Just as Isabelle and Dominic were having their argument by the stairs, Jameel walked to the medical quarters where Rayna was.
"Hello Angel" he said as he smiled warmly.
"Hello, where's papa?" She asked.
"Well, you see papa has travelled for a while and he asked us to take care of you. But guess what?"
"What?"
"My name is also papa, so you can also call me papa, okay?"
"Hop on, let me show you around" he said excitedly as he bent down for her to get on his back.
One more time, what's my name?" He asked her as she climbed his back.
"Papa" she shouted.
"Yaay" he said, and they went out to meet Dominic and Isabelle fighting, Benjamin trying to blow out the heat.
"How did you do that?" Dominic asked Jameel when he got home from his movie date.
"I'm good with kids, haha" he said laughing out.
"He told the little girl his name was Papa" Benjamin whispered to Dominic and they laughed.
"And my little stunt with Isabelle was to make her feel a little bit bad so she doesn't suspect anything"
"You crazy bastard" Dominic said laughing at how smooth Jameel's game was.
"How do you even think of that so fast?" Benjamin asked and they laughed harder.
"Hello Rayna" Dominic said as he knelt to her height.
"Hi"
"How are you feeling?"
"Fine. What is your name?"
"Uhm, Sabes hablar Español?"
"Si" she answered
"My name is Jefe"
"Boss?"
"Yes, that's my name" he said smiling
"Your name is Boss?" she asked once again.
"Jefe for Spanish, Boss for English" he explained.
"Why they name you boss, boss is to pick up school kids"
"Oh, no" he said laughing, realizing what she was thinking.
"Not Bus, Boss"
"Oh"
"Have you had something to eat?"
She nodded her head to say no. Dominic looked at Jameel
"You're a father now, take care of your child" he said and went to his study.
"Rosa where the fuck are you coming from?"
"I thought you were spending the night at Dominic's?" Rosa asked.
"Answer my question, where are you coming from?"
"I went to see my friend"
"Have you gone mad? It's just you and Jim at home and you leave him to go see your friend"
"It was just for a short while, really"
"And why the fuck are you dressed like that?" She said, pointing to the short gown Rosa had on.
"It's no big deal, Isabelle, I'm sorry"
"Don't be getting me pissed Rosa, just don't"
"I'm not trying to make you mad, I'm sorry" she said
"It's okay, but don't leave little Jim at home alone next time"
"I won't, I promise"
"And don't go out dressed like that either"
"But you wear whatever you want, why can't I?" She protested.
"Hellooo. I'm 26, you're 16. You do not fucking compare yourself to me, that's one"
"Two, even at 26, I don't wear short things like that, almost having all of them butt cheeks out in the open, it's ratchet and we're not from the ghetto"
"Three, I may only expose a bit of cleavage but like I said, I'm 26, you're 10 years behind. And lastly, it's late! Too late! To wear that anywhere. Do I make myself clear?"
"Okay fine. I'm sorry"
"It's alright sweetheart. Let's go in"
Isabelle had always tried to balance the role of a mother and a big sister at the same time. She didn't want to be too strict, but she didn't want her sister's life to be an obvious testament that there's no mother in the family.
Ryan had fully recovered from the hospital and was at the joint with his brother José and the rest of the gang.
"I know his face, I saw him with my ex one time at the mall"
"Which of your exes?" His brother asked
"It's Isabelle"
"Isabelle? You two are broken up?
Why?"
"She's boring in bed, you know.bDoesn't meet my sexual fantasies and stuff. So, I had to let her go" he said.
"Well, that's a valid reason" Mucho said, and they all laughed.
"If she's got boring tatas then she's got to go" he added and they laughed even harder.
"So basically, this guy is Isabelle's new boyfriend. That's even perfect.
Terminating him and getting back at your ex at the same time, perfect" José said and they cheered at his idea.
Deep down, Ryan didn't like the fact that the plan involved Isabelle getting hurt in any way. He knew he had hurt her enough but couldn't admit it out loud.
"Next time I see him, I'm gonna get a picture. So we'd know who the target is" Ryan said.
"But I want him alive in case I don't get to him first. I want my face to be the last thing he sees"
"You don't get to come down here and give us orders" Hamid spoke up again.
"And you are?" Ryan asked and Hamid scoffed.
"Who am I?"
"And you say he's one of us?" He asked José.
"We're doing you a favor puto loco, don't come here giving me no orders. I kill whoever the fuck I want to kill"
"That's enough Hamid. But those are my orders. It's not an on-sight target. We bring him back to base"
Hamid took a long puff of his weed and nodded his head in agreement.
"Hey Jameel" Isabelle said as Jameel came to pick her up from work.
"Hi Isabelle"
"You can't possibly still be mad at me" she said
"Nah, it's chill actually"
"For real?"
"Yeah. You and I are cool"
"How's Rayna?"
"Oh, she's fine. Mum has full custody, but she came to spend a few hours with me before she goes back to her mama"
"Oh, that's sweet"
"Yeah, even though my job has me away a lot. I still make time for my little one" he lied smoothly.
"And you still love this job?"
"It gives me enough bread to put plenty on my kid's plate and my wife's plate, so why not?"
"Your wife? You're married?" She asked surprised.
"What? I'm not good enough to"
"Oh please shut it Jameel. I didn't even say anything"
He laughed quietly, not wanting to blow his cover over.
"Are we getting breakfast from the usual today?" He asked.
"Yes" she said abruptly.
"What? You mad at me now?" He asked.
"Yes I am. You'd be getting mad at me without even letting me finish"
"Okay I'm sorry. I'm not mad at you either"
She looked out the window, her hands folded,
"I swear I'm not" he said
"Okay I hear you"
"Thank you" he said and parked for her to get breakfast.
Isabelle crossed to the other side of the road and ordered breakfast. Since she started working at The Castle, she was attended to very fast unlike her first day there, The Castle and its staff had its reputation, but no one really knew who The Castle himself was.
"Who the fuck is that?" Jameel said under his breath as he noticed
someone run out of a corner with a camera, looking like they were taking pictures.
"What was that?" Isabelle asked
"Oh no it's nothing" he said.
"Alright Isabelle, see you later" he said as he dropped her off and turned around to go get Dominic, making sure no one was following him.