The Gangster's Toy

Test

 A movement of servants here and there woke Mateo up, he looked around cluelessly at first, unable to make out the details of the room and dreamily comparing it to his own when he thought to himself; It looks different.... but it was not long until it hit him. Lorenzo Mansion. He immediately sprang to his feet and hissed when he realized his feet were cold and so was the marble floor. With his back still in pain from suddenly having to sleep on the couch, he scanned the room for any familiar figure. He was there, sleeping soundly. The younger one let out a relieved sigh when he stood erect, quickly checking time to see how much time was left for him to inquire about Allessandro's morning routine and must things to him early morning. 

  Mateo freshened up and walked nervously around the room to the wardrobe and slid it open ever so gently and quietly, peering over Allessandro from time to time to not wake up the sleeping tiger. Then he tilted his head to take a better look at the clothes in the wardrobe. Hmm....let's see if they've placed my clothes in here. But whatever paired clothing he pulled out, belonged to the heir and not him. Wondering if he could borrow a pair and then eventually shaking the head to the idea, he decided he would have to wear his wedding ones till they realize he haven't changed clothes in a while; that idea too, scared him to the core. 

  Taking nervous and irregular steps down the hall, he tilted his head from side to side to find any servant who could help him reach his destination; Kitchen and on the way guide him about Allessandro's likings and dislikings too. Clinching on his little motivation to win this game Lorenzos had set up for him to lose, he roughly made a map of his duties and rules he was told, to avoid any mishap and win it clean, just like what you'd expect from the strategist. The 18 years old boy had no intention of taking his sister's place whatsoever and hoped for her miraculous arrival till he set things right and avoided danger. But what he knew not was he had far more enemies than he counted.... 

  "Um Excuse me.", The servant turned on his call and gave the new member of the family a grin. "Could you....take me to the Kitchen?" 

  The servant bowed gently as she nodded. Mateo followed her quietly, his eyes noting all the details of the halls and the turns they took, his hands in his pockets. He felt calm as compared to last night, when he simply wanted to kill himself. The series of events were too perplexing and in a hurry that he forgot how to react and gave in to the fear that engulfed him shortly afterwards. Mateo took a deep breath before he whispered to the servant. 

  "Err so can you... tell me about Lorenzo Allessandro?" The servant gasped at the sudden request but took her turn to calm down before she started. 

  "He is....he likes... to hate people for no reason. He likes Coffee. Hmm.... He brings home a lot of girls and he had a few pregnant too." What the hell... Mateo twitched his eyebrows, scanning her body language to detect any lie but she was speaking genuinely. 

  "But I asked about his likings and dislikings..." The lady gasped and quickly bowed in apology. A servant who lets her tongue slip away. The young boy made a mental note to ask her for information and chuckled to ease her out. "It's okay, Hemana." 

  "Err he hates it if his breakfast isn't served properly. He hates it when people touch his possessions without his permission-" Mateo gulped, thinking back to the forbidden wardrobe. "-He hates people who argue with him. He never develops a liking towards anyone right away, his hatred towards them changes to either anger and their death or him loving them with the bottom of his heart". 

  "And...what about his likings? Does he not like anything?", Mateo questioned innocently and the lady just nodded before stopping in front of an open hall. 

  "No he doesn't. Except for Natalia and Rhett. Uh and here is the kitchen". She bowed once again and left to work, leaving a bewildered Mateo all by himself. 

  As soon as he raised his foot to enter the premises of his new home for the time being, a lady behind him snapped and pulled him back, harshly. Mateo stared back, baffled as he maintained his balance, staring intently at the lady head. He immediately bowed, his hands crossed before him in respect. 

  "Good Morning Mrs Lo-"

  "Who do you think you are to just casually walk into my kitchen?!", Mateo flinched, not wanting a scolding early in the morning so he opened his mouth to explain when she interrupted him. 

  "Allessandro asked m-"

  "Shut up! Don't talk back to me!" 

  "But I--"

  "I said don't talk back to me!". The younger boy went silent, lowering his eyes. "f*****g badblood Jose." Mateo clenched his fist but didn't utter a word, he never did, he always decided on staying quiet if he was ever shouted at. "Prove to me your worth in here then I'll let you cook for Allessandro." Mrs Lorenzo wore a smirk when Mateo once again bowed 90 degrees and followed her inside. 

  She had prepared just the best test for this Jose. 

  "Chop all these onions in 30 mins. All of these!", Mrs Lorenzo ordered as she placed a sack of onions in front of Mateo. His pupils dilated, as he estimated the amount of onions the sack might contain. 10-30? Mateo's finger wrapped around the handle of the large knife as he began peeling the papery layer off the onion, neatly. He put them aside one by one as he peeled them, counting the quantity alongside. The sizes of onions he was given were not irregular, they were all a big size and looked extremely eye-watering. As soon as he was done peeling all 21 of them off, he asked for a piece of potato as he rubbed the knife with it and then stuck it at the sharpest point as he began cutting at a fast pace.

  The servants circled around him to watch this young boy cut down onions one by one and put them aside. They stared at him in awe and admiration as he sat the last pile of onion rings on the side and then asked for the time. Only 9 minutes were left and he had to chop all of them. He took a deep breath and started off with a small pile and then began fastening his speed as the time sucked away, his long milky fingers, working perfectly as ever. Mateo's head was hung low when Mrs. Lorenzo entered to see, wishing to see him failing and wailing but she was shocked when although Mateo's eyes were a bit teary, he was still very fast. He rubbed his stinging eyes from his sleeves as he sat down the knife, his hand and eyes on fire. The slender boy was scarlet on the cheeks and nose from too much exertion as he bowed slightly. 

  Mrs Lorenzo stared at the mountain of chopped onions in shock and then asked the servants if they lend him a hand. When all of them denied her little question, she wore a smile. Impressive. She signaled the servants to take this pile away and us it for cooking purposes for today. Shuffling towards the tired Jose, she smirked as a whisper escaped her lips. 

  "Jose Mateo. Fine, you can make him breakfast. Make a cup of tea with 2 teaspoons of sugar, 2 scrambled eggs with tomatoes, onions and in butter. Toast and a mug of flavoured milk should be there too." Mateo nodded, panting and twitching his eyes from time to time to lessen the tingling sensation. "But don't worry, your test didn't end here." Little did the Jose know that it was part of his test. 

  Mateo didn't start working right away, his eyes were still watery from chopping a pile of onions and fingers, numb from holding onto the heavy knife so he just sat near the kitchen counter and inquired to the servants about the placements of condiments. He nodded when he understood the entire location and walked over to a cupboard, as soon as he pulled it open, a pile of glitter poured all over him. The pixie Mateo fluttered his eyes as glitter fell to the ground, giving him a magical look. The servants started giggling when they saw the bewildered expression on his face, his arm still extended towards the handle of the cupboard. A chuckling figure appeared at the doorstep of the hall and crossed his arms over his chest in victory. Once again, someone fell for his prank. Mateo turned to see who was the culprit behind the prank and found the 6 years old Rhett chuckling. The older boy smiled and walked over to him. 

  "You are one naughty kid", Mateo commented as he leaned in and flicked the kid's nose, grinning. "How did you even get it up there?" Mateo ruffled his hair and immediately realized he was transferring glitter to the kid, "Oops. My bad". 

  "I'm a smart boy!" The boy beamed, raising his chin high to show how much proud he felt of himself. "You like glitter?!" Mateo nodded, obviously lying. "Woah! Nobody likes my glitter here, hyung!", Rhett pouted and folded his arms again. The older boy finally got to his knees to reach his height and then poked at his puffy cheeks. 

  "You must be Rhett? I'm Mateo and yeah I like glitter. Glitter is fun! They should like it too!", Mateo tried to sound just as enthusiastic as a kid but the servants around him found it cute and they started whispering among themselves. 

  "Mateo!" Rhett repeated and then pulled Mateo with his small hands, his stomach growled but he ignored it, he clearly wanted to take him somewhere out of the kitchen."Let's play!" But Mateo didn't budge and instead pulled him up by the waist and placed him on the counter. 

  "After we finish making yours and Allessandro uncle's breakfast okay?" 

  "Yes I am hungry... I want omelette sandwich!" Rhett had an unsure expression on his face when he put forward his demand but Mateo pinched his cheeks and nodded to it right away. 

  Rhett couldn't feel any happier, he swung his legs in the air, watching Mateo make his and Allessandro's breakfast. As soon as he was done settling everything in place, he checked his watch for the time and heaved a sigh of relief. "Let's take this to the dining room. Where is it, Rhett?" 

  The kid sprang to his feet and ran outside, Mateo followed him with wobbly hands, loaded with a tray with all the breakfast. The kid took an abrupt left turn and the narrow hallway opened into the golden dining room, it being too spacious for a few people of the family. The tired boy placed it gently on the table and tucked Rhett in a chair before he himself took a seat and cut the sandwich. The kid started:

  "You know , I loooooooove omelette sandwich!", Mateo chuckled and extended his arms towards the kid's mouth as he took a small bite. 

  "I love you!" It came out so naturally and randomly, Mateo didn't even realize it. But one thing was sure, it spread a wide smile on Rhett's face, him having a mutual feeling. 

  They chatted and laughed as Mateo fed him his favourite breakfast, talking about all kind of stuffs about Rhett from him liking games to him liking to play games on people in real. Mateo knew he had developed a liking towards the kid and that he was one source of happiness in this dark world he was forced to enter. When Rhett was done eating, he insisted on Mateo playing video games with him, which the boy first hesitated on but then eventually gave up when Rhett gave him his puppy eyes. As they disappeared into the hallway, a pair of eyes followed them.

  Allessandro sat upright, his face in his palms as he rubbed the sleep away from his frog-like eyes. Despite sleeping for 12 hours straight, he still felt heavy in his head. He searched around the room for the most desired figure in his eyes but only emptiness greeted him back. As soon as realization hit him, he threw his sheet on the floor and punched the wall besides his dressing table. f**k you, Jose Natalia. The angry man shouted at the top his lungs. 

  "WHERE THE f**k IS MY TOWEL!?", his voice echoed around the room when the door creaked open and a kid popped his head from between the cracks, wearing a shocked expression. Allessandro shot his eyes towards the door and found Rhett staring back at him, his facial muscles relaxed as a deep frown got replaced with a smile. The boy pushed the entire door open, revealing his lower half where Allessandro's towel was roughly wrapped around and the tuck on the verge of falling apart. Allessandro sighed. "Come here." He extended his arms and the boy ran to the tall figure, limping slightly due to the big towel and jumped in Allessandro's arms, who was now on his knees and grinning like a happy kid. It was revealed then, he loved kids. 

  "Your towel is shooooooo big, uncle", he commented when he dug his face in Allessandro's 21 years old chest. Allessandro just chuckled. 

  "Obviously. You should really stop stealing my stuff, R." The kid tipped his chin in his uncle's chest and looked up, pouting. He really liked Allessandro because he was the only person who played along with his mischiefs. "You know uncle? The new big brother is shoooooooo nice! He is not like dad or grandma or grandpa!" Allessandro's eyes tensed up. Mateo huh? 

  "What did he do?", Rhett cupped Allessandro's face and leaned in closer to his ears as the uncle held onto his butt and carried him up. 

  Rhett started, pulling out his fingers and counted. "He played with me, he fed me yummy breakfast, he let me comb his hair! And and! He said he loved me! I love him too, uncle! Grandma took him away just now but Thank youuuuuuuuuuu for bringing him home". The little kid wrapped his small arms around Allessandro's neck, giggling to himself. Due to lives at a constant stake, the family didn't give enough time to Rhett and the boy always did mischievous acts to somehow catch their attention from the useless affairs and shower him with affection. Allessandro played with him when he was free but his uncle, too, had to leave all the time so now that Mateo was here, he felt like he would finally get the love he deserved and that made him happy to his core. 

  However Allessandro didn't like the idea of Rhett getting close with Mateo and gritted his teeth when he saw how much delighted the boy was due to 'the useless cunt's presence. Allessandro pulled away and held out a pinky finger as he said:

  "Make a promise to uncle, you'll never talk to Mateo again", The boy ogled his eyes at his uncle, as if he had just said the forbidden as he arched his body, stepped down and ran out, shouting:

  "NO! I LIKE HIM!". 

  That gave one reason early in the morning to Allessandro to be mad at Mateo for. 

  "Who the f**k made my breakfast?!" Allessandro howled as he slid the tray harshly away from him, moving its contents dangerously close to the edge. Mrs Lorenzo sat beside him and smiled. 

  "Your dear wife." Allessandro clenched his fist as he hawled for Mateo. 

  The boy came rushing, his cheeks covered in flour, hands all white and his white shirt stained with flour patches. Just what the f**k was he swimming in flour?! Allessandro propped up and walked towards Mateo, stepping dangerously close to him as the younger boy took a step back, his fist balling against the hem of his untidy shirt. "Did you NOT ask anyone about my breakfast?!" Mateo shook his head, quickly realizing he had given the wrong idea so he stuttered, nodding. 

  "I...I did....-"

  "THEN DO YOU WORK ANTI?!?!", Mateo flinched, a lump forming in his throat. Where did he go wrong? He had zero idea. Allessandro turned, pointing at the tray of food. "I DON'T f*****g EAT TOMATOES AND ONIONS IN OMELETTE! IT SMELLS LIKE BUTTER! I AM LACTOSE-INTOLERANT-", He gritted his teeth, suddenly pausing, It scared Mateo even more. Picking up the re-hot cup of tea, he splashed it onto Mateo, the burning hot liquid, as soon as touched Mateo's chest, sent an electric pulse down his chest, he fell back, his mouth agap and eyes teary. "-and I f*****g hate tea", he hissed as he threw the cup on the marble floor, the noise echoing and startling Mateo as he swept past him, creating an impact on his weak body. He whimpered in his skin, his hand clutching the shirt around his chest as it stung from time to time. 

  A pair of heels appeared in front of him as he looked up to find a smirking old lady. "Told you that you're still on a test. Now clean this mess you created and don't even try to treat yourself before that!" Mateo had lost to Lorenzos, once again. I can't do this.....hermana. 

  Mateo weakly walked over to the washroom and sat in front of the mirror, his fingers shakily unbuttoning the shirt, as soon as the buttons were opened and the air touched his skin, he hissed. It hurt, everything hurt. The burn was a scarlet patch on his chest which went all the way down to his navel, the hot tea residues glistening in the light as he shivered, gently wetting the shirt with water and patting the affected area. His eyes shut tight in pain as his wobbly fingers held weakly against the cloth, his cheeks red from crying. Mateo tried to sniff some air in but his nose was already blocked so he hung his lower lip out to suck some air in as it resulted in another sob. 

  He was wrong when he thought he would get through this just fine because here he sat, frightened, shaken and unaware of the events that followed. A feeling of homesickness coiled in his stomach, him trying to rub it away with the damp cloth but moist eyes and broken heart just wouldn't let it fade away. 

  The door was slightly pushed open as a small figure stood erect, his cheeks puffing and eyes looking sad. "Big brother......." Mateo shot his eyes up to the commotion, suddenly terrified and expecting a tall figure, ready to humiliate him once again, but it was just a kid; Rhett. He walked in without permission as Mateo hid his fresh burn with the damp cloth and gave him a weak smile. 

  "Hey......" 

  "Big brother?"

  "Hmm?"

  "You're hurt...", silence fell as a baffled Mateo shook his head immediately and widened his grin. 

  "No. I'm fine. You want some-", but before he could continue, shadow went past the door and stood tall. A chill went down Mateo's spine as the kid turned to find his uncle staring at him. 

  "Didn't I ask you not to talk to him?", Allessandro questioned, in his dangerously low voice. The boy frowned and marched out the room, shutting the door with a loud bang as he left, leaving a hushed atmosphere around the two. Mateo turned away, his head hung low as he tightly held onto the piece of cloth covering his chest. 

  I want to go home...