In Love With The Mafia King

~Unraveling~

What just happened?

Did that man just threaten my son’s life and freedom? I shook my head, doubtful. My mama wouldn’t do something so evil to me, right? She wouldn’t be so selfish as to use my son, her grandson, as collateral for her gambling. The mere thought of it made my stomach churn. I couldn’t sit there and let my mind run crazy with all those questions.

“Miss Peps, did you hear what I just said to you?” The assistant manager standing by the door asked, bringing me back to the present.

I stared in his direction, unseeing, because all that was on my mind was what the man who had just left said to me. He had just threatened my son. I screamed in my head.

What was I still doing here? I needed to see my mother. I needed to hear it from her mouth. I stood up from my seat, frantically picked up my car keys, and rushed out of my office, heading to the parking lot, ignoring the voice of the assistant manager calling me back. Whatever he had to say could wait. It wasn’t as important to me as the life of my son.

After getting into my car and starting the engine, I picked up my phone and dialed Ophelia’s, my best friend’s, number, begging her to meet me at home because heaven knows what I would do to my mother if I found that whatever that man said to me was the truth.

“If it turns out to be true, I will burn that woman alive! I don’t mind facing the consequences!” I promised as I accelerated the car and ended the call.

“You’re back early.” My mother greeted me the moment I opened the door. “Or is that the perk that comes with being the head manager at the supermarket?” She was leaning against the fridge, cradling a cigarette in her left hand.

Still standing by the door, I inhaled deeply, attempting to calm myself down because nothing good would come with me shouting like an insane person. I didn’t stop walking until I was standing face and gave her an untelling smile before speaking.

“Mother, is there anything you wish to say to me?”

At my question, she took a drag of the cigarette and raised an eyebrow at my question. “Darling, what are you talking about?”

So this is how you want to play, I mused to myself. Fine. I looked away, then back at her with a fake smile, and pulled out the document the man from earlier had given me from my bag and handed it to her. “Here, read this. You’ll understand what I’m talking about after reading this. I promise.”

Narrowing her eyes at me, she opened the document and began to read through it. Carefully, like a student studying for an exam, I watched her countenance and noted every move she made. From her eyes widening to her lips quivering, then her subconsciously moving away from me, I came to a conclusion: This was the reaction of a guilty woman. She was guilty of everything that the man accused her of. She had used my child as a pawn in her gambling.

It was too much for me to process. Feeling disappointed and frustrated, a scream broke out as I ran a hand across my face. I shook my head back and forth and felt tears begin to form in my eyes as I watched the unbelievable human being who called herself my mother try to find the words to justify her actions.

“Do you have anything to say? Or are you trying to cook up lies to explain why you used my son as collateral to that casino?! What the f**k were you thinking?!” I yelled at her, breaking the silence that had covered the room.

My mother began to whimper so pitifully, and the cigarette dropped from her hand. “Peps. Peps. Peps, I swear it is not what you think. I-I-I was high when I signed that. I-”

“Oh, shut it! I don’t want to hear another word out of you!” I cut her off in anguish. “You were high? Fine, let’s say you were high, but why, of all the stupid ideas you’ve ever had, did you decide to use my son? You have your twins, your kids. Why didn’t you use them? Why the f**k did you use my child?” I grabbed her shoulders and started to shake uncontrollably. “Why!”

My mother nodded over and over.

Yes, I knew I was wrong to mention using the twins, but I was furious at her and couldn’t control what I said. All I cared about was my son.

“f**k!” My hands were itching to do something, so I slammed them into the wall. “You know, I thought that after all these years, there was nothing you would do that would surprise me, but this…this! Mother, this is the lowest you can get!”

She narrowly avoided being hit by the water jar I threw her way. Looking at her and thinking of what she had done, I placed a hand over my mouth, holding in the tears that threatened to fall out.

“Persephone Williams! You do not talk to your mother with such a tone!” Ophelia announced her arrival. “What’s going on? Why are you being disrespectful to your mother? No matter what she did, she is still your mo-”

“Look!” Not allowing Ophelia to complete her sentence, I dragged the document from my mother’s hands and flung it at Ophelia. I pointed at the miserable piece of paper lying on the floor. “Take a look at what my ‘so-called’ mother, whom you’re asking me to respect, did to me.”

Ophelia picked up the document. I watched as her eyes scanned the content, and as realization dawned on her, her demeanor changed from confusion to utter shock. “Bloody hell!” Ophelia screamed and turned to my mother with a grim expression. “What have you done? I don’t understand. How-How? How could you do this?” Ophelia’s mouth opened in shock as her face portrayed her struggling to understand why my mother would do such a thing to me.

With eyes wide with disbelief, Ophelia asked, “Manuél is your grandson, but you did this to him?”

I had had enough of talking. “I am going to kill that woman! I’ll kill her and go to jail. I don’t f*****g care!” I yelled at the top of my lungs and picked up the pocket knife on the table, charging at my mother with rage.

Just in time, Ophelia jumped in front of my mother, blocking me from gaining access to her.

“Step out of the way,” I cried out. “Just let me kill this woman. I don’t mind rotting in jail. I don’t give a f**k anymore. She has done enough harm. Please, let me.” Wrenching sobs escaped as I lowered my head onto Ophelia’s shoulders.

Weak from the shock, she wasn’t able to contain my weight on her. We fell to the floor, two sobbing messes. Ophelia took the knife from my hand and threw it into a random corner of the room.

“What have I done to deserve this? Where have I gone wrong? Is it a crime to be brought into this world by this woman?” A sob caught in my chest, and I struggled to breathe. “Would-Wouldn’t, dammit! Wouldn’t it have been better if she got rid of me?”

“Shush!” The corners of Ophelia’s eyes were wet with tears as she said to me, “Listen to me, your birth is not a crime. You are not a mistake! Do not let this get the best of you. You have gotten this far by fighting and winning a lot of battles. Do not let this break you, not when your son’s life is involved. We will find a way. We always do. Trust me, okay?” Ophelia lightly stroked my hair while murmuring words of encouragement.

I melted into her hold, wanting to believe her every word. That was Ophelia for you. She knew the right words that I needed to pull myself together. Her words, as dramatic as they sounded, made every mountain in my way seem like pebbles I could jump over.

I nodded “Alright. Okay.”

“You,” pointing at my mother, Ophelia, with eyes crossed, ordered, “sit down!” She got up from the floor and helped me up. “Sit.” Compared to how she spoke to my mother, her tone was gentle towards me.

My mother had just been about to run out of the house. It was just like her to try and ignore every situation she couldn’t maneuver over, except this time, she couldn’t run even if she wanted to. I wasn’t going to let her. Not until after she thought of how we would come out of this mess she had created.

“What are we going to do? How are we going to solve this?” Looking between my mother and me, Ophelia questioned.

“We need to gather the money and give it to them. That’s the only solution right now.” My voice was almost gone from all the crying and screaming I had done, so the words came out in a whisper.

Ophelia nodded, agreeing. “How much are we talking about? I have some savings. I can lend it to you. That, plus your savings, will make a huge chunk of money.”

I shook my head as a fresh wave of tears fell down my cheeks. “Two hundred thousand dollars. It won’t be enough…”

“200k? What?” Ophelia latched an angry gaze onto my mother again. “How…”

How did my mother gamble such a large amount of money? I’m pretty sure that was the question that came to her mind. I wondered the same too.

“Where are we going to get such an amount of money from? We can’t sell the house because she has already used it as collateral for a loan, and my savings don’t even amount to half of that amount. You live in a rented apartment, and your car won’t sell for up to 3k, not to talk about that crap of a car I drive.”

“Ophelia, what am I going to do?” I started panicking again because it dawned on me that we couldn’t come up with that money even if we had a year.

Ophelia stood up and began pacing around, thinking of a way. I looked at her with hopeful eyes. If anyone could get us out of this mess, it would be Ophelia.

Unexpectedly, she stopped pacing and picked up the document that was now on the ground. As she re-read the contents, a small smile appeared on her face. She let out a sigh that sounded like relief. I jumped up, hope forming inside me.

“What? What is it?” I asked, walking over to where she stood.

The smile on her face grew until it covered her whole face. “I got it.”