Aden
I stand out side of my father's office and knock on the big wooden door.
"Who is it?" My father asked like he wasn't the one who asked me to come here.
"You know who it is." I say.
There is a pause. I role my eyes. My father is such a drama queen. He makes everything over complicated.
"Aden, you know, your oldest son." I say.
"Ah, yes the one who likes to disobey his father's orders. Come in."
The door opens and I see another one of my father's men standing behind it. He looks just like the one my father sent to the coffee shop. Same beefy build and mean mug.
I step through the door and see my father. Everyone who looks at us says we look just alike. His face is aged and his hair is peppered with gray but we have the same nose and lips. That's probably why my mother named me after him, but she stopped calling me jr after the divorce.
I take a seat in front of my father's desk. His looking at some documents and he doesn't even try to look at me. After several minutes of silence I decided that I have to be the first one to speak.
"You called me here dad. What do you want?" I ask.
"I want you to be mindful of how you speak to the one who pays all your bills." Dad say still looking at his papers.
"What do you want, sir"
Dad finally looks up at me. His face says that he isn't amused. I don't really care. He's not the one who was dragged here against his will.
"I want you to get your stuff and bring it here. I'm done letting the son of the Harris empire get his ass handed to by some low level ghetto scum." Dad said.
"I don't want to live here. I tell you that every time you ask but for some reason you can't seem to understand that."
"Because it doesn't make since to me. I'm offering you the world but instead of being a man you want to be coddled by your mother and that n*gger she married."
"Don't dad. I've told you before not to call him that. His my father too and I'm not going to let you disrespect him and my brother like that. I don't have to sit here and listen to your back of the woods racist bullsh!t. I'm out of here."
I push away from my chair and move to leave. This is another reason why I stay away from this side of the family. They put on a good face out in public but then behind closed doors the claws start to come out.
Dad slammed his fist against his desk. "He's not your father. I am!"
I ignore his out burst and continue to the door.
"He hasn't done nearly as much for you as I have. If it was up to him that low level drug dealer would have probably hospitalized you by now. I hit before he could." Dad says
This is enough to get me to stop. I know for a fact that I didn't tell anyone who Jamal was. There was no way my father should have known that my attacker sold weed.
I slowly turn back around. "What did you do?"
My father smiled and stood up. He walked over to me.
"I protected the Harris name." My father says.
I stare at him with wide eyes. He basically just admitted to attempted murder, which for him wasn't that surprising, but the fact that he took out a hit on someone I know.
"How did you even know about him?" I asked
"You don't think I'd actually let my son and hire move out to the hood without putting some time of protection in place, do you? I've had my eye on you for sometime now."
"So you've been stalking me?"
"I've been protecting you. If I had more competent people on the job he wouldn't be a problem anymore."
"Are you in-fvcking-sane. The guy beats me up a few times and your first answer is to have him killed?"
"See that's your problem, Aden." Father said turning away from me. He walked over to his office bar. He pulled out a cup and poured himself a glass off liquor.
Father turned back to look at me. "You're too soft. Even when you were young and I enrolled you in those karate classes you were always afraid to make the final move."
I gritted my teeth and balled my fist. I remember those years when we lived with my father. He always was pushing me to take some type of fighting class. Back then I'd been pretty good at it too, but after I put that one kid in the hospital and paralyzed him from the waist down I knew I could never be like my father.
"I'm not you. I don't us violence to make others bend to my will." I say through clinched teeth.
"See there it is again. You open your mouth but all I hear is your mother speaking. Women always think that way but that is because there too weak to see that this is a dog eat dog world. No one ever gave me anything, I took it. If you want to be successful in this world then your going to have to crack a few heads."
"Then what about the innocent family of the house you shot up while trying to hide what you were really gunning after?"
Dad shrugs. "Collateral damage."
"Your sick."
I knew that my father could be a cruel man but I never knew he was this heartless. Even if I didn't agree with his lifestyle I still loved him because at the end of the day he was still my father, but this was too far.
"This is the business and one day you will have to understand that." Dad said.
"No, I don't want anything to deal with you or your business. I'm done."
I turn back around. I need to get far away from him and this house.
"You can try to fight it but this is your destiny." Dad says.
I ignore him. He doesn't know anything about me. If he did he know I'd never be him. He's the reason I always held back in fights. I refused to give into the part of me that was so much like him. Never again would I let that black rage take me over again.
"Fine leave, but you'll be back." Father shouted as I pushed the door open. "Oh, and Aden should you feel the need to tell anyone about what happened just remember how his sister will feel to learn that you were the reason her brother was hospitalized."
I stop half way out the door. He's talking about April.
"Ah, yes I see my reports were correct. You really are fond of the chubby little sister. I guess your mother isn't the only one with the jungle fever."
I turn back to look at him. My father smiles. Anger boils up inside of me.
"Don't you dare touch her." I say through gritted teeth.
"There's the fire I've been look for."
My hands ball into tight fist that turn my knuckles white. I've never raised my hand against either of my parents, but the mention of April has me ready to kill.
"Don't worry son. I won't touch your little girl. I think it's important for a boy your age to have his share of women. Just know your apart of this family, wether you like it or not." Dad said.
I stared at him. A fiery rage burned inside of my chest. I could tell from the amused look in his eyes he like my response. Nothing would please him more than to see me go off. It would just prove what he'd said about me being him.
With my father everything was a game.
I turn away from him and storm out of his office. I brush passed his armed men not even paying them a second glance.
Once in my car I speed off determined to get as far away from him as possible.
My phone buzzes and I look down to see April has texted.
April: Can't wait for Saturdayð!
I look away from my phone. My hands grip the wheel as my foot presses down on the gas. April loved her brothers. Even when they fought I could always tell that she still cared about them.
If April ever found out what my family did she never forgive me. I'd lose her forever.
The dark rage has built up to high inside of me. It's not safe for me to be around anyone right now. All I can think about is April. The sweet girl who had no clue what she got her self into the day she decided to have feelings for me.
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Author's Note: ugh and I thought Jamal was bad. Poor Aden, his father wants him to be something that he's not.
Aden may have a darker deadlier side he keeps hidden. What does this mean for our lovely couple? Don't know but should be interesting.
Until next time ðð½