THE REJECTED SON-IN-LAW (Birth of the Mafia)

Chapter Three

The door was half closed. I walked slowly hoping to hear every word they were saying.

“The meal tasted nice,” Charles' voice ran at first. “You cooked this?”

Jennifer smiled. No—“

“Yes, she did make it personally for you,” Miss Raymond’s voice interrupted. She was trying to claim my meal for her daughter. She was definitely planning something.

“Really, It tastes nice,” he said, slipping his wine. “I thought it was your slave boy who prepared it.”

“No, you mean Samuel, he can’t make delicious food such as this, I thought her well.” Miss Raymond's voice jumped in before Jennifer could say a word.

They all started laughing and clicking their glasses like they had all won a great deal.

My heart hurt so bad. Why was she lying about the food I cooked, was she trying to impress him?

Jennifer dropped her glass down. “How long would you be staying in town?” Her voice finally let out.

“In a couple of weeks, I am thinking of coming back here. At least we could both see each other more often.”

“Wow, that would be nice, my daughter can’t wait for that to happen,” Miss Raymond said.

“What about the deal? Are you two ready to handle it just as we spoke?” He asked, looking at the door I was hiding at.

I pulled up backwards, scared that he had seen me. He looked away, throwing a smile at Miss Raymond and her daughter.

Miss Raymond dropped her fork slowly on the table.

“What you are asking us to do, is too much. What about the police? What if they found out we had a hand in his death, they would come for us, including his men?” Miss Raymond said.

Charles smiled, slipped his wine. “That shouldn’t be a problem, Miss Raymond. I have friends in the force who would keep us safe. Trust me.”

My body ran cold immediately. This wasn’t a business meeting, this was, in fact, a meeting that had to do with a murder.

I didn’t know what to do, or who they were planning to kill, and telling the police wouldn’t be a better help since Charles had people in the force, and he would surely come for me when he found out that I sabotaged his plan.

So, I decided not to make it my problem.

Returning to my position at the door.

“Then we have a deal,” Miss Raymond said. They all laughed, clicking their glasses together. “Do you need more chicken? I could get some for you.”

“No ma’am, I think I should be going now,” he said, standing up from the chair. Jennifer also did. Both walked out of the door while Miss Raymond remained in the dining room.

A few moments later, Jennifer ran in. Rushed to her mother, looking very excited.

“Mother, he kissed me at the door,” she said. Feeling happy, the words came out with a smile.

Miss Raymond smiled, dropping her wine on the table.

“I told you he is handsome, his perfume, Oh my God, I can’t forget that aural I smelled from his clothes."

“Mom, mine, don’t get too attached,” Jennifer said. Her words struck me like thunder. I stepped out of the kitchen looking angry and betrayed.

“What did you say, Jenni?” I asked, walking closer to them.

Both turned and looked away like I had just interrupted a beautiful moment.

“Sam, why do you like ruining important moments?” Jennifer said, trying to justify herself.

“Are you trying to have an affair with that man?” I said, pointing at the door like it was him.

“At least, he is a capable person, you know, not like you, who depends on my income to survive.”

“You should be thankful we let you stay here, eat our food, and wear those clothes of yours.” Miss Raymond slammed at me.

I smiled, controlling my tears from dropping from my eyes. I turned to leave before I got the worst statement of my life.

“I want a divorce,” Jenni said. Her voice felt sharp like a razor.

I turned immediately. “What did you say?”

“You heard her right, she is done with you. Please just sign the divorce papers and leave my daughter's house.”

"No, please Jenni, you can’t do this," I begged, realizing I had no place to go. This house was the only thing I had, but now it was gone, ripped out of my care. My parents would be disappointed in the decision I had made to marry the worst nightmare into their home.

“You have to leave, Sam. I don't want to have anything to do with you. I can’t stand the sight of you standing beside me.” She said,

I stood up on the floor. Before I could get on my feet, Miss Raymond had dragged my suitcase from the room, she threw it in front of me.

“Sam, please stop begging, her mind has been made up.”

My eyes tilted to Jennifer and then to the suitcase in front of me. My hand felt weak when I grabbed the bag. The sweat from my palm stuck to the bag, but I ignored it. Pulled the bag closer before walking towards the door. I hated Jennifer for doing this to me. I turned and looked at the room one last time before shutting the door behind me.

I walked outside the quiet street. The day was turning dark. Those two didn’t even think it was wise letting me have one last night at the house before kicking me off like a tennis ball.

The road was quiet too. I needed a place to spend the night. I had no money on me to book a hotel. My eyes roamed around looking for a safer spot until I saw a warehouse that looked empty and quiet. I walked into it cautiously holding my suitcase in my right hand. I saw a spot I could lay on for the night, then walked toward it. I dropped my bag on the floor trying to adjust my shoes.

Then, a noise came from inside the warehouse.

I froze. I looked around searching for a weapon to use. I found a long piece of metal lying on the floor. Raising it up and holding it in my right hand, I followed the noise. My legs paused when I got closer to it. Stood by a broken door, its knobs had broken off, and it had a hold on it, so I peeped through it. Four men with guns stood around a young girl, her face was covered with a black cloth and her hands were tied up around her back. One of the men held a phone to his ears, he was talking to someone. I couldn’t tell who he was talking to, so I sneaked quietly to a window nearby hoping to find out what was going on.

“Do you have the money?” The man asked, his voice sounding sharp.

“Yes, I do,” a voice replied through the phone. “Can I speak with my daughter?”

“Sure old man, when we have fifteen million dollars in cash,” the man replied.

“Okay, where would I drop the money?”

The man over the phone asked. He sounded unafraid, like he had a backup plan.

“I would send you a location. Remember, no cops, don’t play with me, old man.”

“I won’t, please, I just need my daughter back,” he said, not minding the threat.

The man hung up, then turned to his gang members. “He has the money,”

All shouted joyfully, cheering each other.

“We need to tell CJ about this?” One of the men asked him.

“No, not now, until we have the money?”

I hid by the window. Realizing that these men had kidn*pped this girl, and they were looking for ransom. I guess that the man they were talking to on the phone might be her father. But who was this CJ they were talking about, what part did he play in this kidn*pped?

“You, stay here watch over her,” the man said to one of the men and then pointed to others. “The rest of you on me, we need to get that money, it's ours now.”

“What about the girl? Are we going to let her go after we get the money?” One of the men asked. He looked younger than the others.

“CJ said no, it's personal, I don't think we are giving her back,” he replied without looking back.

The men laughed. And left the room except for one who was left behind to watch over the girl.

I saw that he was alone. The thought of what to do next kept my mind busy.

I raised my head a little to see what the man was doing. He sat in a corner, held his gun beside him.

I crawled around towards the door. I needed to do something quick before the men returned. Instantly, something inside me made me stand up. The man saw me, stood up from the chair he sat on.

“Hey what are you doing here?” he asked, pointing the gun at me.

“Am sorry I lost my way? Please could you help me point in the right direction,” I said, walking closer to him.

“Stop! Don’t come forward,” he shouted, his hand shaking. His face was covered in sweat.

I stood still hiding the long metal piece behind me.

“Steady and easy. Why don’t you let me grab the girl and leave no one will know. You could tell your friends she cut herself loose and ran.”

The man laughed. “Do you think I am a fool?” he said. “Come over here, I guess we would get a huge amount of money from you.”

“Are you k********g me too?” I asked.

“What do you think this is? Come over here, man, sit down here.”

I walked closer to the chair. He stood behind him with the gun he pointed at me.

I raised my elbow sharply, knocked the gun off his hand, I punched him in the face, he fell on the ground, and rushed to pick the gun from the ground. I tightened my fist, punched him on the head, and he was immediately knocked out.

Then I rushed to the girl. She was panicking.

“It's okay, I will take you out of here,” I said, realizing she almost felt like screaming when I touched her. Took out the black cloth that they covered her face with.

She was a teenager, maybe eighteen or nineteen. We both made it out of the warehouse. I didn’t have time to pick up my suitcase. We arrived in the open streets at 8pm in the night.

I didn’t know where we were running to, but I was sure it was a safe place away from those men.