Total pages in book: 34
Estimated words: 32402 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 162(@200wpm)___ 130(@250wpm)___ 108(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32402 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 162(@200wpm)___ 130(@250wpm)___ 108(@300wpm)
“There’s nothing to tell. You don’t need to know how fucking shit my life was, okay? How I was dropped off at a freaking church, which you already know. You know that no parents looked twice at me. The plain girl. The ugly girl. I was moved from one foster home to another, whenever they had a spot.” She threw her arms in the air. “You had to learn to survive. Life is not good for those that don’t look the part. Do you really want to know what happened to that guy and why it was swept under the rug? Fine, we all played a part in killing that piece of shit.” Jane couldn’t believe she had said that.
Alexey said nothing.
She looked at him, had every intention of turning on her heel and leaving, but she just stared at him, then the words she had never spoken tumbled out.
“He hurt one of the girls. She was ten years old. She was a sweet little thing. Her mother had ... she was not like us, and something had gone wrong. A teacher reported something. Either way, she was adamant that it had all been one giant mistake. A joke blown completely out of proportion, but Social Services wanted their five minutes of fame or a power play, or I don’t know what. She was not one of us. She was a girl that had been loved, and because she kept arguing and trying to get back to her family, they placed her with him. He was a piece of shit who lived on a ranch out in the middle of nowhere. His home always looked the best it could, because he hid his real life in the basement. That was where he filmed it all. Raping young girls and boys. Always at the right age.” Jane stopped.
“She was ten and just wanted to get back to her mommy, so we all took turns trying to keep her safe, away from him. But he knew what we were doing, and when we realized we’d all been sent on a mindless errand and came back, that little girl was gone. She was alive, but that sparkle in her eye was gone, and we all knew what that look meant.”
Jane felt tears spring to her eyes.
“So, we concocted a plan. One that meant every person played their part. I will not name names. I have never spoken a word, but we all made sure he paid.”
“What was your part?” he asked.
“I drugged him. I was the one that had to get him his beer, and I did, and I put the drugs in that would keep him lucid, to lure him where he needed to go. A couple of others teased him, luring him down to the basement. That was where we were all waiting for him. Every single one of us had to hurt him,” Jane said.
“What happened afterward?” Alexey asked.
“They wanted to charge us all with murder. They couldn’t figure out who did it. They realized we must have all played a part, and then we used his tapes as leverage. The case was buried. There was no investigation into anyone, not even the social workers who knew what was going on. He paid them to bring him the youngest ones that were not wanted. He had to take us older ones to cover his tracks.”
“What happened to the girl?” he asked.
“We made sure she was sent home to her parents, where we told them what happened. I heard they got her some good therapy, and she’s doing okay, but I don’t go back. We all agreed to never talk about it, nor look back. I broke that promise tonight.” She looked at his wine. “Now, I need a drink.”
She walked into the kitchen and grabbed the bottle of white wine. Jane had never been a drinker. She had never drunk to be intoxicated. All her life, she had valued control. She had seen what alcohol did, especially to kids that ended up in places like she had because they couldn’t control themselves.
Pouring herself a large glass, she looked at Alexey who entered the kitchen, and she clinked her glass with his.
“To old memories.”
“I killed my father,” Alexey said.
She took a large gulp of wine, and it tasted nice, but she was not much of a wine drinker.
“What?”
“He was selling out. Giving up turf, land, and becoming a mockery to the mafias in the area, and even the MC. They were using him, because they felt he was weak. He was not a fighter.”
“What happened?”
“One night, an MC group comes into one of the bars we own, and I’m there with my friends. We’re having a good time. This MC club walks in and says this is their turf now. They start to take over. I call my dad for backup, and he tells me to get out, that the club is no longer ours. He doesn’t even put up a fight. But I do. Me, Nikolai, Makar, and Igor, we took on the whole MC and destroyed them. We took the club. My father was fuming. He threatened to cast me out, and I realized I couldn’t follow a coward. I killed him and anyone else who believed it was time to step aside for them. I took the Bratva back and I pushed the mafias out. Morello is one that attempted to take from my father.”