Castle in the City

26

Damien's POV
I glanced at the rear view mirror once more to see if the black car was still behind me. I was driving to the Carters' house from work when I got a feeling that I was being followed. There was a black car trailing me, and I was beginning to become paranoid that someone had tracked me down. It didn't help that I thought I saw my mother a few days ago.

Not knowing what to do, I dialed my uncle's number and prayed that he picked up. "Hello?" Uncle Rico answered.

"I think I'm being followed," I informed as I glanced at the mirror again before focusing on the street.

"What? Are you sure?" Uncle Rico questioned with worry clear in his voice.

"I don't know. Yes....I think. There's a black car that's been following me for about thirty minutes. I don't know what to do, Uncle Rico," I nervously replied. "I'm still an hour away from Mr.Carter's house, but I don't even know if I should go there. I don't wanna bring my troubles there."

Uncle Rico informed, "I put an emergency gun in the glove compartment of the car when I gave it to you."

"What?! What if a cop pulled me over one day for some random reason and found it?!" I frowned. How could he not tell me about something so important as an unregistered gun in my car?

Uncle Rico answered, "I would have dealt with it. Go to Carter's house. I'll be waiting there with a few guys, but if anything happens on your way, you know what to do."

"What-shoot the person? I don't even know how to fire a gun!" I yelled as I glanced at the mirror once more. To much of my surprise, the car made a turn, calming me a bit. "The car just made a turn. I think I'm good now."

My uncle let out a low sigh before saying, "Stay on the phone just in case, and don't stop driving. I'll still be waiting by the house still."

"Okay," I nodded. I then nibbled on my bottom lip before informing, "A few days ago, I thought I saw my mother."

"Where?" Uncle Rico questioned, curiosity and doubt present in his voice at the same time.

Sighing, I replied, "Somewhere in the city, but I don't know for sure if it was her. I only caught a glimpse of her face. It could've been someone else."

Uncle Rico then brought up, "We never found out what happened to her- how and why she disappeared. Maybe you saw her...maybe you didn't, but after being potentially followed for thirty minutes, you should start learning how to fire a gun. I should've taught you years ago, but I didn't want you living the life I lived."

I frowned, "You'd want me to shoot my mother-your sister?!"

"No," he answered, "but we don't know if people are still out to get you. I rather you be safe than sorry."

I ran a hand through my hair when I came to a red light. I then asked, "What time would I even have to learn how to fire a gun? By the time I get off from work, I just wanna eat and sleep." On days that I wasn't so tired, I would spend majority of that free time with Sagacity.

My uncle answered, "Whatever days off you have will be spent on training. Imma teach you how to survive."

"But-" I got out before I was cut off by him.

With a bit of aggression in his voice, he questioned, "Do you have something better to do? Do you wanna live or not 'cause as much as I wanna be there for you, I'm not always gonna be available, Damien! I'm just not. What if I was out of town? You gotta learn how to protect yourself, aight?"

I exhaled a low breath and nodded, "Yeah."

"Imma get you some bodyguards too," he informed, and although I thought he was dragging it a bit, I remained quiet because I had rather be safe than sorry- like he had said. I didn't know what was going on- or even if something was going on- but I had rather take precautions before the problem could escalate.