PROLOGUE
The echo of men’s dress shoes reverberates off the hollowed-out walls of the once quiet room. I have to get home to my family. The council assured me my family would be safe.
Looking around the inner sanctum of the council chamber, I observe the intricately carved cherry wood table embossed with the gold Fraternitas emblem before taking in the faces of the fifteen council members.
They’ve been lying to me this entire time.
“How could you do this? I have done everything you’ve asked of me for the last eighteen years,” I exclaim, staring directly into the eyes of the man responsible for it all. Donald Calloway sits like a king ruling over his court. The animosity I have for him is building, threatening to erupt.
My hands ball into fists at my side.
You’d think as a father, he’d understand the precarious situation he and the rest of the council have put me in with having to be away from my wife and children.
What did he expect me to do?
Trying to reason with them, I ask, “Councilman Calloway, I have served this council and you without fail. Why would you do this to my family and me?”
The man in question quirks his blond brow like I’m worth less than the shit he accidentally stepped in. Cold coffee-colored eyes glare at me. His face goes taut, morphing into a sneer at my audacity to interrupt their meeting.
The brooding beast stands, towering over everyone in the room. The corded neck muscles of his tan skin peek out from under the collar of his crisp ivory shirt. Unlike some of the council, he’s kept up the rigorous fitness regime required by the Fraternitas, appearing as he did in college.
Part of the edict comes to mind…
Be sound of body.
Be sound of spirit.
Be for your brother as your brother is for you.
My musings are cut short by the vehemence lacing his tone. “You knew what the plan was when your daughter was born and you knew where she was always meant to be.” Barking, his spittle spraying against my cheek, “Do not make a mockery of this council and beg for mercy now.”
Clenching my teeth, I refrain from my initial response, deciding to reason with them again.
Water brims my gray eyes, but I refuse to let them fall. Instead, I implore, “I beg you, do not do this. I have been away from my family for too long. Please allow me the time to at least warn them before this happens. My wife and kids will be destroyed if I do not return.”
Donald ignores me, returning to his seat before nodding to someone behind me.
My frustration mounting, I growl, “You can’t do this. This is not how this is supposed to happen.”
“You’d be wise to shut your mouth Aaron,” Brody yells from his seat at the table.
His words remind me of my need to control myself, or my absence from my family won’t be for just a short time. They’ll ensure I lose my life. The only thought running through my mind as the army of guards come through the door at the back of the meeting hall is that I hope my daughter will understand what is to come and why this all must happen.
As the guards shackle me, dragging me from the room, I mutter,
“Fides et honor ante superbiam et avaritiam.”
EMMA
This can’t be my life right now.
How many times do I have to be the one to come home and make sure my younger siblings have food and are clothed?
Putting my car in park, I look at the space in the driveway where Mom’s car should be.
Where is that woman this time?
Since we moved to this town, I swear she has pulled more disappearing acts than Houdini. The only upside is that we have a way better living arrangement, thanks to some inheritance of some dead relative I’ve never heard of.
However, if we aren’t careful, social services will be called in again and I’m not sure we won’t be taken and separated. We have no other immediate family, and I can’t let us be split up.
I can’t begin to count the number of times I’ve tried to get our mom sober. First, it was just her drinking. Then a year or so ago, she started abusing her meds. I know she’s drowning, but she’s the parent. Why does she get to drown, and I have to tread water while pushing the boat through turbulent waters?
Slamming the car door, I take a deep breath and walk up the stairs toward our front door.
The two-story white structure with light blue shutters sits at the end of a long cobblestone driveway lined with the winter creepers I planted. It still needs a little work, but it’s come a long way since we moved here in June. That thought reminds me to stop at the local nursery to grab some fertilizer and flowers after school. I want to plant them near the front of the house.
As I cross the threshold, I expect to hear movement. Instead, I’m met with silence.
“Jamie, Kellan, and Kylan, where are you?” I call out to my brothers and sister.
I love them to the moon and back twice over, but I’m fucking tired, and after working third shift at Monty’s Diner, I need them to be ready for school.
Monty’s is this quaint retro-styled restaurant in the center of town where all the locals go. But don’t let the diner’s name fool you. They serve nothing but high-end farm-to-table food. It’s certainly not like any diner I’ve seen.
A high-pitched squeal signals the arrival of one of my siblings, indicating they are playing instead of being ready for their first day of school. If we don’t hurry they’ll be late and so will I.
Jamie flies down the stairs, screaming at the top of her lungs, “Emmaahhhh, save meeeeeee! Those two douche canoes are trying to tickle me to death!”
Rolling my eyes, I laugh at my melodramatic eleven-year-old sister and brace myself as she catapults into my arms. Her green eyes peer into my gray ones, giggling as I put her lanky form back on her feet.
Her laughter is infectious, making me wish this could be us all the time. Making me wish for days long ago when our family was whole.
Sobering thoughts of our predicament melt the smile from my face. I remember what might happen if her screams are heard from outside.
I couldn’t hear them when walking up the steps or when I first walked through the door, but it’s happened before. They were too loud, and the neighbors called the police and filed a noise complaint, and for once, the police decided to actually make a house call. Luckily, I’d gotten home fifteen minutes before they showed up to do a wellness check because we lived on a side of the city where we are lucky they come at all. Calloway doesn’t strike me as a delayed-police-response town.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.