“My God, you were only sixteen years old! How did they get away with letting you live by yourself?”
He gives me this, ‘Seriously? We can do anything we want’ look.
“And, I wasn’t alone,” he adds. “I knew who you were, and I knew about Cain, too. That’s why I made it a point to be friends with you right away. Plus, I had Aunt Cecily checking in on me every day, not to mention your dad. Jesus, that’s one scary man.”
I scoff at his remark about my dad. He’s never been a scary man to me. Not until earlier today, anyway.
“What did he do, beat your ass when you stepped out of line? Catch you in bed with all those sluts you used to bag in school?”
We both laugh. Manny was the new guy in school. Tall, dark, and mysteriously handsome, he climbed his way into just about every girl’s pants in the entire school.
“Nah. He didn’t give a shit about that kind of stuff. He just said he’d take me to the spot where he burns and then dumps the remains of his victims if I ever knocked any of them up. He was serious, too. I think that was his way of telling me it takes a special type of person to be able to take someone else’s life. You know what I mean? Here’s the thing, though. That’s not what my parents wanted me to do. They didn’t want me to be a hitman for the family; they wanted me to be a protector, one that kept an eye out for you and kept you safe. We have lots of enemies. People who want to take us out and destroy us. People who know what your father does. All families protect the ones they love the most. So I trained. I trained to be a killer. Not an assassin like your dad. Instead, someone who’s not afraid to kill someone if they attempt to hurt someone we love. My first assignment after your dad trained me was you.”
I do know what he means. I don’t think I could ever kill anyone, but I don’t have a problem with beating the shit out of someone if they deserve it, just like I did with that damn whore Emerald last night. But to actually take someone’s life? I don’t think I could do it.
Something Manny just said doesn’t add up, though. I look at him questioningly.
“Wait. You said you didn’t start looking out for me until a couple of years ago.”
“That’s true. I didn’t.”
“Well then, who did? There’s no way in hell I was left out in the open on my own if this family has enemies.”
“Your mom did.”
“My mom?” I laugh. “She wouldn’t hurt a damn fly.”
“Oh, Calla. There is still so much for your pretty little head to learn. Your mom was an assassin, too.”
I choke on the last piece of toast I just stuffed in my mouth, dumbfounded.
“What?” I shriek.
“I’m not even touching that subject. You talk to your parents about that.”
“Jesus God almighty. I don’t know any of you at all, do I?”
“Yes, you do. You know the real us. The ones that love you.”
I look away, trying in vain to digest this latest piece of information. After my shower, I stared at my reflection in the mirror and searched deep into my soul. I’m a lot stronger than I thought I was, and a lot more like the rest of this family, if I can handle the things I have learned today.
I notice something furtive about the way Manny’s eyes skate over mine. He’s hiding something. Something big. Something he thinks I should know about. He’s envisioning my reaction to whatever he has going on inside of his head. I decide to let him tell me when he is ready.
There is one more question I want to ask. He remarked earlier that everyone is expected to do something for the family. Have my parents deceived me? Do they want me to be a mob lawyer? Was that my intended destiny all along?
I don’t have the chance to ask; we both hear yelling coming from outside. Manny quickly draws a gun from behind his back and peeks out the front window.