The House of Izhar

Chapter 15 - The House Of Connally

To avoid further attention, the eight of us jumped off the train several hundred meters shy of the station. My aunts and uncles covered themselves up the best they could with hats and scarves to draw less attention to the colour of their skin.

An hour or so of walking and we began to draw near the largest building I've ever seen. The tip of the building looked like it was touching heaven. The building had wide windows that looked down upon us, making us feel so insignificant.

"Alright Sorian, get Connally and we're out of here."

"You got it, West." He nodded. Sorian combed his fingers through his hair, straightened his coat, and puffed out his chest before marching straight in. Time to do what he does best. Bluffing.

The wait was irritating. When is he going to come out? We've been waiting out here for a while now. People are beginning to stare. I mean, there is every possible reason to stare. We're a group of people that's almost completely covered up from head to toe just loitering outside a large corporation. Totally not suspicious.

"Excuse me," came a guard. "Please leave the premises if you have no business being here." His arm was ready at his holster. We got to be very careful about what we say from here on out.

"Oh, you must be mistaken. I'm the local magician," Mat said in the poshest voice as he took out his deck of cards. He fanned them out in front of the officer proving them all to be different. "Let's put some stakes on the line, shall we? I've got a twenty here. If I can make you pick the Jack of Diamonds, from this shuffled deck of 52, then you get to keep it."

The guard laughed. The odds were on his side. He had a 1/52th chance. He reached his arm out to pick a card but before he could, Mat pulled the cards back.

"Buut..." he sang. "It wouldn't be very interesting if you hadn't had any on the line on your side would it?"

The officer sighed but agreed. He pulled out a fresh 10 from his pocket. In seeing this, Mat smiled. "Deal!" he said. Mat shuffled the cards before fanning them out face down. "Pick one, anyone."

The officer reached forward and grabbed a card. "What card is it?" Mat pried.

The officer sighed and handed him the bill for he had picked the Jack of Diamonds. Mat yelped with excitement, yanking the bill out of his hands. "Thank you, Mister! Want to play another round?"

That's my uncle working his charm. He's very irresistible. Hard not to be drawn into his lore. Sorian popped out a moment later and as if on cue...

"Oh! Time to go, pleasure playing with you!" Mat sang as he skipped his way to join us. He slung either of his hands around Sorian and Harry, huddling us into a circle.

"He's not here," Sorian whispered. "He only comes to his office during weekdays or for important meetings."

"Then, where is he?" West asked through gritted teeth. Then he mumbled under his breath, "That scumbag, must always get himself in a mess and gets us to clean it up!"

'Scumbag' sounds familiar. How did we even get tied up with Mr Connally anyways? Why did he become West's target?

"Most likely at home," Sorian scratched his chin. "Now we have to figure out where that is."

Everyone began to suggest possible locations but the truth is, no one really knows their way around this town. It's a place they rarely came by for their missions.

"I know where he lives!" Rocket piped. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to look in his direction.

"How could you possibly know where it is?" Birdie inquired.

"Because Morgie and I stumbled across Brooke and Jordan Connally's file when we were snooping around the school."

That's right. We had been doing that. How could I forget? This is perfect! Rocket began to lead the way. "Come on!" he said. "We're losing daylight."

We walked and we walked and we walked. My feet were getting sore. When I thought that I couldn't handle any more... "We're here!"

The residence was large. Almost thrice as big as The Peak. 'The Peak' sounds so foreign now. I still can't believe we lost the place.

"How are we going to sneak in? I suggest we use Harry's hook to pry the window sill open and..."

"We walked through the front door," West interjected.

"What?" Mat asked in disbelief.

The eldest Izhar pushed past his brother and marched to the front door, pulling down all his disguises. The rest of us did the same. He knocked on the door. No answer. He knocked again. No answer. We were just about to turn around when...creak.

A woman answered. "Hi, may I help you—" We turned around. Her eyes went wide when she saw us. She opened her mouth to scream but before she could get a sound out, West plugged her mouth with his palm. She thrashed around but West's hand didn't budge.

"Get in the rest of you," he ordered. "Birdie, shut the door behind you."

Once the door was firmly shut, he unplugged her. She screamed. Obviously. Why do all white girls do that? Wait... I'm half-white. I think. Do I do that?

"Secure her," West instructed the twins. They nodded in unison.

"Help!" the woman pleaded.

A man in his pyjamas ran down the stairs with a bat in his hand. "What's going on!" he demanded. "I've called the police. Better scram before they show up and arrest you lot!"

"Alex Connally!" West's voice boomed. Alex's eyes went wide as he began to tremble. He knew who we were and he knew that he was screwed.

Sirens could be heard blaring in the distance. "Now, here's what you do. You go there and tell the police it's a false alarm. If you do, nobody gets hurt." We parted to give him a clear view of his wife.

A knock came. His wife looked at him pleadingly. "Boys, take her to the kitchen. Wouldn't want her screaming and ruining everything." The twins did so obediently.

Another knock. "It's the police!"

West's crimson eyes bore into the terrified man. He went to the door, and opened it, "Sorry gentleman, false alarm. I thought someone was climbing my house. Turns out, it was just a racoon. Heh, what'd you know? Really appreciate your lot coming here. Cheers." He closed the door.

"Good," West smiled. "Now, brew us a drink. We have had a long day."

We sat awkwardly in their very modern and large living room. West had ordered all the curtains to be drawn. There was tension in the atmosphere. No one made a sound. We all just stared at each other.

Judy, Alex's wife sat as close to her husband as humanly possible. "Look, if this is about your bar... I-I had nothing to do with it."

"So, you knew!?" Harry yelled.

"Wait... is it not about the bar?" he stammered.

"The Peak is one of them," West answered.

Alex's gaze then shifted to me and then to Rocket and back to me. "I-if it's about Brooke or Jordan...?"

West took a sip of tea. "Like I said, amongst many others but besides the point."

"If it's about me ditching many years ago..."

"You knew these lunatics?" Judy inquired.

"Long story," he answered.

"That's beside the point," West answered, his glare intensifying.

"What is it? I give up!"

"Coward. Hadn't changed a bit," Avery muttered under her breath.

"The deal you made. You Scumbag!"