WEBS OF PALTER

CHAPTER FOUR

The intercom buzzed with activity before Kaia's tired voice came through informing everyone that dinner was ready.

Estelle didn't want to be a brat so she descended the stairs,warily scanning the way for Dom.

Entering the kitchen,she gave her parents a shy smile and sat down to eat.

Minutes later,Dom joined them and they ate in silence until Estelle chose to broke it.

"Uncle Dom?"

"What?" He snapped and Estelle smiled cutely at him.

"Sorry"

"No shit" he muttered and kept eating.

"Dom,she's just a baby"

"A baby?" He laughed incredulously and Kaia let out a sharp breath,placing her hand on Derek's.

"I was embarrassed at school and I took it out on you without hearing you out. I apologize" Estelle continued and Dom let out a scoff as if to say "Oh please"

"Uncle Dom isn't made at you anymore ok? Let's eat darling" Kaia said,a forced smile perched on her face.

~~~~~~~~~~

"You got help and you also tried to get him help baby. You need to stop thinking this is all your fault"

"He was defending me" Derek bit out,his voice low and raw.

"And you did your own part to get him out but he went back in there on his own accord. Not once,not twice not even thrice.
That's on him not you" Kaia objected.

He burst out sobbing gently and Kaia pulled him to her,rocking him and placing kisses on his forehead.

~~~~~~~~~~

The wind picked up strongly and Derek looked around to see if any of the neighbors knew yet that they were there.

"Dom!" He yelled softly and a head peeked out to look at him from the second floor of the office building they were looting.

"What?" He yelled back in a whisper.

"Let's go"

"Fuck you!" He responded with a snide smile before going back in there to grab what they had seen earlier that day.

Turns out,Dom worked at a post office as a mail delivery boy and sometimes a desk boy and had seen an old man come into the office earlier that day,depositing huge bars of gold in his mail box.

Dom had begged his brother to help him steal them so they could skip town and escape their abusive step father.

Even though Derek was scared and unsure of what could happen,Dom was the dare devil kid. At 16,he was already in gangs across the city and knew bad people.

His thought was cut short as a bag of heavy metal dropped to his feet,barely missing his head.

"Yo watch it!" He whispered angrily and Dom flipped him the bird.

"One more" he called out almost too loud and before Derek could oppose,he disappeared into the house again.

Impatient and apprehensive of them getting caught considering there's a police outpost just down the street,Derek started climbing the window and made it to the floor his brother was on.

He saw him bent over,trying to unlock a safe that was locked with a combination.

"What's in that?" He asked and Dom didn't even flinch. He must have heard him come in.

"I don't know but it's got to be heavy since it's locked in this safelike stuff"

"We don't have the tools to break a safe,let's go!"

"No,I'll open it in a minute"

"Dom please,the gold bars are enough for now"

"Derek,don't be a pussy and let me work"

He turned the whirring knob backwards and all of a sudden,there was a loud clicking sound before an alarm sent off,blaring shrilly and alerting the cops at the outpost down the road.

"Shit shit shit!" Dom yelled and ran to the other room,trying to jump out the window they came in through.

Derek panicked as well and joined him when Dom stopped halfway down,his feet on the adjoining ledge.

"Move it Dom!" Derek practically screamed and Dom met his eyes before swinging a punch to his face,knocking him out and leaving him suspended on the rope they'd climbed up with.

Hastily,Dom grabbed the bag of gold bars on the grass and fled just as police cars came skidding in.

At home,he headed to the basement,their room and got into bed.

Sure enough,almost an hour later the door came crashing down and his step father stormed in.

"Derek! Dom!"

He stepped out of bed,pretending to have been deep asleep.

"Up here now!" Nolan,his step father yelled.

In the sitting room was three police officers who did they had to talk to him.

"Do you know Derek Archman?"