"Shut up."
CJ had been sitting at the table in the gang house, for the last half an hour, enduring continuous laughter from Brody, and teasing looks from Leo and Paulo.
"What happened?" Mike asked curiously, carrying in a plate of pastries and doughnuts.
"Nothing. Happened," she grated out, distressed at her best friend's joking.
"Hey, could somebody pass me some scissors to open this?" Aiden's off-topic request broke the silence as he struggled with a box they had received in the mail. As he spoke, both Paulo and Brody burst out laughing again, due to his unintended pun, causing CJ to repeatedly bash her head into the table, whilst Maria sat next to Paulo, blushing profusely.
"Aiden, pass it here," CJ said finally after she got over her initial embarrassment. He slid the parcel over to her, as she pulled out a knife, dramatically stabbing through the packing tape. Pulling it open, she pulled out a black card.
'Happy Birthday' the outside read, in silver, cursive writing. Dainty, metallic details lined the edges of the card. Opening it, she read the message aloud.
'CJ- Happy 25th Birthday, I'm so proud you made it this far,' she choked on her words slightly as she read it, 'You're the strongest person I know; never stop for anyone. Love, Dennis.' Unshed tears built up behind her eyes as she placed the card down on the table, looking back into the box.
'I found these at the old house.' A note sat atop whatever filled the rest of the package.
Reaching in, she pulled out two thick books, with worn leather covers reading: 1995-98 and 1999-2003 in gold lettering.
"What are they?" Iago voiced everyone's questions, as they crowded around her to get a good look.
"Photo albums," CJ let out a whisper.
Opening up the cover of the first one, she blew off the ash and dust that had settled on it.
"Why does it smell like smoke?" Maria asked.
"The old house burnt down."
"How did that happen?" Leo wondered, "I was never told."
"I- uh-" CJ stammered, "I'm somewhat of a pyromaniac."
"You burnt down the house? You were like eight!"
"My age has never stopped me from doing bad things before," she gave her half-brother a pointed look, which he understood quickly, much to the confusion of the others.
Flicking through the pages, the gang looked at the pictures of her as a baby; in almost every one of them, she was wailing and crying. Every so often, someone would chuckle at one of her expressions.
"You were adorable!" Paulo gushed, as the book slammed closed. CJ shook her head, smiling, before pulling out the second book, which was more charred than the first.
As she began to flick to the first page the door slammed open. Reflexively, they all reached for their weapons, save for Maria, who moved timidly behind her brother and girlfriend.
"You didn't start without me, did you?" A familiar voice travelled down the hall.
"Uncle!" The gang leader's face lit up in a mixture of joy and disbelief.
Making his way around the semi-circle, he clasped hands with each of the men, as well as CJ, until he reached Maria.
"I see you're hanging around still."
"Yes, sir, I'm living with CJ," she spoke quietly. Seemingly deep in thought, he stood, leant against the table for a few moments.
"Well, I suppose if the boss is okay with you, who am I to object?" Dennis smiled approvingly.
"I'm not really your boss, uncle," CJ objected. He simply rolled his eyes and pulled the remaining photo book from the box.
"Let's see, shall we?" Covering her face, the leader groaned at the fact that her birthday present was apparently embarrassment. The first page opened with a picture of a young girl, around five years old, with a toothy grin on her face, holding a young, blonde-haired boy. A few pages later, there was a similar image, where the boy was slightly older sitting at the girl's feet, whose arm was in a cast and sling.
"What happened to you? And who's that boy?" Aiden asked.
"I..." CJ hesitates, "A long time ago, my father had a close friend, almost as close to him as Dennis was. When I was four, he had a son- my godbrother. That friend was Henri Bellemonte."
"My father..." Aiden stuttered, "I didn't know they were that close."
"After Alicia died, Drew started to go mad. Well, more so than before. Henri saw his insanity and moved back to France to operate from there, for your safety."
"Oh," he pondered again, "though, that doesn't answer the question of why your whole arm is in a cast."
"Right," she barely hesitated, "yeah, my father drove over it in his car." Mike spat out his coffee while the other men practically growled.
"He what?" Adrian forced out through gritted teeth.
"I- uh- I was holding baby Aiden, when I was five or so, and sort of dropped him. Andrew was so pissed he dragged me outside and had one of his men hold me down so he could run me over. Teach me a lesson for hurting his friend's kid."
Leo was so red he looked as if he were about to burst, and the others were much the same. Dennis stood with an impassive expression, but CJ didn't miss the way the muscles of his jaw tightened as she spoke. Maria placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, meaning she had to do her best to not flinch at the gentle contact.
"In other news," Iago broke the silence, "we still have Quil in the basement and we should probably deal with that." His leader nodded, signalling for him to lead the way. Switching on the lights outside of the basement door, they walked down: Iago, CJ, and the others, whilst Dennis brought up the rear.
Pulling out an ancient-looking key, which seemed out of place in such a modern house, Iago unlocked a cell, allowing them all in.
"Long time, no see," Quil quipped, smiling manically, "I figured you'd finally realised that I'll never give you my leader's name."
In response, CJ only matched their grin, with her own, rolling up the sleeves of her black flannel.
"Happy birthday to me."
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...
