His Promise: The Mafia’s Babies by C. Tamika
Chapter 250

Chapter 250

Chapter 250

Marvin

“Marvin!”

I looked at my younger brother, Santiago, who ran into the visitation room and flew into my arms. No,he wasn’t ten-years-old, he was twenty-one but tented to behave like a toddler.

“What’s up, Santiago!” I greeted him and pulled him into an embrace. The last time I’d seen him outsideof this place was a week before his seventeenth birthday. “Let me take a good look at you.” I smiled athim.

“Look!” Tiago spoke with open arms. He stood in a proud stance and waited for me to praise him. “I amlooking. You look healthy!”

I looked behind Tiago and nodded at Panther. He wasn’t only a great asset to the family but also mybodyguard and my best friend. He was more than a best friend. He was like my brother:

He protected Tiago, just as he promised, and when I got out of here, he would be the first one to get abig reward.

My name is Marvin Romero Castillo. I’m 25-years old, and I’m the son of the head of the Castillo cartel,Mario Castillo. The Castillo’s were in charge of California and the most powerful cartel in the area.

We had people from all over and were still growing day by day.

“Marvin.” Panther laughed. “You’ve gained weight!

I looked down at my still-toned abs and wondered what kind of bullshit Panther was on. “The food isn’ttoo bad, so I can’t complain.”

“Of course, it isn’t bad.” Panther spoke. “We’ve made sure you get full course meals.”

It was no lie. The Castillo’s had connections everywhere, so I didn’t have a difficult time at all. It wasmore like an extended vacation, but I was glad that I was here and not Santiago.

All of this happened four years ago. Because of a rat in the business, the DEA closed in on us andruined one of our transports. It was Santiago’s first job, so he freaked out and accidentally killed anofficer.

I did what got expected of me and took the blame for my brother’s mistake. I ignored my father’srequest to let someone else take the fall and took responsibility. It might’ve broken the family, but Tiagowas free, and at the end of the day, that was all that mattered.

Tiago wasn’t made for this world and wouldn’t survive a day within this prison, so I decided to do it forhim.

“He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. You’re still in good shape!” Tiago defended me and attackedme into another hug. I ruffled my hand through his hair. “Thanks, Tiago.”

“No touching!” The officer suddenly called out. I pulled away and turned to the man who was way toosoft to be in here, Stanfield.

“My bad, boss.” I chuckled at him.

Even though Stanfield was an officer, he was alright. The inmates used to see him as an easy targetand liked to bully him, but everything changed when I got involved. I convinced the other Castillo’s toprotect

Stanfield, while Stanfield gave me several privileges such as more free time than the other inmates andunlimited access to the computer rooms.

“Sit.” I told Tiago and Panther. They followed my instructions and sat down. “How are you? How aremom, dad, Karina?” I asked Tiago. It was always good to have someone visit.

Tiago shot me a smile and gave me a nod. “They are all doing good.” He spoke. “Dad’s been a dad.He’s been giving me a hard time, as always.””

That was no surprise. Mario Castillo was a strict and ruthless man and the reason why the familybusiness became untouchable. He came from nothing and worked his way up, and he wanted us to dothe same.

Tiago was different from me and my younger sister, Karina. Tiago was kind, soft, and polite. He couldn’tfight, he couldn’t even pull a trigger, and he couldn’t even stick up for himself. He shot and killed anofficer by mistake, and that was his only wrongdoing.

A failure, son.

That’s what my dad used to call him, but I liked to think otherwise. Tiago’s kind and pure personalitywas the one thing that had kept our family together. He was the light we needed in this dark family.

He had a difficult time after killing that DEA officer, but he picked himself back up and became astronger

person.

“How about mom?” I asked. While both parents had no issues showing they preferred me, mom andTiago had gotten closer. “Mom is organizing the wedding. She’s been driving Anya crazy.”

“That’s right, just two more weeks.”

Tiago being Tiago, had plans to marry his high-school sweetheart, Anya. She was a nice girl, and I washappy for him. He was getting married to a normal girl who did not have any ties to the cartel, and Icouldn’t be any more proud. It was time for him to lead his own life.

“I’m sorry I can’t be there.” I apologized. It was what I wanted the most, but I had no other choice.

“That’s fine. You’ll be out soon-that’s all that matters. Tiago reassured me. Luckily there was notenough evidence to hold me in prison any longer, which meant all of this would soon be over. It wouldonly be a matter of time before my charge would get dismissed. I only had to survive this place for sixmore weeks.

“So, what have you been up to?” Panther asked.

“Laine told me he signed you up for some sort of prison pen pal. What’s the deal with that?”

I rolled my eyes and let out an exhausted breath. It was never my intention to sign myself up for thatkind of program, but our family lawyer, Laine, told me that it could be seen as a sign of good behavior.

“You should see the messages people are sending me.” I spoke as I thought about the messages,which were either too formal or too thirsty, which was mainly the reason why I decided to ignore all ofthem.

Why would I, Marvin Romero, talk to these random citizens?

If anything, those emails were just like a piece of comedy to me. I hadn’t checked my message board inover two weeks and was done laughing. I had more important stuff to worry about, for example, the factthat I was getting out.

I was about to attack him with harsh words, but everything changed when I saw the look on Tiago’sface. “Just listen to Panther, Mary.” He spoke. “You should at least work along and reply to one person.”

“Fine. I gave in. “I’ll take a look at that damn message board and send something back.”

“See.” Panther spoke with a mischievous smirk on his lips. “You know, people should be grateful evento be talking to you.”

“True.” Tiago agreed. “You should at least send one back for the looks of it, don’t you think?”

“I said, fine!” I repeated myself yet another time. “What’s the situation with the Hernandez?” I whisperedso no one could hear us. We used to split California with the Hernandez cartel, but everything gotscrewed up after the DEA caught us.

It was the day both cartels lost their transport and the day Tiago shot the DEA officer.

They blamed us for setting it up to get rid of them, which had caused us to stop working together.“What’s the plan for when I get out of here? You know they’ll try to start some shit.”

Panther shrugged it off and gave me a dismayed look. “The issue with you is that you overthinkPanther spoke, but I could see the worry behind his eyes. I bet the only reason why he was hiding itwas because of Santiago’s presence.

“How are they treating you in here? Are they trying to get to you, or is it still peaceful?” Santiago asked,worried. I looked at Panther, whose look told me to lie to my brother’s face, so I did. “It’s quite peacefularound here.”

The truth was that the Hernandez men had been eyeing me since the moment I stepped foot in thisplace, but making a move would’ve been stupid because I was surrounded by the Castillo’s all the time.

“How is Anya doing?” I asked Tiago and watched as his face lit up. He could rant about Anya and thewedding all day, and it was almost fascinating to me. The time passed by quickly while I listened toTiago’s rant, and before we knew it, the time was already over.

“Maybe we should talk about something other than Anya for once!” Panther scolded Tiago and gavehim a push against his head. “It’s fine,” I reassured them as I got up. “I like Anya.”

The main reason why she got accepted into this family was because she was polite and quiet. Sheknew what was going on, but she kept her mouth shut and minded her business. She was the perfectexample of an ideal daughter-in-law.

Tiago gave me one last hug. “Anya likes you too, and it’s mainly because her sister-in-law has beengiving her a hard time.”

“I can imagine.” I sighed. My younger sister Karina could be a pain in the ass and could not stand itwhenever someone else became the center of attention. Rumor had it she scratched Tiago in his facethe day he was born.

“Teatime is over, ladies,” Stanfield called out. I looked down at Panther’s clenched fists and shook myhead. Stanfield could be a pain in the ass, but I liked his personality. He was like my puppy. The onlyissue was that he was in denial.

“Make sure to take care of everyone,” I told Panther. “And don’t let Karina do anything stupid to ruinTiago’s big day.”

“Oh, trust me, she won’t,” Tiago spoke and looked at Panther for confirmation. “I got you, boss.”Panther smiled at me. “See you!”

I watched as Panther and Tiago walked off and smiled at Stanfield, who stood right beside me. Hepulled me along and patted me down. “I bet you wished to replace something on me.” I teased, whileStanfield ignored me.

“It’s time for you to go back into your cage.” He spoke as he pushed my back to make me start walking.

“Yes, boss,”

“Actually.” I began. “How about you bring me to the computer room?” I politely requested. “There’ssomething I have to take care of.“

Stanfield let out a growl and changed our direction. Even if he wanted to say something, he couldn’tbecause he knew I helped him when he needed it the most. He knew the inmates would’ve beaten himto minced meat if it wasn’t for me.

“You’re a true annoyance, did you know that?” He complained. He was always acting tough, but behindthat tough act was so much more. He was not cut out to work here, he was as nervous as a cat, butsomehow he still managed to feel comfortable around me. It wouldn’t be too far stretched to say that itwas most likely because of my outgoing personality.

“Just a few minutes, Castillo,” Stanfield ordered as he opened the door to let me through. I nudgedsome of the familiar guys and made my way over to my usual spot so that I could check my messageboard. It was the only computer with WiFi.

I scrolled through the pictures and read every single message, but none of them seemed to interestme. I had no desire for any therapy sessions, and for some reason, it seemed like that was what thesepeople were out to give me.

I looked at one last profile and noticed the message had been on the board for about two weeks.

Elena Torres.

I zoomed in on her picture to take a better look at her face and scrunched my nose in approval. Shewas definitely one of the better-looking people, so replying to her wouldn’t hurt. I clicked on her emailand took a look at her message.

“Hi, Marvin!

My name is Lena **

Just like you, I’m also from San Diego.

I saw your profile on the message board and read you needed someone to talk to

Guess what? I can be that someone!

If you would like to talk and are up for a challenge, I would like for you to solve this riddle

What kind of bars won’t keep a prisoner in jail?

“Is this a joke?” I whispered in disbelief. She typed like a pre-schooler and even had the nerve to let mesolve some silly riddle. What was up with all the emojis?

For some reason, I couldn’t stop myself and leaned forward while I thought of a solid answer.

“Boss!” I called out. Stanfield frowned his eyebrows and walked towards me.

“Finished?” He asked, but I shook my head and told him to come over.

“Boss, what kind of bars won’t keep a prisoner in jail?”

Stanfield placed his hands in his hips and went into deep thoughts. “The only correct answer to thatquestion is chocolate bars.” He concluded. “Chocolate bars?” I laughed out loud while all the otherguys joined me.

“Hey!” Stanfield yelled out. “You better quit laughing, or playtime is over!”

“Thanks, man.” I smiled at Stanfield and focused my attention back onto the screen. I guess it wasabout time to send someone a message in return and the unfortunate victim was the one who wasbrave enough to send me a riddle.

Elena Torres.

Hi Lena,

It’s good to talk to someone from San Diego.

It took me some time to get back, and I would like to apologize for that, but I’m a bit shocked.

This is not quite what I meant when I said I needed someone to talk to, and I’m a bit confused as towhy you would send me a prison riddle,’ but so be it.

You asked me if I knew what kind of bars

won’t keep a prisoner in jail.

The answer to that corny question is obviously chocolate bars. Even though the riddle was a bit weak,the intentions were definitely there, and you’ve caught my attention.

I think it’s only fair for me to ask you something in return. I was very intrigued by not only your way oftalking but also your use of emojis, so I just have to ask. How old are you?

Marvin