The Race

Patricia stood at the window in a big blue and violet colored office filled with furniture made from mahogany wood. This was two weeks after she was discharged from the hospital. She was wearing a blue velvet long dress with white velvet pumps and she wore a black baret on her head. She was overlooking a big beautiful lush green garden with beautiful variety of flowers and a fountain in the middle flowing with water. As she was admiring the view, she heard loud excited voices ringing outside the room and not long after the door to the office opened and she saw her two siblings Alisha and Zachariah filling in whilst their eyes were roaming around admiring the big beautiful office. "Wow....I can't believe this is our new home. This place is big and beautiful. I can't believe that Dad hid this beautiful place from us for so long. This was so unfair", said Zach as he further admired the office.

"Well it's not our home Zach. This place belongs to Patricia and we are just her guests until we reach the age of 23 and go and claim our own homes. Isn't that right Patricia..", said Alisha as she went and stood in front of the big mohagony wooden desk in the middle of the office. Patricia took a deep breath and replied, "This is also your home Alisha...even if it is under my name. It is still our home together." Then she moved from the window and went and stood beside the chair at the desk whilst facing Alisha. "Besides..this place is big and I don't think I could ever live here by myself." "Well aren't you going to get married and also have a family. And besides even if we move into our new homes when we get older, we will still come and visit you. Isn't that right Alisha...." said Zach and he gave Alisha a patronizing look. Alisha shrugged her shoulders and replied, "Yes....whatever!" And she moved towards the window and stared outside. Patricia sighed and said, " I will very much love it and appreciate it if you did that. I love you guys. I mean it... and I wanted to say something to you. Zach if you would please close the door and come closer." And she took a seat on the chair at the desk. "Alisha please...if you would also come and join us." And she gestured for the two of them to take their seats on the chairs facing her.

Patricia took a deep breath and began, "I want to...sincerely....and...deeply apologize to you both. I.....know that...for the past 8 years...our lives have been very...very..difficult...since mom and dad died." And she paused because she felt a heaviness in her heart and her eyes were starting to sting with tears. She took a moment to calm down and she then continued, " And I know....that...I...I..didn't make it any better. I pushed you aside...I didn't listen to you...I was so concentrated with my own world that I actually became selfish and lost sight of what family is all about. I became enstranged to you both....to the point that...the good times..that we had and the good precious moments that we used to have got faded and alienated. I don't blame you guys if you hate me right now or if you despise me. Because I know that I deserve it for being a bad sister to you. But I would do anything....and I mean anything to make amends with you....so that we can become a strong family again. No more fighting, no more cursing and also no more secrets", then she looked at Alisha who was peering at her after she said the last statement.

Patricia then took a deep breath and said, "I know that I have been keeping a secret from you two. But ....after thinking about it long and hard...I realized that....keeping you in the dark will only make things complicated for me and....also...Dad would have never wanted me to keep you in the dark...since we are a family, and family needs to stick together. But before I tell you this secret...the two of you have to promise me that you will do whatever I say with no serious questions asked. And also promise me to not get too deeply involved understood?" Alisha and Zachariah looked at each other for a brief moment and then they looked at Patricia and answered her at the same time, "Understood!!". Patricia then nodded her head and then she finally divulged the truth to her siblings by reading the letter that their father left her.

"No way in hell!!! I am not letting that bastard Ricardo Montenegra get away with this!!! I swear I am not going to rest until I put a bullet in the skull of that devil!! Even if I had to die myself!!!" Yelled Zach after Patricia finished reading the letter and he started pacing around the room in rage. "Zach please calm down!! This is not the time to act irrationally!! So please calm down!" Said Patricia as she also stood up to try and calm Zach down. "Calm down!! Calm down Patricia?! That....devil killed our Dad! He is a murderer! And he deserves to be punished!!" Yelled Zach. "And he will get punished Zach! I am going to make sure that he pays for what he did to this family! But acting irrationally won't solve the problem and it definitely won't bring us justice! So please calm down ok!" Said Patricia. Zach did not reply but ruffled his hair in frustration and anger, and then he sat down with a loud grunt and buried his head in his hands.

"So what's the plan?" Patricia turned to the voice that asked the question and she met Alisha's face staring intently at her whilst her eyes were burning with obvious rage. Patricia sighed and replied, "Well....you heard what Dad said. I have to become a derby racer in order to get the rest of the hard drives with the evidence against Montenegra. Nicole and I have already seen the evidence in the hard drive that I found in the golden box. It seems Montenegra is actually stealing money from the betting zones by tampering with the results of the game. For example if the majority of people bet towards the winning of one racer, he would threaten, blackmail or bribe that racer to lose the race so that those people would lose their money and he would acquire it since the people would have used his platform for betting or one of his illegal betting clubs. He is also using the platform to hack into the participants' bank accounts to steal 2% of their money from the banks. 2% may sound small but think about the billions of people across the world using his platform for betting and bidding for derby races. He is making trillions of dollars. Dad managed to acquire some software information about those illegal activities and he stored them in the hard drives. He also found evidence about some derby racers involved in Montenegra's illegal activities. There are many of them and some are even involved in the drug production and distribution. Since derby racing is the world's most exciting sport with a lot of supporters, it is the perfect cover to do illegal things, since no one quickly suspects any chances of foul play. And the authorities know that if they try to poke their noses in the game, there are big lions and tigers that support it and could tear them apart if they try to do anything...." explained Patricia. "That's why Dad wants you to become a derby racer! So that you can become part of the game and you can get involved in the ruse incognito! The bastards will think that you are one of them and they get to involve you in their dealings... whilst you will be gathering evidence against them, to bring them down. That is a brilliant plan!! " interrupted Alisha and she stood up from her seat excitedly. "No!! That is a terrible plan!!" Exclaimed Zach and he took a deep breath and continued, "What if you get caught! Don't forget that our Dad was once a derby racer and also involved with Ricardo Montenegra. Montenegra must know about us. He knows who we are! So he is definitely going to get suspicious if you become a derby racer like Dad. He is going to know that we are up to something and boom!! Patricia will be gone too just like Dad! So no! This idea is terrible and I am not going to support it!!" "Relax Zach. Yes Montenegra knows about us but he doesn't know that we know the truth behind Dad's death. The whole reason why he had Dad killed during the derby race it was to stage it as an accident so no one would suspect anything..even us." said Patricia. "But what about what Dad said? That Montenegra discovered that he was snopping around. Don't you think that he might have discovered that Dad was investigating him and also had evidence against him and that he might have told us about it." Zach reasoned.

"If that were true Zach do you think that all of us would be standing right here, right now in this room, alive?" Said Alisha. "Well that makes total sense.." said Zach and he slumbed in his seat and sighed and said, "But still it's a bad idea". "But it's the only plan we have. Unless if you have a better one, which you obviously don't", said Alisha and she stared at Zach with a mocking gaze. Zach glared at Alisha but did not say anything. " Ok you two that's enough. We promised each other not to fight anymore so knock it off. (Sigh), Nicole and I have a plan and it is already in motion and we are going to need the two of you to cooperate but not get too involved understood." Said Patricia. Both Alisha and Zachariah grunted in agreement and the same time. "Ok good. I will fill in on what you need to do when the time is right. Right now I have something that I need to take care of but we will continue this conversation later. But for now you can go and finish settling in your rooms and we can talk later." Said Patricia and she went and stood between her siblings and said, "I love you guys and I am sorry I didn't say it much. This time I promise you will it from me every day ok." Alisha did not say anything but she enveloped Patricia in a hug and said, "I am sorry too Sis. For being such a pain in the back but I am glad you finally decided to tell us the truth. I love you too Sis and I am sorry I never get to say it enough." Patricia felt tears flowing down her cheeks and she hugged Alisha tighter and Zach also stood and went and hugged his two sisters and said, " I love you too guys. And I am sorry I never said it enough before but I promise this time it is going to change." The siblings hugged each other to feel their love and support for each other. The precious moment lasted for minutes until it was time for Zach and Alisha to go and finish settling into the house.

But before Alisha could leave, Patricia called out to her and asked her to stay behind. "What's up Sis. What do you need?" Asked Alisha. "I want to ask you something. I never got to ask how you found out about Jonathan's misdeeds. So tell me about it. How long did you know?" Asked Patricia as she took a seat on the sofa at the office's lounging area. Alisha went and also took a seat on another sofa and faced Patricia and she began, "Well I discovered the truth that day when you came back from the school field trip you partook in at the University. You know that trip where you and your students went to Teak Mountain in Phillips. You took me to Jonathan's house so that we could have dinner there with him. But he refused to have dinner with us at his house but opted to eat out at a restaurant but suddenly canceled it after he got a call from work and we ended up not having dinner with him after all. I became a little suspicious. So in order to protect you from a cheating liar. I secretly sneaked into his bedroom when he was still talking to you. And I inserted my secret camera, you know the one that I bought in order to catch the thief that was stealing my study books at school. So I inserted it and left before any one could see me. So that's why two days after I asked you to let us go back to his house and visit him again. I wanted to retrieve the camera and see what I got..." and she stopped talking. Patricia looked at her and asked, "So...what did you see?"

Alisha did not reply but took out her phone and tapped it for a few moments and handed it over to Patricia and said, "See for yourself."

Patricia saw a video of Jonathan being bedded by a lot of people most especially men and all the dirty, shameful, horrific things he was told to do by them. "Wait!! Is that...Simon Murray!!!" Exclaimed Patricia after recognizing one of the men bedding Jonathan. "Yep. I couldn't believe it myself when I saw it." Said Alisha. "Wow!! I can't believe this? I guess that's the reason why he dupped me before he even saw my resume when I went with Jonathan to apply for a job at Dominic Law firm. That disgusting pig is Jonathan's lover?" And she scowled her face in disgust. Until a small smile started appearing on her lips. She then stopped playing the video and said, " Ali....I...have a mission for you." Alisha leaned in her seat and said, "I am listening". " Mmmm...how would you like to be part of the mission that I like to call 'Dirtbag-scum payback' and make someone regret ever crossing the line with the Miltons.." said Patricia and her smile became wider. Alisha grinned and said, "This is going to be fun.."