Cairo

chapter 8

It was only day 2 of the heist, when everything went abruptly downhill.

Denver, Rio and I were on duty, handing out lunch to the hostages, whilst Tokyo and Nairobi overlooked the printing machines.

"Buenos dias Artorito!" Denver grinned as he gave Artoro his sandwich. Everyone was generally in a good mood for once.

Well, apart from Rio, after Tokyo denied being in a relationship with him in front of everyone. But Denver and I were busy distracting him from his heartbreak.

"So Cairo, what was it like being the leader of the Aces?" Rio asked, after we had checked on all our hostages.
"Was? What do you mean 'was the leader'?! I still am!" I laughed.

"Well, for starters, it's not as fun as it sounds I guess." I answered truthfully.
To be honest, living in hiding all the time was stressful. But in my life, my choices were limited. If we didn't hide, we would get arrested for robbery, or even killed by other gang members.

"I used to be in a gang as well, I know what you mean." Denver added.
"Really?" I said in surprise, he'd never mentioned that to me before.

"Yeah, we were on the run for quite a while. But when my best friend, who was our leader, got arrested for a murdering some guy 10 years ago, we all left and went our separate ways."

Denver said it like it was no big deal, but me and Rio were shocked he had never said anything before.

"I haven't seen Alfonso since." Denver added.
For some reason, the name made me flinch, but I couldn't remember why.

I suppose Denver being in a gang was to be expected, the Professor told me he had a background of violence.
"What was the name of your gang then Denver?" Rio asked curiously.

"The Black Mambas."

"We all grew up in Valencia and when I was a teenager I met-" Denver began to explain about his gang, but then it clicked.

It took a while for the name to register in my head, but when it did, the colour drained from my face, and every emotion in my body was replaced with anger.

They murdered my father.

And although it was nearly 12 years ago, I still remembered the day like it was yesterday.

"Papa, It's your turn in goal now!" I yelled at my father, who was busy showing off his football skills infront of Kai and Matteo.
"Okay, okay!" He said, taking his position as goalkeeper.
Placing the ball on the grass, I took three big strides back, ready to run, but out of the corner of my eye I saw a group of 8 men approach us.

"Hang on Eden, I'll just be one second." My father said, walking over to the group.
The men were all dressed in dark clothes and hoodies, despite the warm weather, and each hoodie had a snake logo embellished onto it.

4 of the men seemed to be around my fathers age. 3 looked like older teenagers, and the scrawny last one looked around the same age as me.

"Oh but papa, I was going to score!" I protested, painfully unaware of the situation I was in.
Matteo, however, could sense something was wrong.

"I told you I'd get you the money." My father said to one of the older looking men, I assumed he was in charge.
"I need it now Ricardo. You've had enough time already." He replied, clearly impatient and on his last nerve.
"Alfonso, can you please just come back tomorrow, I'm with my daughter and her friends, and-"
"Does it look like I give a shit about some kids?" He said, the other men in the group snickering.The youngest one had a loud and distinct laugh.

"Maybe if your wife was still alive she could've taken care of them for you, and we wouldn't be in this situation, would we??" Alfonso snapped.
"Don't you fucking talk about my wife-"
"Or what Ricardo? What are you gunna
do?"
The man was provoking my father, and watching him fall right into the trap made me want to cry.

"Maybe when we kill you, your bodies can rot together. I'm sure your daughter will be an expert in grave digging by the time she's 15."

This was the last straw for my father.

He hurled himself on top of Alfonso and started throwing punches, blood seeping through his knuckles, as he pummelled the man in the nose.
My father clearly had the upper hand in the fight, but when the 7 other older members of the gang joined in, he had no chance. The youngest one just stood there, watching.

They were merciless.

Continuously hitting my father, even though he was barely still conscious.

"Papa!!" I screamed at the sight of him.

At the sound of my shaking voice, my father turned his face to look at me. His left eye was closed and completely bruised, I could barely recognise him under all of the blood. He could hardly open his mouth to talk, but I could make out two words.
"Eden, run..." He whispered, before quickly receiving a boot in the head from Alfonso.

Matteo stood in front of Kai and I, covering us from the brutal view, but I could still hear my dad shouting in agony.
Kai grabbed my arm, desperately trying to drag me away from the horrific scene, but I couldn't leave my dad.
"We have to help him!!!" I sobbed, pulling myself away from my friends.

But when Alfonso drew a silver weapon from his jacket, aiming it directly at my papas head, I watched my life turn upside down.

"No!!!!" I gasped, but I was too late...

The gunshot was followed by silence.

Leaving my papa's body laying lifeless on the grass, the 8 men walked away like nothing had happened.