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I see him clearly.
"Raven?"
"I will fear no evil."
ChapterThree
Thirteen years ago...
"Where were you last night?" I hear my brother, Constantino, yell into the phone.
"Chill, man," I say. I'm lying on his bed, tossing a small beanbag up into the air. It's my junior year in high school, and things have become painfully boring.
When our father was warring with the Irish gangs in town, things were far more interesting. There was way more to spy on.
But ever since our family successfully put down the threat, things have gotten quiet. Everyone keeps saying how thankful they are for "peace," but I find it an absolute drag.
Constantino, or Consty, as I like to call him, is a year ahead of me in school even though he’s two years older than me. Pretty sure he got held back a year or something, but it works out because he’s good entertainment. I started following him around when things got quiet. He always seems like he's up to something. It's probably because our father is always giving him secret stuff to do.
Once, when I asked him what he was doing, he launched into a long lecture about honor and family, and frankly, I lost interest after about five minutes.
That being said, he does provide a good deal of entertainment. He is pretty animated, and sitting around in his room is better than sitting around alone.
"Don't interrupt my phone calls," he snaps at me.
He turns back to his call.
"I don't care what your excuse is," he nearly yells. "You completely stood me up. Do you know how bad that made me look?"
I wince. I enjoy listening in on Consty's conversations, except for these ones.
Things with his girlfriend, Raven, have become rocky at best. Actually, that is being generous. He and Raven have never been good together.
It definitely isn't Raven's fault. I don't really know her. She is actually in my class year, so she is a year younger than Consty, but she's a good girl who does her homework. That means she and I don't really have any classes together.
I know that Consty pursued her because she is at the top of our class. He likes being first and is all about appearances. Which is a pretty shitty reason to try and date someone, in my humble opinion.
But Consty thinks he is too smart to listen to anybody. The poor girl definitely has some serious daddy issues going on, because no one with any real self-esteem would put up with Consty's shit.
"Dude, lay off her," I say to him, ignoring his warning not to interrupt him.
He turns his anger on me, which is better than subjecting her to it.
"Out!" he yells, pointing his finger at the door.
"Nah," I reply, bouncing the little ball back up into the air. "Think I'll stick around and listen to how much more of a dick you're going to be to your girlfriend. YOU DESERVE BETTER!" I shout, hoping she will hear me on the other side of the line.
"I'll call you back," he grumbles into his cell phone. "And you better pick up when I do."
He hangs up the phone and bounds over to me. He grabs the scruff of my shirt, but I just laugh at him.
"Dude, your intimidation tricks don't work on me."
He lets go of my shirt, and his anger deflates.
"Can't you go do something else other than annoy me?" he asks. "Why not concentrate on yourself? You still haven't given Father your answer."
Consty was not so subtly reminding me that I have yet to tell our father what job I'd like to do within his organization. The Maldonado boys weren't slated to go to college. There was no need. We were all going to end up working for our father. He, at least, gave us the courtesy of letting us choose what sort of job we'd like to do within the organization.
