30: Heart Breaking Revelations

❝ It's a big bad world outside, carrying our dreams and all that they mean, trying to make it worthwhile ❞

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"There's no way he would leave us like this. He has never done anything like this before." Jack mused, as we all sat in a circle in Susan's small kitchen.

"We can't file an FIR because it hasn't been 24 hours yet." Katie supplied, her hands intertwined with Jack's. Amidst it all, I raised a brow, as she colored, a silent plea passing between us, and I knew she had promised to tell me about it all later.

"I checked every place he might be at; clubs, bars, his workplace, the cliff we'd been at last month. He's nowhere." Jason grumbled, muttering profanities under his breath.

"Oh dear, I don't know what to do any more." A new wave of tears washed over Susan and we all leant forward to comfort her, Olivia quickly placing a glass of water in her hand. "What am I supposed to do now? Has he—has he done something to himself? Did he run away? Was he sick of us? Did someone do something to him?" Nausea washed over me and I grabbed the chair as my knees buckled at the thought of Ray in danger.

"No, he's a tough guy. Nothing will happen to him." Simon stated firmly, eyeing me. "And he isn't stupid enough to leave everything behind, now that he has people in his life he genuinely cares for. He wouldn't do anything stupid." My hands were trembling by now, and Jack gently laced his fingers with mine, giving me a small smile of encouragement.

"Something definitely happened." Olivia paced around in the kitchen as we all stared up at her. "You say his mood changed after he got all those texts and calls from that private number, right?" I nodded, swallowing a gulp. "If I was to take a wild guess, I'd say someone asked to meet up with him, or it had to be something so serious and urgent that he left without saying anything. Most importantly, it was something dangerous or secretive."

We all took a moment to process her words, racking up our brains to come up with anything that could help.

"There was this one time, I think three weeks ago, that Ray got a call." Jack suddenly piped up, as all eyes turned to him. "We were fetching drinks for all of us for lunch, when he picked up the call with a frown. He was tensed. He eyed me and muttered something on the lines of 'I'll meet you up sometime later, so stay the fuck away from her'. Then he cut the call and remained silent all the way."

Susan's breath staggered, but I cut her before she could say anything.

"I—I saw him getting beaten up by two men covered in black. They were demanding money from him." Everyone stilled, as Susan's face now visibly paled. "T—That means something, doesn't it?"

We all collectively glanced at Susan, who by now was an anxious mess. Her eyes were wide and guilt filled, as she wrung her hands in front of her tightly, shaking her head as if telling herself it was not possible.

Olivia placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and squeezed it as Susan looked up to meet her gaze. "You need to tell us everything Susan, if you want us to find Ray. If you are going to keep hiding certain things from us, it's not going to help Ray and his situation. I know it might be difficult for you to speak up, but please keep in mind we only want the best for him." Olivia's voice was soft, but firm, and rightly so.

"I—I," she sat down on the chair, a few stray tears escaping her eyes. "When Jamie died, I was too deep in grief. I blew all the meagre savings Jamie had saved up on alcohol and...and—drugs." A gasp escaped my mouth and the others stilled, casting hesitant glances. "I know it was so wrong of me. One day Ray, a twelve year boy, sat me down and told me he didn't like the way I was behaving. My heart broke and I decided I was going to do well for my kids. But by that time, our money had exhausted."

Taking a quick few strides, I sat down beside her and intertwined my fingers with her's. "We—we then found out about Sam's heart disease. We were devastated. We needed the money, atleast for the first few treatments. I borrowed from banks, but they told me I didn't have a job and a collateral. We went for food without days but did everything we could to keep up with Sam's medicines and surgeries."

A staggered breath left my mouth and my eyes welled up. Jason looked heart broken and Simon had clenched up his fists. Jack and Katie were silently weeping in each other's arms, while Olivia simply gazed into nowhere.

"So—So that is why Ray looked so weak back then. He wouldn't even eat the food we offered him." Jason croacked, pain and guilt breaking out on every part of his face.

"H—He always told me he ate at school and that his friends would share with him." Susan was now a crying mess. I was so angry. He didn't have to be that selfless. "We needed more money. And banks wouldn't lend us anymore. So," she paused, fear lacing her features, "so we borrowed from them—Maverick & Sanders."

Maverick & Sanders claimed to have business in real estate, but we all knew they were the biggest suppliers of drugs and black money. The support of local police had them thriving and spreading their branches, making them the biggest hotshot in Southern California. Those who really knew them, knew better than to get involved with them.

"You didn't." Simon whispered, gulping heavily.

"Unfortunately, we did. We had no other plausible option. We needed the money, we were desperate. They were welcoming at the start—lended us five grand and some more in a span of a month or so. We were happy. We put that to use in Sam's surgeries and saved up some in the savings account. Refurbished this house a little bit and bought food. Vegetables. Meat. Everything two young children should have been able to eat." She swallowed heavily as I squeezed her hand, forcing up an encouraging smile, urging her to continue, acting as if my heart wasn't breaking into tiny little pieces.

"Then it started. The threats and the warnings. We'd been promised about two years to return the money back but they started raiding our house within six months. Turned the entire place upside down, and warned us to return the money back or there'd be very severe consequences. I picked up a job at the bar, despite the environment, because the huge tips helped. Slowly, I started paying them back, and Ray gave his whole paycheck to them."

We all sat in silence, as she continued to break us with her words.

"One day, I came home to find Ray bloody and injured. I asked him who did it. He said three men who always came around our house." Simon banged his hands on the table and I squeezed my eyes shut, forcing the tears to not fall. "But eerily, he had a smile on his face. Said he would now be able to fight back the people who troubled me and Sam. Said he would do double the damage to them."

No matter how convincing Susan sounded, and how I understood her side, I felt angry. Not particularly towards her, but maybe a little. I felt sad. I felt broken.

A twelve year old boy was forced to cope up with his father's death. A twelve year boy was forced to sit his mother down and beg her to stop doing drugs. A twelve year old boy was forced to grow up and earn money for his family. A twelve year old boy did that. Ray did that, when he should've played and shared food with his friends, when he should've had a normal childhood.

Why was he a victim of all this? And poor Sam? What had he possibly done to deserve all of this?

Had he ever been happy? Did he ever feel he was at peace in these past six years? Had he ever felt like he belonged in the moment? Had he, even for a minute, felt okay?

I felt so helpless. So useless. I had been happily discussing crushes and boy friends with Katie back then. I had loving parents and a roof above my head. I was watching movies and giggling along with Katie, while Ray was working out there. How for granted had I taken life? How could I have been so selfish?

"I asked Maverick to stay away from my boys. He promised he would, and I thought he stopped—that's what Ray told me. But obviously he didn't." Susan's voice snapped me out of my thoughts and I moved in the chair uncomfortably. "It's all my fault." She whsipered, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably. "I should've been a better mother." Her watery eyes met mine and I remained stunned, not finding the right words to say.

Fortunately, Olivia broke the tension.

"Jason, would your parents be able to help us if you asked?" Jason nodded, and slipped away to the living room, probably to call them. Lilah and Neil Davies worked for Parkinson and Stiles, the most prestigious and famous firm in Southern California. Olivia stood up and paced around, as we all waited for her to speak.

"We all need to be strong. Especially, you both." Her eyes flitted towards us, me and Susan, and we both managed a weak yes. "Jason's parents are lawyers and they might help us through this. We can't go to the police, obviously, so let's cross that out. Have you signed any kind of documents with Maverick & Sanders?"

Susan nodded and rushed off to her room. In a minute she had produced an NDA and the other document which was about the money she loaned. There was no mention of the interest rate and the time she was given. Clearly, they intended to cheat her from the beginning, because she was in dire need of money.

"Maybe Jason's parents would be able to help us. They might find a loop hole in the document." Katie mused, and Olivia nodded.

"That is why I asked of them. They surely can help us somehow."

"They are helping us." Jason entered the room, a goofy smile on his face. "Just talked to them, they'll be here in half an hour." Susan launched herself into his arms, hugging him tightly and blessing him softly.

"Okay, so the next part." We all gathered around again, focusing on every word that left Olivia's mouth. "We all will go and pay a visit to the bastards. Kindly ask them to let us know where Ray is. Pay them some money back—which reminds me, how much do you have to pay?" We all turned to look at Susan who thought for a while.

"About 1650 dollars." A low whistle left Simon's mouth and Susan grimaced, hanging her head low. "We—we needed it for Sam. Heart surgeries cost a ton."

I smiled. "It's okay. How much do you have saved up currently?"

"About 200 dollars. It's not much, I know. But if I combine it with all of my savings, and Ray's recent paychecks, it's about 1300 dollars."

"Well let's finish this business once and for all. We all will contribute and make it 1650. No more Maverick then, okay?" Simon enthusiastically emptied his pocket, 300 grands falling softly on the table.

"Dude, why do you have so much money on you?" Jack's eyes were wide, much like ours.

"Well, when your parents are not around, they tend to give their apologies in the form of money." A smile that did not reach his eyes made its way to Simon's face and Olivia immediately grasped his hand.

"But we all are contributing, so I say, you put in about 100. Jason puts in 100 since he's rich, duh, and me, Katie, Jack and June put in fifty each. That okay?" We nodded, digging our hands in our pockets and purses.

"I can't let you do that." Susan's voice cracked and she pushed the notes back towards Simon. "Please, don't do this."

Olivia cradled Susan's hands, forcing her to look in her eyes. "You can pay us back later. But please, allow us to end this. Maverick needs to leave you and your boys alone. We need our friend back, June needs her boyfriend back. You need your son back. Sam needs his brother back. Safe, sound and happy. It's not going to happen unless we put a stop to this."

Susan's eyes jumped from one to other, and I hoped she could see the genuine concern on our faces.

"Okay but you all are not coming to them with me. I can't put you in danger. I'll go alone." Her voice was firm this time.

"We're 18. We can make decisions for ourselves. And we can't possibly let you go alone there. It's too dangerous." Jack piped up, and Susan sighed.

"But—"

"No buts! Ray can be a big idiot, but we wouldn't want to do this any other way. We are all in this together!" Katie squealed, instantly bringing a smile to everyone's faces.

"So we go there. We give them their money and ask where Ray is. If they don't know where he is, we still give them the money and tell them to get out of your lives. I'll record the entire conversation." Olivia supplied, and everyone pondered upon it.

"They don't allow phones in there." Susan said bitterly.

"I know! And I have the perfect solution for that!" Olivia nudged Simon who looked confused for a while but then laughed, hi fiving her. We silently watched the exchange confusedly, trying to make sense of it.

"Okay come here everyone!" Katie rounded us up in a circle, and made us place our right hands on top of the other.

"Always and forever!" Jack shouted, and we all followed, raising our hands up.

"Always and forever!"

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I'm back wohooooo!! Does this clear up a few things now? Who remembers chapter 2nd? The drama starts from the next chap so get ready!!! I promise I'm going to write the entire thing within 4 days and then update daily because you all deserve that <333

ALSO, I published my 2nd book!!!!! It's titled "Tightrope" !!! Please check it out, go through the blurb, Chapter 1 and add it to your reading lists if you like it! I will start updating it as soon as I finish irresistible which is soon :( I hope some of my old readers will be there to support me !!

Anyways, hope you stay safe and always remember ily guys so much! Vote and comment to support me! Follow me for more updates! I'll be back with another update v v v soon. I promise. Love, SD xx