Mafia King's Daughter

Chapter 10

Ravyn's POV:

"Along with being out after curfew, she was caught vandalizing the side wall of the market down past the railroad tracks along with getting in a fight with a few of the local boys." The officer who had my arm explained as he handed me back my purse.

"Were you able to arrest the boys as well?" My mom asked as I walked into the house.

"No, they got away." I heard him say.

"Mr. Kendricks, we know the only reason she isn't in jail but I'm afraid one of these times that reason won't be enough to keep her from getting put behind bars. I suggest you figure out a way to get her to stop this rebellious behavior." He continued before my father could respond to the fact they didn't catch any of the boys.

"I also suggest, you find a way to keep her from going to jail or you will be looking at early retirement." I heard my dad say in a low warning tone.

"Are you threatening?" The officer said.

"Take it as a friendly warning." My dad responded.

"Nothing is ever a warning with you." I heard the officer say just as the door was closed with more force than necessary.

"Who caused their death by using you as a punching bag?" My dad said angrily as if he was about ready to start shouting as he turned around from the door.

"No one of your concern." I snapped at him.

"Not of my concern?" He asked in a half-shouting voice as his anger rose even more.

"No!" I shouted back.

"I can take care of myself just fine! The other guy was much worse than I am!" I continued to shout at him but all that did was piss him off even more.

Dad was getting ready to come at me again with more shouting and anger but before he could, mom stepped in front of him and placed her hand on his chest. I took this opportunity to head up the stairs quickly. I could hear my mom trying to calm him down as I continued towards my room. I didn't bother to stop in the hallway to listen to their conversation. I didn't really care to be honest. As soon as I can, I'm out of here. I'm tired of feeling trapped in my own home. If he could, I'm sure he'd chain me to the basement wall!

I walked into my room and shut the door. I knew my mother would keep him away from me for a few hours at least till he calms down. Him coming in here all pissed off like he is, never ends well. It always gets us in a screaming match with each other. I locked my door and then walked over and grabbed the chair next to my vanity and wedged it under the doorknob. We may have locks on our doors but that won't stop him. He has a key for every door in this house. If he wants in, he will come in, even with this chair pushed up against the door.

I walked over to my bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. My lip was busted on both sides of my face. I had blood smeared all over my chin and cheeks. I turned the water on in my shower and let it warm up. I thought about just washing my face in the sink but what would the point be? I was thrown against those stones. My entire body is dirty from the fight.

I stripped out of my clothes and that's when I saw that one of my n****e rings was bleeding. I stepped into the shower, the water will clean the blood off from that too. I had the water a little cooler than I normally do so it would help cool down my face. I still felt so hot from the fight. I carefully washed my hair, face, and body. I turned the showerhead towards the side wall and then leaned my back against the wall to allow the water to hit my chest. I find this the easiest way to let the clean water run over my n****e and belly piercings to clean all the soap out of them. I just leaned against the wall and closed my eyes for several minutes to help me relax in the process.

---

"You know that I'm here if you ever need someone to talk to," Mom said as we sat at the dining room table doing the last day's work of my homeschooling.

It's been a week since that night I was brought home by the police. I haven't really gone anywhere, mostly because it's not like I can buy anything at the moment. All of my credit cards are still currently frozen. Mom is using that as a punishment. I'm surprised that she has followed through with that punishment. She never follows through but this time, she is. Probably because it's the easiest one to forget about. It's not one that she has to monitor and make sure we do.

I went back to that market the following day after the fight, only to see that the Bloodlust gang had painted their name and symbols all over it to cover it up. I wasn't really surprised, I kind of already figured they would do it. I guess I was just hoping for the image to last a little longer than a few hours in the middle of the night. I have heard in the past, a few passersby occasionally comment encouraging comments to each other on some of the drawings I've done on the walls and it really raises my self-esteem when it comes to my craft.

I've always loved to draw and color. Even as a young child I would sit at one of the many tables in the house with different kinds of drawing supplies. My favorite is to use a pencil but if I had to choose a second favorite, that would be crayons. I know those seem like an unlikely choice but if done right, they can be very beautiful and rewarding. My mom hated those the most because they were so messy. Probably because I would scrap the waxy texture off, leaving just the color behind. I won a few awards in elementary school by using that crayon technique and is still to this day, one of my top favorite techniques.

"Mom, I can't talk to you about anything," I told her as I worked on some of my geometry.

"Of course, you can. Why would you think you couldn't? I've always been here for you, you know that." She told me as she sat in the chair next to me at the table.

"For one, you wouldn't understand me, and two, most of my problem is dad and you will always side with him. You would never take my side on anything if it came to him." I told her.

"That's not true," She told me and I looked over at her.

"Yeah, it is. You and I are so different and you grew up in a normal home with grandma. You weren't the daughter of a mafia lord who traps you in his dungeon that he claims is a home." I explained to her before looking back down at my work.

"My home life wasn't that normal." She told me and I looked over at her to continue before looking back down at my homework.

"Before my father died, he moved us all over Mexico before finally coming here. I never stayed at the same school for more than a year and sometimes it was less than that before we moved again. It was so often that my mom threatened to divorce him if he didn't stop." She told me and I stopped writing to look back over at her.

"The thing is, nobody's family is perfect and that includes ours even if your father feels differently." She said with a laugh and I gave her a smile.

"Yeah, the father of the year award isn't exactly an award dad will ever win," I added and we both laughed.

"The thing is, neither of us understands what it is you're trying to tell us by all of this rebellious behavior. It has us worried." She told me as she placed her hand over my left hand that was holding the pencil.

"I just want to be me," I told her as I held my gaze on hers.

---

The following day, after that little heart-to-heart talk with mom, I am on my way to the craft store. Mom unfroze my credit cards this morning. At first, she was going to leave them frozen for a month but she only made it two weeks. That's an improvement on her part when it comes to punishments. Now if dad had his way, he would have kept them frozen for all eternity but since mom has just as much authority over my credit cards as he does, she made the decision to unfreeze them. I'm glad because I'm out of supplies and needed to get to the store to get more.

"Ravyn!" I heard my name and turned to see Simon running down the sidewalk towards me.

Just behind him was his motorcycle. I'm guessing he just happened to see me walking down the sidewalk and pulled over at the last minute because, for a bike, he did a shitty job parking it.

"What do you want now Simon?" I asked him in irritation as I entered the store.

"I stopped by your house to make sure you were okay since I hadn't seen or heard from you in over a week and your mom told me that you were heading to the craft store. She didn't say which one but I figured it was this one since it is your favorite one to go to." He told me and I glanced over my shoulder at him before I grabbed the handbasket.

"Are you trying to get me to like you by telling me how much of a stalker you are?" I asked him and he just laughed.

"Is it working?" He asked and I shook my head.

"Not hardly. Keep it up and I will have to show you how sharp my knife collection is." I told him.

I could see in the corner of my eye that he hesitated in his walk before catching back up with me.

"You wouldn't do something like that...would you?" He asked me in question and I just smiled.

"You are aware of my past history in the previous schools prior to your school right?" I asked him and he just looked at me as if his worst nightmare was coming true.

"I guess you do, so it's up to you if you want to ever find out," I told him as I grabbed a new set of shading pencils and a variety of coloring pencils.

"I saw what happened to your image on the second-floor wall of the market," He told me after a few minutes of silence.

I was currently kneeling down and picking out more spray paint to replace the ones that I have used and the ones I lost on that roof when I was disrupted by that gang. The spray paint is probably what reminded him of the image.

"It was pretty much destroyed but I could figure out the image after a few minutes of studying it." He told me but I continued to ignore him.

I guess I didn't really want to talk to him about it. It was mostly just irritating that it got ruined so quickly this time. Usually, they get to stay untouched for at least a day or two before the gang of that area destroys it.

"It was really beautiful and the meaning behind it..." He started to say and I stopped abruptly and turned to glare at him.

"Like you would understand the meaning of the image." I snapped at him as I glared.

"Ray, I've been looking at your images for years. Ever since you were at my school. All those sketches in your sketchbooks, on your book covers. Hell! You would even draw on the inside cover of your textbooks. Probably the reason why our behind-the-times school finally got Chromebooks for all of the students." He said with a laugh while I just stood there and stared at him.

"The thing is, I did very well in Literature, and understanding the written word isn't really any different than reading an image. Your drawings are like a book into your heart, your soul. Into the real you." He told me seriously.

"Thinking you understand my drawings or even me doesn't grant you a pass into my life," I told him and turned on my heels to head into the section of the store that carried the glitters and other scrapbooking materials.

"No, probably not. You never let anyone in, not even Vera." He told me and I glared at him.

"Yes, I do. Vera and I have been best friends since she was in Junior High." I snapped at him before I looked back at the crafts.

"No, you don't. You may be best friends but you still don't let her in. You talk and spend time together but she still doesn't know the real you. The you that you hide under that tough exterior. That bad girl persona that you show people isn't the real you." He tried to explain to me.

"What makes you think that isn't the real me? I have been in more fights than you can count. I've stabbed people and gotten drunk on more than one occasion. Hell, as you know, I've gone to school high! I've even gotten high at school, skipped classes, been kicked out of three schools, and been brought home by the police more times in one year that even I've lost count." I told him.

"Maybe so, but that is just your hard shell to keep people out." He told me and I picked up my pace as I walked through the store to pay for my items.

The cashier rang up all of my supplies and I handed her my card to pay for everything. Simon didn't say anything as I paid for my things. I grabbed the two bags that I had and walked out of the store.

"Look, Simon, I don't know what it is you think you are going to accomplish by following me around, making light conversation, and acting as if you know me. Like really knew me deep down but whatever it is, it isn't going to happen." I told him as I stopped on the sidewalk and looked up at him.

"I'm not interested in being your friend. I'm not interested in being more than just friends. I've never looked at you any different than just a boy that walked passed me in school or happen to sit in the same class as I did. If it wasn't for the fact that you seem to have some infatuation with me, I wouldn't even know your name." I told him and even though I could see a little hurt in his eyes, he didn't really show it and I really didn't care.

I would prefer he just left me alone.

"Find some other girl to hound and just leave me alone!" I snapped at him when he didn't say anything back to me.

I walked to the edge of the sidewalk and lifted my hand for the first taxi that was driving down the street. I got in the car and as the driver drove passed Simon, I didn't even give him a glance. I just hope he finally took the hint and stays out of my life from now on.