Resurrection

by Michael Clements

  “Nobody could compare with Phoebe.” He removed his shirt. “You filled this closet with formal attire just for tonight?”

  “Some of our people donated extras for you to choose from. They’re washed.”

  Ethan put on a white collared shirt. “She was loved and feared.”

  “And what am I?”

  “Neither. People don’t take you seriously. Nobody outside the family, at least.”

  That word resonated. Neither. In a way, it stung, but she opted to ignore it.

  She leaned forward, lifting her arms and left leg up, balancing on one foot, then the base of her toes. For years she practiced this. As she watched Ethan try on formal clothes, she tried to hold that position. “That’s my favorite,” she said, dropping back down to her full foot, but still leaning. The comment referred to a tux Ethan had just put on – one of a silvery-gray. “That’s Michael’s. Seems to fit you just fine.” She switched her standing foot.

  “Smells like his, too. Would you like me to wear this, sis?”

  Lilith smiled wide. She almost lost balance for a second. “Yeah. You guys have similar build. Plus, you look good in it.”

  “What’s this meeting about? The recurring riots?”

  “What else?”

  “Don’t know,” Ethan replied. He finished putting on the full wardrobe – dress pants with Michael’s silver-tinted tuxedo, but dismissing the tie. “Not sure how often the Ladies hold meetings.”

  “Dire situations, primarily,” said Lilith. “Last conference was directly before Tabitha offed Mom.” He turned around, and Lilith saw him in his full splendor. Still weak and frail, but he looked so handsome, like that cute, yet fierce, little boy she grew with. She forced herself to keep composure. “Ever wonder how Tabitha did it? Mom was always so cautious and smart.”

  “If crazed lunatics can shoot the President, experienced assassins can –”

  “Yes, I get it, Ethan. Just thinking out loud. It just seemed too easy; all I was saying.”

  Ethan slumped down against the wall, probably scraping some wall paint onto the expensive outerwear. “Are you trying to prepare yourself in case someone’s planning to kill you tonight? You going to beat them up?”

  “Mom wasn’t killed until the night of the last meeting. But, no, I’m always cautious. What we don’t know is usually what gets us killed. I’m always mindful of my surroundings.” She started to hum a tune to herself. It helped keep her body in a fluid motion as she began to slow dance. “More important than your surroundings is knowing what others are thinking. Reading people is the most useful skill in life.”

  Ethan snickered. “What do you read in me?”

  Lilith stopped abruptly. “Interesting question. Funny you’d ever need to ask.”

  “How so?”

  “We shared a womb, Ethan. For the first nine years – no, ten years – of our lives we shared a bed. Point is, we know each other inside-out, backwards and blindfolded at this point.”

  Ethan “Mhmm. True to an extent,” he said, coughing. “Still, I’d like to know what you read in me.”

  She smiled, affectionately examining him. Lightly, keeping grace, she drifted up to him. Then she dropped to her knees and planted a kiss on his head. She stared into his eyes. “A king-sized death wish,” she said. “And it breaks my heart every time I see it.”

  Ethan looked at her, like an examiner studying an artifact. “Maybe you shouldn’t look in my eyes, then.”

  “What do you see in me?” she asked.

  “…Too much.”

  Part of her immensely desired very much to know his meaning, but the rest of her objected to inquiring about it. Did he suspect something? Did he blame her for something? Did he mean something loving or spiteful? Looking at his withered frame, hearing the weak breathing, pity befell her once again. “Whatever’s eating away at you… Maybe it’s one thing, maybe it’s everything… I hope you overcome it. I want you happy. I want all of us happy, and safe.”

  Ethan simply nodded, but while turning his head away from her. She helped him stand. She checked her watch and saw it was time to leave.

  –––––––

  First through the detectors were her bodyguards, Ethan behind them. She ordered that no one arrive unarmed, which made it come as a surprise when nothing was detected on Ethan. He always had a blade of some variety on his person, like how Michael always carried a gun. Ethan had nothing to put in the bin, versus Michael, Dwight and Shane who arrived heavy in armor and firepower.

  Lilith wore tight jeans with a tank top, and hadn’t bothered with a bra, which drew everyone’s eyes as she passed through the detector. She led her boys to their side of the room. “Good morning, ladies.” She looked at the captains and guards, a fair mix of men and women. “And gentlemen…”

  “Think you’re a bit underdressed?” asked Carrie, an expression of anger in her face. It seemed to be her normal, relaxed facial expression.

  “Not at all. You’re just overdressed.”

  Dante rose, a nervous shake in his hands. His neck soaked the collar of his tux.

  Strange, for Dante to be so unnerved. He had the most protection in the room. Ten guards at least, versus Carrie’s four, and Lilith’s own four. Lilith recognized the colossuses behind Dante; the same ones who shadowed Tabitha. She suspected those men would have died for Tabitha, had they been present that fateful day. Dante, though, didn’t command such devotion. These men were partially distracted. While their jobs were to observe potential threats for their boss, some were staring at Lilith’s body. She mentally noted this…

  “Ladies,” the boss began, clearing his throat. “Thank you for agreeing to meet. Shame that circumstances have changed. My being here, Phoebe’s absence, Scarlet’s absence…” Lilith chuckled. “As I’m sure your informants have reported, a second wave of war has hit the city. I say we … propose ideas as to how to address this situation. I’ll start…” He cleared his throat, adjusting his collar as he examined at his notes on the table. “The region has been restored for the most part, save for certain groups and areas continuing to be in open rebellion. For those who have been cooperating, there is protection and available work. The infrastructure’s been mostly repaired, and life is starting to return to normal, even if most of the country still isn’t in equally stable condition. Now, ladies, I know outsiders see us as nothing but criminals. Manipulators, cold-blooded killers … hypocrites. Of course, they’re wrong. We’re families. Husbands, wives, parents, children, grandchildren, cousins…” He cleared his throat again. “Given that fact, I propose we, as a collective, do everything in our power to end the chaos that threatens our loved ones. There are too many sides and too many grudges. If for only the time being, we should ally with the troops. Simplify the situation, stand with the side of peace and order. That’s my proposal.”

  Carrie stood, and all eyes turned toward her. “Fine proposal, Mr. Loper. Now that we’ve heard a proposal from the Verbeck family, I can’t wait to hear what brilliant ideas the whore has.”

  “Careful, woman,” said Lilith, smiling. She felt nothing from the insult. “This whore has dangerous customers.” Detecting a twitch from Ethan, she dug a couple finger nails into his leg to order him calm.

  Carrie addressed the bosses. “I have a fairly lengthy proposal, so hold tight, kids. Our enemy is no less an enemy as before. These jobs Dante spoke of… They’re mandatory labor with work days lasting twelve or more hours, and with limited rest times. Best of all, it rewards the same food portion to everyone, which is a single ration card per day. The people aren’t even permitted to grow their own food, unless it’s given to the armed forces, and their own portions remain the same. It’s true that Portland’s lesser gangs have allied with the troops, but for us to do so would be a disgrace.”

  Dante angrily interjected. “Remain enemies? Do you not remember what nearly destroyed us? Civil war. We fought each other, which never happened before. Why can’t we reach a compromise for the sake of tens o
f thousands of lives?”

  “Sure,” said Carrie, “a civil war among our families, started by your boss. Not only did Tabitha murder an invaluable ally, but she weakened all of us. We’re all less than we were.”

  “That’s because she wanted to destroy our establishment outright.”

  “Tabitha allied with the troops. A whore to the feds and cops. She deserved to die in her own bed, and for that I thank you, Dante, but what I won’t do is side with the very people who tore this country apart in the first place.” She paused. For a confident woman, who always had the backing of the city’s minorities, she seemed relatively afraid to say what she said next: “I ordered the attacks against the Colonel. There have been, and will be more. But I have good purpose. If the people hadn’t demanded it, I would have stayed out of it too. Civilian leaders have been requesting to speak to me since this war began. Lilith, the same has happened with you, right?”

  Lilith shrugged.

  “Nobody hears the cries of the people like we do, Dante. You spend too much of your time in luxurious penthouses and high-rise buildings to hear anything happening down here, but it’s true. It’s our job to end this war, but we have to end it right. With the right side winning. That’s us. However, this won’t be easy. This won’t work so long as we’re divided. I suggest we elect a Boss of Bosses, only until the conflict has subsided and we–”

  Lilith laughed. “Cute,” she said, looking directly at Carrie. “You’ve been at this since before I was born, yet you’re still… so… naïve.”

  Glaring, Carrie said, “You wanna run that by me again?”

  “Yeah. I said you’re naïve. If you need that played a third time, I’ll charge you an hour’s wages. Ha!”

  “Have it your way, little whore. You got any better ideas?”

  “You keep calling me that. Have I offended you?”

  “What have you contributed apart from throwing raves and purchasing extra drug shipments, while the rest of us are struggling to feed our neighborhoods.”

  Lilith laughed again. “No one in this room has a single starving child. We’re pretty well off, I’d say. Don’t feign concern Carrie. ‘Boss of bosses?’ You can’t be serious. If you’re trying to achieve the ultimate power, you should at least attempt to be more subtle.”

  “Again, let’s hear your idea, or shut the fuck up.”

  Lilith held down her brother, who was heating up more every instance that Carrie spoke. “It’s simple,” she said to both Carrie and Dante. “We wait. Try to look past your bloated holier-than-thou complex, Carrie, and see my behavior as of late for what it is. I’m biding my time, as the rest of you should do. Dante was correct in pointing out the obvious: there are just too many sides to this conflict. No one is willing to listen, and no one is willing to back down. One is far less likely to piss off the wrong people if they simply mind their own business. I suggest that’s what you all do until this problem subsides on its own. Even forest fires can’t burn forever.” Lilith rose, smacking her brother to stand with her. “I have plenty of clubs in my territory for you all to kill some good time in. And now that my Aunt Scarlet has surrendered her territory to me, I have those clubs as well. They’ve radically improved since January. Never a shortage of liquor at my clubs. If you want to keep your loved ones safe, take my advice everyone, and back off.”

  Carrie hissed, “Phoebe allowed this to succeed her?”

  Lilith stopped right in her tracks. “I have more vision than the rest of you combined. Have a good night.”

  Her men were ahead and behind her. Their vehicles were immediately outside the cellar in an alley. Lilith said to Dwight from across the alley as Michael opened her door, “Call my boys. Tell them to meet me at the house.”

  –––––––

  “Dante has defected,” said Lilith.

  Shane was twirling a pencil between his fingers. “He’s pulling a Tabitha?”

  “More or less.”

  Lilith was situated at the head of the table, where Phoebe had sat before. Ethan was seated in his usual spot, to her right. Shane to her left, and all the rest of ‘the boys’ sat in the other five chairs. Wally sat at the other end, with Art and ‘Sully’ to his sides, while Cameron sat to Ethan’s right.

  These men were all longtime friends of Lilith, having served her since before she rose to power. They were loyal, and they were ruthless – Lilith’s greatest use for them. Sometimes her tasks were too sensitive to be trusted to anyone but them. They were not members of the family, but on the rare occasion she required them, they dropped everything to serve her again. Lilith always found them easier to speak to than those whom she grew up with as authority figures, like Michael and Phoenix. The Krohns weren’t strangers to dealing with marks, but Lilith trusted her boys most, and believed them more competent than any member of the family, or allies. Cameron, she often forgot about, despite seeing him somewhat frequently. She gained Cameron shortly following Marcus Solomon’s defeat. He was the newest, but equally as effective as the veterans.

  “Great,” commented Shane to the new. “Two betrayals from the same family,” he added, tossing his pencil into the air and letting it land on the floor. “Well, now that that’s out of the way, when’s the party next door? I’ve been working on my one-liners.”

  “I’m not in the mood for your jokes right now, Shane.”

  “Sorry. But seriously, when is it?”

  “An hour. My brother and I won’t be attending, though. Now, will you take this meeting seriously?”

  Shane’s smiled shrunk. “I am, boss. I apologize. It was an immature way to bring up an important matter. And here’s the matter: You’ve been a lot less active in the public eye lately. The troops are becoming suspicious. I don’t know what your end game with this ‘not being taken seriously’ thing is, but… Ploys only go so far. You’ve asked us to portray you in a certain light with all the rest of our relations, but people are starting to pick up on the fact you’re not as incompetent as you want them to think.”

  “Your men report this?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “They suspect I’m up to something?”

  Shane nodded.

  “Well, let me worry about that. None of that will matter anymore soon, anyway.”

  Ethan slouched back in his chair, sighing loudly. “So, how do you know about Dante?”

  “Many ways – intuition, body language… Besides, he would never wait for a green light from the commission. Trouble is, Dante has the backing of the troops.”

  “Won’t be difficult to change that,” said Wally, adjusting his glasses as he read information from the sheet in front of him. Then he said, “From what I hear, they’re using him, not protecting him. If Dante’s turned on us, are you going to sit this out too, or did you call us here to help you deal with him?”

  “In the public’s eye, I’m continuing my activities as usual. As long as Alexander and his Colonels don’t suspect anything, now is the time to move. But I only trust you boys with this information. I don’t trust my family. Someone always leaks.”

  Ethan, scowling hesitated a moment then asked, “You’re marking Dante?”

  Lilith nodded and Ethan’s face sunk. “Can I count you in, little brother?

  “I’m with you.”

  “Alright, then.” She examined the information on the table before her. “Now, there’s an additional thing I need taken care of the same day we carry this out. Michael, Phoenix, and Dwight will have nothing to do with Dante. To make sure everything transpires seamlessly, we need to plan every last detail.”

  Ethan leaned forward. “If you take out Dante, you’ll leave a power vacuum.”

  “That’s part of what we’re about to discuss, Ethan.”

  “What about the other families? If we –”

  “Ethan!” Silence filled the room. “I’ll ask you again, little brother. Are you on board? You’re making me doubt.”

  Gathering his breath, Ethan answered, “I told you I’m in. Wh
y don’t you believe me?”

  “Sounds like you’re conjuring excuses to stop the mission.”

  He shook his head. “Don’t accuse me of that. I’m not.”

  Lilith studied him a moment. Despite continuing to feel a little uneven, she said, “Fine. Let’s get started here…”

  GHOST

  FEBRUARY 1993

  Nearly four months had passed since the night they ventured into exile. Not only had Pops proved to be a reliable aide, but others, namely kids their age, as well. Just as Pops had an abundance of clients, those clients had an abundance of offspring. Best of their acquired friends was Shane, who in short time figured out the scheme, and was on board with being of any help he could. For the first month, Ethan attempted to keep his distance from everyone, Pops and Shane included. It seemed easier for Eva; she never cared for friends even when life was normal.

  As time passed, sleeping outside in the cold became more difficult than keeping emotional distance from other people. By that time, he was almost willing to trust and open up to people rather than remain in the cold safely away from them.

  Shane could be like a brother, and maybe Pops could be like a father. He didn’t feel he appreciated Eva much anymore, but knew it could have been because he never felt there was risk he’d ever lose her in any way. Shane had a sister, Sarah, who seemed cool and easy to talk to, but Ethan didn’t want to make Eva jealous, like he was trying to replace her, so he avoided Sarah when possible. Eva’s jealousy triggered whenever Ethan spoke to anyone, really. He couldn’t blame her, because the same applied to him. He didn’t hate people; he saw the good in everyone, and was always drawn to that. Eva never hesitated to remind him that they were betrayed by their own family, twice – once by their father, again by their brother. That didn’t birth Ethan’s distrust for people in general, though, it only seemed to increase his animosity toward males. Still, Shane and Pops seemed decent, so for the time being, he at least didn’t antagonize them.