"You knew I'd come back for you, sweetie," the intruder said with an evil grin.
--
Getting caught up in the problem is the easy part.
Getting out unscathed though? Not so much.
Maya's life never seemed to be complicated but once her mother's murder...
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"Who are you?" I asked, still not sure of the new guys relevance.
"Think of me as the spy of the group." Caleb replied casually.
"Ok, why couldn't you have just met me later?"
"Because I need to talk to the guy we're going to see after this."
Just then, the waiter came up, asking what we wanted to order. After leaving out orders with the man, we uttered a thanks and turned our attention back to each other.
"This lunch is your chance to ask anything you need to, make proper use of it." Mendez said, though his eyes told me that if there was anything he didn't want to answer, he wouldn't answer it, full stop.
"Ok, why did Jack come after me?"
"Pass."
Caleb chuckled next to me, only amused by the whole thing.
"Are you kidding me right now? I thought I could ask anything."
"I reserve my right to free speech, I'll answer what I want to answer."
"Ok then, fine. Why was there a picture of you, Brian and Jack on a wall in Jack's room?"
"That, I can answer. Me and Brian were brothers, Jack was a very good childhood friend. After he found out about me becoming the next heir to Genesis, he became jealous, knowing that I was going to have so much more power than him."
Suddenly, I saw the picture in a whole new light, a light of innocence where nothing mattered. Where everything was calm and going to plan. They were just three young boys enjoying their lives.
"Why was Jack jealous, surely if you were friends then you could have shared the benefits?"
"Sadly, that's not how being a gang leader works. He wanted the 'good' life that came with being a leader. He wanted the power because he never really had a great childhood. As a kid, he was abused before he made friends with me and Brian. When my dad, the old leader, found out about his abuse, he had Jack's dad taken out and dad took him in as his own. Jack was the oldest of us so when he didn't get the leader position, he felt cheated but everyone knows it's the next in blood that is the heir."
While he was explaining, the waiter had placed down our food and poured us all drinks. I couldn't shake the feeling that the waiter was up to something as he stood there, seemingly listening to our conversation, prolonging all his actions. He poured the drinks much slower than he needed to, concentrating way too much on such a simple task. He was clearly listening in.
I raised a hand so that only Mendez could see, telling him to wait. When Mendez had stopped talking, the waiter quickly finished pouring the drinks, the concentration from before suddenly dissipating. He walked away.
"That waiter was listening to our conversation."
Caleb looked slightly impressed as he looked over at Mendez who was wearing a light smile.
