I could hear the music from outside of the mansion. The front door opened, and a drunken Carlos called out, “Aye, get in here!” Maximo released my arm but dared me to run. I held my breath and followed him into the house. It was surprisingly empty. I thought that with the music there would have been a party, but the house was empty. Carlos led us to the basement, where 4 men were tied to chairs. Maximo pulled out his pack of cigarettes, lighting one and taking a long drag before walking to the man on the end and putting his cigarette out on his face. The man screamed in pain, I gasped and took a step back, stepping back into one of Maximo’s guards who grabbed my shoulders and held my head forward, making me watch. Maximo asked the man, “Why did you steal my drugs?”
“I didn’t!” The man cried. Maximo put on steel knuckles.
“I asked, why did you steal my drugs?”
The man looked nervous and again stated, “I didn’t steal your drugs, I would never betray the trust the Hernandez family has in my business.” I heard cracking teeth as Maximo hit the man straight in the mouth. Blood gushed out of the man’s mouth, and he cried in pain. Maximo then moved to the next man in the line and asked the same question, “Why did you steal my drugs?” This man did not look nervous at all. He just smiled.
I could feel Maximo’s frustration as the man smiled at him. “No one here stole your drugs, you piece of shit.” Maximo then pulled out a 9mm handgun and shot this man in the forehead. I screamed, my ears ringing from the sound of the gun. Maximo snapped his head at me and screamed, “Shut up, bitch! This is business, you should have thought about it before you decided to get into it!” I stared at him blankly, hoping he didn’t turn his gun on me.
The man sat there lifeless, the other men began to squirm. The man that was sat last in the lineup finally screamed out, “It wasn’t us; we were robbed by the Jackal Gang! They stole the drugs and killed the whores; it wasn’t out fault!” Maximo walked slowly over to the man.
“So, you’re saying you let some leather wearing, coke snorting, heroin injecting, morons steal all of our drugs and kill 6 of our whores?” The man nervously shook his head. “Incompetent, all of you losers!” Maximo screamed and shot all the remaining men repeatedly. Maximo snapped his head back to his guards, “Gather their women and daughters, sisters, cousins if you have to, to replace the dead whores. Send $100,000 to each of their mothers and get these fuckers out of here.” He walked over to the sink and washed his hands and face. His men instantly started cleaning up the basement, putting the bodies in bags and carrying them out of the house. Maximo walked over to me and grabbed my shoulders. “Don’t ever scream like that again.”
I nodded. He jerked my chin up so I was looking him in his eyes, he again stated, “Don’t ever scream like that again. Answer me with words.”
“Y-y-yes, Maximo. I will never scream like that again.” He smiled and kissed me hard, throwing me off balance. I could feel James’s eyes on me, I had not noticed he was here until I looked around the room after Maximo kissed me. It all dawned on me, it was not his father I would have to marry, it was him.