Family

Author's Note: I'll level with you guys, I had completed this next part of the story before I even started on the Interlude. But as I looked back on the completed story I realized that there was a lot of places where I couldn't explain details without making long transitions away from the story and ultimately doing that would take away from the pacing. As I completed the Interlude, I again looked at the completed story and felt that I could do better not just for you guys but for myself. So I deleted every chapter that I had written and here I am.

Hope you guys enjoy this chapter and continue following D's adventures. In order to follow the guidelines established within the website, I must tell you that the events depicted in the story are a work of fiction. I am sure that readers here do not navigate into the Interwebs in order to check if some details I have spoken about in these past stories may have happened. However, as fellow authors know, this website is very explicit when it comes to stories that contain criminal effects: the work must be clearly labeled as fiction.

So, dear editors, once again, the events in the story are works of... fiction.

Comment, like, and thank you for your continued support.

Much love,

aka_Mike

...

Angie sat across from me, silently sipping her morning coffee. After three wonderfully passionate years, this morning's routine had become much of the norm for the past few weeks. Our romance seemed to have completely burned out over the past weeks, the distance had been an incredible challenge that eventually turned us into yet another statistic. I am sure that the thick wall of cynicism that I have built around me over the years is another big factor to the decay of this relationship, but to Angie's credit, she was still determined to help me through my issues. She was more than willing to listen to my morbid story, without judgement or reservations, even now in the eve of our relationship.

"You do seem to get reeled back all the time, just as you make peace with your surroundings, don't you?" Angie looked over her coffee mug, a sorrowful expression covered her face like a well-worn mask.

"It's almost as if I am writing a book, and just when I am about to write the final chapters of the happily ever after, well..." I tried not to place any blame on her, she was completely innocent of any wrong doing. I knew she had tried to hang on to that love for as long as she could, she knew that I had done the same. But the distance was far too much a burden.

"...I come along and add more shit to your plate." She immediately absorbed the blame for our drifting apart, I moved to hold her hand and comfort her as best as I could, but she recoiled as if my hand had become a snake waiting to strike. "No, D, please, no. Not everything can be your fault, baby," she looked at me, unspent tears filling her eyes. "Let me be the one at fault here, please."

"There is no one at fault, Angie," I replied, "we just drifted apart. You have given me no reason to hate you, or even to dishonor your name." Slowly, I reached for the coffee mug, the black elixir was welcoming as always. "We both knew this was a huge possibility, you have your career to worry about, and I am still living the life of a nomad. I absolutely loved every second we spent together,

mio amore

, but our own lives have been tugging us apart since the day we met."

"Do you think we should spend this last weekend together?" Her voice was dangerously close to breaking into a wail, she hung her head as if she was standing before a judge that would pass sentence on her.

"I would like that very much," I replied.

...

I was still unsure if I was doing the right thing, things like instinct and gut have become so twisted in my mind that I was no longer sure as to what moral compass I was following. I hadn't slept well the previous nights, but the realization that I was returning to a life of blood and bullets kept me more than awake. Not only had any exhaustion left my body the closer I got to my dear home, but I began to shake with anticipation; this was the way the world accepted me. This was the environment where I felt more at home. I had tried to live a good life, I honestly gave it my best effort to walk away from all the bloodshed and violence of my youth. Lady death plays a tune that is hard for my blood to resist for very long; amidst the chaos that was my life, I surveyed the damage that had swallowed what remained of my family.

My brother Angel was in prison for gun charges, he would be facing federal time for sure and his absence would create a huge vacuum of power not just within the family, but in the city itself. My dear mother, who at one point in my life had convinced me to forgive the cheating whore that would become my wife, showed her own whoring ways by revealing that my eldest brother, the most honest of us all, was only my half-brother; that set of news nearly devastated my father. I had left an empty home and a discarded job in Arizona, only to be headed into the valley of death with a smile and an invitation from an old acquaintance: Officer Sandoval. The most troubling of all was her: Cece.

"Who is it?!" The loud voice answered the triple doorbell ring that I had created. It was a habit from my childhood days, press the bell three times for no particular reason. "God damn it, hold on," the voice continued.

"Officer Sandoval," I greeted the man as he opened the door, he was still partially dressed in his work uniform, save for the blouse that he had long discarded. The uniform pants and stained undershirt revealed the long hours that this man had been subjected to in his job, long hiring delays and stringent hiring practices made his line of work one of the most difficult to enter. Holding up the case of beer, I continued, "just seeing if you're up for a few drinks."

"D!" He eagerly shook my hand, "I was expecting you a few days ago, but I can imagine that you have been busy dealing with your family affairs." He gestured for me to enter the home and guided me into his kitchen, "you can put the beer in the fridge. You still a heavy smoker?" I nodded as I placed the beers in the fridge and removed two bottles, "alright, let's go out back and chat there."

"You have a beautiful home, Officer Sandoval," I said, speaking the complete truth. His home was located just outside the suburbs of the city, just far enough to avoid the smells of the city: the smog and body odor that permeated every centimeter. Even the crude smell of oil and burning garbage seemed to avoid the area, the sounds of traffic just hanging in the background and drowned by the chirping of birds and the laughter of children.

"Nothing much to it, D," he cheerfully replied, "I knew that I wanted to remain here and do my part to uphold the community. I may not have an adventurous life, but this is the life that I was destined to live. You know?"

"No," I replied as I took a sip of the cold Pacifico, "I honestly can tell you I don't know what you mean. All my adult life I have spent working for the government in some capacity to make up for my earliest mistakes in life. Hell, you knew me in the wild, reckless days of my youth. Truth be told, the reason I am able to move from one place to another so quickly, is because I have nothing holding me back in any particular place."

"I couldn't imagine that type of life," Sandoval replied sorrowfully, "so tell me, is your brother's arrest the only reason why you have decided to return home?"

"I wanted to check up on him," I replied, "but I also had other family business to address. You know how it is, being away for so long can have some unseen... complications."

"I can imagine," Sandoval replied as he took a drink from his own beer, "listen, I'm really sorry about your brother. I can't imagine your family is having a good time with that situation?"

"Well, my parents are having difficulties with the situation, but they'll get through it, I'm sure," I replied, paranoia was beginning to make an appearance. I looked closely at this man, suspicion was beginning to take a hold of me, there was something odd about his questions, but I chose to ignore them for the time being.

"Your family has always had a great reputation to uphold in this community," he continued, "such a thing would have come as a shock, I'm sure." His blank stare peered into my own eyes, "but I am sure that you will do your best to help your family out." Before I could reply, another voice interrupted our chat.

"I'm home, honey," the feminine voice said, "oh I didn't realize you had company, baby."

"Ma'am," I said, immediately standing up from my chair. She was an older woman, from her looks she was nearing her older years, but somehow she remained superbly gorgeous, attractive. Truly, she was the definition of women aging like fine wine, in her older years she became more and more desirable.

"Baby," Sandoval immediately replied, "don't worry about it, just an old friend stopped by for a minute for some drinks and small talk." He moved to embrace his wife; her sudden surprise convinced me that this was not his usual response to her arrival.

"I hope I am not interrupting," she replied, looking at my face, trying to figure out where she had seen me before. The years had changed my features, I had taken to growing a beard and shaving my head in order to hide many of my features, and the way I spoke now was vastly different from how I would have spoken many years before.

"Not at all, ma'am," I interrupted Sandoval, "please, join us. We aren't speaking of anything particularly important, and I am sure you are having a difficult time trying to figure out who I am."

"I am sorry for being so rude," she replied, blushing a little, "but you do seem very familiar. Where have we met before?"

"Sweetheart," Sandoval said, "this is D."

"No," her surprise could not be hidden, her hand reached to cove her mouth, a slight step backwards, and a quickening of her breath revealed her complete shock at the revelation. "Not the same..."

"I am afraid so, ma'am," I replied, sheepishly smiling as I continued, "but I assure you, I have done a lot of growing up since whatever time you seem to remember me by, it has been many years since I have returned to this city."

"Sweetheart," Sandoval interrupted, "D here has just come back after many years overseas. He bled for this country, left a young hoodlum and came back a true hero." He almost beamed with pride as he finished his speech, "he turned out to be a damned good man."

"That explains a lot of the changes I see," she said as she took a seat beside me, "but I see some things don't change. Still a bachelor? There is something about military men being unable to hang on to a woman."

"Well," I replied, a small smile on my face, "I was married once upon a time, ma'am, but things," I took a swallow of my beer, "well what I could give her was not enough it seems."

"I am sorry to hear that, D." Her embarrassment was clear, "where is she now?"

"I am sure she is busy raising the child she had while being married to me with her new husband," I replied, the years had taken the malice out of my voice as I talked about this subject. I was happy for Ann, though I had not heard or spoken to her in years, I truly hoped that she was happy in her life as best as she could.

"Oh my god," she continued, she had covered her mouth with her hand in shock, "I am so very sorry, D."

"Babe," Sandoval interrupted, "would you give us a few minutes while we catch up?"

"Sure," she replied, happy for the opportunity to abandon the embarrassing conversation, "I need to get the day off me. I'll leave you boys to your talk." She leaned over and kissed her husband as she walked into the house. I could not help but gaze upon her body, like I said even with her older days, her beauty had not faded one bit. She had a wonderfully fit body, even her posterior showed the years of gym time that had been well invested.

"I'm sorry about that, D." Sandoval interrupted the daydream I was shamefully enjoying, "she often says whatever is on her mind without much filtering."

"No need to apologize," I dismissed his apology with my hand, "there was no way she would have known about my life. I do understand, I am at an age where my peers are already years into their family lives, truth be told, I envy some of them." I stood up and stretched my aching back, the loud popping noise reminded me of the many injuries I had accumulated over the years. "If things had been different, I am sure that by now I would still be a happily married man with a few rugrats running around."

"I can't believe what I am hearing," Sandoval said, "you actually regret the way your life turned out to be? All those crazy adventured you've had?" He picked up his bottle tentatively, he had said far more than he had intended, his hesitation made everything clear to me at that moment.

"Not at all, Officer Sandoval," I said, slowly holding up my cellphone. I found the app that I needed with ease, I always kept the apps on my phone in alphabetical order. After activating it, I moved the phone toward Sandoval who had maintained his silent stare as I moved. He thought I was trying to show him something in my phone, the fool leaned closer to my phone. The steady beeping from the phone brought a blanket of sadness over me, "of all the things I have done, I can at least say that I never betrayed those I held dear."

"What..." I held up a single finger in order to silence him, then I moved my hand and pointed at his chest. Realization washed over him, he at least had the decency to hang his head in shame as he realized that he had been discovered.

"Should I expect your law enforcement buddies to rush into this house at any moment, or did you not get anything that could be used against me, Officer?" Contempt and anger dripped with each syllable, the sound of my phone case closing snapped him out of the cloud of depression that hung about his head. His hand moved toward his empty hip while I shook my head. "I see, well guess you were just trying to build the case for, who dare I ask?"

"FBI," he replied, his hand moving back to the table as more shame washed over him. "No one is going to be rushing into the house. They approached me a while back, when your brother was brought in. Our history made them think that we might have shared some sort of connection, and they asked me if I knew anything regarding your brother's operation. They moved him out of county and placed him in another facility after your visit."

"Did you have anything to do with that?"

"No, D," he quickly replied, "I swear. After your visit, they showed up again and I told them that you were back in town. They asked me if I would be meeting you, and then they told me that they would need to get some information from you. D, I am a law enforcement agent, when they asked me for my cooperation, there was no way I could say no. We had a meeting with a few people, agents from various agencies, and they knew that with your training, it would be nearly impossible to have anyone tail you. Not to mention tapping you r phone, or blackmailing you in any way."

He took a long drink from his beer before continuing, "they asked me if I felt that you posed any danger to me or my family. When I told them no, they asked me to wear a wire and try to get you to say something that could give them an insight into your family operations. D, there has been a rise of violence in this area over the past years, and with your brother's arrest it seems like it will only get far worse. So, yeah, I betrayed your confidence, but I did it for the right reasons. This is my community, the people that are being killed in my streets are my friends and acquaintances."

I looked beyond him, what he said made perfect sense, this man who's life I had saved long ago just sold me out over a promise for better days ahead. A noble dream, but still nothing more than a dream. These past years have shown me how dangerous it can be to be a dreamer in a world of reality. "Why are so many federal agencies interested in my brother's arrest?"

"I don't know any more than what I told you," he replied, "the circumstances behind your brother's arrest are fishy, he has always been a very intelligent man. The case against him is so perfect, that it is very suspicious to all involved. With the large amount of weapons, trafficking charges are immediately mounting against him, that on its own brought in the feds. We all know that your family is not the most reputable one, but we all know that you guys look out for the community. The wars here are getting worse, and that also has brought even more fed attention."

"So, you were supposed to get me to confess, what exactly?" The anger in my voice betrayed the usual control that I maintained, this situation had affected me far more that I initially thought.

"Nothing," he pleaded, "I was just supposed to get information on what your family is planning, or what you might know about your brother's arrest."

"Tell your FBI buddies that it would be a good choice to stay the fuck out of my way," I replied, "I am here to look after my family and nothing more. I have faithfully served my country, bled and cried for the flag, and have sacrificed more than my share to keep the wheels of the machine moving." I looked at Sandoval so that his microphone would clearly pick up my next statement, "but if I feel even an unordinary set of eyes on me, I will give them a reason to look into my comings and goings with a microscope. I will bring them a war so great that it would make the current violence blush like a nun in a nudist colony." I grabbed my belongings and moved toward the door, the female form that stood there, holding three cold beers in her hand made me stop for a second.

"Honey," Sandoval tried to stand, but her voice froze him in place.

"What did you do?" She looked at him with a strange combination of pain and humiliation, "D, I'm so sorry, please..." she looked at me as I reached for the three bottles.

"Enjoy the rest of your evening, ma'am," I said as I walked past her, "I'm sure you'll understand if we don't see each other again. It truly was a pleasure to have met you." As I closed their front door behind me, I could hear her screams as she scolded her husband. Sandoval had been right, things had changed. I placed the three bottles in the seat beside me as I turned over the well maintained engine of my father's truck. The rumble of the engine was not overtly exaggerated, but it did reveal the power under that hood.

...

The drive to my next destination was not long, but with my mind weighted down by the latest revelations it seemed long and more importantly lonely. I had left few friends behind in this town, and already I was beginning to lose those few. I kept my eyes on the rear view mirror, looking for any signs of vehicles that may be following me. Just as I had made certain that no one was following me, the familiar gate appeared.

The house had been built by my great grandfather once he had established the family business, even for today's standards it would be considered eccentric. It was a two story house built with a larger bottom floor, almost like a castle. The six bedrooms were all located in the second floor, the bottom floor held a large number of offices and a family room where most family meetings were held. As technology advanced, the upgrades to the house kept it modern, a 10 foot rock wall surrounded the house with two gates providing access into the property. Cameras and roving guards maintained security.

"We aren't accepting business at this moment," the young man that was manning the main gate said as I pulled the truck up to the guard shack. "So turn around and go back the way you came from."