Him?

Chapter 21

Alexis's pov

Mrs. Kyle smiled at me as I struggled to reach the kitchen with the giggling little girls all wrapped around my legs. I was watching them play in the miniature pool in the back yard while their new mom took care of lunch. They got hungry pretty fast so I went to check on Mrs. Kyle, the Power Puff Girls decided to tag along.

Mrs. Kyle placed a pan of freshly baked chocolate cupcakes in front of us and went to the fridge for milk. The girls dug in, fighting and giggling as they did so. I guess they enjoyed bickering with one another. Their playful chatter made me overly happy and a little lonely as I remembered that I initially came over to see Ismael. That was about four hours ago.

"Where's Ismael?" I asked Mrs. Kyle, the lady insisted that I called her Sofia but I have not gotten myself to do so as yet.

"Probably in his room." She answered, putting creamy icing on the cupcakes.

I nodded, took up a few cupcakes and headed up the stairs of the newly renovated house towards Ismael's room. I knew he wasn't there as soon as I got to the closed door. It was way too quiet on there and the door was fully closed. It was never fully closed. Just to make sure, I stuck my head inside and looked around. It was empty.

I went to the garage next because he usually goes there to fix up his old motorcycle. The rusty bits of metals were there, but my boyfriend was still missing. I took a shortcut back to the kitchen and found the door to the basement on my way. Curious, I turned the handle and pushed it open. A dimly lit passage led some stairs downwards and I took them one at a time without thinking.

An old fashioned wooden door stopped me at the bottom. The knocker was rusted and loaded with cobwebs so I was hesitant to touch the thing. Upon further inspection, I found that it was closed anyway. It was slightly ajar and a faint glow of light was coming from the room inside.

I knew he was down here. Excitement raced through me as I made my way inside. I stopped my bouncing steps when I took in the things around me and my curiosity grew as questions started forming in my mind. Apart from the many containers filled with old stuff, cobwebs, and furniture, there were about ten small cardboard boxes in a heap.

The box on top of the heap was opened and was overflowing with money. It was only natural for me to think that the rest of the boxes had the same inside. I went further into the room, afraid to touch anything because something was definitely wrong with my surroundings. Where - how on Earth did Ismael end up with all this money? Was it even his? What's going on?

I stepped around a wall of boxes filled with old toys and found him busy counting money at a table. Two of the small boxes were empty while another had a few notes inside which he was checking. The single light bulb hung over his head cast two human shadows, one was his and the other screamed my presence but Ismael was too wrapped up in his business to even notice me.

I mentally debate with myself if I should just turn back and pretended that I didn't see all this and everything was like normal. Or should I confront him now and demand an answer as to why he was down here secretly counting what looked like thousands of dollars that could not be gained with the salary from his pizza delivery job.

I was about to turn around and head back into the kitchen when his cell phone rang and he moved to pick it up. He paused as he noticed the extra shadow, frowned at it for a while and then looked up at me. The shell shocked expression on his face triggered my anger but I was too scared to scream at him. I did that once and it didn't end well.

"Lexi!" He said in an almost cheerful voice. Almost because it seemed his surprise had not passed as yet.

"What's all this?" I asked, careful not to raise my voice too high.

He looked down at his table, shuts off his phone and sighed heavily. "You shouldn't have come down here."

"Answer me, Ismael," I said with a trembling voice.

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

"Are you f''cking kidding me!" I raised my voice involuntarily, "what have you been doing to get all this cash? Are they yours? How? Who was that calling you? What kind of shit have you gotten yourself into this time!"

Ismael's cursed under his breath and started pacing, running a hand through his hair. "I can't tell you. Just go back upstairs and forget about all this."

"F'ck no!" I yelled and he raced across the room towards me just to place a firm hand over my mouth.

"Sshh!" He hissed angrily in my ears. My heart hammered in my chest and I was wondering if it was due to the whole situation or because he was this close to me. "I'll tell you everything, okay baby. But you have to promise me that you won't ever tell anyone, not even DJ."

I silently nodded my head and let out a relieved breath when he released me. He went for a dusty stool in a corner of the room and brushed it off thoroughly before he gestured for me to sit. I silently did so, afraid to speak. I stared up at him and he cursed some more, probably due to the look of horror I had on my face.

He knelt down in front of me, placing his hands on my lap, his eyes begged me to hear him out. "I know it's wrong, but I'll fix it. I promise. This is just a few cash to help me get a better life. To get away from all this. So I can be independent and free without having to be a burden to Sofia."

Tears pricked my eyes. Who told him he was a burden? I opened my mouth, ready to tell him otherwise but he raised his hands, telling me to keep quiet so he can finish.

"Before you start making assumptions, I didn't kill anyone. I'm not a murderer. I didn't rob a bank or supermarket, I thought it would be too risky. I also didn't go selling drugs, too many of the guys were doing that, plus the Antonio wants to kill me."

I felt the tears on my cheeks as I cried without knowing. I looked down at Ismael, not seeing him anymore. He was different. It was like I didn't know him anymore. What did he do? How much trouble is he in this time? He got out of lockup for the fifth time last month and refused to go to the recommended anger management classes. He usually got arrested for bar fights and selling something illegal, but something told me whatever this was, was a whole lot bigger.

"I messed up Pooh Bear. And I totally understand if you hate me after this, but I had to do it. The recording studios didn't want to help me out. The producers kept making me angry and then refused to give me a chance. The record labels didn't want to sign me, something about me being too young and I need time to grow and improve. A bunch of stupid excuses just because they know I would make competition for the ones who are already there.