“Daddy just hear me out on this one,” I said as we sat cuddled up on his bed. “What if we convince momma that instead of skinning me alive, we take her to a nice spa here in the city first, and then maybe it will calm her down enough to not murder me.”
My daddy chuckled for a moment. “Verona, I am gonna be honest, it is gonna take a lot more than just a trip to the spa to stop your mother from punishing you.” I started to speak but her quickly interrupted me. “And no, there is nothing I can say to save you from her when this is all over and we go home. Trust me… I tried.”
“What if I transferred to school here for a few months?”
“Again that is not an option.” He leaned down and rested his chin on my head pulling me closer into his embrace. “Though I am willing to entertain any of your ideas if it helps you feel better.”
My day was actually pretty fun. Trinity took me to a fancy spa in Manhattan that had some of the best indoor baths I had ever felt in my life. We could adjust the water temperature, we got facials, full body massages. My body felt more relaxed than it had in a very long time. She than took me to one of her dad’s restaurant, Pale Blue. Where I had the best steak I had had in my entire life. I probably would have stayed there longer but I made an excuse that I needed to go home. She dropped me off in front of the hotel five blocks away from this (just to be safe) and invited me to come and see her tomorrow. She had her “training” with Katherine tomorrow, and I think she wanted someone to be there for her afterwards. I had thought her what I could to survive and maybe impress her, so maybe it wouldn’t be that bad.
“I’m sorry,” I apologized tilting my head up to look at my daddy. “What did you do today? I never asked.”
His bright purple eyes looked down at me. “Nothing much, according to all of the police records, Hezekiah is a clean man right now. Although they suspect him of many things, they have no solid evidence of his crimes. All of his books check out, there is no illegal activities or mistakes in any of his finances, and the best police dogs in the entire state have no luck and getting even a whiff of any kind of drug on him.” He let out a long winded sigh but a smile appeared on his tired face. The same smile he always had when he was enjoying a case. “That is what makes this all the more fun, and if we bring him down. Katherine will either A make an escape where we will be ready, or B will try to save her where I will also be ready.”
“Trinity says that Katherine and her daddy might be sleeping together if that helps?” I felt a bit disgusted just from saying those words.
“The real question is why does Katherine seem so interested in Hezekiah Wallace of all people. That is what I am still struggling to figure out.”
“I could maybe see what Trinity knows, she wants to see me tomorrow… after her training with Katherine… I wish I had gotten her to tell me where this training was, than we could go and help her.” A twinge of guilt ran up my stomach, no matter how hard I tried. Trinity refused to tell me where this training was gonna be held, and until tomorrow when she invited me over. We had no idea where she lived. Even the police don’t know exactly which one of Hezekiah’s homes is his true house.
“You did what you could and you did your best, right now we have to play this game slowly. However, if what Trinity has said about the love her father has for her. I am sure that Katherine won’t harm her too bad. No matter what I have seen or looked into, Katherine’s introduction to this pride is new. If she doesn’t have an complete influence yet then there are lines she will not cross, I hate to admit it but her ability to play the long game is her best quality.”
“Daddy?” I began softly. “Did Katherine ever actually love you or was it all just one big lie?” I had never asked this question before in the five years since she had left us. I never could bring myself to do so. “I mean she grew up on the island, you two met when you were 10 years old right?”
“I was ten and she was nine,” he asked quietly. “I believe that we had a natural love for each other, that is what I liked to believe. We were like two peas in a pod for a long time, however as she grew up. Something happened, or maybe her true nature kicked in. I have no idea how long she was a member of the dark order or when she first joined. What I do know is that love once had is gone, a sad truth, but that is the truth. Why do you ask?”
“No reason.”
I think I answered a bit too quickly for him. “Verona it is okay, if you miss your mother if it is just a little.”
“I don’t miss her,” I said stubbornly. “I will never miss her.”
“Alright,” he answered, kissing my temple. “I am not trying to sound like Mrs. O’Brian, as I am sure you have heard this from her as well… which reminds me. When your mother is done with you, I believe you also have a conversation with Mrs. O’Brian waiting.”
I let out a groan and spun around to rest my head against his chest. “Who else is in line to punish me?”
“Is it a bad time to mention, Leela is after Aisu?”
“Leave me out of this,” I giggled and glanced towards Aisu who was curled up against a sleeping Thanani. “I don’t wanna think about that stuff right now, we are having cuddle time so shut up.”
“You’re the only one being loud right now,” I heard the older spirit mumble.
A few more minutes passed as we enjoyed each other's company before someone knocked on the door, and Joshua came inside of my father's room. He took one look at this large bedroom in this suite sighed. “Next time we get a mega suite, we are playing rock paper scissors to decide who gets the master bedroom.”
I hadn’t seen the young man since last night when he left. I had his animal spirit around me for the entire day and while he always said that Joshua was okay. It was a relief to see the boy in the flesh and blood. He was still wearing the same clothes from yesterday and he looked exhausted. “Where did you go, Joshua?” My daddy asked.
“I needed to look into a few things like I said last night.” Joshua explained. “I couldn’t figure out why Katherine would be helping Hezekiah build his empire and was wondering what else he could be moving that could be worth a lot of money. So I hit up the streets, took me a while to track down a few people but once I did, things have gotten a bit clearer.” Joshua’s dark face grew serious for a moment. “Word on the street is. Hezekiah Wallace is moving not only weed, but meth, cocaine, and weapons from America to the places in South America. His prides stretches from the east coast, all the way down to florida and into parts of the midwest. His territory spans nearly 25 states now, he seems to be taking over all of the drug empires in American. He has more money than ever now and apparently half of it is going to a different partner. A woman with blond brown hair and dark purple eyes. That is why Katherine is helping him, he is making the dark order more money, and what this money is being used for is unknown.”
“So she is helping him cause it makes the dark order more money?” I questioned.
“That is what the rumors say.”
“How can you trust these rumors?” My daddy asked.
Joshua didn’t respond at first. “Let’s just say that I have ways of getting good information, ways that you might not like.”
“Are you torturing people for information?” I asked a bit frightened.
“No, I am not torturing people for information.” Joshua responded with a roll of his eyes. “Let me just put it like this, drunk men often speak sober truths.” Upon noticing my confusion, Joshua let out a groan. “Seriously, we have to get you a book on expression one day.”
“Maybe if you stop using confusing expressions I might understand them.” I let out a squeal as Joshua grabbed my foot and dragged me across the bed and held me upside. “I’m sorry!” I couldn’t help the light laughter that escaped from my mouth.
Once all my blood had run to my head making me a bit dizzy, Joshua took a seat on a chair in the room and leaned back a bit. “What doesn’t make sense to me, why now?” Joshua spoke up. “Why is she getting involved with this man now and why the sudden push into an area outside his speciality?”
“What do you mean by that?” My daddy asked.
“Hezekiah is the king of weed and kush, not weapons, coke and meth. There are two major drug rings in this city, coke and kush. Kush is easier to get because you can grow it almost anywhere. He is rumored to have some of the biggest fields of the stuff somewhere, no one knows where. Cocaine is another story, you often have to become a worker for certain gangs and groups across seas, such as in south america and mexico, Russia and Serbia. And if he is now working fully with the dark order, those people only serve one master.”
“Lord Blackthorn,” I said.
“That’s right, we need more information, and we need it fast.”
“I am going to visit Trinity tomorrow at her house,” I remarked. “Maybe I can get her to say more, or maybe go and look around if I have a chance?”
My daddy spoke up. “Sounds like a plan, meanwhile I will do what I can with the police to see what I can track down.”
“And I will head down to the docks for a good old fashioned stack out. Heard that he is expecting a new shipment of coke tomorrow night. So I will see who is getting it from, see who is picking it up, and see if I can get them to do a bit of talking.” Joshua clapped his hand together and rubbed them excitedly. “A three pronged attack and we will compare notes in a few days. Let's get to work, JJV.”
“We still need to work on the team name.”
“JVJ sounds better.” I mumbled.
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Next afternoon I was picked up in a nice looking limousine and was taken across the large bridge to Brooklyn. We drove through the streets mostly in silence, I was being accompanied by the driver and one other strong looking woman with brown hair and blue eyes. Before we got to the house for some reason, the woman placed a blindfold over my eyes and told me that if I removed it, she would drop me off right where we were. Seemed that they really were very secretive about this family's house. We eventually came to a stop and the door was opened up. I was instructed to get out by a much more friendly and calm voice. As soon as my feet hit the ground, someone took my hand and began to lead me up. This person helped me walk up the steps and then I heard the door close.
Finally my blindfold was taken off and I was standing in a large open lobby. It was sparkling white and with a few hints of light golden colors. In front of me was a grand staircase to the second floor. There were few plants that provided a bit of green and blues to this otherwise clean space. Portiets and marple statue heads were hanging around. Standing in front of me was an older looking woman in a black and white maid dress, her hair was tied up in a bow and she reminded me of Beatrice’s grandmother. The same warm eyes, the plump figure and if I was a guessing girl she could probably cook very well. “Welcome to our humble home, Cindy. Mistress Trinity is waiting upstairs in her room.”
“Thank you, Mrs….”
“Miss. Raymond is fine, darling.” She turned on her heels before starting up the large staircase that curved off to the right. “It is nice to meet you, Cindy. I believe the young mistress will enjoy having a friend to come and play. She hasn’t had one over since those two horrid young ladies came a month ago. Master Wallace made it clear that those two are never to come back.”
I had a feeling about whom she was talking about. “How come they can’t come back Miss Raymond?”
“Quite disrespectful to him and his staff. If there is one thing Master Wallace does not like, is disrespect towards him and even his staff.” She explained, once we reached the top of the stairs and she led me down a spotless hallway that held more beautiful paintings and vases of pink lilies. “That is part of the reason why, Master Wallace gave the little one her own club for her friends to come and play in. He is not fond of dealing with children that are not his own. However, the young mistress spoke highly of you, so he has made an exception.”
“I will try to live up to them, Ms. Raymond.”
“If your politeness is a showing of your manners, I am sure you and the Master will get along just fine.”
“Is he here?”
She shook her head. “He is off on business for today, so it is just you and the young mistress today. Probably won’t be much playing around, she has been in an awful mood since Lady Katherine left earlier today. Watching their training had my heart aching more than usual today.”
Before I could ask more. She knocked twice on a large brown door before opening it up. “Young Mistress, your guest has arrived.” A moment later, the door was opened up and Trinity was standing there. In pajama shorts and a tank top, her hair split into two large poof balls of hair.
“Thank you, Ms. Raymond, can you bring us up something to drink and eat. Thank you.” She said quickly before pulling me inside of her room with strength I didn’t know she possessed. I stumbled a bit and nearly fell as I tripped on her carpet. As I looked around her room, I felt a small bit of envy start to flow through my body. Her room was massive, probably as big as the suite we were in. The walls were a mahogany brown color, the carper being the same shade, her pillows, blankets, were a dark red like her jepei aura. She had a huge walk in closet where I could already see rows of clothes and expensive shoes, even an entire wall dedicated to jewelry. She had a large television that sat across from her bed, she had ever type of gaming system, the television was currently paused on the Sims game. She had two large desks, with two monitors and a computer off to the side. She had a shelf filled with dolls, some just sitting, others still in the boxes, four chests that probably had toys inside of them.
“Wow…” That was all I could really say.
I nearly stumbled again as Trinity wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug from behind. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She sounded on the verge of tears. “Y-Your lessons came in handy, Ms. Katherine was actually impressed with me, it still hurt a lot but she stopped after 30 minutes and forgave me!”
She spun me around and threw her arms around my neck. “I owe you more than just one thing, I owe you a hundred thousand things!”
I gave her another hug a bit lessened up slightly when she let out a small wince. I pulled away slightly and saw that she had a hand pressed to her side. “Let me see,” I said softly, gripping the edge of her shirt with my hands. She gave me a small nod and I lifted her shirt up in the side. I felt sick to my stomach as I saw the large bruise that ran from her waist and nearly up to her armpit. “I-I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“It’s okay,” she responded with a large smile. “It could have been worse but you taught me well and I survived. I just wasn’t quick enough to harden that area so she kept targeting it. Nonetheless she was very impressed and I owe it to you.”
“A-Aren’t you gonna tell your daddy?” I say my eyes still locked onto the ugly bruise on her otherwise smooth brown skin. “This is going too far, is she always like that with you?”
“This was the first time she went that far but she promised that it would be the last time. She thinks I’m ready to make my netrix weapon now and thinks I’m ready for even more vigorous training now.” How she could be so happy about this I didn’t understand. I couldn’t tell if she was forcing this joy or just was being fooled by Katherine’s fake kindness.
“I-I suppose that is a good thing,” I remarked softly.
She could sense my discomfort and quickly pulled the side of her shirt back down. “Come on,” she said, pulling me towards her bed and a top it. “What do you want to do? I have hundreds of video games on every console, I have every steaming service you could have. Do you like baseball? Cause we can go and watch a baseball game today in my daddy’s private booth, what about basketball? Anything you want to do today, I will treat you to-”
She went quiet as I threw my arms around her in a soft hug. “S-stop it,” I whimpered, closing my eyes as tight as I could to avoid the tears that were starting to form. “S-Stop pretending that you aren’t hurting, S-Stop pretending to not be scared… stop being strong for a few minutes… I will be here to hug you until you are better.”
At first there was nothing… Then I felt Trinity's hands take fierce handfuls of my shirt. I heard the choked breathing and that I felt that damn explode as she practically tackled me to her bed and began to cry. Her cries were loud, filled with fear and anger, I knew how she felt. There were times I wanted someone to hold me, to tell me that they would be right there. I hid how I felt after one of her “training” sessions, I knew how much it hurt, and I knew how it felt to feel alone.
So I didn’t care if she was spoiled. I didn’t care if the rumors were true and she was the one that was helping Katherine hurt and maybe kill people.
I wanted to give her the comfort that I rarely had.
It was the least I could do.
If only I knew what crocodile tears were. It would have saved me in the long term.
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