Atonement

•13•

I sit outside on the front steps, warm tears falling down my cheeks. That was all too much, finding out my mother never died, but life with me was so terrible for her that she abandoned me. Who does that to a kid? I always tried so hard to please her growing up. It just wasn't good enough.
"Uhm excuse me.. are you okay?"
My head lifts quickly, embarrassment setting in as I see a guy I've never seen before. He gives me a sympathetic look, and I wipe away my tears.
"Yes I'm okay." I nod, standing up.
"I Uh, I'm here for Mr. Osterfield. I have a meeting." He says.
"Come with me, I'll show you to his office." I say.
He follows me up the stairs, and through the front doors.
"I'm Aurie by the way, and I don't normally sit outside crying." I laugh.
"I'm Kyler." He introduces himself. "And don't worry, everyone has their crying on the staircase moments."
We reach Haz's office and I knock on the door.
"So you're a new recruit?" I ask.
"Yes." He nods. "You?"
"I'm the underboss." I say and his eyes widen slightly, obviously flustered by the new information.
"Oh I'm sorry I-" he starts to stutter.
"You're good. I won't bite your head off, but Harrison might." I give him a warning before the door opens.
"Your recruit is here." I say to him.
"Mr. Osterfield, great to meet you." Kyler nods, shaking his hand.
"Please, come on in." Haz says, opening the door wider.
Kyler walks inside, and once he's out of sight Haz turns back to me.
"We need to talk about your mum when this is done." He says.
"There's nothing to talk about, I told you what I want done." I say.
"We will discuss it later." He says firmly, shutting the door behind him.
I groan, walking off to the living room to wait for him. A group of the guys sit around with beers, chatting. Eli gives me a funny look as I walk over to the bar, pouring myself a shot even though it's only noon. He gets up from his seat, walking over to me.
"So I'm guessing you're not taking the mommy news very well." He comments as I down the shot.
"I just want her to not exist anymore but noooo" I say dramatically. "Haz wants us to talk about it."
"What? You want him to kill her?" He asks and I shrug with a nod.
"I thought she was dead all this time anyways so it'll just be like nothing changed." I say.
"Aurie.. she's your mother. You loved her." He states.
"Yeah well she obviously didn't love me." I pour another shot, and drink it quickly. Eli takes my shot glass, and puts the liquor away. I frown at him as he holds his hand out to me.
"Come on, you know what we gotta do." He says.
He pulls me out of the living room and down the hallway. Eli and I have a tradition where whenever one of us is having a hard day, we go out shooting. It's calming, and fun, plus a little more practice never hurts.
We walk out to our outdoor range, and I pull the gun from my holster. The last time I was out here, it was with my dad, three days before he was killed.
The only parent that ever loved and cared about me is dead. Murdered. The parent who left me and hurt me is alive and well, and nothing makes me madder.
"Let's do it." Eli says, pulling his gun.

•Harrison's Pov•
"You'll move in next week, You'll be a good asset to this team." I say to Kyler.
"Thank you sir, I won't let you down." He nods, shaking my hand once more before leaving my office.
Recruiting has been stressful to say the least, especially when everything is so hectic right now. I couldn't even think straight this entire time because all I could think about was the fact that Aurie wants me to kill her mother. I just can't morally do that.. it's her mother.
I put away the papers on my desk, and walk out to find Aurie and talk some sense into her. I walk past the living room, asking where she is and everyone says out in the outdoor range with Eli.
I wonder what is between her and Eli.. it seems like they're into each other, and I wouldn't doubt it. He's basically her best friend. She stands in the range, shooting several rounds which brings a smile to my face. She's great with a gun, she's great at everything she does, but she's stubborn.
"Aurie." I say, catching her attention.
She rolls her eyes, putting her gun back in the holster, muttering something to Eli and walking over to me.
"Let's talk, Cmon." I say, turning and she walks by my side.
"I want her dead, Haz." She states.
"Aurie I don't think you're looking at this clearly." I say. "She's your mother, and she's alive. Didn't you miss her?"
She stops in her tracks, and I turn to face her. She gives me a heart broken expression that makes my face fall.
"I missed her. I missed her so much.. but this isn't the mother I remember. This woman is disgusting. She's a terrible human." She shakes her head, her lip quivering as she noticeably holds back tears. "I don't want anything to do with her and I don't want her here anymore."
"What do you want me to do, darling?" I ask.
"I don't care, as long as I never have to see her again." She says, quickly walking back to the shooting range to be with Eli.
I let out a long sigh, walking inside to head down to the basement. I have to get the full story. I have to know why Aurie is so upset.
I walk down the steps of the basement stairway, the blonde woman coming into my sight. She lifts her head quickly, a worried look on her face.
"Is Aurie okay?" She asks.
"You're going to tell me everything." I state clearly. "Aurie gave me strict instructions to kill you, so if you don't want to die you'd better start talking."
Her eyes lace with fear, obviously knowing I have no problem killing her right now, especially if Aurie wants me to.
"She wants me dead?" She asks, hurt in her voice.
"Yes. Now talk." I say.
"When I recovered in the hospital, I made a deal with her father. He'd pay me weekly to not expose the mob. I left.. I couldn't be apart of this life anymore it was too much. I disappeared.. it was what I needed to do. Then the payments stopped a week ago and when I showed up here, I saw Aurie driving down the road and couldn't resist.. she was all grown up. She's not my baby anymore." She says.
"You abandoned her." I scoff.
"So? What are you going to do? Kill me?" She asks. "Aurie may say she wants me dead, but if something changes, do you really want to be the one to have killed me?"
She has a point. This is Aurie's mother, and she's just really angry with her right now. There's a chance she may get past this anger, and I'd be the one to blame for killing this woman.
If I don't kill her, what am I going to do? I can't just let her go when I have no clue if she's safe or not. I need a plan.