My Convict

15 - Day One

+Brandy 

"Aim at the head," I instruct Savannah. Since she was the only one in the group who didn't know how to shoot, I decided to teach her, seeing as how it was a requirement now. "Like this," Picking up my gun, I aim it at the head of the dead pig. She mimics me. "Now, remember your shooting finger should never be on the trigger unless you are aimed and prepared to fire. Your thumb should be wrapped around the other side and held against the other side of the frame, near the top." Putting my gun down, I walk over to her to help. "Make sure your feet are perfectly balanced on the ground and don't flex your leg muscles." Using my feet, I kick her legs apart, causing her to stumble back. 

She glares at me. "That's the second time you almost made me fall." 

My lips twitched up into a smile. "My fault but it just proves that you're not really balancing yourself." I tilt my head sideways before placing both my hands on her shoulders. "Your body is so rigid... you need to let loose." 

She puts the gun down and crosses her arms. "I don't like guns." She says, avoiding my gaze. "They make me uncomfortable... can't I just use a bat or something?" 

I shake my head. "Nope, That's way too risky. Anyone can take a bat out of your hands. You need to learn how to shoot with both a real and a fake gun." 

She sighs. "I liked it better when we were just using the dummy pistols. Why did Elijah change his mind about us only using them?" 

Shrugging, I lean back against the truck. "I think he realized that people may see that we're using rubber bullets instead of real ones. There's also the fact that anything can happen after we get out of the bank."  

She rolls her eyes and huffs. "Alright... maybe he does have a point." 

I chuckle. "How come guns make you uncomfortable?" 

Biting the inside of her cheeks, she slowly looks up at me. "Promise you won't tell anyone?" 

Lifting my hands up, I wink at her. "Scouts honor." 

She chuckles before suddenly turning serious. "W...when I was a kid. I lived with my Aunt because my parents couldn't take care of me. They were hooked on some pretty bad drugs and... and it just wasn't a good environment to be around. I lived with my Aunt up until I was fifteen because I ran away." 

"You've told me this before Savannah."

"I know, but I've never really actually told you why I ran away." She clears her throat. "When I was about eight, my aunt met this dude. She liked him a lot but... I knew there was something off about him. It was just the little things you know, that gave it away. He'd stare at me weirdly, and always open the door to the bathroom when I'd be inside, pretending it was an accident. And from there on at night, he'd sneak into my room and get under my covers." Tears were forming in her eyes as she continues to speak. "After the first night, he came into my room almost every night, laying beside me and touching me... touching me places where no child should ever be touched. Every time he'd come in, he'd always have a gun." She chuckles dryly. "That damn thing is scarred in my brain. I still remember the cold metal of it being pressed at the temple of my head, it used to make all the hair on my body stand up. The grip was brown and the side... it was silver and every time he came into my room, he would always say that he'd shoot me if I ever denied him." 

I frown, feeling my blood run cold. "Savannah, I'm so sorry that happened to you." 

Savannah shakes her head. "Don't apologize, it's not your fault. It's mine." 

I quickly abject. "No, it is not if anything it's that sickos fault and your aunt for not noticing the signs. You're the victim Savannah." 

She stays quiet for a moment. "Brandy, it's my fault that it continued to go on for so long. The night that I ran away... I tried to shoot him with his own gun. But it... it wasn't loaded. It never was loaded, he even said it himself." She looks down at her feet, tears spilling from her eyes. "All those years of him coming into my room, all I had to do was check the gun... or even scream. If I had the guts to do something, it probably wouldn't have continued for so long. And I wouldn't be so scared of guns." 

"Savannah," I say, quickly walking to her side. I pull her into a hug. "You can't blame yourself for something like that. It wasn't your fault. You're not to blame for it girl and that's the truth." Looking down at her, I wipe the tears from her eyes. "You have a lot of anger in you, use." Standing up, I pass her the gun. "Prove to yourself that he has no control left over you, use the weapon that he tormented you with and turn it into something powerful."

She looks at me for a moment, before sniffing. She takes the gun from my hand and points it at the dead pig. "What do I do?" She asks glancing over at me. 

"Relax," I say, steadying her shaky hands. "Control your breathing and just let loose. Square your shoulders and lean forward slightly with your torso. Never hold the gun too close to yourself, it's dangerous. Keep your eyes focused on the pig and picture his face as the target. Aim at where you want to hit and let all that anger you have in you, build up. Then whenever you're ready, pull the trigger."

Savannah nods and does exactly what I tell her. It takes her a moment to shoot, but when she finally does the sound of the trigger being pulled sounds throughout the entire woods. With speed, the bullet punctures the top of the soda can. "That's not where I wanted to hit."

"It's alright, you just have to keep practicing." I stand behind her and help her straighten up. "Let's do it again." 

————

"Mommy, how much longer do we have to stay here?" Elliot asks, looking down at his shoes. He was in a mood right now, upset that he couldn't be home. 

"Baby, just two more days and I promise we'll be back home again." 

He sighs. "I... I miss my room mommy." 

"I know you do baby." A sigh comes out of my mouth as I sit next to him. "What can I do to make you feel at least some sort of comfort here?

Elliot looks up in thought, a small smile finds its way onto his face. He looked so much like his father when he smiled, it kinda bewildered me. You'd think since I carried the kid for nine months, he'd come out looking like at me, but he doesn't. It's crazy how genes work. "Well, you can get me my own blow-up bed." He starts to fiddle with his finger. "I don't like sharing a bed with you and daddy... well mainly you." 

I pout, taken aback. "How come?" 

"Mommy, because you take up all the room on the bed and you like to put your legs on me and hug." He states. 

I gasp, pretending to be hurt. "First off the word you're looking for is cuddle. And way too hurt my feelings, Elliot, you'd think that because I'm your mom you'd appreciate my cuddling. You liked when I used to cuddle with you when you were younger." 

Elliot places his hand on top of mine and stares at me sadly. "Mommy, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. It's just, I'm a big boy now and cuddling is for babies." 

My eyes squint at him. "You literally loved when I cuddled with you a few weeks ago. You mean to tell me you became a big boy and that quick?" 

He huffs before standing up. Placing his small hands on my shoulders, he looked me in the eyes. "Mommy it's not you... it's me." He says stuttering. He places a small kiss on my cheek then slowly walks away to talk to Michelle. 

I frown in confusion. "What the hell just happened?" 

"Well from here, it sounded like your kid just dumped you. He's independent now." 

My eyebrows raise. "He's five." 

"So what?" Elijah says, from the other side of the room. He has a beer in his hand as he searches the web using my laptop. "I was independent by the time I was five." 

My face scrunches up. "Of course you were," I mumble, shaking my head. 

"They really do raise you, mafia kids, differently, don't they?" Mia asks, painting her toenails black. 

Elijah nods and takes a gulp of his beer. "Yup. You eventually learn to adapt to their way of methods." 

"Damn... I doubt I'd be Mafia material." Mia says. "It sounds too hard." 

"It really isn't as long as you have no boundaries," Elijah responds. 

My eyebrows knit together. "So you have no boundaries?" 

He bites down on his lips. "Back then yeah, well I still don't. I'm just more... reserved now." 

"Reserved you say... interesting." 

 "You got something to say?" He asks a bit annoyed. 

I roll my eyes. He's been in a mood ever since this morning because Andreas and I have been texting pretty much the whole entire day. "Keep pushing me and I just might," I said, not fazed by his demeanor. Elijah chuckles dryly and shakes his head. He looks back down at the laptop and begins typing furiously. 

My phone vibrates, signaling a text from Andreas. 

Text from: A

-Favorite planet?

I quickly respond back. 

Sent to: A

-Most definitely Pluto. What about yours?

Sending the message, I lay my phone back on the chair.. 

Michelle's phone pings and everyone stares at her as she giggles. "Umm who you texting?" Savannah asks, taking her headphones off. "Casper the friendly ghost?" 

Michelle glares at her. "No, and it's none of your business." We all look at her with raised eyebrows and she finally cracks. "Fine, it's Kevin." 

Mia rolls her eyes. "Oh, the imaginary guy that let you borrow the car." 

"He's not imaginary!" Michelle yells. 

Elijah stops typing and looks up at Michelle, frowning. "You said his names, Kevin?" He asks seriously. 

She nods. "Yeah... Kevin." She answers. "You know him or something?" 

Elijah ignores her question. "Has he ever mentioned the names Marc or Wyatt Russo to you?" He asks. "Describe what he looks like." 

"He has mentioned the name Wyatt before that's one of his best friends from what I know. I've never heard him say a last name." Michelle folds her arms together. "He's Italian, has black hair and brown eyes. He's about your height and has a scar on his left hand. And when I met him, he was with this black guy named Simon." 

Slamming the laptop down, Elijah stands up abruptly. "Why didn't you tell me this before?!" 

Michelle shrugs. "Because I didn't think you needed to know. He's done nothing wrong, he's a good guy." 

Elijah's eyes widen as he chuckles dryly. "He's a good guy." He repeats. "The man you just described sounds like the best friend and second in command of Marc Russo. Who is the leader of the Italian Mafia!" He yells. "Do you know how dangerous those two are? And if Kevin is in Atlanta, then that means Marc or Wyatt is here with him! And don't even get me started on Simon." 

Michelle looks down at her hands, shocked at the information she was receiving. 

"f**k! This is just what I need!" Elijah yells, slamming his fist down on the table. 

Elliot jumps up shaking, tears in his eyes. I quickly run to his side and pull him into a hug. I glare at Elijah. "Elijah go outside and calm down, you know your son can't take loud noises!" 

Elijah sighs in regret but quickly walks out. "Why'd daddy yell?" Elliot asks in tears. 

"Because he's mad baby, sometimes that's what people do to express themselves." I plant a kiss down on his head. "Everything's gonna be fine, I promise. He won't be mad for long and when he's calm he'll come back and apologize." I kiss him again. "Don't cry it's gonna be alright." Turning to Savannah, I ask, "Can you please watch him so I can go sort this out?"

"Sure." She stands up and picks him up.

"Brandy, I'm sorry." Michelle apologizes as I stand to my feet. 

I shake my head. "Don't apologize, none of this is your fault. You didn't know." And with that being said, I make my way outside to confront Elijah. He was outside in the rain punching random things. The sky looks so dull because of the lack of sunlight. "What the f**k was that?!" I yell walking in the rain. 

Elijah looks up from what he's punching and looks at me. "You're getting you're wig wet." He states, before going back to punching. 

"I know, I'm just gonna by another one with your money. Now, what the f**k was that back there?" I ask. "You scared the s**t out of Elliot and my girls. You're supposed to be our leader, act like it!" 

Elijah turns to look at me, as droplets of rain pour down his face. "You know, you're one to talk. What you didn't think I'd noticed?" 

I look at him confused. "What are you talking about?" 

He glares at me. "The intense ass questions about Andreas, the dilemma in your eyes every time you look at me. You don't know whether to believe me on if he's really the bad guy when he clearly is." He walks closer to me. "Yeah, I've noticed. Even a f*****g blind person can notice it." He throws the piece of wood in his hands. "You blame your uncertainty on me because you don't know my background. Well, I assure you this, my cousin is a monster. One who doesn't need you taking his side!" 

Anger rises in me. "Then tell me!" I yell, with both hands in the sky. "Tell me what the f**k I need to know, so my uncertainty can go away." 

Elijah yells before turning away from me. "My family is complicated and there are things... secrets that don't need to be told." He sighs, before speaking again. "Andreas and my sister used to have a thing." He confesses, which causes my mouth to drop. 

"What?" 

"You heard what I said Brandy, they had a thing!" He says again. "To everyone else in the family, it was incest but to Nikki and Andreas it was something else... love. That's what they called it. And because of their love for one another a child was made. I made my sister get an abortion." Something about the way he said the last part didn't sound right. 

"You're lying," I say glaring at him. "You lied on that last part." 

Elijah pinches the bridge of his nose and groans as the rain falls down harder. "What I'm about to tell you, Brandy, you can't tell anyone. I mean it, you take this secret to the grave. Swear it." 

"Okay." 

"No, swear it." 

I nod. "I swear it." 

He continues on. "I wanted my sister to get an abortion but she disagreed. She carried my niece full term and with my help, hid her. No one knows about my niece, not even my father. Only a few people know about her and now, you. To everyone else in my family and to Andreas, Nikki got an abortion. It broke Andreas's heart and it's like a flip switched in his head and when Nikki broke it off with him, it added fuel to the fire. Nikki got depressed and found herself being with her drug dealer. When he started to abuse her, my father killed him and because of that. Nikki... she committed suicide."

"I'm so sorry," I tell him.

"You're the one that  wanted to know." He says coldly. "I gave my niece to the only person I trust in this damn world. Kelly Russo. Marc Russo's wife." The way his eyes lit up when he mentioned her, suggested that something happened between them. "Both of them promised to take care of her and raise her like she's one of their own. Marc and I clicked because we both came from similar backgrounds. We were... friends for a long time until Marc's biological father was killed." 

"You killed his father?" 

"No, Andreas did. He knew if he'd frame me for Raymond's murder it would put me in jail and break the friendship Marc and I have. Andreas framed me, to get back at me for making Nikki get an abortion... he also blames me for her death." He explains. "He thought that if I went to jail the prisoners would kill me and if not, Marc would send someone to do it. Neither happened, And I'm one hundred percent sure it's because of Kelly."

"Really?"

"Yeah you see, Raymond was a very bad man. One that did the unimaginable things to people. He hurt Kelly pretty bad and Marc vowed to kill him. Marc's the type of person to mean what he says, so when he found out that Raymond was dead and he didn't die by his hands... he took it personally, it made him feel like he couldn't take care of Kelly. Which pissed him off even more. When I got arrested for Raymond's murder, I'm sure Marc was livid. Hell, I was so sure that he was going to kill me in prison. But then I remembered, the only person that could get through to Marc when he's angry is Kelly. She saved my life again." 

"She sounds incredible," I say, truthfully. 

"She is and before your brain starts getting all worked up, no we never had a thing. We're just good friends." 

"I wasn't even thinking about it." 

"Sure you weren't. Anyways, Kevin and Simon being in town isn't good. That means they're looking for me." 

"Why don't you just meet up with them and explain to them the truth. I'm sure Kelly will back you up." 

He shakes his head. "It's too risky." 

"At this point, it really isn't. If Marc is as crazy as you say he is, he could go to Andreas and ask him for help in finding you."

"Kelly doesn't trust Andreas, so I'm sure that's the last person Marc would ever go to for help." 

"She has that much power over him?"

"Not power, influence, and trust. It's the reason why their marriage continues to strive. They really, really love one another. Besides that, she's his Donna."

"Donna?" I question. "What's that?"

"It's the Italian female term for Mafia Don."

I nod. "Alright, so it's settled. You're going to get in touch with them?" He nods. "Good, now can we get out of the rain, me and my wig are soaked."

Elijah chuckles and pulls me by the waist, pushing me near him. He looks down at my lips as the rain pours down his face. "You're such a character."

"It's what you like about me. And for your information, just because I had my doubts doesn't mean that I'd betray you. You're the father of my kid, my loyalty is with you. Always." I push my hair away from my face. "Now kiss me, before you say something stupid." He bends down and pecks my lips, before pulling back. "And I hope you know that you have to first apologize to your son and then Michelle." 

He nods. "I know." With my hands in his, we walk back into the warehouse. As soon as we entered, the room gets quiet. Mia hands us both a towel. "Thank you," Elijah says, before walking over at Elliot. He picks him up slowly and goes to talk to him across the room. 

"So what was that all about?" Savannah asks, looking down at her phone. 

"I'll explain it to you guys when Elliot's asleep." I sigh, before sitting down on one of the camping chairs. "It's a lot." 

Mia shrugs. "I'm sure it's nothing we can't handle." 

Elijah walks back to where we are and hands Elliot to me. I hold him in my arms as he buries his face into my neck. Elijah clears his throat and looks at Michelle. "Michelle I'm sorry for the way I reacted and most importantly for making you feel like crap. I overreacted and I'm an idiot." 

Michelle smiles lightly. "All water under the bridge, brother."

Elijah nods. "Great." He looks at Mia and Savannah. "I'd also like to apologize to both of you guys if I made you uncomfortable." 

"Boy, it's fine," Mia says, smiling at him. "We all get mad, it's no biggie." 

"Alright." He claps his hands together. "I'm gonna go." 

"Where ya headed?" Savannah asks. 

"To make a long-overdue phone call." He answers, before walking away.