Page 99 of Vow of Silence

He dusts the seat off and sits with a sigh, crossing one leg over the other. The arrogant tilt of his chin means he looks down his nose at our captive. At the man destined to change it all.

I coaxed the truth from our buddy on the pole for close to three hours before he relinquished. When the bits of information he’d dribbled to distract and confuse me started to piece together, I shoved a bucket under the guy so he could relieve himself while I went in search of my brother for counsel.

Dion felt it best to leave the guy sitting overnight, and he was right. When the sun rose and the room’s increasing temperature made whatever had dribbled through his soiled pants stink, Jacob was ready to quit the games.

And that’s when we went in search of our father.

Now Jacob’s caught between two devils. If his boss doesn’t fuck with his family, mine might. Necessities.

“We only know him as Romulus,” Jacob utters.

“What the fuck does that mean?” Arseni grumbles.

“Romulus is the first king of Rome,” Dion explains. “The legend tells of how he became so after murdering his brother.”

Arseni shifts his attention to my father. “What are you trying to say here, friend?”

“How about we let our guest explain?” My father retrieves the undrunk water from the floor and proceeds to wet a corner of the rag with lethal precision.

Jacob eyes him carefully as he continues. “I never saw the guy’s face until a few weeks ago. Us boys on the street meet with our captains weekly at various locations and specific times.” He shrugs, the motion awkward given his bindings. “I turned up earlier than I was supposed to and saw the guy leaving after talking with my boss.”

Papa uses the dampened cloth to wipe blood from Jacob’s eyebrow. “Tell our friend what he looked like.”

Jacob swallows, eyeing Papa as he cleans the man’s face. “He looked like you but taller.”

Arseni’s jaw hardens.

“What does this Romulus ask of you?” My father coaches the man like one would a child, urging them to speak the truth no matter the consequence.

“Small shit, usually. Racketeering. Bribes. Blackmail. But lately, there’s been talk of drugs. Not our crew. From the boys out west.”

“Near the docks,” Papa fills in as though Arseni’s stupid.

Thepakhan’shands tighten atop his thighs.

If he stands now, he looks like he is going on the defensive. Yet, if he sits, his nervous energy has no outlet. He’s entered thisfarce, and now Nastasya’s father is forced to continue to play the part, no matter how visibly fake it is to everyone in the room.

My father grins at Arseni. “He hasn’t reached the best part yet.”

“When we started, it was mostly guys who’d been laid off,” Jacob explains.

I move closer to Dion and rest my shoulders against the wall, just out of Arseni’s line of sight.

“I used to work the meat market,” our new buddy says. “Got no severance. Just kicked off the payroll two weeks before Christmas. The missus would have lost her fuckin’ mind, so when some guy walked up to me and said, hey, I got work for you, I said, sure, what you got?”

Papa moves behind the man, quietly loosening the ties around his hands as Jacob talks.

“He said it’s just some fill-in work. Sales, he called it. Asked me if I’m good with people. I said, sure, buddy, I can be good with people.” He pauses when the rope falls away, moving his hands before him to rub at the raw skin. “Thanks for that.”

“Is there a point to this story?” Arseni flicks an index finger back and forth over a fold in his trousers.

“Let him continue,” Dion warns.

“So, this guy, right,” Jacob spills, reveling in the attention. “He tells me to go collect some money. I collect it, but the guy I’m getting it from, he says that he don’t want to do this no more. Well, I don’t know what he means, so I ask. And he tells me that guys have been coming in to take from his business twice a week lately. Now, this don’t make no sense to me, you know, because we all know that businesses gotta pay the protection, but twice a week? So I ask around, and sure enough, everybody has been doing the same.”

“One of your men been taking a second cut?” Arseni asks.

Papa lifts a hand. “Just wait.” He catches my eye and indicates to Jacob’s feet.

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