Page 15 of Violent Attraction
My feet barely step over the threshold of the courtyard when I hear my name being called.
Turning, I see my father standing in the corridor waving me over.
My relationship with my dad is nothing compared to the one that Leo has with his. I don’t hate my father, just what he does, but our relationship is solid and I have mad respect for the man.
“¿Si apá?” I approach him, giving him a nod.
Cristiano Reyes is a very held together man, especially since he is always dressed in a freaking suit. He stands a few inches taller than me and is literally a man I look up to.
“How was school?” He asks, waving me to follow him away from the courtyard. His accent thick as always. Makes me wonder sometimes how he and my mom got together.
I shrug. “It’s almost over.”
“Enjoy it while you can, you only get to be young once. Then you’re an adult and everything gets harder by the minute.”
He’s talking from experience. At a young age my father got roped into the cartel world and couldn’t find a way out. According to him, the only time he was able to escape the Muertos was when he met my mother during a run and decided to stay with her.
For a few glorious months he said, she was all that mattered and the Muertos were as if they didn't exist. That is until they needed him back in Mexico. He came back, with my mother right behind him, and was once again entangled in everything Muertos. He has voiced in the past that he doesn’t want this life for me, that I should go explore the world once I graduate but he knows that won’t happen.
I’m already entangled in it. I may not be moving merchandise around just yet or have taken part in any deals, but I will. It’s only a matter of time. I was born into this cartel, it’s who I’m going to be and the only way out is if I’m one thing. Muerto.
“I’ll try,” maybe prom will be a good start to that.
He nods at my statement and continues to lead me through the estate until we reach a door that leads to the basement.
The dungeon.
I look at my father in confusion as he stands in front of the door not moving to open it.
My whole life I have lived on this estate. My whole life I have been surrounded by the inner workings of this Mexican cartel, but never has it gone this far.
Sure, I have seen men kill other men but never have I witnessed what has happened behind this door.
I’ve heard stories from Leo, but never have I seen them with my own eyes.
“¿Apá?” is that fear in my voice?
Am I scared?
Yes.
I thought I had a few weeks left before I was thrown straight into cartel life, now I have no idea what to think.
“I spoke to Ronaldo. He said, since you are now eighteen, it’s time to show you exactly how the cartel works.”
Cristiano is a very calm man, nothing really ever is able to affect him. This though, with this I can hear it in his voice that it’s affecting him in ways he doesn’t want me to see. The thought of me walking through that door angers him and if he had his way, he wouldn’t be bringing me here. But he doesn’t call the shots, Ronaldo does.
“I know how the cartel works.” I square my shoulders, preparing for battle.
What battle exactly? I have no idea.
“You don’t know it like this,” the eyes my mother says are exactly like mine, stare back at me and actually have me stepping back.
They are dark and hard and everything that someone should fear.
“This will not be the last time that you will step foot through this doorway, Santiago. If this life is really the life you want to live, you will walk through this door more times than you will ever be able to count. After I take you in there, you will finally figure out what your involvement will be in this. Just know that if you want to walk away from this, you have my respect wholeheartedly.”
Something that Leo won’t get if he walks away. No matter what I decide after walking through that door, my father will have my back. In Leo’s case, Ronaldo will most likely have him killed for stepping away.