Roxy

chapter 26: Ricardo

"Y-you never told us how they died." Rolland muttered. Yes, I told them we would never see mom and dad again back at the motel, but I never went into full detail about it. Like I just did now. In front of everyone....

"But.... y-you never told me....I-I had an older brother?" He sounded broken. I know Rolland always tries to act like the man of the family, but I know deep down he's hurting.

I can't have him doing what he did last time. I only told him we won't ever see mom and dad again, and he nearly killed himself. Heaven knows what he'd do with this new information.

"Rolland...."

"No. Don't say anything." He turned around to face Ronan. " And you. Did you know about this?" He asked him.

Ronan looked away from his brother's burning gaze. Ronan was always there when mom talked about Ricardo. Whenever she would breakdown he was always there to comfort her. But he never asked any questions about him. And that bothered me.

I can hardly remember anything about Ricardo, just a few flashbacks. Come to think of it I hardly knew him. I was only three years old when he was taken away from me.

And even while he was alive, he was bearly around. And I never knew why. I never knew where he went to. Why he was away from me.

There's only one person in this room that knows Ricardo more than anyone. James Lynch. I turned my gaze towards him and our eyes locked, but he quickly looked away. Well, whether he likes it or not, he's answering all my questions today. In front of everyone.

"What happened to our bond, bro. I thought we told each other everything." Ronan asked bitterly.

"That's cause I don't know anything about him. What did you want me to do? Come to you and be like 'hey man, we have an older brother I can't remember and he's dead for reasons I don't know'!?" Ronan snapped causing me to flinch back.

I have never seen Ronan like that. This is all my fault. Why can't I keep my damn mouth shut!

"The hell you should have! I trusted you to tell me everything! The way you trusted me! How could you make me look like a fool! Me! Your own brother!" Ronan snapped.

"ENOUGH!" James' deep voice boomed through the whole hallway, making a few ornaments on the wall vibrate. Wow, what a voice. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Look, since you guys arrived. You have caused nothing but a commotion in this house. I get that you're all stressed and emotionally unstable. But we need to all calm down. For Christ sake you're tearing yourselves apart. And that's not what I promised your parents." James reasoned.

And for the first time since this conversation started, Ranger spoke up. "Did you know him, my brother?" He asked James and he nodded.

"He was my best friend."

"What was his name?"

"Ricardo"

"Tell me everything about him" Ranger demanded and James let out a breath.

"Okay might as well start from the beginning.... Your parents, Alessandro and Maria Ferrer were lovers since they were eighteen. Your parents weren't married back then. They got a little... crazy, and your mom got pregnant for Ricardo. In the family your parents lived with, most especially your father. Illegitimate children were a disgrace and were to be killed."

"Couldn't they have given them up for adoption?" Ruby asked. I shivered at the sound of her voice. It was so hoarse, obviously from crying a lot.

"Your grandparents didn't want the blood of a Ferrer out on the streets. Anyway, your parents didn't have the heart to kill him. So they sent him far away once he was born without anyone knowing. I'm sure you all know the type of job your father has, Right?" He asks and we all nod.

"Well, your parents sent him over here. And ever since Ricardo was four years old, they started teaching him horrible things. How to run the business, how to fight, how to shoot, how to kill..."

"No! My father would never do such a thing! I believe they sent him away to protect him! Not to turn him into a deadly assassin!" Ruby barked.

"Sorry little girl but it's the truth. Your family has been in this business for decades. My father was your father's right hand man. And so was my grandfather to yours and my great-grandfather to yours. My generation has been sworn to protect your family for decades. And so, I was also sent here to train with Ricardo. We grew up together. Trained together. We were brothers." James explained.

"So why the bloody hell did you not protect my brother!" Rolland growled.

"Two things little man. One, never raise your damn voice to me. I might be sworn to protect your family, but I am not your slave that you can treat like shit." James growled looking Rolland dead in the eyes, but he didn't back down. It was like a stare off or something.

I cleared my throat. "And two?"

"I wasn't there to protect him, I couldn't do anything. Have you heard of the man called Fernando Del Castillo?" He asked and I nodded.

"Yeah, he was the man that killed my parents." I said.

"Well, his family has targeted yours for the past thirty years." James said and my eyes widened.

"Why?"

"The crown obviously. Your family has the record of being the most powerful mafia leaders for decades. The mafia consists of many things such as kidnapping, drug dealing, prostitution and underground fighting. Although when that crown was handed down to your father, he didn't have the heart to do all those things. So instead he handled drug dealing while your uncle handled the rest.

Anyways, the Castillo's have been after your father's crown for years. So thirteen years ago, they planned a deadly attack against your family. They took them by surprise that night. Your brother just so happened to have visited your parents that night. He... He was killed in the attack. Do you remember Roxanna?" He asked and I didn't even realize that the tears have already started falling.

I nodded. "That's the scariest memory out of the little I had of him. I remember being in my room playing with Ricardo when I heard the sound of an explosion. I remember Ricardo drawing out his gun and telling me to get under the bed. I peeked my head a little to see what he was doing.

I remember.... I remember five men barge into my room. Th-they were too much for him, but he still managed to kill all of them. It was amazing how fast he was, but it didn't help with the fear I felt at the moment.

I remember Ricardo dragging me out from under the bed. He carried me in his arms, he protected me. he managed to shoot down all the men that came our way as he ran down the halls and out of the house.

He ran to the backyard where we found our parents holding Ronan and Rolland in their arms near a few cars. I guess we were using to escape. I .... I remember mom was pregnant for Ruby then. Y-you could see the relief in my parents eyes when they saw Ricardo running out of the house with me in his arms.

I-I remember my parents yelling at him to run faster. B-but there was a sound of a gunshot and... Ricardo... Stopped running. But that was only for a second, he still kept running with me in his arms. There were more gunshots. Multiple. And each time Ricardo would jerk a bit.

We were so close to the car.... so very close... B-but he... He couldn't make it. He fell lifeless on top of me. I will never be able to forget that blood curding scream my mom let out when she saw Ricardo's body and blood everywhere.

My dad ran to pick me up, and ran back to the car and drove away. Mom kept yelling at dad to go back and get Ricardo, but he never did." I finished.

I didn't even realize when I fell on my knees sobbing uncontrollably. The hallway was dead silent. No one said anything.

The truth was out. Everything was out in the open. Everyone knew everything.

Everyone is hurting.... All because of some stupid feud, blood was spilled. My family's blood.

One thing is for sure though. The blood of Fernando Del Castillo will be on my hands sooner or later.