Taylor has a video call he has to attend and I decide to sit in the kitchen. I wish this was all a dream. Or one of my weird fantasies. I have had several flash backs of father’s grin last night as he cheerfully threw me into the lion’s den. Was this what he wanted? To be a part of a mafia family? Because yes I have established it to be so. I don’t need Taylor to say it plainly.
I am sitting in the kitchen with my headsets on but I can hear the song that is playing in my ears. Why didn’t I listen that time when Alex had given a hint of who my father was? I never really knew him after all. Though he is somewhat in a lower social hierarchy with Taylor’s family, his name saved me from rotting in that cell.
The debt and loan shark story was no joke either. It was blood and death incorporated and had instilled so much fear in him such that he was willing to trade me for a peace settlement. I couldn’t understand what Charles or his family would have benefited but now I do realise how strong family ties were in this business. Family ties and blood meant everything.
How do I begin to decipher all the events of my life? Why did I have to run into Taylor? Why did we have to be entangled into all this mess driven by an out of this world passion we can’t seem to escape? Why did he have to be born into all this and not escape even if he wanted to?
‘I can help you out of this!’ Celine’s cool voice startles me as she comes to sit opposite me on the kitchen island. I stare at her incredulously as my mind slowly settles on the present, ‘you are not yet in too deep.’
‘Why?’ I ask, ‘why are you trying so hard to help me?’ I remove my headsets.
She tilts her head to the side, ‘I see he has told you a little about what I was trying to warn you from. It’s always easier to get rid of the girls before they know too much and that way they have a chance to return to their normal lives.’ She shakes her head, ‘it’s a shame that your own father signed you into all this—it’s even more of a shame that Taylor is keeping up with the illusion.’
I just look at her speechlessly, this woman maybe be quack. I wouldn’t deny it.
‘I don’t have any reason why I am trying to help you—let’s just say I see it as my job to keep away trouble. Taylor still hasn’t fully joined in the family as he should—personally I rather he doesn’t but it’s not in my power to decide. But you can’t tag along for there to be two innocent lives ruined in the process.’
My heart skips.
‘You are a complicated case though. Your father seems to be part of the throng.’ She says thoughtfully, ‘you wouldn’t have escaped this life even if you hadn’t met Taylor but maybe you can still get out.’
‘What about you?’ I whisper, ‘you have no way out?’
A shadow flickers across her face and it’s gone as soon as it appears, ‘I don’t want a way out,’ she smirks,
‘Then why do you want to help me?’
She scoffs, ‘I don’t want you here—I am sure Mr Abiwu himself would be outraged when he learns about your existence.’ She says as-a-matter-of-factly, ‘and Taylor is confusing you for someone else.’
I realise for the first time that she is holding a brown envelope when she opens it and pulled out a picture. She slides the picture across the counter at me. I scowl at her questionably as I bring my fingers to turn it over.
My brain companions and I gasp loudly. Of course I recognize Taylor, all dashing and is standing elegantly in the photo with pairs of admiring eyes on him. On his arm is a stunning woman. Or should I say a stunning version of me.
I bring my shaking gaze back on Celine, ‘she looks like you.’ she says, ‘that’s Zelda—the woman he loved more than anything.’
I let go of the photo as if it would bite me.
‘That is the reason why he has taken this too far. Do you want to know what happened to her?’
Do I? No—I shake my head
‘You must.’ She sighs, ‘Zelda died just after Taylor was introduced to what the family really was.’ Pause, ‘she tried to run—and she knew too much. Mr Abiwu doesn’t like information leaking. He doesn’t like threats.’
And looking at her I knew instantly that she had learned that lesson the hard way. I start to shake a little. He thinks I am her.
‘I don’t need to share with you too many gory details—like I said before you still have a chance to leave still just as Taylor’s random girls—before you really cant.’
Leave. Run. Taylor told me not to run—but why should I trust him? He thinks he can bring her back because I look like her.
Now it all makes sense.
Is anyone normal in this family?
Celine takes the photo back and regards me impassively, ‘you must leave sooner, change your name and go to a place Taylor wouldn’t guess to look. I will ensure that your existence is just as one of Taylor’s random girls.’
I shake my head, ‘but my father--.’
‘Don’t worry about him.’
Why should I even listen to this woman? She is making sense, my sense tells me. You would be too dense to overlook that. Heart splutters. Maybe I can talk to Taylor about it. My emotion and wild mind agree.
‘I will leave tomorrow!’ I say with a bravery I don’t feel
Celine smiles warmly, ‘that’s very wise.’
Wise? No—wisdom does not have a place in my life at all if I always have to end up in places such as this!