The Life: Sacrifice (The Life 3)

“Yes, I’ll let Pop know how helpful you were.” I dropped the call before he could give me any more of his bullshit and waited. I even looked at my watch to check the time. If this hump makes me wait longer than ten minutes, I will indeed handle it myself.

I plan to any damn way, but I want his own to give him the boot first. I want him to feel like a fish out of water. I want him to lose what little power he thinks he has with the force behind him, and then I’ll move in for the kill.

Now, this piece of shit is not the first to come after me. Even heaven doesn’t hold the son culpable for what the father has done, but these fucks stay on my ass with their shit. But the fact that he went after Lance is what’s going to make his pain worst than others. This fuck’s gonna wish he never saw my name come across his desk by the time I’m done with him.

Seven minutes. That’s how long it took before the commissioner called back. “He’ll be gone by end of day today.”

“I want to be there.”

“Draco…”

“I’m there, or the deal’s off.”

“Fine, be here by noon.”

“No can do, the kids get off at two-thirty.”

“The kids?”

“Yeah, see you at three.”

I hung up because what’s he gonna do? Then I called my lawyer, who picked up on the first ring. “How’d it go?”

“He’s getting the boot today at three. I need you there.”

“I will be; now try and keep your nose clean in the meantime, will ya.”

“The fuck did I do?” He chuckled and hung up, prick.

Now, in every Sicilian movie, the consigliere is Sicilian. My boy is a Jew whose great-grandfather didn’t make it out of Auschwitz while his grandfather carried a number on his arm for the rest of his life. He’s got a score to settle and not just with the Nazi fucks who terrorized his kin. He goes after any and all injustice, and he’s good with this shit.

I met Levi my freshman year in college, and we’ve been thick ever since. He’s not my lawyer just because of his intelligence and case record, but because of his personality, because of the man he is. A standup guy with a heart of gold and the instincts of a school of piranha scenting fresh blood in the dirty waters of the Amazon. And he loves fucking with anyone who fucks with me.

He’s probably the only one outside of Pop, my brother, and my son, who knows my plans and what I’ve been doing to take the family legit. In fact, he’s played a big part so far in helping me bring that dream to fruition. And though I don’t need him this evening, sometimes I take him around for ballast. He’s the most expensive weapon in my arsenal.

I sent a text to both boys telling them to come straight home after school. I never give up a chance to show them their own power and the fact that they have me, if no one else, standing in their corner. Lance has been there for my son since the two of them met more than a decade ago. I love him for that, but the truth is, I love him even more because my son loves him like his own soul. Anything I can do to make up for what my boy thinks about himself I’m here for.

GABRIEL

My phone went off in the middle of biology class, and seconds later, I saw Lance remove his backpack to fetch his. Pop! I looked over at Lance, who was looking back at me quizzically. Poor Lance got caught in the middle of my family’s drama a few years ago when the schools first started cracking down on cell phones.

Pop lost his shit! According to him, his kids will always have their phones on them when away from home. When he was reminded that there were no cell phones when he himself was in school and he turned out fine, his answer was that somebody somewhere realized the need, and that’s why they exist now.

I wasn’t there for the showdown with the headmistress and whoever else sat in on that one, but the end result is we have our phones on vibrate and have the respect not to use them during class and only answer if there’s an emergency. Since we’re all here except for our parents and grandparents, any incoming call is an emergency as far as I’m concerned because who else would be calling us during school hours?

As for Lance, there’s nothing the twins and I are dragged into by Pop that he’s left out of. So, I’m guessing he received the same message, to come directly home and no pussy footing around after school, whatever that means. Pop’s been in a mood since Lancelot’s little reveal the night before.