Chapter 1

My name is Lawrence Dominic. I am an old man, eighty-two this autumn. Now, I am looking at a picture and remembering my life. All my life I have never forgotten that night, fifty-seven, years ago. On the dark, quiet night, I could hear a breath of wind. My curiosity got the better of me and I walked up the stairs. That was the beginning of our story.
On the evening of July 21, there was something not the same as usual in the Ivan’s villa. A young man—Rex Thomas—was in the last room at the left side on the second floor. His legs and hands were tied together and his eyes were covered by a piece of black cloth. I went up to the room and opened the door out of curiosity.
It was dark inside. I went in, turned on the light, and closed the door. Then I walked near to him, and looked at him carefully. He was good-looking. Though I couldn’t see his eyes, his face charmed me. It was so quiet in the room, because I didn’t say a word to him. Suddenly, he broke the stillness.
“Who are you? Where am I?” he asked.
I didn’t answer his question, but my eyes were still on him.
He kept silent for ten seconds, then asked again, “Do you want money from my dad? How much do you want?”
I didn’t give an answer but my eyes never left him. For the first time, I had interest in a man. His calm voice surprised me. I never saw a hostage is as calm as him. “Is he often kidnapped? How he can be so calm?” I asked myself.
“What a dirty trick!” His angry voice broke the quiet again.
I didn’t reply and turned to go. Then, I walked down the stairs to look for Ivan. Ivan was my boss—the leader of the biggest mafia in the country. When I walked up to him, he asked me to go with him to meet an important person. We got in his car, and the driver drove us away.
The man we were going to meet was the CEO of M International Company—Mr. Thomas. He was talented and very rich. His wife had died many years before. They only had an adopted son—Rex Thomas, whom they loved very much. These things were well known in this country. It was also the reason why Rex was in Ivan’s villa. Ivan wanted M International Company stocks.
We arrived in a hotel and went to room 1103. Mr. Thomas was already there with an angry face. “Set my son free,” he said unhappily to Ivan.
“Of course, I’d like to, but in exchange, I want 10% of your stocks,” Ivan said with a smile and took a seat.
“Is there something wrong with my hearing? You say you want 10% of my stocks? What a joke!” Mr. Thomas was very angry to hear Ivan’s words.
“Oh, Mr. Thomas. Do you think I have time to joke with you here? No, I don’t. I am very busy, you know,” Ivan replied.
“Don’t ask too much. I can give you money but never stock.” His face turned dark.
“Sorry, Mr. Thomas. I think you forget something. What I never lack is money.” Ivan smiled. “Let me give you a choice, your stocks or your son.”
“You are a dirty man,” said Mr. Thomas angrily.
“Mr. Thomas, a man as clever as you should know that all a mafia leader needs to do is to do anything to get what he wants. And I am the most powerful mafia leader in this country,” Ivan replied softly.
Ivan always acted like a gentleman. He always smiled and never got angry when he was talking with the other party. However, his smile always made people angry. Sometimes people were also afraid of his smile. This was his purpose.
“The time limit is tomorrow morning. You have one night to think about it carefully. It is not difficult to choose, is it?” He smiled again.
Mr. Thomas said nothing but clenched his fists, and stared at Ivan with angry eyes.
Ivan stood up. “I wait for your call,” he said and gave a big smile. He left the room and I followed him. Then his smile disappeared.
I said nothing during this conversation. Ivan never needed me to help him in any conversation. He was good at talking and could always get what he wanted. What Ivan needed me to do was to stand beside him and protect him if anybody attacked him.
On the back way, Ivan didn’t look happy.　　I knew he was bothered by Mr. Thomas calling him a dirty man. He never let people know this, except me.
Ivan was the old leader’s son. He had become to leader four years before. People always said he was cold and scary, but, it wasn’t true. Under his cool icy expression, there was a kind heart. I knew the real Ivan was kind and lonely.
Ivan’s car stopped in front his villa. 　“Get out and wait for me in my living-room. I’ll be back soon,” he said to me.
“Don’t you need me to stay with you?” I asked.
“No, you shouldn’t,” he nodded.
“I see. Take care,” I said.
He just smiled and said, “Give the boy some food.”
“I will,” I replied and got out his car. You see, he was kind, in fact.
It was dark outside, but there was light in the room on the second floor. I walked into the room with a plate of spaghetti. “Are you the person who came in before?” he asked me.
I put the plate on the desk and walked over to him. My hands were shaking a little when I untied the piece of black cloth. I was interested to see his eyes. Under the black cloth, there were beautiful blue eyes. They were looking at me. We were watching each other, and both surprised at the other’s face. Neither of us said a word. The stillness lasted for a minute or two.
“It’s you again. I remembered the smell of your cologne from before,” he said.
“It’s me again.” I untied his hands and gave the spaghetti to him. “Take some food,” I said as kindly as I could.
“Why don’t you answer my questions?” he asked, his fifth question.
“Eat all of it, I’ll answer you,” I replied with a smile.
He didn’t eat, and turned his head.
“Don’t worry. I won’t poison you,” I said.
He stopped asking question, and ate the spaghetti. It was quiet again.
I sat beside him and watched him carefully. He was really good-looking, more beautiful than any girl, I thought. He was usually sitting on a sofa watching television at this hour, perhaps. But now he was sitting beside me and his legs were tied together. I didn’t know why, I just felt sorry for him. Then I made an unusual decision.
When he finished the spaghetti, I untied his legs. He looked at me strangely. “Knock me down and run away.” I told him.
“If I run away, what about you?” he asked. His eyes were full of questions.
“You have too many questions, and I don’t have enough time to answer them. Don’t ask me any more, just do what I ask you to do, in a hurry! You have no time to doubt,” I said. Then I drew a map for him showing him how to escape from the room. I did all of it in a hurry, because I was afraid Ivan would come back soon, and then he couldn’t escape.
However, he was still doubtful. “No, I can’t do it,” he said. “Tell me, who wanted to kidnapped me? What’s his purpose?”
“Listen! Don’t question any more! Hit me on the back of the head, hurry up!” I shouted and turned my back to him. A moment later, I felt a sharp pain and lost consciousness.


-TBC