Ashes in the Heart (Editing)

John: Deadly Obsession

—Sir, your son is here.

I started by going into the mayor's office staying next to him to start the day's watch. I felt somewhat nervous, I had worked for many years with the Woods Family, long before the patriarch became the distinguished mayor of the city, so I could affirm that I had never felt such tension in the air for 7 years ago. Everything was crazy and because he was one of the men the mayor trusted the most, he had to be present in all family matters, that included the shit that his sons did.

Mr. John entered the room with a shrug, head down, and the submissive attitude we only saw when he was in trouble. Mayor Woods looked out the window of his desk sitting in the seat of his office while smoking his daily tobacco, there were some trusted guards in the room and there was the eldest daughter of the couple, many times he came to doubt who was more frightening with her macabre and frivolous way of being, whether the daughter or the father. Both were cast in the same mold of strong, humiliating, and impenetrable character.

The blonde stood next to her father with her eyes on her brother, it was difficult to decipher what was transmitted through them because it was said that if it hadn't been for her mother, Miss Woods would have killed her own brother with such to uphold his family name and save his father's reputation.

In a battlefield like that one, you would hardly get out alive or with your mind intact. A private summons in the mayor's office could symbolize two things, political issues or family intervention, and by intervention I meant very bad things.

The boy walked over to the seat in front of the desk and swallowed thickly before sitting down. We were all expectant and more if it was John, because that boy had nothing good on his mind.

— Son...

The man began with a thick and intimidating voice making the boy jump in his seat. He seemed very nervous, as if he wanted to be swallowed by the earth at that very moment.

— Son, son, son...

He repeated again with a judgmental tone as if he was thinking through the measure of his words. The man spun in his chair to deadly face his son and continued to speak while smoke still billowed from his mouth.

—¿Should I keep calling you that?

He questioned peacefully and calculatedly, his face was neutral and although his gaze was penetrating with very dark and large eyes, the grace that he enjoyed made him seem like a pleasant man and in whom you could trust, he was not the mayor for nothing.

— Oh...

He mused, being interrupted by his father's hand when making a simple movement that he already knew very well. He was silent again and lowered his head for the second time to observe his knuckles trying to appease the anxiety that this situation caused him. I took a deep breath for both of them without noticing myself and keeping my position very firm to continue observing what was happening.

— ¿Should Johnatan?

He would ask again in a cynical way staring at him, giving me a very clear view of who his eldest daughter had inherited that look from. The boy hesitated a bit before speaking, unable to keep his parent's gaze and then just blurted out the answer.

— No, father.

— Good Guy. — Added his sister in a mocking tone.

—You seem to like trouble. — The mayor continued. — The 5-year internship you had in the psychiatric clinic was not enough.

— I can explain it. — The boy launched in an attempt to soften the tension.

—I don't care about your reasons. — He replied bitterly and a little more strength in his voice. — I'm tired of not only having to clean up your shit, just to satisfy your mother, but I also have to ignore many times the fact that you use my men for your dirty jobs.