, shaking his head.
Children. They are all bloody fucking children…I thought that even though I felt myself relax at the sight of them, all of them our family, healthy and smiling at each other as if nothing in the world could ever prevent that.
“I’m quite pleased you all still find it possible to laugh.” Evelyn came in dressed in a pair of black pants and a black blouse with a bow tied at the neck. “That’s what has always made us different from those who want to hurt us. We laugh together. We cry together. We fight together. I’m sure Sedric is laughing with you all.”
“Evelyn, what are you doing here? I thought you went to rest.” Coraline stood, reaching for her hand.
“Someone took a shot at my grandbabies today. How can I rest?” She took a seat in front of Liam’s desk. “Who are these ingrates?”
I took a seat on the arm of Liam’s chair while Fedel walked in front of us.
“It’s the Chinese mob…or triad, as they call it.”
TEN
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.”
~ Jane Austen
CORALINE
“The head of the of the Tàiyáng finally is sixty-seven-year-old Ju-long.” Fedel pointed to the man on the screen, which hung on the wooden wall beside the bookcase. Ju-long was only sixty-seven and yet he looked much older than that. His face was beyond wrinkled and he must have been blinded in one eye because it was gray, a scar running from the tip of his white hairline to his cheekbone. “He has two children. The oldest, Ruò Jiàn, is thirty, and the one whom the boss kicked out of the city last Saturday; he is an imbecile. His second child is his daughter, Liling, twenty-eight. There isn’t much on her other than of her love of clothing and American Hollywood stars.”
It was almost impossible to tell Ruò Jiàn and Liling were siblings from the ways they carried themselves. They were complete and utter opposites. Ruò Jiàn looked greasy, his black hair grown out and piercings in both his ears. It looked like he picked his clothes blind: he wore a 90s jean jacket with a gold dragon on the back of it, and his jeans looked two sizes too big, making me positive that his whole outfit was one horrendous throwback to the dark ages. Meanwhile, his younger sister stood with pride, her long dark hair in a side ponytail. She wore a long embroidered red traditional cheongsam with a golden dragon on the neck cuff. Both of them had pale white skin, but that was the end of the similarities.
“In a few days, Liling will be getting married to thirty-six-year-old Emilio Esteban Cortés, here in Chicago—”
“Something is wrong.” Declan cracked his jaw to the side as he looked to Liam and Melody, both sitting at the head of the table. “The triad has never married outside their own kind.”
“Neither did the Irish and yet here each of us sits. African-American, Korean, Italian,”
I replied. “Adapt or die.”
“Let’s not pretend there wasn’t a reason,” Liam said, never looking away from the screen, his finger hovering over his lips. “I married Melody for an alliance. Neal you married Mina…well because she was already on the inside—”
“I married my wife, brother, because I love her,” Neal cut in, speaking up for the first time.
“That’s nice. Don’t interrupt me again.” Liam rolled his eyes and Neal clenched his fist; they always butted heads during times like these. “The only person who married outside the family without reason was Declan, and the only reason why he could was because he wasn’t going to be the next leader of this family. Liling…why is she marrying a Hispanic, a nobody Hispanic? Who is he?”
“That’s all we know, sir,” Fedel answered. Emilio was now on the screen. He was attractive, with long curly black hair that stopped at his shoulders, big hazel eyes, and sun-kissed skin. He stood well over six feet and had broad shoulders. A swimmer maybe? “He was born here in Chicago, spent his whole life here doing nothing noteworthy other than some community organizing, and he graduated from the University of Chicago Law School a few years ago. Before that he did teach each English in Shanghai for eight months; that is where we believe he first made contact with Liling. Other than that, he is a ghost.”
“He’s a person. Bullets do not harm ghosts. Something isn’t right, Fedel, and I want to know what it is,” Melody stated, speaking up for the first time since we’d started this conversation, which wouldn’t have been so odd if it weren’t for the fact that she could not look away from the man on the screen.
“Yes, boss, one of our people will be in Hong Kong by morning.”
“What of the sniper?” Liam spoke, his voice dangerously lower than it had been only a second before. His green eyes seemed clearer, scarier.
“The police—”
“I don’t give a fuck about the police! I want the sniper, Fedel. I wanted him hours ago. Someone! Somewhere! Saw something! It is your job to get them to speak!” he hollered, slamming his fist on the table. None of us spoke and had it not been for my damn cell phone, it would have been silent.
Buzzz.
Buzzz.
Reaching into my pocket, my shoulders dropped at yet another call from the hospital. The moment I ignored it they just rang back once again.
Urgh.
“Babe?”
&nbs
p; “Huh?” I snapped up to find not only Declan staring at me but everyone else.
“Is everything okay?” Declan reached to touch my hand but I stood.
I hated lying to him and yet I still could. Smiling, I nodded. “Yeah, Darcy is just having a fit again. Mommy duty calls.”
I kissed his cheek and placed my hand on Evelyn’s shoulder before leaving. Liam started to speak again but I could feel Declan’s eyes on me. Closing the door behind me, I leaned against it, inhaling through my nose.
“Ma’am, is everything all right?” Our butler, O’Phelan, stopped beside me, giving me a short bow and a look-over.
“I’m fine. What of the two maids I fired this morning?” Pushing off the door and standing in front of me, he gave me a small card.
“The police were contacted as you requested, and I was told their bank accounts were frozen—”
“What is going on, O’Phelan?” I snapped. “Just days ago a nanny burned my niece’s ear, now two were caught stealing. This is not how I run this house. Tomorrow, before dawn, I want them all in the kitchen. Let them know whoever is late will not only be fired but dealt with. Am I clear?”
“Yes, ma’am. I set the dinner and lunch menus for the week on your vanity. ”
“Good, you’re dismissed.” I didn’t wait for him to leave, brushing past him on the way to my bedroom.
The Callahan Manor had a total of sixteen maids, five nannies, three butlers (O’Phelan being the head butler), six cooks, and nine men for the gardens, grass, and pool management. That was a total of thirty-nine in-house staff, each one of them my responsibility. The house, our house, was my responsibility. Evelyn had done it for years, but after Sedric’s death, she just didn’t have the energy. She had made it look easy. I wasn’t just protecting our home, I was protecting our family. This house was the only place anyone could truly feel safe. I had personally sat down with each member of the staff, I had all their accounts, knew each of their names along with those of their families. I had to make sure their loyalty was cult-like. I took no chances. There were no excuses. Everything was either up to my standards or out—and when I said out, I meant they would either leave this house arrested, maimed, or dead. This wasn’t a game.
Walking past the elevator I paused, then walked back, pressing the call button. The doors opened. Leaning against the glass, I didn’t click the basement, but instead pressed the fake emergency button.
“Ma’am?” Two guards turned to me, dropping the cards they were playing. Right under the basement of the house was the security cellar, as Declan liked to call it. It showed all the cameras of the house and doubled as a jail of sorts.
Reaching down, I picked up the cards. “Slow night, boys?”
They rubbed the backs of their necks. “We were just taking a short break—”
“During this short break, someone could have gotten on the property and you wouldn’t have known, am I right? I’m not sure how much you are paid, but I’m sure it covers breaks, does it not?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Walking over to the tallest of the two, I put the joker onto his chest. “My husband, my brothers-in-law, they don’t like jokes, especially when the joke is with their family.”
They didn’t say anything and neither did I, leaving them and moving to the cells. There the maid—her clothes ripped, lips cracked, and skin dry—sat in the corner shaking. Sliding the door open, I almost gagged at the smell.
“Tough three days, huh?” I asked with a hand over my nose.
She didn’t answer, just sobbed.
“What happened, Theresa? I don’t like scenes and yet the whole house was turned upside down because you don’t know how to hold a fucking curling iron.”
“I didn’t mean to—”
“Tell me the truth.”
“I—”
“I’m the only one who can save you, Theresa, you know that. I understand Wyatt is overprotective of his sister. Tell me, is this a mistake? ”
She brushed her eyes. “I don’t know what happened. It was the anniversary of my sister’s death. I felt a little edgy, but nothing major. Then Dona just wouldn’t cooperate that morning. She hated everything I bought her to wear. She didn’t want to get out of bed. I told her everyone couldn’t wait on her. She said princesses need beauty sleep. I told her she wasn’t a princess and she said her Daddy said it so it was true. She was just being a spoiled brat! And the more I tried to talk to her, the angrier I got, and next thing I know I burned her ear. I didn’t mean to.”
“But you did.” I shook my head, stepping away from her. “Brat or no brat, your job was to take care of her. If you are unable to do so, you find me or her mother.”
“Please, Cora—”
“That is Mrs. Callahan to you.” I backed away before she could touch me. “There is nothing I can do to help you. Goodbye, Theresa.”
I stopped when I heard her snicker, muttering something under her breath.
“What was that?”
“You guys think you are gods just because your name is Callahan. You’re even the worst, Coraline. You know the whole staff detests you the most right? The Irish hate you even more. The negro who married up and couldn’t even have a kid of her own, that’s what they say. At least Mina does something. You? You make place settings and hire nannies. You’re nothing but a glorified maid yourself.”
I really screwed up with this one.
“Are you really trying to tear me down while you are sitting in a pile of your own shit?” I laughed, clapping for her. “Congrats, I’m hurt. I’m going cry tonight, in my bed, next to my husband, in my fucking house, because you, a poor, ugly, ungrateful, little racist bitch, called me a negro. And as I cry, my husband will ask me what’s wrong. When I tell him, he will hang you in ways that would put Khan’s men to shame. And then he’ll go after your brother Thomas, your poor uncle Kevin, and sweet, sweet Grandma Rose might just fall down the stairs. Oh, how messy it will be, all because I cried. That’s the family I’m in, the people who walk around like gods…the ones who can end your lives like gods. But since neither you or your words matter to me at all, I won’t cry. I’m going have some wine and a steak and you will be sitting in a pile of shit until someone puts you out of your misery. So like I said, goodbye, Theresa.”
The door slammed behind me.
DECLAN
She’d lied to me.
She had been lying to me.
I knew it. I felt it. I just hoped it would end, but it had been three weeks already and still nothing. Her phone buzzed at all hours of the night. When she looked at me with those beautiful brown eyes of hers, I saw guilt. For a split second, I thought she was cheating on me; it was only logical, but I knew Cora. I knew her better than I could ever know myself, and she was loyal to her core. The way we made love, the way she always stared at me in the morning when she thought I was still asleep and I just couldn’t bring myself to open my eyes yet…she loved me. She loved me, and the only reason why she would keep a secret from me is if she didn’t want to hurt me.
It was the only thing that made sense.
“Declan, wait,” Evelyn called out to me as we all left Liam and Melody alone. She wrapped her arm around my arm, walking with me down the hall.
“Ma, is everything okay?” I asked, noticing she didn’t want Mina and Neal to hear us. She didn’t answer, just kept walking.
“Goodnight, Mother,” Neal said, opening the door to his room.
“Evelyn.” Mina nodded.
“Night!” She waved to them. Neal gave me a strange look and I could only shrug. “Walk me back, Declan.”
“Of course.” I nodded, not letting go of her.
The moment they were out of hearing distance, she turned back to me, crossing her arms. “Tell me the truth now, son.”
“About what?”
“About Cora,” she hissed, leaning in. “Her cancer is back right? Is it bad? What have the doctors said?”
I froze. It was like she had stabbed me and I
wasn’t sure how to respond. The longer I stayed silent and the more she stared at me, the more she realized.
“She didn’t say anything.”
“What…huh? I…I… How do you know? The cancer, how do you know?”
“I…”
“Ma! Tell me.”
She tensed but nodded. “We were with Darcy outside in the yard and he was a little fussy so she went in to get him a bottle and left her phone. It went off and, not thinking, I answered it. It was an automatic reminder for the start of chemo.”
I kept backing away from her until my body hit the wall. Breathing was hard. Standing was harder.
“Declan!” She grabbed my shoulders when I hunched over.
“She almost died,” I whispered. “The first time, she almost died three times. In between she was in so much pain. I couldn’t do anything. I just stood there watching her almost die for months. I can’t…I can’t…No, I can’t watch her like that again. I can’t see her suffer again.”
“Declan, would you rather her die?”
I stared at her in shock; how was that even a question? “I’d rather kill myself than ever let her die.”
“Then you can do this.” She smiled, rubbing my arms. “You can do this…because she needs you to.”
Releasing a deep breath, I stood back up.
“What did the message say?”
ELEVEN
“Keep your ears pricked. Keep looking behind you. Because one day I'll find you, and then you'll be crowfood.”
~ Erin Hunter
LIAM
She was silent. Her shoulders tensed up and her arms crossed. Her brown eyes focused solely on the series of photos in front of her. The more she lowered, the more she looked like a threatened cat: unsure but ready to strike and claw at anything that moved. Standing up, I placed my hands on her shoulders.
“What's going on? You said maybe two things tonight.”
“I don't like them,” she replied seriously, flipping to the next image of Liling and her soon-to-be husband once again, even though we had seen them all at least twice already.