Page 14 of They Call Him Reaper

I was practicing my fighting techniques in my room, preparing for the next step of my training. Father said I was allowed to stay in the house because I was the best and most promising protector he would ever have. He’d even tell me account numbers or information he didn’t want to write down.I was stricter on my schedule than he was because I loved taking back some of the control of my life.

My door flew open, and Father came in with some Mexican girl who looked just as coked out as he did. I didn’t like how he behaved when he was on that shit. The girl, who looked to be around sixteen or seventeen, had her arm around him, but his hand was in the bodice of her minidress. I ripped my eyes away from him fondling her breast to find the reason he interrupted my training.

“Feliz Cumpleaños, hijo,” he said in some of the Spanish he learned for me. I spoke English, but he felt it was necessary for me to stay bilingual. “You’re thirteen now, consider this your bar mitzvah. You’re a man…”

“I’m not Jewish,” I corrected, still not sure what he wanted.

Birthdays were for kids. I didn’t want to celebrate mine. He glared at me with his glassy, light-blue eyes, silently telling me to shut the fuck up. “Like I said, you’re a man now. And that means pussy.” He removed his hand and pushed the girl in my direction. “I even got your flavor.”

I’m not Mexican either, but I kept that to myself. “Ah, gracias.” I turned back to what I was doing, but he yanked my arm.

“Now, Dante.” He turned my head in her direction where she was now naked. “Give him head, Susana.”

Her green eyes were glassy when she grinned at me and licked her lips. My stomach sunk and twisted with nausea. It’s not what I wanted.

“I don’t want her-”

My head snapped to the side from his slap and my cheek stung enough to water my eyes. Father glared at me like I betrayed him.

“Be grateful for my gifts, you little shit. I’ve already broken her in for you. Be a man. Or do you not like pussy? Are you gay?”

“No,” I denied with a shake of my head. “I just want to focus on training.”

He ran his hand over his shaved head, but his face was full of disappointment. His disappointment hurt more than the slap. I worked hard to please him, and I couldn’t let him lose faith in me now.

He pulled out a gun and aimed it at me. We stared each other down for a beat, then he smiled and dropped his hand, passing me the gun. “Kill her, then.”

The metal was heavy in my hand, and while I was skilled at using guns and a damn good shot, the weight felt different once it was placed in my hand for murder. I’ve killed for him before, only through talking people into eating poisoned food since they didn’t expect a child to poison them, but I’ve never pulled a trigger for this reason.

“Those are your only two options, Dante. Kill her or fuck her.”

The girl sniffled and pleaded with me with her eyes. She didn’t do anything to me, and I was not detached enough to kill for no reason. I was taught to have a purpose, to protect Father, not kill people for fun. With a heavy sigh, I passed the gun back to him.

“Okay, I’ll do it,” I conceded.

Susana started kissing my neck as Father nodded his encouragement. The door flew open and the six-year-old with big brown eyes and two puffy ponytails bounced inside.

“Dante! I gots you a burday gift!” The Rubik’s Cube clanked on the floor and her little face crumpled in despair when she saw Susana all over me. “No! My Dante…”

Her dad grabbed her mid-stride and held her to him, wiping the tears from her brown cheeks.

“He’s a big boy, sweetheart. He’s not the guy for you.” He called her nanny to come get her, but I heard the last thing he said before the door closed behind him. “He’s not able to love...”

“Look, let’s do this. He said he would kill me if I didn't take your virginity. Let me get his proof. You don’t have to cum.”

When I allowed her to push me on the bed, she removed my clothes. My eyes squeezed shut when her mouth found my flaccid dick. I ran through the breathing techniques from my training to clear my mind and allow my body to respond naturally. I yelled internally, but refused to show any outward emotions. Crying was futile. It never helped me in the past, so there was no point doing so now.

I’d reached that supreme place that allowed me to take myself out of the moment, where I successfully stayed, until Father re-entered the room and started clapping. She was riding me, and I was amazed that I’d reached such a level for meditation. I was upset that he pulled me back into the moment I was trying to escape. He watched for a minute to make sure she was actually fucking me, then he left and closed the door.

“Get off of me,” I told her when I was sure he was gone.

“Okay,” she said and laid down next to me.

I ripped off the condom and threw it on the floor as we lay there living every second of this unwanted situation. Eventually, she got dressed but I stayed in the same spot asking myself if I should have killed her instead. It’s not her fault Father was just trying to give me a nice gift and assumed I was sex obsessed like other boys my age. It was a gift and not anything I should be upset about; I told myself that over and over in a loop.

Susana slipped out of my room, and I didn’t flinch when I heard her scream right before two shots ended her life. It was clear she was never meant to live.

The next morning, I exited my room to go for a run but was attacked the moment I stepped out. Father fought me like I’m a stranger he was trying to kill. I landed a few hits to get him off me, but he was bigger, stronger, and more skilled. I lay there bloody and hurt as he stared down at me, wiping my blood on his shirt.

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