My Mother's Boyfriend

A Worried Man

Peter ?

The guy’s eyes – what's his face- oh yeah, Aldo. Aldo and his pearly whites sickened me but what does not sicken me in this business? Alejandro wanted me to remember his first name and warned me to not refer to the man by his last name, which is normal, but the guy had a special liking towards me.

And my boss wants to be on good terms with him. After all, he has a huge influence in the next town over but whether big as the Noimichaels’ remains to be seen yet.

But I have to check in on Ayra. These days she is so paranoid that she even quit her job as a bank teller. A good, clean, decent job. Her life turned into a sihtshow when she met me. Things were so bad that she left me to live with her father. And Umar is a retired teacher. Ibrahim, her brother, is only seventeen with big dreams of becoming an officer of the law one day; to take down criminals.

Good people. Their downfall is me. Me the liar that they think is a waiter. How could I tell them who I really am?

I loathe myself because of it.

“You’re on the clock, tonight.” Alejandro glares at me, uttering the words knowing if he had not said them, he would not be seeing me until tomorrow. That’s the thing about this job, you are always on standby notice.

The first time we met, I had been accompanying Angelo to a nightclub that their cousin owned some years back and Aldo was there. Outside smoking and his boys tried to rough me up.

Eight against one.

All Alejandro did was walk amid our scuffle and say- “he’s my man,” and they all stood motionless. See, back then, I dressed like any regular kid my age. That was when my wardrobe changed to become the classy *sshole, I fool people with. Nowadays, I can barely be seen without a suit on.

Suits demand respect. No matter the job, you got that. The expensive ones got more, and the mafia-wearing ones had people grovelling at the wearer's luxury-clad feet.

My square jawline only added to my aura. I am feared but admired at the same time. I get the new ambience I now walk around with- and all I have to do is not smile. And what is there to smile about when I damage fcuking people?

At first, it all appealed to me, but since Ayra told me about the baby, I live in fear. They have become targets.

I go home and call my girlfriend, leaving out the part where I have a gala to attend. Instead, I lie and say I am too tired to visit her tonight and I am off to bed. I feel like a total heel; she knows I am lying.

Her voice is small when she says goodnight and be safe. See, if ever I am too tired to go anywhere, she and I are on the phone till one of us sleeps away. And tonight is not the case. She knows and I know she knows that I know she knows.

Quickly, I shower and wear the tux Alejandro gave me. Fifteen minutes later, he picks me up and one hour later, voilà. We are here in this ‘for-show charity’, that is set up by the tycoon to fool the residents far and wide that he cares about poverty.

Had any one of these rich fcuks cared, they would have just given a couple of million dollars instead of this show where they fluff around like fcuking peacocks charging almost a thousand dollars a plate for this ‘dinner’ just to show off their diamonds.

The turd, Aldo mentions Maya and Alejandro furrows his forehead before replying. I follow the conversation and chime in, “Very traditional,” when Alejandro tells him Maya comes from a traditional family. The other man is smart enough to read in between the unspoken words, indicating they will not like this event, even though it is disguised to look good.

Gripping Alejandro’s hand was so not what I wanted to do but I did not want to be pinned into another fcuking lame conversation with the psycho pr*ck like last time. Alejandro had ditched me for some fcuking bimbo some months back- what's her face? Oh yeah, Christy or something.

Way before he was married and obviously, Maya was nowhere in the picture yet. Uma was most definitely alive too. Alejandro had slipped out without me even realising it- possibly when I went to the urinal, to take a piss.

Pretty childish of him- though he claimed he had been too drunk to even realise his actions. He never remembered doing it. He told me this the next day.

Marcus's intrusion turned out to be the perfect bailout. We had gotten a call from Paolo and had to leave the casino immediately. Paolo had called Marcus since Alejandro had my phone. Occasionally, he does that when he is ‘picking up’ girls. He gives them my number and sometimes they dial it in front of him, so he smartened up after a few incidents like that occurred when they saw me reaching for my phone when it rang.

Now here I am playing dress-up doll for my boss. Good, I will drag him into this sh*t with me. Why couldn’t he bring his new favourite toy with him tonight? Didn't he brand her as well? With a ring but still, she is branded by law.

Lying to my face and saying he was just using her to get to Uma’s killer. Hah. I could see the way he wanted her. Distracted. Always looks at his phone anxiously. “Oh, you could take the car tonight...”

What sort of game he was playing with his wife, I did not know but he is deluding himself if he thinks he is winning. Unless that was his plan- to get so occupied with her that he quickly loses interest by the time they are divorced.

Which is a good plan, I must admit.

Alejandro had even suspected the girl at one point but now he had a different approach. What if she had no idea and had been doped by her father? I mean, yeah it does fcuking make sense. I have- we have seen it happen before.

Tonight, I am uncomfortable because I could not enter the gala with any weapons. I would be defenceless if anything were to take place here. He should have brought Aemon along or someone with his skill at least. Tonight, it’s just me and my fists. I need to have my boss’s body within my view-

“The way you keep him in your view is rather sexy, vale (pal).” I hear behind me a few minutes after Aldo made his special speech about the charity benefit, he held tonight and I give him a side glance, not letting Alejandro out of sight. He is chatting up with a few other men, he always has to keep in his good graces- business and whatnot.

I dislike these Spanish slurs- fcuk, I hate all foreign words that I do not understand. He could very well be calling me some flower s**t for all I know. It’s disrespectful.

“I brought you a drink, you looked thirsty,” the shady textile boss croons, and I cannot help the jab that escapes my mouth.

“No, you look thirsty.” God I just want to be left alone. Did I not give him the impression that my boss and I had a ‘hidden relationship’, earlier? Is he that dense or did he not give a rat’s arse about boundaries? Fcuk, do I need to be more affectionate with Ale?

Tightly his lips stretch, and he pretends to not know the true meaning of my words. “No, I actually just had one.” He holds the narrow champagne glass higher to me and I take it- for Alejandro’s sake.

He already told me how the guy had taken a liking to me, and it made me uncomfortable. Yet, Alejandro insisted I come tonight, just to be in the good graces of the guy- the fcuk. As if I do not have enough to worry about already. If this guy gets a bit more serious about his adoration toward me then my child will be in trouble.

These men when hurt, they have near to zero barriers. No limits. And I already have my girlfriend pressuring me to get out of this lifestyle. How do I leave with this guy after me? Forget Alejandro’s enemies- what about this new foe I am about to create here?

A woman’s scorn? Hah. Try a man. A mafia man’s scorn.

They would kill Ayra and that is politely. If angry, which is how Aldo will be...bitter even, he would mutilate her with my baby inside still. He might send the baby’s corpse to me. I don’t know, I am just coming up with scenarios that I am forced to think of.

Maybe kidnap her until the baby is born and then off her. Maybe bury my child without informing me of his or her whereabouts. Might even raise the child as his own or even as a slave of some sort. The horrors keep piling up.

I know for certain; that he would want me alive to witness everything he would do. The mafia loves being vile. I need Alejandro to understand that I have to leave now. For the safety of my family.

Then again, that is only the worst-case scenario. Aldo could very well be put together and unbothered by me.

My only worry could be the enemies of the Noimichaels.