...
Kapitel 29
It was such a fucking long day that Luka wanted nothing more than to get it over with. He got off the metro and climbed the dirty cement stairs to emerge above ground in the west side of the city. This neighborhood was more rundown than the others he visited, and as such was his least favorite place to do business in. The neighborhood grew to be in that condition mostly due to the housing developers decades ago forcing immigrant families to take up residence here, as it was the only affordable housing. As such, it was commonly referred to by the locals as El Barrio. The wealthy inhabitants moved to the northern side of the city and the housing developers built complexes that were designed to cram as many people into the projects as legally and cheaply as possible. However, the landlords weren't really preoccupied with keeping everything up to code and the neighborhood lost large sources of its income when the middle class vacated. As a result, everything was falling apart. It wasn't uncommon to see broken windows, graffiti, and abandoned vehicles scattered on the forlorn streets. It also wasn't out of the ordinary to hear gunshots after dark.
However, it was still mid-afternoon and the weather was pleasant. Any violence usually only occurred at night, so it was unlikely for Luka to find trouble. People were busy going about their day. Children playing outside, adults running to the corner store, teenagers hanging out with their groups of friends…Business was as usual during the day. And besides, no one ever bothered him when he wandered down here, even the times he came at night. Most assumed that he had to be either an undercover cop or a strung-out crack addict for him to find his face in El Barrio. The cops almost never stopped him either. Most knew who he was anyway. The inhabitants, on the other hand, were very often treated as guilty without ever having committed a crime. It made Luka sick to his stomach to think that he was immune to the legal system, and yet the harmless possessors of the product he helped distribute were not. He did his best to relocate the police raids to other neighborhoods or reduce innocent people's sentences, but it never completely shook the guilt that his family had contributed to the neighborhood's squalor.
A breeze blew down the street and whipped Luka's hair across his face as he walked. He pushed it off to the side with one hand and held it there until the wind died down. His hair was at that awkward length where it was always in the way. He had one side longer than the other while it grew out. One side had long hair messily hanging past his chin and the other came down a few inches shorter. He couldn't wait for it to go back to how he used to have it.
After walking ten minutes, he gradually approached the old arcade that served as Rey's headquarters. Rey was the person put in charge of this whole quadrant, so whatever product they distributed to him, he then distributed to his dealers and so on down the line. But because this was the most dilapidated neighborhood they distributed to, Rey was also one of the most unpleasant to do business with. It came with the territory. One had to be harsh in order to deal with the harshness of the reality many of the residents here lived in. Luka had been having issues dealing with him due to Rey's inexplicable dislike for him. Despite Luka having redirected police crack raids to other neighborhoods, particularly Dagur's, Rey refused to believe that the young teenager had been responsible for his sudden upheaval in business. His blatant unappreciation didn't help ease the tension whenever Luka actually visited him. He had hoped that Benedikt would get around to it instead, but he was too busy. So because he had waited, he had to get more money out of Rey than usually called for. It wasn't going to be easy.
Luka pushed open the front door and brought himself to his full height in order to take up as much physical space as he possibly could. The room was filled with old arcade games, but only about two of the ten game machines in the building still worked. Their main purpose, however, was to store the product within the consoles locked away and out of view. Luka purposefully made noise as he walked in so he could alert Rey of his entrance and sure enough Rey and a few of his mates emerged from the back room.
"Teniente," Rey addressed him using the sardonic military title Luka had acquired, "¿qué quieres aquí?"
Luka was only average height and was still growing into his body; but despite Rey being shorter than him, Rey was big. His muscles were intimidating and he also had tattoos running from his neck and down the length of one of his arms. He was wearing a white tank and Luka could see the intricate scarring covering his other bicep and shoulder symbolizing his upper-intermediate rank.
Luka maintained a general distance from him and remained near the door as he replied, "You're late Rey. Just pay forward and you'll get your next quarter's worth." After having interacted with them as well as numerous Colombians, Mexicans, and Cubans in the group, Luka had grown accustomed to Spanish. However, he had the habit of only replying in English since he knew he wasn't that great at speaking it well enough to sound threatening.
[Of course,] he began, [come with me.] He made a gesture with his head in the direction of the back room and started walking towards it. Luka hesitated not wanting to stray far from the exit, but also didn't want to betray his anxiety, so he followed Rey to the backroom.
[You know, I haven't seen you around in awhile.] ¿Qué pasó?" he asked while he walked over to a metal desk off to the side. Luka watched as he knelt down and carefully turned the combination lock of the heavy safe he had obscured under the desk.
"Nothing, just been busy," he replied flatly as Rey opened the safe and reached in to pull out a large wad of cash. He thumbed through it a little and handed it over to Luka, who quickly retrieved it and took off the clip to count it. "You know you're supposed to pay in hundreds," he said seeing the combinations of bills in the wad that made it harder to count.
[My apologies, I will make sure to do that next time,] Rey said but Luka noted a ring of annoyance in his voice.
He finished counting through the cash and, as expected, it came up short. He turned to walk out of the enclosed room before dropping the negative news. "This is the money for last month. Until you put forth for this month, you get only a fifth," he said while pocketing the cash and exiting the room.
[But then I'll be behind for the rest of the year!] Rey yelled growing angry.
"Not my problem," Luka said as he quickened his pace. He got what he came for and now needed to get out. But as he approached the front door, Rey's mates stood blocking the entrance.
[I think it is your problem,] Rey said menacingly from behind Luka. Luka turned around to face him again as Rey continued speaking, [I know you can pull strings] chingado, [get me the rest and I will make sure to make it worth your while.]
"I don't need you for anything," Luka said while doing his best attempt at staring Rey down.
Rey suddenly lurched forward and shoved Luka against the wall pinning him with one hand on his throat and the other grabbing a firm hold of his privates, which caused Luka to let out a weak cry and blow his previous facade.
[Ohh I think you do] puta. [You promise to get me the full three quarters and you can leave here with your] huevos. [Which…], he squeezed Luka so hard that his vision started to fade and more whimpering escaped his throat, [I'm surprised you even have anything to grab onto at all down here,] he said while grinning maliciously and looking at Luka's grimacing face, which was turning a deep red from the constricting grip on his neck. The other men moved closer to stand around him and were chuckling derisively at him.
[Do we have a problem here?] a new voice asked from behind the small group of men.
Rey immediately released Luka and turned to face the visitor. "No, señor. [I was merely giving Luka the money I owe…] Rey lied politely.
[Good,] the man replied calmly in a deep, Mexican accent, [because it looked as though you were threatening my boss's son. And you know how little tolerance I have for such behavior.]
[Yes sir. I wouldn't dream of it,] Rey continued the lie knowing full well the consequences of him admitting his actions. He was hoping Caesar was in a good enough mood at the moment to look it over.
Luka was trying his absolute hardest not to hunch over and grab himself like a child needing to use the restroom, but it was really hard when his legs were threatening to give out from the aching pain that remained and had sharply spread over various nerve endings. He had a hard enough time keeping the grimace off of his face.
[Let's go Luka,] Caesar said addressing Luka, who attempted to walk normally and shoved his way through the smirking group of men. He followed Caesar out to his car, which was the old beater he used in order to not stand out in neighborhoods as depraved as this one. Luka opened the passenger door, sat inside, and buckled his seatbelt while pulling his legs up into his chest to offset the aching pain that was still throbbing in his groin.
Caesar got in as well and started the car. [You can't let them treat you like that] mijo," he said using his personal title for Luka. It was a contraction for 'my son' in Spanish and Caesar used it as a term of personal endearment for him.
However, Luka snorted in response to his comment. Last time he checked, he didn't let anyone do anything to him. He leaned his elbow on the car windowsill to support his head in his hand before he said, "Well, no one fears me like they do you, Caesar."
Luka personally knew how absolutely terrifying Caesar could be. He had seen him kill people on several occasions without so much as batting an eye. He bent to the will of Pitch and followed whatever orders were given to him without question. Granted, he was Pitch's closest friend, so Pitch would often keep him informed of his decisions. But the thing that scared everyone the most about Caesar was how little emotion he showed, even when taking a life. Most people Luka knew either did so out of fear, anger, or perverted pleasure. But not Caesar. Caesar was as stoic as a faceless statue and never indicated feeling the smallest amount of regret or guilt afterwards. He just did what he had to do.
[That's because you fear them] mijo. [I can see it clearly in your eyes before you even confront anyone,] Caesar told him while continuing to drive to the northern side of the city.
"Yeah, well, I can't really help that can I?" Toothless said cynically. He was decent at maintaining a stoic expression in front of others, but Caesar was right. The only thing he couldn't hide was his fear and his eyes were terrible at it. If he had dark brown eyes like most people, it wouldn't be as easy to see his pupils dilate from the adrenaline coursing through his system. But their vivid color alone drew people to look at them and when they noticed his enlarged pupils, they instinctively knew he was weak.
[Yes you can,] Caesar said while glancing over at him, [You have a fire in you, Luka. You just have to learn how to nurture it. Once you do that, your eyes won't matter.]
Luka sighed and turned to gaze out the window at the passing city. He knew Caesar had taken a liking to him even though he initially was just ordered by Pitch to protect him. Other than Benedikt, he was the only other person he trusted with his life. However, he was also training Luka to take over his position once he was old enough. No one expected Luka to sacrifice his life for Pitch, but they knew he would do it for Benedikt. Which was why Pitch had confidentially chosen him as his successor and Luka as his right-hand. Caesar greatly looked forward to retirement, Luka could tell. He knew the man had a family and wanted to grow old with them. The job he was in prevented him from being home for weeks at a time and drew heavily on one's emotional stability. Which was probably what forced Caesar to learn how to deaden himself so well.
"Thanks for...coming to get me, Caesar," he said in a low voice and purposefully keeping his gaze averted.
[Don't mention it,] Caesar responded, [However, you know I can't be around forever to help you] flaco," he said using another pet name for him in reference to his thinner frame.
Luka mumbled an affirmative and they fell into silence the rest of the way home. He feared for the day when Caesar left; however, he didn't anticipate that happening until Pitch had grown old enough to retire from his official job, which would probably be another decade at least. It would be for the better anyway. Benedikt and Luka were only seventeen. There was no way in hell they could hold the amount of respect their father had. Luka could barely get by as it was ordering people with years over him to do as he said. And Benedikt would technically have to learn two jobs. How to mingle in the world of politics and how to deal with people who had no respect for the law. However, one could argue they were both two sides of the same coin.
Caesar pulled up to his house and let Luka out of the car. He nodded a goodbye to the man and walked up to Pitch's three-story Victorian home. It was built in the nicer side of town where all the bureaucrats, including his father, resided. It was considered a historical building, as it had been maintained in its original condition.
Luka walked up the wooden steps and unlocked the front door. He walked down the mahogany floored hallway and rounded a corner to find his father working in his study. He was sitting in his large green-padded chair that had intricate carvings along the dark wood of the arms and down the legs. The green lamp of his desk was turned on despite the sun streaming in through the windows of the hexagonal shaped room.
Pitch looked up from his work as Luka walked in and smiled a little in spite of his haggard appearance. "There you are, my dear. I trust Caesar found you ok?" he asked concern ringing through his posh accented voice.
"Yeah, thanks. He saved me from riding the metro for another hour," he said half truthfully as he walked over to his desk and pulled out the wad of cash he retrieved from Rey along with several letters he had been asked to deliver.
"Ah…thank you," Pitch said to him while taking the letters. "Did you find out what I needed you to?"
"His lawyer will persuade the paper to publish the article. And the media will broadcast the story to the entire metropolitan area."
"Excellent," Pitch said a little more cheerfully. "And the senator?"
"He's definitely leaning in your direction. But he'll probably be more easily enticed if PR contacts his spokesperson about the renewed contract tomorrow before the press conference."
"I see…" Pitch muttered thoughtfully, "You can be quite clever when I need you to be. Now, would you mind being a good lad and fetching your brother for me? He's upstairs I believe and I haven't had a spare moment all afternoon."
"Sure," Luka said before turning on his heel to find Benedikt. He was glad he was home, because he really needed him with the day he's had so far. He climbed up the two flights of stairs to where their bedrooms were. They were right across from each other, but Luka's was a little bigger.
Luka knocked on his brother's door and heard Benedikt give permission for him to enter. Despite having asked to share a room with his brother like they always had, Pitch gave them each their own bedroom. It was out of an act of generosity, but Luka really did miss sleeping in the same room as him. It saved him the feeling of loneliness.
Benedikt was relaxing on his bed studying, but put down his book when he looked up to see Luka walk in. [Luka, what's wrong?] he asked him after seeing the look on his brother's face. Unlike everyone else, it was really easy for Benedikt to read the minute differences in his brother's expressions. Either that or maybe it was some kind of fraternal intuition. At the moment though, he could tell something was bothering him.
[Nothing...I just had a really long day,] he responded back to him and walked over to gingerly sit on the edge of his bed. He didn't want to tell him that he was pretty certain his groin felt swollen and probably had significant bruising.
Benedikt gave him a half smile knowing that Luka was withholding information from him. Even though they both knew everything they said was confidential, since no one else could understand them even if they overheard, Luka had closed himself off to Benedikt in recent years and it was really difficult to get him to share anything anymore. He also developed several strange behaviors, probably as a result of spending so much time with Ceasar.
[Come here,] Benedikt said as he scooted over on the bed to make room for Luka. Luka took him up on his offer and lay down alongside him. [Who gave you shit today?] he asked his darker-haired brother knowing something had happened.
Luka frowned at his brother's immediate assumption that someone had harassed him again. But it went to show it happened so regularly that it was always a likely possibility. [I had to visit Rey to get two months' worth of revenue and he only paid me one,] Luka briefly explained to him while rubbing his thumbs against his chest.
[I see...I'll deal with him tomorrow,] Benedikt said in an attempt at easing his mind.
[No.] Luka turned his head to look at him, [I can't have you and Caesar constantly taking care of shit for me. Hardly anyone even listens to me as it is.]
Benedikt pressed his lips into a hard line after he noticed the anger and determination in his brother's eyes. [Fine,] he responded, [But if I were you, I'd arrive at his house tomorrow at nine. He'll be away from his group and you're more likely to persuade him in front of his girl. Bring a quarter of what he would normally get and tell him I'll bring the rest by with a little extra the following day if he pays up. If he doesn't, then that's all he'll get.]
Luka nodded in compliance. Luka knew that Rey didn't live in El Barrio anymore, it was just where he did business. But his brother, as well as Pitch, were always better at persuasive and diplomatic matters than Luka was. Caesar was trying to teach him how to deal with matters both covertly and forcefully, but Luka frequently failed at being intimidating.
[Father sent me up here to get you by the way,] he said almost forgetting why he originally came.
[Alright,] Benedikt sighed and climbed over Luka to get off the bed. Before he went to leave he turned back to Luka and said, [Just hang out in here for the rest of the day. I'll be back when I'm done with whatever he needs me to do.]
Luka wished Benedikt could stay, but appreciated that he allowed him to hang out in his room despite his absence. It made him feel a little like they were back home.
After Benedikt closed the door behind him, Luka got up to cross the wooden floor and move in front of the standing mirror. He undid his pants and inspected himself. As expected, there was some swelling and a lot of dark bruising on the sensitive skin. He didn't really want to pull his pants back up as they felt too constricting for his injury. So instead, he rummaged through his brother's drawers and pulled out a pair of flannel pants. They ended up with each other's clothes so often that it never really mattered when they borrowed something.
He grabbed the laptop from Benedikt's desk and laid down on the bed to work on it in an attempt at relaxing. He needed something to take his mind off of the aching pain and memories of today. He always had a passion for computers, because his mother was a computer engineer and he wanted to be able to do the stuff she knew how to. Because of that interest and his mother, he had learned eight programming languages by the time he was twelve and took to math like a fish to water. Those who knew called him a prodigy, but Luka always just found himself to be like everyone else. He just was fortunate enough to have the mom he did and the ability to apply himself. However, it was one of the other reasons that Pitch favored him over Benedikt. He was just like his mother…
Luka felt his chest sink at the thought of her. He had promised himself to stop dwelling on it a long time ago. Because whenever he did, it only made his life seem that much worse. Having a parent die is hard enough, but to leave one's country and live with Pitch was a different story entirely. Luka couldn't stop feeling that if his mother could see her son now…she would hate him. He was nothing like the son she had known. He worked for scum of the earth bureaucrats and whored himself out to random men, including his own father. This wasn't how she would have wanted him to turn out…
Luka shoved the thoughts out of his mind and focused on his program. There were several lines he needed to fix and he couldn't let his mind focus on unpleasant things. But after a while he felt himself start to become uninterested in coding his program and he dozed off on the bed.
Luka awoke with a start when he heard a soft knock on the door. "Ehm, herein," he called but was surprised to see Pitch walk in and not his brother. "Oh, sorry… I thought you were Benedikt."
"I can tell," he chuckled lightly at Luka's accidental use of German. He walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge of it turning towards Luka and looking at him with a concerned expression. "Are you ill my dear? I couldn't help but notice you don't look well."
"No...no I'm fine. If I were sick I would tell you," he assured him. Pitch was often times a little too concerned with Luka's health.
"Why are you in your brother's room then?" Pitch asked taking notice of Luka's uncharacteristic behavior.
"I...ehm...the sun doesn't glare in as much at sundown," he said quickly fabricating a lie.
Pitch sighed deeply before he said, "Luka...I really wish you would tell me when something was bothering you." He gently placed a hand on Luka's thigh and lightly stroked it.
Luka realized he had stopped breathing for a second while watching his hand and looked back up at Pitch, who maintained a concerned expression on his face.
"I...just had a bad day. Just a lot of things piled on top of each other...stressed me out."
He felt Pitch slowly stroke further up his leg until he drew closer to personal territory. "Let me make it better then…" he said softly before gently taking hold of Luka through his pants.
But as Pitch unintentionally put pressure on his injuries, Luka couldn't help but cry out in pain while heavily wincing and flinching away from him.
Pitch's brows came together as he saw Luka's acutely painful reaction to a simple touch and then stood up so he could forcefully yank his pants down. Luka grabbed onto his wrists to try and prevent him from doing so, but he reacted too late.
"Who did this to you?" Pitch asked his temper rising after seeing the dark discoloration of Luka's groin.
Luka didn't answer, but felt his breathing increase in speed as he looked up at Pitch with fear in his eyes.
"Was it Rey?" he demanded his eyes piercing through Luka while waiting for an answer.
"N-No...it was no one-" he started to say but Pitch recognized the lie easily and turned around to briskly stride out the door. Luka pulled up his pants and started to follow while yelling after him, "I just got in a fight with someone on the street! I swear!"
But Pitch ignored him despite Luka following him all the way down the two flights of stairs.
"Just listen to me! He didn't do anything!" Luka continued trying to convince him.
Pitch whirled around to face him gripping his shoulders tightly and shaking him, "Listen Luka, if someone disrespects you like that then they are sending a message to me. I cannot tolerate insubordination like that."
"But-"
"You are my son," he emphasized. "You are an extension of myself and my future. And I cannot have anyone hurt you if they're under my.CONTROL." He shoved Luka away from him before locking himself in his office.
"NO!" Luka yelled and pounded on the thick wooden door. He knew it was useless, however. He turned and slid his back down the door until he was sitting on the ground and had his head buried into his knees. He didn't like Rey in the slightest, but he never would have wished the misfortune that was about to befall him. He had a girlfriend and two kids… And…everyone saw him as the reason the police stopped making so many arrests. If he disappeared…
He heard his father address Caesar over the phone, and Luka didn't want to be there to hear the rest of it. He quickly stood up and fled back up the stairs to lock himself in his room. He collapsed onto the bed and buried his face into his pillow and sobbed. Because of him, Rey was going to die and he could do nothing to stop it...
Okay, so I apologize for leaving on a cliffhanger and entering into a flashback...
It was the only way I could fit this in and also explain some of what just happened so that you can understand what happens next...
Also! Let me just make an author's note about my use of foreign language in my writing. I just ask that you trust me as the author to not lead you astray with it. Every bit I choose not to translate is deliberate and really carefully thought out. So just know that it is nothing story altering. Usually I include it in there as cultural flavor or because the character I'm narrating from doesn't understand it either. If you choose to translate it, awesome. If you don't, then you're no worse off than before.
But what do you think?! Comments and Kudos are always appreciated.
