“How you live as a parent shapes your children’s future.”
Matthew
~~~
When I was younger, my father used to say, ‘In life, you have to do everything in your power to survive, even if it’s wrong.’ As a result, I followed his footsteps and found myself deep in a mess I couldn’t disentangle from.
Right after my eight-year-old birthday, he joined the most hazardous gang to ever be heard of in the states, slowly creeping his way up to being his own boss. His line of work put us on the spot and I loathed him for many reasons but mostly for wrecking our then peaceful life. We had to flee houses and change schools more often than not.
What he put us through impacted how I related with everyone around me. I didn’t want to be a ruthless gang leader when he died but I couldn’t help it, it was the only survival skill I was taught. It was a generational family business from my great grandfather to me.
“Big boss, there was a slight complication in the last shipment and we delivered the wrong cans of paint to the Richardson company,” Peter, my right-hand man notified.
I looked from the files I was going through to him in rage. “How could you be so careless, Peter! Do you know what this mess will cost us if they open it?”
“Boss, the packaging guys are the ones who made a mistake. We’re lucky the Jones brothers called and alerted us that the cans contained paint and not what they asked for,” he explained.
“Alright, do what you can to salvage this situation. If the Richardsons have already opened the cans, I’ll deal with them.” I waved him off. Once he was out of my office, I beeped my grandmother and asked for her advice. In my line of business, you have to be extra careful; one wrong move and everything would come tumbling down.
“The milk is already spilled and there’s nothing else we can do but negotiate. This means more money out of our pockets. I’m coming there now,” she announced, cutting the call before I could protest.
I spent the next hour pacing up and down as I contemplated on whether to call the company’s assistant and tell him not to open the cans or leave it be.
“Where is that idiot that wants to cost us our life investments?”
“Granny, I don’t think you had to come.” I jetted up from the chair I had just occupied and made my way to her.
“We have bigger issues at hand. I need to see that idiot now!” She eased herself on the plush sofa beside my desk and I signaled for her bodyguard to go get the new guy.
“Should we call the company and alert them that we dropped off the wrong order?”
“Of course not, that will prompt them to open the boxes and find out what’s in the cans.” She took out a file from her bag and passed it to me.
I studied it for a few minutes but couldn’t understand anything. Directing my eyes back at her, I asked, “Do you want us to kill them?”
“Oh come on! Don’t be stupid, you can’t go killing everyone who discovers your secrets,” she retorted.
“So we’ll use this to blackmail them?” I lifted the file in my hand.
She nodded with a smile. “Exactly! That’s all the dirt I could dig up about them, just in case they’ve already found out that we’re dealing.”
“You’re too intelligent,” I commended, a smile adorning her lips.
“I didn’t grow this hair for nothing.” She referred to the streaks of white hair on her head that had blended so well with her natural blonde hair color.
She was a complete replica of my late father and I. From her dark blue eyes to her hair and not to forget her face. At fifty-four, she was modish and lived a flashy life. She was respected and admired by many for the competence in which she handled herself and her business. No one knew I was her air and only grandson, we did well in hiding the identities of our family members.
As an only child, she didn’t want to endanger my life by making my existence known to the world cause it would mean being an easy target for my father’s enemies who’s goal was to take over our business. They knew I existed but none of them ever set their eyes on me so it was easy to live a normal life with a newly acquired fake ID.
“Someone tried to assassinate me yesterday night but Roman beat them to their game. You have to be thorough now more than ever. I don’t want what happened to your father to repeat itself cause I won’t be able to take it,” she cautioned, her eyes glistening with tears.
A year ago, my father was eliminated by a rival gang. Everyone who knew him was so devastated, especially Granny and my mother. No one could get over how an influential and formidable man had been wiped out like a nobody. We had to go into hiding, running from one hideout to the other, frightened to death of the dead bodies that trailed behind us, striving their best to protect us.
We met Roman along the way and he managed to keep us under the radar till everything quietened down. A few months after his burial, Granny took over the family business and domimated it with the help of Roman, a few loyal workers, and I. Mom opted out because she was still grieving her husband, but mainly due to the fact that she never approved of the illegal business from the very beginning.
“What? This is crazy, Granny, you have to go into hiding.” I knelt before her with the hope that she would give in to my pleas but she was one stubborn old woman.
“She doesn’t have anything to worry about as long as I’m here.” Roman, her bodyguard, appeared with the new worker trudging closely behind. Getting on my feet, I put myself together before glaring at the root of our problem.