Page 6

six

Box of Ashes

Spade

Walking down the hall, I meet Slim by the vending machines. He’s leaning against the wall, texting rapidly on his phone. Even when I approach, it doesn’t hinder his aggressive texting.

“Bro, what’s the update on Jade? Can I go see her? What room is she in?” I ask in a panic. My brother is alive and in surgery, now I need my girl. He slides his phone into his pocket and starts walking. I follow suit, waiting for answers.

“Listen man, I don’t know how to say this but–” I interrupt, gripping his shirt and slamming him against the wall.

“Don’t you fucking say it, Slim. Tell me she is okay and take me to her.” I spit.

“Get your fucking hands off me, Rodriguez.” He warns, but I don’t give a fuck if he’s Irish royalty.

“Where’s my fucking girl, Cillian?” I growl, pushing him again.

“She’s gone.” He says through gritted teeth, pushing me off him. I stumble back, trying to grasp my bearings because I know I didn’t hear him correctly.

“Run that back.” I grit. He shakes his head, running his hands over his face.

“She’s gone. The doctor called her time of death at 6:45p.m.” He says, taking a step closer to me. No, this can’t be right. There’s no fucking way.

“Show me the body.” I demand, and he shakes his head again.

“She was cremated twenty minutes ago.” He informs, handing me a small box and my eyes narrow, taking it from him with shaky hands.

“She what? Who signed off on it? Her parents are fucking dead. Her brother is MIA, while the other is in here somewhere in a coma. How can anyone sign off on that?”

“Exactly! Since there was no next of kin, she’s technically a ‘Jane Doe’ so they went ahead and did it.” He says as I shake my head, not wanting to believe this is fucking happening.

“I-I need to go.” I stammer, shoving the box into his chest. “My girl isn’t in that fucking box, and you should be ashamed of yourself. She’s your best friend and you give the man she loved a box of her ashes! Get fucked, Irish scum.” I growl, spitting at his feet, leaving him standing against the wall speechless.

Jade’s dead? She’s fucking dead? The only girl I ever loved is fucking gone, nothing but ashes.

I run to the nearest trash can and wretch up my guts. Tears flood my eyes as I puke into the wastebasket. This can’t be real. This is some kind of sick joke, right? She can’t be gone. My Babygirl isn’t fucking dead. My heart seizes in my chest as I try to take a breath of air into my lungs. I stand up, wiping my mouth with my sleeve and head for the exit.

Tears continue to pour down my face as I reach the doors, shoving them open and walking to the side of the building. I look up at the clear night sky and scream.

“Why? Why would you take her?” I roar, falling to my knees.

“How am I supposed to live without her?” I sob on the cold concrete against the side of the building.

“We didn’t protect her. Why didn’t we just take her and run?”

“Why Jade, why?”

I can’t do this shit without her. First Harper, and then Jay flatlining, now this. I fucking can’t handle it. I can’t. I wasn’t even given the chance to say goodbye. I scream again into the chilly night. I’m so fucking angry, and what makes this worse, is I’m all alone, but as mad as I am with Ri, I need my brother more. I stand from the ground, wiping my tears, heading back around to the front entrance. I don’t want to be alone anymore through this. I hate being alone. I just want her wrapped in my arms, giggling at my jokes. Fuck .

I enter the hospital and go back to the surgery waiting area. Stepping into the room, I expect to see Ri, but my eyes narrow at the three mother fuckers in front of me.

“Hello, son. I’m glad you’re still here.” My father says, but I ignore him, walking over to the window, waiting for it to open when surgery is complete.

“Any update on my son?” Dalton asks, and I snicker.

“Like you give a shit.” I spit.

“Watch your tone, boy. I will not tolerate your disrespect tonight.” My father growls.

“Yeah, well, fuck you and your demands.” I spit and his eyes go wide. He goes to stand up from his seat, but Armando stops him, placing an arm across his chest.

“Dario must be the only one of you three who actually listens to orders.” He says proudly, causing me to laugh.

“Hardly, but we’ll go with that. Why are the all mighty Aces here this evening? It can’t be for Jameson. Oh, but I think I know why you’re here.” I taunt, running my fingers over my chin.

“Don’t play games with us. Spit it out, since you think you’re so fucking smart.” Dalton replies.

“Oh, you know exactly what the fuck you did! You win. You fucking win!” I yell, and Armando arches a brow.

“What do we win?” He questions, picking a piece of lint from his suit.

“She’s dead. That’s what you wanted from the beginning and now you fucking got it. We’re done here. Stay the fuck away from us!” I demand with a roar. My father and Armando’s eyes widen in surprise, but Dalton's lip pulls up into a slight smirk. But as fast as it came is as fast as it went.

“We never wanted her dead.” My father spits.

“Bull fucking shit. That’s what we were sent here for in the first place! The entire time it was to kill her.” I yell, throwing my hands up in the air.

“You’re mistaken, son. That is not how this works. You know how we do things. Killing her would be pointless.” Armando begins to reveal, but Dalton clears his throat. I don’t give him a chance to speak as I lay a jab right to his fucking nose. He stumbles, and I retrieve my knife from its holster, holding it to his neck.

“You orchestrated her death? For fucking what? What do you gain?” I spit and he smiles, he looks just like Jameson. It’s damn near frightening. My father pulls me off of Dalton and I swing, laying a punch to his jaw, but Armando steps to my right, slamming the butt of his gun to my temple so fucking hard I see stars. I fall to my knees as my father holds the knife to my throat.

“Think about your next move, son. Now get the fuck up. You can either come with us willingly, or I’ll have Mando knock you out. Either way, you are coming with us,” he commands.

“Fine. Get the fuck off me.” I say venomously as they let go and I begin to stand.

Guess while Jay is under the knife, and Dario is God knows where, I’m The Aces’ new fucking puppet.