Alyssa

The mysterious man and I held eye contact for what felt like hours but was only a few seconds. I finally broke the contact when I looked at dad struggling to get up. I helped him as Hunter stood in front of us, wanting to protect his family. Not wanting to lose us like we lost mom.

"You better get out of our way boy." One of the men said with a gruff voice. The two men were about over 6'2 and had bulky muscles. Hunter on the other hand stood at 6'0 and had muscles too but not like those men. 

"Your gonna have to go through me to get to them." Hunter said. This wasn't the funny, outgoing, annoying Hunter I knew. This Hunter was ready to do anything for us. This Hunter stood in the way of violence for us. 

Dad grabbed Hunter and pushed him towards me. I grabbed onto Hunter, not wanting him to leave my side. 

"I will get you your money. Just please don't hurt my children." said dad as he stared at who I came to think was the leader. He stood up out of his chair. His height was made clear. He towered over everyone in this room. His muscles showed and I could tell he worked out at the gym. Tattoos were on his neck and they ran down under his shirt. I wondered how old he was, he didn't look older than thirty. 

"You will have the money by the Wednesday. I'm giving you five days. If you don't have the money by then, I will be forced to do something you won't like." The older man said and with that, he walked out. The other two men soon followed.

As soon as the three men left, dad let out a breathe he was holding. Dad turned around and brought us into a hug. Closing his grip on us, he didn't let go for a while. 

"Dad." I said and his grip was loosening when he turned around and walked towards his desk. 

"Who were those men?" He sat down and ran his hand through his hair. It was quiet for a while until Hunter finally lost it. 

"Who were they?!" Dad put his head into his hands and started crying. I stood still. Not moving. I needed answers. We needed answers. 

"That was Mr. Dechart and his men. He's a billionaire who is involved in criminal activities. I owe him $100,000 but I don't have the money." Questions came to me at once. Why was dad involved with this man? Who was he? Why was he doing this? 

"How did you get involved with him?" Hunter asked and we sat down in the chairs facing dad. 

"Your grandpa was a gambler. Every night, he would go to the casino and waste away all of their money. My mom had just invested in the restaurant and was struggling to get it off the ground. One night, men paid her a visit here. She ended up borrowing money from them just to keep us afloat. They warned her that if she didn't pay back the money she borrowed, their would be repercussions. But she needed the money so she didn't care. They also said how my dad gambled away all of their money and just so happened to be in debt. My mom didn't tell me what happened after that but what I do know is that she ended up in this hospital. Dad had to come up with the money to pay for hospital expenses and pay off his debt to those men. So he began laundering money for them. 

Everything was all good until moms health started to decline and she ended up dying. My dad didn't know what to do after that so he tried to stop paying off the men until they came to visit again. They went after everyone in the family. My mom, dad, your uncles Brody, Mike, and James. Years later, dad still couldn't pay off the debt and ended up passing the restaurant down to me. I couldn't just get rid of it and go on about my life so I kept the family business alive. Dad ended up dying months later. The men stopped visiting and I thought that they forgot about his debt, until Alexa (their mom) died. They came back and started demanding I pay off the debts my parents owed."

I sat quiet. Trying to process things. My grandpa was a gambler. He lost all of their money, grandma borrowed money from men and couldn't pay it back. She ended up dying. Grandpa didn't pay off his debt and so now their back and wanting us to pay the debt from forty years ago? This is just too much to handle. 

"So what are we going to do now?" That question lingered in the air. This whole situation made me nervous. What happens when those men come back and we don't have the money? 

"I'll have to find a way to get the money before Wednesday. It's Friday, I don't have much time." 

"Dad we could try and help. I saved up some money for a couple of years. Maybe that could help." Hunter explained.

"Hunter keep your money. You guys are children. You don't have anything to do with this." Dad seemed to say but deep down, he knew that we are involved whether we like it or not. 

"How much do they want?" I ask. 

"100,000." My eyes went wide. A hundred thousand dollars. We can't just make that much money in five days. 

"I could use some of the money in my trust fund." I suggested and dad started to get angry.

"No! This is my problem and I will fix it. It's too dangerous for you guys to be involved. I couldn't live with myself is something were to happen to you both. So I've come up with a decision. You guys will go live with your uncle Brody." 

I stood up out of my chair. 

"Dad are you serious? We can't just leave you here by yourself. This is just crazy." I tried to reason with him but he wouldn't budge. 

"Kids your uncles and I have put this deal into place since your mom died. You guys will live with Brody and that's final. Please don't fight me on this. This plan is to protect you both."

I couldn't believe that one meeting could change the rest of my life... or what was left of it. Mom died now dad is sending us to move with your uncle. He's in trouble and we can't help. I feel useless. 

"When do we have to leave?" I asked. 

"Monday." Monday was in two days. Those two days felt like an eternity. My stomach started to feel queasy just thinking about it. I couldn't believe what was going on. 

We would have to leave dad behind. I wouldn't let that happen. Not now, not ever.