Claimed By Him

27| Unpleasant News

"Hello??" I answered my phone while heading out of the bookshop.

Today, I decided to go buy a dark romance book from the bookstore. I crave one more addition to my bookcase of excellent pieces...as a bookworm.

"Nae, them just find Mario."  It was Nicoy, and I immediately frowned.

"Wah yu mean just find Mario??" I asked. The line went silent, and I repeated myself once more.

"You never did know?? Shanae never mek you know!?"

Sir, me and her talk??

"No, mih deven get an email! A wah happen??" I stood outside the store, looking for any familiar taxi to go home.

"We couldn't find Mario noweh and a this morning we find a box with him...him body parts." I could hear the sorrow in Nicoy's voice. He was trying his best not to cry.

"Mih ago come over." I hung up the phone, and the whole time, my heart was pounding in my chest.

What could Mario have done to anybody!?

I jumped into a taxi that went to the community, and it didn't take long to get there. At Nicoy's house, there was a crowd as well as the Police car and their pickup truck. Their mom was crying, and it hurt my heart seeing her cry like this. Their Dad held her tightly in his arms with red eyes, and Nicoy held a crying Shanae. The other brothers were nowhere to be seen. A box was in front of the verandah, and a cop was on the phone, calling the necessary experts for this type of case.

I ran over, but then an officer stopped me.

"Miss, you can't pass here so." He said.

"Sir, a mih friend dat—"

"Let har through." Nicoy came over, and when I saw the contents of the box, I felt sick in the stomach and went over to the grassy area to throw up my guts.

Inside the box, there was his head, and his soulless eyes were wide open, his torso, arms, and legs both cut as much times to fit inside the box but something else was put separately in a zip lock bag. His whole reproductive organ and his tongue. The inside of the box was lined with plastic so that no blood was able to leak through the box. It seemed to have been mailed.

Mario...what did you do to be murdered like this??

That was my last thought before I fainted, and when I woke up, I was in Nicoy's room with Shanae curled up by my side. As soon as I woke up, the door opened, and Nicoy walked in.

"Come, Nae. Your mother come for you." He whispered, and I slowly got out of bed without waking up Shanae. He held me close to him by his side as he accompanied me down the stairs. I felt weak.

"You want eat something first?? Mommy cook eno." He asked. I wordlessly shook my head.

My mom was talking to their mother, and they ended the conversation when they saw us coming down.

"Mih will call you later, Marcia. Stay strong, love." My mom hugged her before she held me just like Nicoy did, and we went outside to the car.

"You okay, LaNae?? You want anything before we go home??" She asked when we were seated in the car. I sighed softly and hung my head.

"Jerk pork and festival. Sprite." I finally replied.

She stopped by the Jerk Centre, and I ate a little bit, saved the rest for when I got home. I was in my room when my mom said that she would be going out.

Wid e ppl dem man??

I shook my head and went back to the movie I was watching. I tried my best to distract myself from what I saw in the evening. I will be having nightmares for sure.

"Hello??" I answered my phone.

"Baby, you okay??" It was DeShawn.

"Yeah, I'm okay, I guess, why...??" I rubbed my eye with my free hand.

"I heard what happened, and I was wondering wah you a gwaan wid. I wanna see you tomorrow." He replied.

"Oh, okay, sure."

"..."

He could tell I wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone, and he hung up a few minutes later after wishing me goodnight. The next morning, there was news that the mailman who delivered the package was found dead in the burnt out frame of a vehicle that was allegedly his, and there were no records or paperwork about the package.

Something isn't adding up....