The Mafia’s Code

Chapter 002- Before midnight

RUBY

“Did I do something wrong?” I asked, curious, but Ethan just ignored me, grabbing my bags and stuffing my things into it.

“Ethan, I'm sorry, please,” I pleaded, but he kept his silence.

“I’m not going anywhere if you don't at least tell me why I should leave,” I said firmly as I stood facing him, arms crossed.

“Listen, Ruby, this isn't about you, alright? Just do as I say; you don't have much time,” he said, grabbing me by my hands as he escorted me down the hall to the elevator.

He gave me my things, staring into my eyes apologetically. “Trust me, Ruby, and please, don't come back until I ask you to,” he said, pushing the down button on the elevator I watched him turn his back on me as he headed to his apartment.

I stood there with teary eyes. As I watched him leave, I was hurt; my mind reeled through possible things I could have done to make him change his attitude toward me, but I couldn't pin his actions on anything.

The ding sound from the elevator jolted me out of my thoughts. I walked out of the elevator and found my way into the lonely streets as the darkness of the night enveloped me; the thought of Ethan sending me out of his house at such an odd hour was disturbing.

The Ethan I knew would never do such a thing. I was barely a few blocks away from his house when my eyes met a bunch of gangsters that lurked ahead. It was then it hit me: I was in the lion's den, the place where people like Ethan lurked around during the night, and he'd just thrown me out like that without considering the dangers of his actions.

I walked slowly as I clutched my bag tightly to my chest, hoping I wouldn't get into any trouble with them. As I approached them, a mixture of emotions surged through my veins: anxiety and fear.

“Isn't this Demarco’s woman?” one of them said. Demarco was Ethan’s thug name. Their eyes met mine, making all of them turn their gaze toward me. I froze in my steps as my legs suddenly went numb.

“Yeah… that nigga been all over the place lately with her,” another one added as he approached me.

“It seems like they broke up already,” the first guy added as his hands reached out to my blonde hair and stroked it backward.

“She probably thought it was gonna last forever, didn't she?” another guy who sat at a distance added.

“Someone didn't tell her that there isn't any love in a thug,” the first guy added as they all shared a menacing laughter in unison.

But I knew that their words weren't true. I've watched Ethan’s love grow for me over the years, as I was his first and would be his last, I thought.

“That's the code,” the second guy said, leaning forward as he blew smoke from cigarettes in my face.

“Pl… please don't hurt me…” I stuttered with my words, but they all laughed at me.

“Everyone knows not to touch anything that belonged to Demarco, so unless he's dead, you're free to go, mamacita,” one of them said in a Spanish accent as he gestured with his hands, indicating I was free to go. The thought of the word 'death' echoed in my ears.

It was then realization struck me: “Could Ethan be in danger? Was that the reason he urged me to leave before midnight?” The sudden realization made me turn back as I ran frantically back to Ethan’s house.

The thought of how selfish I was made me feel guilty for leaving him in the first place.

“Where are you going?!! It is this way!!” the other guys yelled behind me as they watched me take my heels. I got to the elevator as anxiety washed over me; I pushed the elevator button frantically and impatiently. I jumped in and stood there as I waited for it to swing open in front of Ethan's apartment.

I got to his front door, and without any warning, I pushed the door open, but what I saw next made me freeze in shock. Ethan was on his knees with blood all over his face, weak and beaten up at gunpoint.

My eyes met a handsome but scary-looking face who held the gun at Ethan, with three other guys standing behind him.

“I thought I told you to run!!” Ethan yelled with every little strength that he could muster, making me flinch in fright. My instincts were right; Ethan was indeed in trouble. That's why he wanted me out. The tears that welled up in my eyes finally found an escape route as I couldn't fight them back anymore.

Before he could say anything else, the scary-looking guy pulled the trigger, and in the twinkle of an eye, I stared at my boyfriend’s lifeless body with a bullet hole through his head as his blood splashed all over the place.

“Ethan!! No!!” I yelled as I felt a sharp pain in my chest, I just watched my boyfriend get murdered right before my eyes, but as I tried to rush up to him, the scary guy’s next words made me halt in my steps.

“Get her!” he ordered, making the other three guys behind him close in on me. I knew it was now or never, or else my fate would end up like Ethan’s.

With a swift motion, I grabbed my bag and took my heels, but the three guys trailed behind me. I got to the elevator, and I kept pushing the button in haste to flee from the pursuers.

Minutes later, the elevator door swung open, and I got in. By this time, the three men had increased their pace as they tried to stop the elevator door from closing, but they were too late.

As the door finally closed, I took a deep breath of relief. I looked into my bag and took out the journal Ethan had given to me. I stuffed it into my underwear where it would be safe; for some reason, I knew I would need it someday. I left my bag in the elevator as I ran home for my life, my body covered with the blood of my boyfriend.

I needed to flee the city to somewhere safe, or else my life would still be in great danger. Because right now, I've been caught up in the middle of the Mafia world, and I knew it was time to put into practice everything Ethan had taught me.

As the elevator door swung open, I came out surveying the area but I couldn't see any of my pursuers in sight. I took a back route home through the subway just so I could be safe, I didn't mind the disgusting glares I got from passers-by. All I wanted right now was to get to somewhere safe as the memory of Ethan’s death kept playing in my head as I cried my eyes out.

If only I had listened to him, maybe things would have turned out differently, I thought as I muttered “I'm sorry Ethan” under my breath as my rear flowed down uncontrollably.