Chasing You (Terrell Clarricoates Fan Fiction)

Chapter 7

Terrell speeds down the highway going towards downtown.

"I'm gonna need you to tell me something about this," I say.

"What do you want to know?" He says.

"Why? Why are you in the mafia?" I ask. He clenches his jaw.

"Not those questions," he states plainly.

"No, Terrell. I need you to be honest with me. If you're taking me there, and if you're getting them involved, I really need a back story here so I'm not walking blindly," I say as I stare at him.

"Please," I say. He glances over at me before back at the road.

"I was born into it. So unfortunately there's no way out," he says.

"Unfortunately? So you don't want to be apart of it?" I question. He grips the steering wheel tightly.

"No. Sometimes I don't want to be the bad guy," he says.

"You're not a bad guy," I say sincerely. He doesn't respond to that.

"How does it work?" I ask.

"My father was the leader, until he died and I'm his only son, so..." He trials off. I turn my head towards him.

"You're the leader of the mafia?" I gape. If I had known that... well I don't know. I don't know what I would have done differently.

"It's not a big deal," he says. I remember a few months ago when there was a shooting downtown and many people where killed. Everyone blamed the mafia leader. They blamed Terrell.

"Wait but all the terrible shit that's happened downtown, everyone said it was the mafia. Did you have those people killed?"

"No Caroline. This town will blame anything and everything on us," he defends. I sit back in my seat and stare out the window. This is fucking insane.

"What about your mom?" I ask.

"Never knew her," he plainly states. He pulls down a long dirt road on the outskirts of town. The road is bumpy but he drives it well. He stops the truck at a gate and types in a code on the little square box. The gates suddenly opens and Terrell glances at me. He reaches for the glovebox and his arm touches my thigh. He pulls out two black face masks. He hooks on on his ears so it covers his nose and mouth. Then he hands me one. I take it and give a puzzled look.

"It's just something we do. Hides our faces from the public," he explains. I hook it around my ears. He drives forward and there's two men inside the gate with large guns in hand and black face masks as well. They nod at Terrell, and he nods back.

As I see the guns, I realize this is more than real. Terrell is really the leader of the mafia. He pulls up to a large building, almost warehouse style. He parks the truck. There are more men outside the front doors with large guns. He opens his door and gets out. I stay still and watch the armed men. I jump slightly as Terrell opens the passenger door for me.

"Are you scared?" He asks with zero judgment in his voice. I look over at him.

"Maybe a little," I mumble. He smiles sympathetically.

"I would never hurt you," he says.

"I know. I'm not scared of you, I- I think I'm scared for you. This is- this is a lot. Terrell, this is your life?" I glance at the guns.

"When you grow up with it, it's normal," he states.

"Come on, stay by my side and you'll be fine," he says. I hesitate before unbuckling my seatbelt and getting out. I close the truck door and follow Terrell up the dirt path. I stay next to him but slightly behind. Maybe I can make it in without anyone noticing my existence. The armed men don't even glance twice at Terrell before opening the doors. We walk in together and it's nothing like I expected.