SIX

LUCAS' POV

The rays of the sun must have been shining through a window or an open door, for even though I was heavily blindfolded, I felt the sun's rays on my eyes. I heard the door opening and footsteps drawing near to me.

"Clean him up; Zuri wants to see him!", a woman's voice said. I knew Zuri; she was one of the oldest members of the mafia group, and she could really be ruthless if she wanted.

I was pulled up by the arms and dragged into a room which I suspect was a bathroom, because immediately I was sprayed with cold water while I was wearing my clothes.

"Move!" the woman's voice cried. With water dripping off me, I walked as I was guided up a long flight of stairs. We came to a stop, and someone knocked at a door.

"Wait!! We're not yet done here", I head Troy's voice. We remained standing.

"Go on!" Troy's voice could be heard from the room in front of us.

A trembling voice started to speak "we underestimated her, boss. We thought she was just a simple babysitter, but she managed to run away from us. You may punish us any way you want, but please don't kill us!"

There was silence, serve for the occasional sniffing of the begging man. His voice sounded like Rama, but I was not too sure. The man sounded too scared and too shaken that it became impossible for me to detect whose voice it was.

"Deal with them!" a deep voice could be hard. I immediately recognized that voice. It was The Capo. The Capo himself. The leader of the whole gang. The highest of them all; the Mafia King. We all called him The Capo; and asking to know his real name was as good as asking to die. I had never met him in person, but I had only spoken to him once over the phone. His voice was unmistakable. I started to feel very scared, imagining what lay in store for me. I only felt relief when I heard him saying, "Zuri, I'm leaving now. Handle this matter well!"

A few words of goodbyes were said, and The Capo left the place, much to my relief.

"I still can't believe that the two of you were outwitted by a simple babysitter!" Troy mocked. No-one responded. "And that la Martina woman? You chose to kill her, huh? What excuse do you have?" Troy asked.

Rama's voice came up again, shaking even more than before, "Forgive me, I beg you boss."

"Was it that difficult to bring the woman alive? The instruction was clear.", Troy went on.

There was silence, before Troy went on to say, "did she say anything before you stabbed her?"

"She kept repeating that she knew nothing", Rama's voice narrated in great fear.

"You should have brought her back here alive. By now Lucas would have spoken. Now he has nothing to lose; we won't get a word from him. That wife of his was supposed to make him talk! If only you had brought her alive, we could put a gun to her head and force Lucas to talk!" Troy sounded seriously disappointed.

"Forgive my mistake, boss" Rama continued to beg.

"For now you will live; but in two days you must bring that boy. Alive. We want him alive. Bring the babysitter too. They both must be alive." Troy stated with conclusiveness.

"Yes boss. In two days, the babysitter and the boy will be here!", there was hope in Rama's voice.

"Bring them here alive and unharmed" I heard finality in Zuri's voice.

"Y-yes, boss Zuri. Alive and unharmed. Noted, boss", Rama's trembling voice could be heard.

Just at that moment, my stomach knotted painfully. So Rama killed my wife? And from what I heard, he was not supposed to kill her, but to bring her back alive. Why did he kill her? And Zuri was ordering for Anisha and Liam to be brought in alive and unharmed. Oh my! What did I get myself and my whole family into?

Another realization unveiled before me: I did not know Troy as much as I thought I did. Troy and I met many years before, when we were both university students. He was one year ahead of me, and he treated me like his younger brother. He had always been a tough one, very stern with me, but all the same I could sense some care behind that sternness. He looked out for me. He cared about my well-being. Being an only child myself, I must confess that I enjoyed his protection as my older brother.

Since I came from a poor family, I always used to run out of cash and Troy always helped me out. Sometimes I would pay him back, sometimes I would not. On one of the days that I was handing him back the money that I had borrowed, I said "It's good to have a friend from a rich family"

"Who are you talking about?" he asked me.

"You, of course," I said.

"Who says I am from a rich family?" he said.

I looked at him in surprise, before I said, " I thought you were. You never run out of cash and you always have the latest phones, and all nice things"

He laughed. He then went on to tell me that he too came from a poor family, but he had a small business.

"What kind of business?" I asked in excitement.

Troy then went on to tell me about delivering packages. He told me that if I was interested, I could deliver packages for him, starting with only one package per day.

"Where do I have to deliver them?" I asked as I was starting to get scared and suspicious.

"You will soon know once you agree to do the work. Once you agree, there is no turning back."

It took me many days and convincing to finally agree to deliver the said packages. The first package I was given was in a brown paper bag, on a Thursday evening. I was extremely scared, as I had no idea what was inside the package, and the privilege of asking was not mine. I took the bag with me. Troy himself drove the car and took me to a building which was very dirty and looked deserted and creepy.

"Go down the alley. You will meet a man waiting. His name is Israel. Hand over that package to him. And come back."

"I-I can't do it anymore. Why does it have to be th-this dark and…." I stammered, dreading the task.

"Can you stop talking and do the job!" Troy commanded.

Hesitating, I got out of the car and started walking into the alley. Sure enough, I met a tall man with a face heavily concealed by a hat, shades and a scarf pulled up too high. With a shivering hand, I handed over the package to him and I turned to run back to the car.

"Why do we have to do it in such a shady place? What's in the bag? Who was that man?" Many questions rained from me to Troy, the moment I sat back in the car.

"Stop with the many questions. You're still a newbie. I have been doing this for years, and it's a safe job! I even work from hotels and other prestigious places. You will be promoted. For now I will monitor you. If you don't make a blunder in the next few months, we will introduce you to our boss Zuri, and she will examine you and if she sees you fit, she will introduce you to The Capo"

"The Capo? What's that? Who is that?" I got very scared that I almost wet my pants.

"You will know him if you do well." Troy smiled.

"And if I don't? If I don't do well, what happens?"

"If you don't do well you die.", said Troy very casually. He said it as if he was just mentioning something like it's about to rain.

"You're joking, are you?" I wanted him to laugh and say he was joking, but that did not happen. We drove in silence until he came to the university's main entrance. He parked the car. He pressed ten brand new notes into my hand. So much! It was too much money. Could it have been that much just for delivering a package in the alley! I remained seated, failing to believe that I had made that much money just by delivering the package.

"Is..is this all mine? Did you make a mistake?" I stammered.

"You did the job. That's your salary today. If you need more of that, deliver the bag again tomorrow. And tomorrow, you will get your salary from Israel." Troy said impatiently. By the way he held on to the steering wheel and kept looking out the window, I was able to tell that he really wanted to go. But I still needed to say something…

"From Israel? I … I will get payment from that man? May I continue to get it from you, please? He looked very scary. If you don't mind…."

"You talk too much, Lucas. This job is for people who act more, and talk less." Troy's patience was clearly running out.

"I am sorry." I murmured before looking at the brand new notes in my hands. Wow. That much money! So I was going to get the same amount on the next day? Just for delivering packages? Easy! I decided to give it a try, promising myself not to get too involved.

Troy gave me a nudge, and nodded for me to get off his car. As soon as I closed the door, he drove off at a high speed.