Escapade

Chapter Seven: The Pervert and the Spy

"You got suspended on your first day of school?"

I moaned, leaning my head on Liz's shoulder as I thought of what happened.

The afternoon had already wound down into a chaotic mess and it was the end of the school day. After lunch Eric, Richie and I were holed up in the principal's office, hanging our heads as she droned on at us about proper manners and school reputation. Rafael was smirking behind her, clearly pleased that for once someone else was yelling at me. 

When the principal—whose name I found out was Mrs. Henley after a quick glance at the name tag on her desk--  turned to Richie to tell him his punishment, her face expression grew softer and she spoke to him like he was a sick child.

At the moment I was circling through too many emotions and thoughts to think that the way she spoke to him was odd. I was too busy trying to resist the urge to turn to Richie and rip his throat out from where he stood to really think rationally. Although he never did anything to make me hate him – not counting his attempt at killing me a little while ago—I still felt the burning homicidal passion running through my veins. Ironically, it really was something that ran in my veins—and every other Primero's. We had all inherited the deep hatred for every Costello, no matter how harmless they seemed.

 Many years ago, when I was too young to understand what was going on, the Costello family was the most powerful family in Florida. They had no one to answer to and no one on top to get orders from, because they were the top. Before long, though, my family moved in from Spain and was beginning to gain control of territory and business. This didn't sit well with the Costello's, and they started a gang war. In the end, a very important figure in our family died – my mother.

 After that it became personal. Dozens of people died every day. It didn't matter who it was anymore-- children, women and even the elderly were caught in the sick struggle between families.  Finally it all ended when the leader of the Costello gang—Richie's grandfather— was murdered. After that, the Italian mafia tumbled down easily and broke off, receding into nothingness.  My family replaced them as the top and there were no scuffles with them again. It was quiet for the six years that we were in power. And yet, even if six years had passed the hatred did not go away. The fact that my mother was murdered by them still remained in my heart.

"Hellooo? Earth to Natalie?"

I snapped out of my line of thoughts to see Liz giving me a quizzical glance. "Sorry," I said. "I just have a lot to think about."

"No biggie," Liz said.  "I would act like that, too, if I just got suspended on my first day. What's the deal with that anyway? What happened?"


"Well," I said, hesitant to tell Liz any information tied to my family. "We just hate each other. You know... archrival gangs and stuff."

"Yeah, but he was fine with you before.  All of a sudden I hear someone yelling 'fight' and I see you guys on top of each other—and not in the good way."

  I grinned at her, swatting her lap playfully. I knew she was trying to cheer me up, but getting suspended on the first day certainly did not earn me a good mood.  I huffed as I stared at the clear blue sky outside, wishing there were some clouds to provide some shade from the maddening heat. It seemed unfair that it was such a bright, sunny day when it felt as if it should have been cloudy.

Liz and I were sitting on the stairs leading up to the school's front entrance, waiting for Olivia to drive by. Rafael was still in the principal's office, since apparently he was already in a meeting with her before the fight, which explained why he was in the school to begin with.

 He was probably trying to 'explain' to her how I managed to get in to the school without even any clear identification. There was no doubt that he wouldn't bother trying to get me out of the suspension; in fact, he was all for it. He probably thought it would teach me a lesson—about what I didn't know, since I didn't even start the fight.