One year later
"Get down!" Someone hollered.
I threw myself behind the nearest wall to take cover right before a machine gun went off.
After a year or so of being in the Mafia, I've grown accustomed to the sudden appearance of deadly weapons. They can have a rocket launcher and it won't even shock me anymore.
When the sound of the machine gun finally went out, I peeked around the corner before pulling my head back as a bullet zapped past me.
That was close.
When the guy across from me started shooting, I took that as my cue to start shooting as well.
I pushed myself off the wall, aimed my gun and started shooting.
Like I said, after a year of living this life, nothing really phases me anymore. The sound of the gun didn't make my ears ring as much and the sight of blood didn't make me feel lightheaded.
The churning in my stomach, however, was something that I simply couldn't help but feel. I don't think I can ever get rid of that.
No matter what, I was raised to value a life, a soul, and seeing that life leave a body with my own eyes will always have its effect on me.
Fortunately, I haven't been put in a position where I had to kill anyone but I do feel like
Bullets rained down on us, sharp pelts that threatens to dig into our skin and embed itself into our flesh to draw some blood.
When the sound of the firepower going off ceased, I checked my rounds before looking around. I had more ammo in the pocket of my jeans but it wasn't enough to reassure me.
I slid down the wall and crouched before taking another peek at the building across the street.
"Do you see anymore of them?" I asked the guy nearest to me.
He shook his head, "Nah, but something doesn't feel right."
He checked his watch before rummaging his pockets and taking out an object that I can't identify from where I was situated.
"It's time for us to leave, though." He said as he pulled something from the object. That was when I realized that he just unpinned a grenade.
A smoke grenade, that is.
I found out that this was how they made an escape after firing rounds at enemies the hard way, after having freaked out thinking that it was an explosive grenade that'll kill us all.
I had thought that these people were crazy suicidal bastards and they wouldn't stop talking about how I "looked like I was gonna shit my pants in fear" for an entire month.
Safe to say that they weren't wrong. I was so freaked out that I could've shat bricks at that time.
Now, when the smoke grenade is thrown and the white fog starts to seep out from the small container, I calmly counted to 5 before I moved to make my retreat.
The smoke was so thick that I wouldn't even be able to see 3 feet in front of me. But that was a good thing since that means the enemy wouldn't be able to see us either.
The fog was like a wall, obstructing the enemy's view of us. But we still had to be careful since it obviously wasn't a solid wall. Bullets can still fly at us if we don't bail ASAP.
I could hear others from our gang joining us in the escape as we ran down the street and around the block to get to the pick up point.
Someone else had taken over the wheel, a newbie, I think. They took me off the wheel after a month of shooting practice, deeming me ready for the battlefield.
I wanted to beg to differ, but I knew that I had to gain their trust by following through with whatever orders they give me. So far, they haven't pushed me to my breaking point yet. They haven't asked me to kill anyone with my own hands, but I didn't want to sit on my hands and wait for that time to come. I plan to pull the plug as soon as I see my chance.
I jumped into one of the jeeps that was waiting for us on standby and saw Dom already sitting inside.
We didn't say anything to each other as more guys climbed into the jeep. The space got crammed as the big guys forced themselves inside hastily before the jeep zoomed off once the vehicle door banged shut.
The line of jeeps split off into different directions just like the first time I was behind the wheel, driving around aimlessly at a high speed before finally heading to basecamp.
By the time we arrived, my legs had gone semi-numb and I had to stand by the jeep to let the blood flow properly again. Everyone else walked off to the warehouse to return their weapons, if they hadn't lost them on the field, and go on their separate ways from there.
I took my phone out of my pocket to look at the time and see my notifications.
A text from Casey asking where I was and 5 texts from Maddy.
I slipped it back into my pocket without answering them and walked towards the warehouse to return my weapons.
"Good work tonight, lads." Quentin complimented as I placed my weapon on the table. He was talking in a plural sense but his eyes settled on me.
I nodded, keeping my gaze cold and unaffected.
Quentin gave me a pleased smile. "You've gone a long way, boy."
I stood straight, feet slightly apart, hands clasped together in front of me and looked at the space directly in front of me.
I call it the lap dog pose.
Quentin watched me with approval in his eyes.
"It's getting late, your sister must be waiting for you." He finally said, taking the guns off the table and storing them into huge duffel bags.
I fought the urge to clench my jaw when he mentioned Casey. I didn't want to let him see me tick. I didn't want to give away how his words affected me.
I nodded once before turning around and walking away.
I didn't ride home, I went straight for Dom's house and texted Casey where I was when I got there. I hated lying to her but technically, it wasn't a lie that I was at Dom's now that I'm here, right?
I didn't need to knock or ring the doorbell for Dom to open the door. He probably heard my bike roll in his driveway.
I closed the door behind me and started getting to work.
"Did you get any pictures?" I shrugged off my jacket.
Dom nodded, opening his phone. I unlocked my own and started looking through everything that I managed to capture.
I selected the clear pictures that can be used against Quentin and emailed it to my backup email address as well as Dom's.
I received Dom's email that had the pictures that he took attached to it a second after and downloaded all of the pictures. I connected my phone to my laptop and started transferring all of the pictures. I turned on the printer and made sure there were enough paper inside it before printing all the pictures.
I pulled the drawer I stored the files in open and took out the file sitting on the bottom of the pile. I slipped in the printed pictures into the file and looked through it briefly to remind myself of our progress.
"I think we'll have enough to raise a case against Quentin soon." Dom piped up as he looked at the content of the files over my shoulder.
I nodded in agreement as I flipped through everything we managed to gather over the year.
"Now how do we make sure that everything's executed properly once all of this leaves our hands? We need to somehow make sure they will use it to prosecute Quentin and take his organisation down effective immediately after we hand over all this evidence. If we can't guarantee that all this reaches someone who can do something about it, everything we've done for the past year would have been for nothing." Dom rambled as he paced the room.
My mind worked at a hundred miles per hour as my eyes lost focus. I submerged myself in a muddled space within my thoughts, trying to direct all my focus on finding a solution. But I couldn't think of anything.
I shook my head in dismay, looking up at Dom.
"I can't think of anything, you?" I asked. He shook his head too, his expression of frustration mirroring that of mine.
I sighed, running a hand through my hair, rubbing my head back and forth.
"We'll think of something." I finally said begrudgingly. I didn't want to give up, but I told myself that I wasn't giving anything up. I know I'll continue to think about it until I pass out from exhaustion tonight.
I took my phone out to check the time before turning to look at Dom. It was already getting pretty late.
"I gotta go. Case was searching for me." I told him, patting his shoulder.
"Yeah, go, don't keep her waiting." He nodded towards the door understandingly. During the past year that we've been in the mafia together, I tried my best to never leave Casey alone unless I really need to and Dom understood and agreed with me.
"Thanks, man. I'll keep thinking about how to get the files to someone we can trust." I assured him as I picked me jacket up from where it was draped on the back of the chair.
"No worries. Be careful on your back." Dom said as he walked me out the door.
I nodded, giving him a wave, "Will do. I'll see you soon."
Dom stayed standing on his porch, watching me mount my bike, fasten my helmet, pedal my bike back and pulling out of his driveway.
When I reached my own house, I parked my bike in the garage and went to unlock the front door.
I pushed the door open slowly since it was already 1 a.m. and I was expecting Casey to be deep asleep by then. I winced at the shrieking creak the door's hinges made when I pushed it open and close. I held my keys tightly in my fist as I locked the door behind me again to prevent it from making a festive jingling noise.
After hearing the door's lock click in place, I blew out a small breath before getting ready to walk stealthily into the house and tread up the creaky stairs too.
The mental image of trying to make no sound as I get ready to go to bed, which was conveniently inside the same room that the sister I didn't want to wake up was sleeping in, made me want to give up just then and there.
You'd think that after a year of doing this, I'd have grown used to it. But, you thought wrong.
In my opinion, this part of this Mafia life is the hardest to handle. I got used to the shooting and the war but coming back home and having to sneak inside when you're dead tired from all the running and fighting? Yeah, nope.
I tiptoed across the floor and cringed inwardly when the first step I took on the stairs made a sound.
Damn it, that's new.
I guess after a year of having to bear my weight, that spot gave way too.
I continued to climb the stairs strategically. I had this mental cues on where I should and shouldn't step after a year of sneaking back into the house from all the missions.
I couldn't text her and say I was staying at Dom's because I didn't want to leave her all by herself in the house in case Quentin had a change of heart and turned on me.
So, here I was.
When I finally reached the top of the stairs, I made a beeline for my room first to take some fresh pajamas. I went to the bathroom to clean up first before finally making my way to Casey's room.
Once again, I gingerly turned the door knob, trying to not make a sound.
I successfully unlatched it and pushed it open, stepping inside before turning around to close it.
The latch was almost in place when a sound made me jump out of my skin and accidentally pushed the door too hard, banging it by mistake.
"Jesus!"