In The Dark

2. Tantrums

EDITED

I somehow managed to enter my house without dropping the drinks in my hands as I pushed the main door open my pressing up my back against it. As soon as I stepped in, I could hear cheers and curses with a football match playing on the television on full volume.

My face scrunched in distaste as I saw my brother and father with a big bucket of popcorn in their lap cheering on their favourite teams. "Hey!" I greeted loudly to make sure the sports crazed fans could hear me over the noise they were making.

Both of them responded without turning their heads away from the game and I scoffed in annoyance and rolled my eyes. I sauntered over to the father- son duo and snatched the remote, turning the game off. Utter silence surrounded the three of us as the two men stared at me and I handed them their coffee and sat down in between them.

"Why would you do that?" Cody asked quizzically and I shrugged.

Dad sighed and draped an arm over my shoulder, "How was your day?" I looked at him and gave him a small smile. "I've got a new assignment."

"What is it about?" he asks with a smile as he sips on his coffee and looks at me with eyes gleaming eyes.

At that moment, I grew nervous, not because I was scared of him but because I knew he will be scared for me. "I've got to spy on a subject and report back to The Organization because his father is a mafia leader and he is the rightful heir," I stated, sipping my coffee and being as vague as possible.

"Who is the mafia leader? I might know him," dad asked with interest and I gulped, "Damien Gray."

All traces of a smile wiped from his face as he frowned and looked down in his lap. I could sense his fear and reluctance. I looked to my left to see Cody nodding at me encouragingly as I frowned.

"Dad," I called out to him, snapping him out of the trance he was in and he looked back into my eyes with remorse. "It's going to be okay," I assured him as he stayed silent.

"Dad, we know she can take care of herself, that is why she was assigned this mission. If The Organisation didn't think she was capable of handling this, they wouldn't assign her to this," Cody spoke up supporting my stance and convincing my father that I'd be okay.

One could never guarantee safety in this line of work but, Cody was confident in me because I was trained by the best to be the best.

Dad just sighed, shook his head, "No. You will not go on this mission." He started to walk towards his room and looking at my saddened expression Cody spoke up, "She wouldn't want you to be this way."

Hearing that, the greying man stopped dead in his tracks without turning his back to us and snapped angrily, "And how do you what she'd want?"

I was startled at that due to not being used to dad losing his temper and his composure crumpling. Cody huffed angrily and got up, storming out of the living room, slamming the door on his way out. I gasped at the scene in front of me and my shoulders fell, I turned around to look at my father to see his staring at the closed door with an unreadable expression. He then breathed deeply and went to his room. I felt my body sink into the couch and I sighed in disappointment.

"What am I going to do? Ugh, its all your fault Mr Johnson," I groaned into the pillow which muffled my voice as I spoke to no one in particular.

I grumbled and dragged my feet to my room lazily, my mood dropped significantly. I could hear a few noises and derived that Cody was punching the daylights out of the boxing bag and I sighed again. It was his way of letting out his anger.

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The next morning, I woke up to the blaring alarm I forgot to turn off last night and sleepily got out of bed. After getting ready, I entered the kitchen to see Cody and dad sitting on two chairs far away from each other. Immediately I was aware of the tense atmosphere as dad read the newspaper and Cody ate cereal while glaring at the table. I awkwardly cleared my throat to alert them of my presence and break the tense silence. I poured myself some cereal and sat in the chair in the middle of the table, avoiding sides. Dad was now staring at me pleadingly and then sadly at Cody. Whereas, Cody was furiously munching on his cereal as he kept glaring on his food.

I gave dad a sheepish smile and picked up my phone to text him because I couldn't talk to him with Cody glaring at everything. I messaged him, 'say sorry'.

Dad cleared his throat and looked up from the phone screen and stated, "I, uh, I apologize for what I said last night. I didn't mean it."

Cody just kept chewing as though he is deaf and didn't hear a thing. I raised my eyebrows at this and turned to my dad as he deeply frowned. I turned to Cody and cleared my throat, "Um- Cody? Dad was talking to you."

He looks up to me, rolls his eyes and said, "Tell him I don't want to speak with him." I glared at him as he again started to munch his breakfast. I turned to dad and saw his shoulders sink down which made me feel sad. "What do you want him to do so he'd talk to you?" I sighed. I was getting annoyed now, I was the one who should be throwing tantrums and fits because I couldn't go on my mission but instead, I was being the peacemaker.

"Only when he gives you permission to go on your assignment, I'll talk to him," that had me raising my eyebrows and turning my head to dad with a tilt due to my surprise.

"That's some demand he's got," dad mutters as he sips on his coffee. "What if I don't let her go?" dad smirked and I pinched the bridge of my nose in pure irritation.

"Ash, tell him if he doesn't let you go I will never speak to him. Even if it is for the rest of my life," that had me reaching my limits. "He is sitting five seats away from you, tell him yourself! I am not a messenger and why are you throwing a tantrum anyway? I am the one who should be fighting for my assignment. I really appreciate you standing up for me but now its just turning into a pointless debate!" I snapped, glaring at the both of them.

They gave me a sheepish smile and then turned to each other apologizing briefly. I breathed in a sigh of relief and leaned back into my chair. "Its such a pain to deal with you," I mumbled as I stuffed my breakfast into my mouth and ignored them for the rest of the breakfast.

At around noon, as I watched some comedy movie, I hear some chatter in the kitchen and ignore the noise. A few minutes later, my brother and father emerge from the kitchen with blank looks on their faces. That was when I found I was now going to New York City to complete my assigned mission.