Thick As Blood - Nestor Oceteva

1. Dead to Me

"Liliana, she was our mother." My brother sighed into the phone.

"She was your mother Miguel, I was just there." I hissed back.

I hung up the phone before I had to hear any sort of excuse from my older brother. There was a large age gap between us, 13 years to be exact, and I was sure to be told just how much of a mistake I was. Dita made me understand from a very young age exactly where I fell on the family tree, the lowest twig of the lowest branch.

My phone rang again but I hit decline, I did not need a lecture. I could already hear it now. You are family, you need to be there for the funeral, she loved you. He is a smart man and he is a great liar but even he can't bullshit the truth on this scale. I did not need to uproot my life in Lodi and go back to Southern Cali for her funeral. As far as I am concerned, my mother died when I was shipped off overseas to boarding school at ten years old.

I locked my phone in my top drawer as I left my office. It was 8am and I had a class of children waiting for their beginners lesson. I pulled my long black hair back into a tight bun so I could see clearly and entered the dojo.

After my last class was finished I shut the doors and looked around the open flowing gym. I had this place built out of a run down industrial estate. The crumbling building had been beyond repair so it was cheap to buy. It was now a safe haven for children and young adults who need to learn to protect themselves or a distraction from their lives. I taught martial arts and parkour as well as general fitness classes and yoga for mind wellbeing. I waved to the other instructors as I joined my group and started the lesson.

As a child, I had been bullied in school, most of the other girls thought I was an orphan since I never had visitors or saw my family. I didn't correct them either, it was easier to pretend my family was dead then to make excuses as to why I was forgotten. It was because of them I spent all my free time learning self defence to protect myself and stay fit to run away.

Everyone had left for the day so I plugged my phone into the stereo system and played a playlist of classical piano pieces while I cleaned the bags and picked kick mats up. I silenced the ringtone when it kept interrupting, five missed calls from him. What are you doing Miguel? When the kick mats were cleared I sat on the vinyl padded flooring and began stretching. The day of beginners lessons weren't enough to release the endorphins I needed to feel any form of happiness. I needed a challenge.

I ran through the Sun Salutation as a quick muscle stretch before I moved over to the parkour track. I changed the playlist to Hollywood Undead to get pumped up and chalked my hands to increase my grip. The course ran along one of the walls before it climbed up the the second floor and dropped again down and along the last wall.

I ran along the floor building up speed before I jumped on a concrete block and launched myself up. I grabbed the bar and used my momentum to swing up and land on a narrow plank. I ran along the beam and turned to backflip off the end. I landed and tuck rolled backwards before continuing along. I came to two walls a metre apart that ran the height of the gym. I put my legs out, one against each wall and the same with my hands. Holding my weight with my arms, I lifted my legs up and braced with my legs, moving my arms higher. I repeated this until I was at the top.

I looked over the gym and saw three men standing at the entrance looking up at me. I knew one man but not the other two. Knowing why he was here, I chose to ignore him and continued along the track. I leapt out from my spot near the ceiling, I caught the bar with my hands and when my legs swung up I hooked them on the next bar lower down. Letting go I swung backwards and reached back grabbing the next bar with my free hands.

I let go and dropped the short gap to another narrow plank that ran along the wall. As I neared the end of the plank there was a gap too long to jump, I planted my foot on the metal framing of the wall and pushed off so I gained the extra height needed. I landed on the block and flipped sideways and rolled to stand in front of my brother. I crossed my arms over my heaving chest while he just stood there and clapped. How the hell did he find me?

"You know where the door is. I suggest you use it." I pointed behind him as I spoke.

I turned to walk away and felt a hand grip my shoulder. On reflex I grabbed the wrist and spun under the arm so the man dropped to his knees and groaned in pain. The men behind my brother reached for their guns and had them on me in a split second. I released Miguel's hand and put mine in the air.

"Marcus, Nestor put the guns away. Meet my little sister."

"I didn't know you had a sister Mikey?" Marcus or Nestor asked him.

I sneered are my brother, "I'm just a dirty little secret aren't I, Mikey?"

My brother stood up and brushed his suit back into place and smoothed his hair down. He then gestured to each man.

"Marcus, my consejero. Nestor, my head of security. Liliana, my bratty sister."

Is Miguel hiring models now?

"Aww Miguel, I finally got a title. How cute." I couldn't stop the snarky attitude creeping through. My family just brings out the worst in people.

"Where's Devante? Did the old man finally cark it?" All three men frowned at me and I mentally slapped myself.

"Sorry. Did the old man finally die?" The private boarding school I had been sent to for eight years was in London. English in England and English in America might as well be different languages sometimes.

"Yes, he was going senile and lost it in the end."

"Lost what? His head?"

"Well..." he shrugged with open arms.

I sneered at my brother. Following in fathers footsteps well and truly. I remembered once when the old man had a bad day and bodies were found in the street the next day, headless. The cost of 'the pride of men' as my father would say. That and 'rule with an iron fist.' Another favourite of his.

"Grab your things, the funeral is tomorrow."

As much as I wanted to run, I didn't think I would get far with Marcus and Nestor at his beck and call. Sometimes to get along you got to go along. Picking my battles, I thought I could just go south with him and ditch them along the way.