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The kiss is gentle and loving, a sweet expression of his affection. It’s soft and welcoming and I do not know what I prefer more. His hand pets my hair as he lies down next to me. “I want to tell you about my parents.” He confesses and I touch his face softly as I nod.
Fifteen Years Ago
Kyro
Ivan wasn’t just my friend. He was the son of the Pahkan, the boss of a Russian syndicate.
“If you join, you can’t ever get out. That’s how it is.” Ivan explains in Russian. “This life is strenuous, but it is better than what you can offer your family now. It must be your choice.”
“What does he want me to do?” I answer in Russian.
Ivan’s father wanted me to torture a snitch. At first, I didn’t think I had the stomach for it, but I enjoyed it. I became good at my job. I had a talent for knowing how much a person could take before they died. Yet I could not kill my father. Despite the abuse my father inflicted on my mother, I found myself unable to take his life, and I didn’t know why.
Ivan joined me to get my mother and move out of the house. I now had enough money to give us a new life. When we arrived at the house, my mother was cooking, and she had a new black eye. My father sat on the couch flipping through channels.
“Mom, let’s go,” I say to her in Russian.
“Stop speaking that shit. Speak fucking English. All you immigrants never want to learn shit.” He shouts and I ignore him, which pisses him off. As he gets up, I can hear Ivan cock his gun.
“Sit down.” He says in English, pointing the gun at my father. “Come on, pussy. Do something.” Ivan taunts.
My mother looks at me with wide eyes. “And how did you get that money? You are working for those monsters?!” She screams.
I knew my mother would be angry, but even this reaction shocks me. “Do you want to stay here and deal with him? I can get us a house. We can live better.” I respond in Russian.
“I will not have a son who is a criminal.” She barks back.
I take a step back from her. “I won’t suffer here if you want to stay. That’s on you. If you’re not willing to save yourself, there’s nothing I can do.”
I went into my room and packed all my things; I will not go insane here. The thought of living in agony and achieving nothing is unbearable. I go back out into the living room, where my father is sitting on the chair and Ivan has his gun on him.
“Ready to go?” Ivan asks in Russian. I take one last look at my mother and beg her to come with me, but she refuses to go.
I began living in an apartment overlooking the city alone. Ivan would come to hang out and give me work to do, but it was mostly me, along with my thoughts about my mother. I worried she was dead.
A week later, Ivan informed me that my mother had killed my father. I hid a gun in my mother’s jewelry box, and she must have found it. Ivan and the news stations both reported that he suffered four gunshot wounds to his back, leaving him bleeding and unable to move. I knew my mother would never take my dirty money. Therefore, I opened a donation for battered women so that my mother could live comfortably in an apartment without knowing it was mine. She hadn’t talked to me since the day I left.
Present
Reyna looked at me with concern. “Where is she now?”
“Still in New York. She still won’t speak to me. So, I gave up trying.” I explain.
She makes circles on the back of my neck. “How did you become the boss? Wouldn’t it be Ivan since his dad was the boss?”
“Well, the brotherhood picks their boss. It doesn’t have to be blood. They wanted me to lead, and Ivan didn’t want to take the position, especially since he had a secret family he wanted to protect. You and Prince were more important than the brotherhood.”
Reyna closes her eyes and sighs. Probably to keep herself from crying. “We need to get back to the party.” She states.
We get dressed once more and fix our tussled appearances. When we find ourselves outside, Prince is exactly where I thought he would be, reading a comic book with Trey. The kids gathered, and everyone congratulates Prince.
“We can have more,” I whisper into her ear.
Reyna glanced at me, but then looked forward.
Chapter 6
Reyna
