"I hate you all."
For the past half an hour, CJ had been berating the boys on the way they had tricked her.
"Please, CJ!" Aiden cried.
"Nope," she shook her head sternly.
"Come on, for me?" Adrian pleaded, dragging out each vowel. CJ's response was a cynical laugh.
"That makes me want to play even less."
"Hey!" he complained after taking a moment to let her words sink in.
"But, CJ," a dejected Iago complained, "you even said earlier that we know nothing about you. so sit and play with us!" Rolling her eyes, she eventually gave up fighting and sat down, taking a red solo cup filled with alcohol from Leo.
"I'll start," Aiden chirped, "Never Have I Ever had a one night stand." Everyone, except him, took a sip.
"Wait, for real?" Mike was shocked,
"Yeah, only ever girlfriends," he shrugged it off.
Next in line was Adrian.
"Never Have I Ever punched my best friend." Both CJ and Leo laughed at took a drink.
"Ooh, storytime," Paulo giggled in excitement.
"Well, we were at prom, dancing, and he kissed me. My exact words were 'OH MY GOD Brody you did not just kiss me', then I punched him. We were back to friends the next day so..."
"Ah, young high school love," Iago sighed. CJ could see why he and Paulo were such a good pair.
"And you, Leo?" she questioned.
"We got into a fight over..." his sentence trailed off into barely above a whisper.
"What was that?" Aiden asked, unable to hear Leo's mumbling.
"We got into a fight over the last slice of pizza." he finally finished. Paulo hooted with laughter.
"Been there, amigo,"
"Who hasn't, let's be real here," CJ smiled at the group.
"Right, my turn," Mike interrupted, "Never Have I Ever kissed someone of the same gender."
Iago and Paulo groaned simultaneously, taking a sip, followed by CJ and Adrian. Mike's eyes widened in shock at the revelation.
"No way..." he responds, "Maybe you and another girl can join me sometime." He makes eye contact with CJ, smirking slightly.
"I would rather cut off my ear and give it to a prostitute." She enunciated every syllable with deafening precision.
"OK, Van Gogh," Leo snorted from across the room.
"Anyway," she continued, somewhat happy that someone understood, "I-
Her sentence was cut off by Dennis walking into the room, clapping his dark hands loudly.
"Men," he paused, "and lady. It's ready."
"What's ready?" CJ inquired. The boys all turned their attention back to her, but it was Aiden who finally spoke up.
"Initiation, Part 4- Physicality."
☆☆☆
CJ found herself blindfolded. Again.
"Next time, can you guys just give me a location and let me drive there? I just got my bike back and all," she complained. A few laughs bounced around the car.
"No can do, Británica," someone she believed to be Leo chuckled, "this is just more fun for all of us."
"I wouldn't say all, gilipollas," CJ snarled at him. A few quiet whimpers could be heard from the front of the vehicle.
"Why so scared, Aiden?" Mike scoffed, "It's not like she could shoot us with that blindfold on."
"Bet," she scoffed, pulling a gun from her waistband and three throwing knives from her boot. Mike responded by edging away from the dangerous woman, for fear of losing an eye, or possibly getting stabbed in the hand again.
"Ok, ladies, we have arrived," Dennis' commanding voice almost forced the passengers to exit the car, as they filed out to stand in a line, CJ's arms each held by a different member.
Wordlessly, they walked over to a field, the dry mud crunching beneath their feet. After walking for a while, they stopped abruptly, causing her to walk into someone's back in her blind state.
"This will mainly be a test of endurance and agility. We've tested your fighting skills in general, but who knows, you might suck all around," Leo began to lecture her.
"I think we all know that isn't the case- I am blessed in all ways," CJ mumbled to herself, as Aiden stifled a laugh next to her.
Suddenly, the cloth was ripped from her eyes, revealing an outdoor gym, and what looked like a human-sized dog's agility course.
"First up, obstacle course," Paulo all but squealed in excitement.
CJ took her place at the start, sizing up the course. No fails, she thought, you weren't made to fail. You always succeed. One run, no stopping. After the short pep talk, she nods to Adrian, who starts a stopwatch.
At the sound of the small click, she set off. Sprinting 20 metres, she met her first challenge. The car tyres swung in a pendulum from an unsteady-looking wooden beam. She leaped onto the first, using the fraying ropes to steady her, before swinging effortlessly to the next.
As though it was second nature to her, she grabbed the next tyre, using it to propel her body to the ground on the other side.
Doing a forward roll, she smoothly transitioned into an army crawl under a net of barbed wire. Mud seeped into her clean shirt, dampening her skin. As she neared the end, however, her ponytail became trapped in the wire.
Shit, she thought. Working quickly to untangle her hair, she worried about how much time she was wasting.
Eventually, she was freed, completing that section of the obstacle course and moving to the next. A horizontal ladder perched precariously on two metal poles was laid over a murky body of water, 8 feet in the air. CJ scoffed at the fact that the boys thought her height would slow her down.
Launching herself into the air with the help of the pole closest to her, she jumped up, reaching for the monkey bars. Utilising her upper body strength, she easily reached the other side, landing in the dust on all fours, one knee pressed into the ground.
From her position, she took barely a second to assess the next part of the course. From there she used the momentum of a well-timed run-up to grab on to trapeze situated over what looked like quicksand. She swung her legs back and forth, forcing the circus equipment to swing her body closer to the edge each time.
After less than a minute, she was able to jump, landing all too close to the edge of the pit. At last, she was faced with her last challenge: the rock climbing wall. Disregarding the harness and safety rope, she ran straight for the wall.
Hopping fearlessly from foothold to foothold, she made her way up the wall. As she neared the top, her hand slipped, leaving her hanging by one arm, 150 feet up in the air.
You won't fall, she refused, you can't fall. Show these bitches who's the boss. You're the HBIC and you take nobody's shit.
Cracking her neck, CJ used her last remaining strength to pull herself back up, finally reaching the top of the wall. Glancing over the other side, she was greeted by a deep pool. Relieved by the sight of the finish, she dived gracefully into the water, allowing the cool to soothe her aching joints.
"Congratulations," Mike grinned, "30 minutes on the dot."
YOU ARE READING
The Mafia Queens
Action"I came because your father passed two days ago. Drew is dead. You know what this means, right? You're next in line." - - - CJ Dickson is pulled out of her life in England and thrust into the USA, where she is supposed to assume her father's positio...
