Page 37 of Hidden Truths

Heading back inside, I see a car’s headlights pulling down the alleyway next to the pizzeria. I don’t pay any attention to the car though because it’s not unheard of for cars to pull down that way and park behind the various businesses on Main Street. A second set appears behind the first car and I rush back in the pizzeria to grab the last two garbage bags to take out to the dumpster. My feet hurt as I rush back outside to dispose of the trash. However, I’m stopped in my tracks after tossing the bags inside when I hear the conversation taking place.

“The buyers are getting anxious waiting for us to get everything set up and in place,” a man says, his voice hard and cold as I duck down and hide behind the dumpster so the men having this conversation don’t find me. “We told them we’d have everything put in place by now and it hasn’t come together. What the fuck is the hold up with everything?”

“We needed the contract with Sandra’s father and it’s fallen apart. Since Hicks couldn’t get the fucking job done, I’m now negotiating the new contract with him. I can’t believe that little bitch fucking eloped and voided the contract with Braxtyn. Such a fucking little skank. Maybe we should fucking include her in the first shipment once I get this new contract in place. The fucker is willing to give us almost everything, but he wants more money and shit too,” I hear another guy answer and a tremor runs through me.

I’d know that voice anywhere. The cold, emotionless voice can only be Mr. Richardson. The man has always made me feel vile when I’m around him. I might not remember a lot from when I was friends with the boys, but what I do know is that Kash’s father isn’t a good man. I never saw Fallon’s or Braxtyn’s fathers and I can only guess that the other man with Mr. Richardson is one of their fathers because those men are always together and scheming about shit. They’re all a part of The Faction and if this is what I have to deal with by marrying Kash and taking my seat at the head of the table, then I want nothing to do with it. I won’t be marrying Kash if he has anything to do with this shit either. Maybe they don’t know. I’ll have to have a conversation with him about this as I try to listen even more to the conversation so I have as much information as possible.

“Why the fuck would we give him more money when his family is the one who screwed us over? He owes us extra. If anyone deserves to have an advantage when it comes to putting this contract together, then it’s us. We should pay him less than the original contract stated and have some kind of extra shit added in because of the shit that his daughter pulled. Braxtyn should’ve locked her ass down before she fucking left the house the night he met her. I warned him without saying the words because Sandra was sitting right there,” a third man states, his voice just as cold and lethal sounding as the other men. However, from the last of his words, I know this is Braxtyn’s father and he’s pissed about whatever his son didn’t do or say when it comes to this girl.

“We’re not gonna give him more money than what was in the original contract and that’s final. I want to see the final contract before it’s signed, Richardson. When you’re ready to go in and get everything put in place, we’ll all sit down with him and go over the contract line by line so nothing is missed. Now, I’ve had the guys working for us in this area scouring for the list of people we have already. Benito is pissed we don’t have anyone captured yet. He wants this shit up and running yesterday. His son doesn’t know anything about this and that’s how he wants to keep it. Our boys don’t know about this shit and I know they won’t be comfortable with us doing this. If anything, they’ll shut it the fuck down because they pretend to have morals,” the first man to talk says again as I pull out my phone to see if I can record the conversation without alerting them to my presence.

It doesn’t take me long to find something in the apps that are already installed on the phone that will allow me to record what’s being said. I press the record button and set my phone down on the ground at my feet because I don’t want there to be a ton of static or anything so I miss something important being said by the assholes who are talking about people as if their lives don’t mean a damn thing as long as they fit the criteria of what these buyers are looking for.

“Benito should fucking keep his mouth closed about this shit. He might be leading all of this shit, but he isn’t the one getting his hands dirty or putting in any fucking work. We’re the ones taking all the risk and putting every piece of the puzzle together. I mean, we’re not exactly getting our hands dirty either, but we’ve picked all the people and put things in motion because Benito can’t be hassled with doing anything other than talking to the buyers and putting together the laundry list of people that we’re supposed to get our hands on,” Mr. Richardson says, his voice dropping even more and filling me with dread because there’s no one stopping them from kidnapping innocent people and hurting them all because someone wants to buy them for their own depraved reasons.

“We all knew what the fuck we were getting into when he talked to us about helping out with this venture. It’s going to bring in more money than we’ll ever be able to make with The Faction and no one can put any demands or anything on us as we get everything in motion and lined up to start shipping to the buyers and Benito’s warehouse out of the country. The longer we hold them in the States, the more likely we are to get in trouble and caught at some point of the process. Have neither one of you thought about that shit. I mean, we have the warehouse already, but it’s in the name of a shell company that won’t lead back to any of us. However, if someone were to dig deep enough, I can’t be sure that we won’t be discovered,” Braxtyn’s father states, his voice sounding unsure as if he’s reconsidering the entire deal that they’ve been working on.

“Look, we’ve already cut Peterson out of this deal because he’d never go along with this shit. Do we need to cut you the fuck out too?” the first man states, and I can assume this is Mr. Granger based on how dead his voice is.

Another tremor runs through me with the lack of emotion and humanity in his voice. He sounds no better than a robot that’s a little more human based than an actual robot.

“You’re not cutting me out of anything. I’m the one who put my son in a contract with this girl who broke the contract to begin with because she’s a selfish bitch,” Braxtyn’s father says, anger now lacing his voice as he shuffles around and I want to look out to find out what’s going on but I remain hidden from everyone so I don’t get into trouble.

“Fine. Now, we need to fucking finish this deal and make sure everything is in place. Benito wants everything up and running within a month. He’s extended the time for everything because we can’t seem to get our acts together. If we can’t manage to get our shit together in the next month, then the deal is over with and he’ll cut us out completely no matter what we have going on. We’ll lose his connection with the buyers and we’ll have to find any buyers for the people we’re already holding that are waiting for the shipment to go through. I want to remain as under the radar as we can stay so no attention is brought to us about this shit. The less people who know what’s going on, the better off we’ll be. Now, let’s work out the rest of the logistics,” the man I assume is Mr. Granger states as the men begin talking about everything else they’ve already done and still need to do.

I remain behind the dumpster for a long time and my body hurts because of how I’m crouched down behind the disgusting dumpster and I haven’t moved since I got my phone out to record the conversation. When I feel as if I’m about to fall over and alert them to where I’ve been hiding, the men finally stop talking and car doors start opening and shutting. Still, I wait behind the dumpster and don’t make a move to grab my phone or anything. The cars pull out and I still don’t move. I remain hidden for a few minutes until the cars are no longer heard and everything is once again silent out behind Slice of Heaven.

By the time I stand up from behind the dumpster, my legs are fucked-up from the gravel that’s been digging into my skin since I crouched down. I bend over to pick up my phone and stop the recording while trying to make sure I can save what I heard from the men. Why the hell they would meet behind the pizzeria knowing we haven’t been closed for that long is beyond me. There’s no reason to think we wouldn’t be out here getting rid of the trash or whatever else it takes for us to close. Right now, I wish Sal hadn’t already left because he would make me feel safe as I head back in the fucking place and make sure the doors are locked behind me so no one can get inside while I’m here alone. There’s no way I can even pretend that Sal or anyone else is here with me.

My mind is whirring with everything I’ve heard and I don’t know what the hell to do with the information. I could go to Kash now that I know he’s not involved in this shit. My heart races as I think of all the people that are gonna be hurt because of these men and their need for money any way they can get it. No one deserves to be treated like they’re less than because they aren’t as rich or whatever else. From what I can understand, they’ve got a list of qualities they’re ‘shopping’ for and then they’ll kidnap these people I can’t even begin to think of what these people will then go through because they’ll be held hostage until a shipment gets put together and they’re taken to the prison they’ll be in when they get in the hands of the individuals buying them. How the hell can anyone think that is something that’s even remotely okay to do? I can’t even process this because my mind would never think about doing something so horrendous.

Shoving my thoughts to the back of my mind, I finish what I have to do to close the pizzeria so I can get the hell out of here. The rest of the night I have to focus on getting out of here and then giving Vinnie all of my attention if he’s still not feeling good. Tonight is not the night I can put any more thought or time into this situation because I can’t do anything about it. I’m not the person who can take this recording to the cops for them to deal with and put these men behind bars before bad things happen to innocent people. This is the kind of situation Kash and the guys have to deal with because I’m sure they have experience dealing with this kind of shit because they spend time with their fathers on a regular basis. I just hope they don’t want to continue on with this shit once they take their seats at the table.

The second I’m done closing the pizzeria, I leave Slice of Heaven after setting the alarm and locking the door behind me. I’ve already gone through to make sure all the doors and windows are locked. Pulling my thin coat even tighter around my body, I make my way from work to Mrs. Andrews’ house. During my entire walk to the poor section of town, I have to consistently push thoughts of the conversation I’ve overheard tonight from my mind. It’s not something I can just force away though as images of random people I’ve met over the years flit through my mind because at this point anyone is a potential victim for these monsters. All I’m ready to do is get to Mrs. Andrews’ house and forget all about tonight. I just wish I had realized I wasn’t the only other person behind the shops tonight.

Plans

Arabella

I’VE BEEN HIDING at school again when I’m not in class or the library. When I’m in the library, I remain in full view of the librarian as she typically remains behind the counter reading or looking up things on the computer. If I’m in front of her, no one can hurt me because she has an Eagle eye and doesn’t let anything escape her notice. Karmen and her clit gang won’t be able to touch me here if I don’t go to the bathroom in there or anything else. If I’m in the study room with Brock or Danny, I can lock the door so no one can get inside. I don’t really have to worry if I’m with Brock because he won’t let the girls get close to me. When I’m with Danny, the same can’t be said because he’s not strong like Brock is and I’d never put him in the position to have to defend me for any reason. There’s no reason I have to put Danny in a position to go against the bullies in school when he’s been through some shit of his own. Yes, he’s opened up and told me about things that have been done to him here at school. My heart breaks for him because no one should be treated like shit because they’re not like everyone else.

Vinnie is doing so much better than he was. I believe he had one of those twenty-four hour flu things. There’s no more fever, getting sick, or anything else. It’s as if he was never sick to begin with. If anything, he wants to eat even more than before in order to make up for not eating or keeping anything down when he was sick. I’ve never been more upset about anything in my life as when Vinnie’s sick, there’s only so much I can do to help him. And it’s not like he’s old enough to tell me what’s wrong with him so everything I have to do to take care of him is based on a guess on my part because I don’t know where he hurts. It truly sucks!

Today I’m sitting behind the library again by the big tree because there’s no way I’m about to leave myself open when here at school because everyone is so damn vicious here. Well, those that aren’t simply going about their day and trying to get through their classes or are the popular kids who don’t have to worry about being targeted by Karmen, Collette, Marianna, and everyone else. No one wants to be at the end of horrible things because they’re different or whatever else they have going on in their lives. I don’t know what the fuck I’m going to do because if I’m being honest, I’m sick and tired of hiding and having to remain with someone at all times because of the girls who want to make my life hell and bring everyone they can in to help them.

Sal sent me home with a ton of food last night. So, as I sit outside in the chilly air, I eat cold pizza, mozzarella sticks, and a garlic knot. It’s definitely not good when it’s cold, but the food is good regardless of if I eat it hot or cold. So, with a book in my lap, I eat my cold food from Slice of Heaven and don’t worry about anyone finding me. Brock is the only one who typically knows where I’m hiding depending on what day it is and what time he’s looking for me. I hate that he doesn’t eat with everyone else in the dining hall because it means he’s not solidifying connections that can help him in the future. No matter what happens, I want him to succeed and in order to do that, he needs to be around everyone else and form connections with them because they’re the ones who will be able to help him move forward. I can’t give him the help he needs because I’m no one in High Point and there is nothing I can do for him. Brock is wasting his future by hanging out with me. He just won’t listen to me when I tell him that.

“Mind if I join you?” I hear from the side of me as I startle and get sucked out of the thoughts filling my head about everything with the exception of the one topic I can’t put into words because there’s nothing I can do about it for now.

Turning my head to the side, I see Kash standing there as he wrings his hands together in front of him. He’s nervous and there’s no reason I can think of that he’d be nervous about asking me if he can join me. I’m not the one that’s avoided him for the last almost nine years. He’s the one with the rest of the guys who have been avoiding me and cutting me out of their lives. There’s no reason he can’t join me because he essentially rules this campus with the rest of the guys.

“You can do anything you want, Kash. You know this as well as I do,” I answer him, trying to keep my focus on the book in my lap as I take a bite of my pizza.

“I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, Song Bird. If you want to be alone, I’ll leave you alone. I don’t ever want to force you to do anythin’ you don’t want to. So, if you tell me to go away, I’ll leave,” he states, not taking any steps to move closer to me or sit down. For the first time in a very long time, Kash is unsure of himself and it makes him appear to be more human than ever before.

“You can join me, Kash. I mean, I have to get used to spending time with you if we’re supposed to be going through with everything,” I tell him, closing the book I haven’t read a single line in since opening it up after removing it from my bag.

Kash takes a seat on the ground next to me. He doesn’t sit too close to me as he places his bag in front of him and pulls a piece of grass from the ground in front of him. I watch him as he twirls it between his hands and doesn’t say anything right away. I’m unsure how to even begin with a conversation with her about what we have going on between us.

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