Chapter 4

ARTHUR FELT LIKE the walls were closing in on him and started to get itchy and claustrophobic. He gently manoeuvred his way out of the circle as another round of champagne started flowing around again, nobody noticed when he left. 

He headed for the willow tree in the backyard, he used to come here after his mother died. He had not been here in years.

He sighed and rubbed the ark of the tree fondly with his hand. "I am in a mess." He muttered to himself. He sighed again and sat on an exposed root. "Getting married into a Japanese family when I am still in love with another girl. Shit." He picked up a dry fallen leaf from the floor. 

"Talking to trees now, are we?" 

He turned to see his father allying towards him. 

After the accident with Arthur's mother, Fernando kept a close watchful eye on his son. 

Arthur scoffed and looked away. 

"What is the matter, son?" Fernando asked in that gentle voice he used to manipulate people to do his bidding. 

"What? Because I'm not jumping and drinking at the announcement of my marriage?" Arthur snapped. 

Fernando sighed and came to stand beside his son. He rubbed his hand on the willow tree, just as Arthur had done. "You know, this was the tree that made your mother make me buy this house." 

Arthur looked up at the tree but did not say anything. 

Fernando continued, "Her death was an insult to this family. The family that had her killed saw us as inferior." 

Arthur nodded. Upon all their investigations, the culprit family was not discovered and Fernando had all but forgotten about it. 

"I do not want that that happen again, Arthur." Fernando said, putting his hands in his trouser pocket. 

"I am getting old… I won't be here forever, I want the future of you and this family to be secured." 

"And me, marrying Melissa, will give us that security?" Arthur asked. 

"Ah, yes. You know her name already." Fernando smiled. "And yes. Getting married into the Three-headed-dragons will give us that security." 

Arthur scoffed and looked away. 

"Tongues are starting to wag, boy." Fernando said. "They say you are soft and sending you to college made you worse. By their standards, you should be sent either to the HQ or to the military." 

"Well, why didn't you send me to either of those places?" 

"Many reasons." Fernando came to stand in front of Arthur. His figure cast a long shadow across the floor. "Military was out of the question. Your name would send an alarm bell to the Interpol. Those bastards have been on my neck for over two decades. 

"Diego tells me that you have your mind on another girl." Fernando continued. "And she left you."

"You want to know why she left?" Arthur asked rhetorically. "It's because she could not stand being with a gangster." 

Fernando's face hardened. "You are not a gangster, Arthur. You should not bother yourself with the mentality of one. You are a godfather. A Mafia king." 

Arthur sighed. He tried to believe his father but his mind couldn't. 

"Do not bother yourself with this other woman. He is not the one for you." Old Papi said. "You should meet the Chan's girl. I hear she's gorgeous."

Arthur scoffed. 

"Take her out on a date. Get to know each other." Old papi turned to walk away. 

"Do I have a choice?" Arthur asked, weakly. Already knowing the answer. 

His father turned and stared at him with cold eyes. "No, you don't." 

"And if I say I won't do it?" Arthur dared to ask. 

His father did not move. "We don't know what would happen… because none of us has even thought to nurse the thoughts of you forsaking the family." And Old Papi walked away, nodding to a henchman by the corner. "Tell Pedro to send a word to the Japanese asking them to set a date for the meeting and engagement."

The henchman nodded and scurried away. 

Arthur rubbed his temple as he stared at his father's retreating figure.

"YOU HAVE DONE so much with the place." Chmatelle said, spinning slightly in the middle of the bare kitchen. 

The kitchen was bare and lifeless and they both knew it, but Laura accepted the lie with a grateful smile. 

"Oh, I love that you left it spacy and airy." Chantelle crooned. "And is that a hibiscus flower?" She rushed to the window sill where a small vase sat. 

The flower vase was the only thing that added a little warmth to the house. 

Laira nodded. "I saw it at a pawn shop and bought it on impulse." 

"That's good. That's good." Chantelle approved. "Now that you're acting on impulse, let's hope you fall for another man on impulse." 

Laura gave a dry laugh. "I doubt anyone would want me… not like this." She rubbed her slightly protruding belly. 

"That's nonsense." Her friend protested vehemently. "You look beautiful. Your baby bump is…" She kissed her fingers. "Amazing. I wish I had one." She rubbed and cradled her flat stomach. 

Laura laughed again. "I know how you'll get one."

"No thanks." Chantelle laughed with her friend. "I think I'll stick to my skinny look for a while." 

They both walked to the sitting room. 

"I came to take you out. Enough of you hiding in this cabin." Chantelle said, she gave Laura a once-over look and said, "Go get dressed." 

"I'm more comfortable like this." Lairs replied. She held the hems of the big flowing gown she wore. "Besides, I don't want to go out. I made chocolate cookies. We can just watch TV and eat cookies and milk."

"Sounds good. You have a deal." Chantelle winked. "I'll get the milk." 

They got a tray of cookies and milk while flipping through the stations and dunking the cookies in milk. 

"... joining of two industrial houses and companies." The newscaster said. 

The familiar face of Arthur stood smiling in the camera. A movie-gorgeous lady latched by his side. Her hands were entwined in Arthur's as they both smiled at the camera. 

"That bastard!" Chantelle growled, crumbs of cookies dropping from her mouth. "Joining of companies my ass! Those two are definitely fucking!" 

Laura was freakishly white. But apart from her paleness, she didn't show any outward reaction. 

"I am going to find him wherever he is and cut off his balls!" Chantelle was yelling. "And I'll feed it to him, I kid you not -" then she noticed Laura's countenance. 

"Are you alright?" She shook her friend slightly. "Laura?"

"I think my water just broke." Laura said through stiff lips. 

"What the fuxk do you mean? You're not due for another two or three months." Chantelle said in a disbelieving tone. 

"I'm going into premature labour. Please call 911."