ALEX I almost lost balance on the wheel. It was like I was hearing things and I just had to stop the car to ask the man what he said again.“What did you say?” I asked, making sure my voice was not trembling. The last thing I wanted right now was to show my weakness to this man. He was once Anthony’s confidant and the last thing I wanted was for him to hear how weak I was now. Even when Anthony was alive, I never showed the man how much effect his boss’s words could have on me.“I have a hunch that he would pick his successor from the Cartel member, and to be frank, no one knows but the big boss would want a member of the Crow Cartel.”The big boss would want a member of the Crow Cartel to be the next successor? That was the most absurd news I’ve heard in a while. How could my father think of giving the Cartel to a stranger, a ‘non Crow’? Of all things to do, how in God’s name could he think of that? Sometimes, I wonder what goes on in his head, what he could be thinking as he annou
ALEXI stared at the report for a while. It was great. It was five times different from when I first came here to arrogate the position of the head of security.I could remember how things were. The sales were nothing to write home about and clients come back to report one thing or the other. It was not a good report to give as at that time but now, it was too different and I was sure Blake Crow would want to see more of it. It would even change his perspective.So far so good, I had been able to portray as a good leader, something I haven’t been able to do since I knew left from right. Or, I haven’t been able to do it because of the low self-esteem I had. I always thought if it wouldn’t be from my father, it would be from Anthony Crow, my brother.To say I didn’t see Anthony as a god was an understatement. I saw him as another god after my father. All those years of bullying and torture in the dark room, the secret den Anthony would lock me in, they showed me what a god could do and
ALEX I woke up leisurely and yawned. It was a brand new day and I was feeling every bit of happiness coursing through my veins. Yes, I deserved to be happy.The fact that I was going to work increased my enthusiasm. Today, all the workers would see the report of the month and the previous months. I was so enthusiastic about this that I could hardly contain my excitement. Yes, soon, it would be time and as it should be, I would be the rightful owner of the Crow Cartel. I smiled as the morning sun slowly crept into my room. I woke up with a sense of excitement and anticipation for the day ahead. Today was going to be a good day, and I was eager to get started with my morning routine.Nope, today was different. It was a great day.I went to my closet and picked out a different, more sophisticated outfit for the day. I choose a crisp white shirt, a navy blue blazer, and well-fitted khaki pants. I had lots of the same style with different colors, not particularly the same style though,
SOFIA I felt as though I had been unclothed and I was now naked. The fact that Alex had caught me staring at him made the butterflies keep roaming around my stomach. I was suddenly ashamed that I flushed and I more or less ran out of his office.But the shame was a good one. It wasn’t like the one I felt that night he rescued me from my boss. That day, even though I was fully clothed, though, parts of my office clothes were torn, still, I felt naked. But now, even if I was to go naked before Alex now, I was sure I wouldn’t be ashamed.The rest of the afternoon was spent on blushing and happily doing my work. As I delivered the rest of the memorandum, I kept on blushing and that didn’t pass the eagle eyes of Susan. At the office cafeteria to have our daily morning coffee, she kept on eyeing me until I was forced to talk.“Okay, what’s with the face?” I asked her when she wouldn’t stop looking at me.“How was your delivery to the long, lean and lethal office?”“I am not having this dis
ALEX Was I damned? Yes, I was.I had picked up my phone. It was similar to a particular time that I had seen this person. That was years ago, that was when I was still so young, that was when I hadn’t understood my being as the son of the most powerful Mafia lord in town, I didn’t know my worth, so I didn’t understand my being.That time was when I was kidnapped with Anthony. That time was when Anthony had entered the enemy’s den and I had no choice than to follow him. It was also similar to that day Anthony had lied that I was beaten at the cafeteria, whereas, it was his friends and him that pounced on me that day.The stance of Blake Crow that day was so intimidating and I had been terrified. I was scared out of my wits and I swore that I soiled my pants.There are different reasons why I feared Blake Crow; he is my father, he is the most powerful Mafia lord I know, he had killed someone before my eyes before and he felt no remorse, his ‘beloved’ wife and mother of his children had
ALEX It felt like I was listening to a broken tape that was playing out the truth.I expected an answer, but Blake Crow continued to laugh dismissively. It was clear that he had no intention of considering my ideas seriously.And then, that was when he decided to drop all he had been saving to say to me."Oh, my boy, you make me laugh. Now, let me make it clear to you.” Here we go, here comes the lashing. “You are a born failure, and nothing you do now can make up for all your years of failure and set-backs, I don’t know how much I’ve got to say to you to make you see that nothing good stays in your hands, they die, even the bad ones wilt, go brittle and then die. Stop pushing it, my boy.”When he said that, I was tempted to want to ask a question from him. All I would ask was if he really was my father. Growing up, I didn’t see the good side of Blake Crow, it was the fucked up side of him I saw. The side of his anger and disapproval of anything I ever lay my hands on.One of his com
ALEXI listened. I listened to him talk. It was like I was listening to a radio station and I had no other choice than to listen. His words cut deep into my soul. It sent more than daggers into my mind and the question I had in my mind was just simple.It was a question of, “what was the whole point?” Like, what was the whole point of me coming to New York in the first place. It was like I came here to play around. The total months I've been here was a waste. It was about six months, and now it was a waste. It was as if all the dreams and aspirations I had carried with me had been swallowed by the towering skyscrapers of New York city that surrounded me. I sniffed and dropped my phone on the table. The city that was once filled with promise for me if I came was now poisonous and being here, it felt like a prison, trapping me in a life that offered no fulfillment.Damn! Damn Blake Crow! Damn him to the hottest part of hell.As I watched the towering buildings, I couldn’t help but q
SOFIA When I had saw it, the red sticky, very crimson colour, everything in me screamed and I was pushed to want to run. I did run, and as I ran, everything in me was shaking violently. It brought back too many memories that struck my heartbeat. For a moment, I had this crazy thought that what happened years ago would repeat itself again or had happened again. The blood was too much, it was splattered on the wall, it smeared the rug, and it was over their faces too. I vividly saw them that day before the police and paramedics came by. And what was I talking about? I was talking about that day that I and my sister had walked in and we had found our parents dead bodies on the floor with them in their own pool of blood. I could remember that day like I was there, in that house. It felt like I couldn’t live in that day, but now, I was in that house, on that spot, looking at their lifeless bodies.It was a day that will forever be etched in my memory. It was the day my twin sister, Oliv