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Chapter One
Chance
“Mr. DeLuca, now associating with includes phone calls,” Charles Jones, my parole officer, complains.
“He’s my cousin. There’s no way I’m not calling him. You’ve lost your damn mind if you think otherwise,” I reply, clutching my phone to my ear.
“He has a rap sheet longer than I-35,” Charles sighs. I chuckle at his words.
It’s true. My cousin, Frankie, has been in and out of the slammer since he was about twelve. His charges range from petty theft, grand theft auto all the way to the more recent charge of aggravated assault. He got a slap on the wrist for the last charge since the witness conveniently changed their story. Thanks to my father.
“Mr. DeLuca, please, for the love of God, just keep your nose clean for half a year. After that, you’re off papers, and life goes on… without me in it!”
“I should be able to talk to family.”
“Like I said, for the thousandth time,” he groans. “If they are on paper, you can’t associate with them. Blood or not.”
Six months? I suppose for the next six months, I could relay messages through my old man. That’d be an easy fix. He owes me anyway since I took the case for Matteo, his consigliere, a.k.a his right-hand man.
Some fucking father you are,I mutter to myself.
The whole situation pisses me off. I’ve had a long twelve months to think about everything. Four months in jail awaiting trial and eight months in actual prison. I walked away from the best thing in my life and took the case to prove to my father that I was loyal to our family name. And what the hell did I have to show for it? Not a damn thing except parole and a back-breaking job. I never should have done time in the first place; house arrest at most.
There was something off about my attorney, the judge, the prosecutor, the case… everything. I swore while I was locked up that I’d get to the bottom of it if it was the last thing I did. There was no way I was going to live life withoutherover a set-up. If she wasn’t going to be in my life, I better have given her up for a damn good reason… like family.
“Alright. Six months. Too easy,” I reply, smirking.
“Mr. DeLuca, why does your tone worry me?” he asks.
“You have nothing to worry about, Mr. Jones. I’ll behave,” I chuckle. “Now, if you excuse me, I have to get back to this shitty-ass job you found me.
“That job pays good money, and it’s also helping others.”
“Helping others?” I frown. “How the hell is construction helping others?”
“You’re an essential worker, Mr. DeLuca. Without workers like you, roads would stay crappy, and people wouldn’t be able to get around,” he says as though he’s the spokesperson for the union or some shit.
“Whatever you say, Mr. Jones. Talk to you later.” I hang up my phone and place it inside my bookbag.
I look around the world around me. Heavy operating equipment, porta-potties, traffic barrels, and piles of dirt and rocks are everywhere. This is a life I never imagined myself living in. I grew up wearing designer clothes, driving nice cars, and living a life of luxury. There hasn’t been a single thing luxurious since the day I was arrested. And now that I’m out, life is even shittier.
Despite the hot ass weather, I have to wear long sleeve shirts, work pants, and steel-toed boots. I had never even heard of steel-toed boots until orientation. On the first day of wearing them, I felt like I had damn concrete on my feet. My coworkers all got a good laugh out of it.
“Hey, DeLuca! Break’s over!” Mike, my supervisor, shouts a few feet from me. The guys are already huddled up around him.
“Yeah. Yeah. I’m coming. Hold your horses,” I say, zipping up my bag.
“Hurry up!” one of the guys yells.
This is only day five, and I already know I’m not built for this shit. My body hurts in places I didn’t even realize could hurt. And I walk around smelling like I bathed in muscle cream. The assholes around me are machines and go for hours without complaining. They’re a different breed. Ones I hope to never see again once these six months of hell are up.
Chapter Two
ASHLYNN
Why I decided to move back to Dallas, Texas, in the middle of the summer is beyond me. The heat was ridiculous, and the traffic even more so. I was ready to leave my car in the middle of I-35, climb over the concrete barrier, andUberto my new apartment.
This shit is for the birds,I complain to myself.
