The speaker announcement comes on. "Roll call!"
I stand up and grab my collar,
"Zero,"
I clip it on.
"One, Two, Four..."
"Hm, I forgot about last nights little fiasco."
"At the end of this announcement, Zero is to go to the office to receive her next mission."
"d.a.m.nit, other one? I just got home."
I chance into my clothes and head to the office.
"Good morning Zero, please, come in."
I walk into mother"s office and close the door behind.
"Sit."
I do as I"m told.
"You"ve been hired to kill the head of a mafia gang. They"re called the Red Spiders. You"ll have to infiltrate they"re gang, earned their trust and kill their first leader. His name is unknown."
Mother hands me the file and I fill though it.
"And when shall I leave?"
"I"ve arranged that for you. You"ll leave in the morning. Don"t worry about packing a bag. You"ll be staying with one of the members of the gang who wants the leader dead too."
"So you expect me to gain the trust of one of top three most brutal gangs, live with one of the men, and kill their leader?"
She nods,
"It shouldn"t take any longer than four months."
I stand up to leave but she stops me,
"Oh and Zero, before I forget, you"ll have no kind of communication with us. You"ll have to do this alone."
I nod,
"Very well mother."
***
Just like any other day, I clip my collar on and read my book.
"Zero, please report to the parlor."
"There"s my que."
I put my belongings away and head downstairs.
"Zero, this is Ricardo."
The man standing in front of the blue jeep wrangler stares at me.
He"s wearing a pair of black pants and a tight shirt that shows off his muscular physique. He"s quite handsome.
"Ah, h.e.l.lo Ms. Zero," he holds out his hand for me to shake.
"Zero is just fine."
I turn to my mother,
"I"ll return once my mission is complete mother."
"I know child, you always do."
She walks back up the stairs of the giant house and slams the door behind her.
"Let"s go."
I walk around the car and get into the pa.s.senger side.
"So, that"s your mom? You don"t really look that much alike."
"..."
I don"t respond.
"You ever been on a plane, Zero?"
"You talk to much."
He looks at me in the overhead mirror.
"So i"ve been told. I mean, you won"t speak to me."
"Fine, no she isn"t my biological mother and no, i"ve never been on a plane."
"Now we"re getting somewhere. So, if she isn"t your real mom, then where is she?"
I clench my jaw,
"Oh, uh, you don"t have to answer that."
We ride in silence until he pulls into an airport.
***
"How long will we be on this plane?"
He flashes his perfect smile at me,
"About 7 to 8 hours. Why?"
"I..."
I look away from him,
"I don"t like heights."
He reaches over me and closes the window,
"There, now you"ve got nothing to be afraid of."
I eventually get some shut eye and before I know it, we"re landing.
***
"Is this really necessary?" I ask in an annoyed voice.
He nods,
"If you wanna pa.s.s for one of us, you"ll have to dress like us."
He hands me a pair of shorts and a crop top. The outfit itself isn"t bad, it"s just something i"d never wear.
"Well, hop to it lady. We don"t have all day."
I change out of my clothes and open the curtains.
"Well, do I look the part?"
I looks me up and down and I feel my heart skip a beat.
"What the h.e.l.l was that?!"
"Wow, you look, incredible."
I roll my eyes,
"Let"s get going. I still wanna meet the gang."
"After you."
He pays the woman at the counter and walks closely behind me. Outside of the store, a all black Suburban with tinted windows pulls into the lot.
"There"s our ride."
He opens the door for me and I climb inside. There are two other men inside of the car when we get inside.
"Ricardo, ¿quién es esta mujer increíblemente s.e.xy?"
"Esto es Cero. Ella es nuestro nuevo miembro, ella se quedará en el penthouse."
"Penthouse huh, he must be more important than I thought."
I poke his arm,
"Ricardo, do you think we"ll there soon?"
I place my hand in between my legs,
"I really have to pee."
I whisper in his ear.
He laughs,
"Yeah mami, we"re pulling up now."
I look out of the window and sure enough, there"s a ginormous mansion. It"s far larger than mothers.
"Hey girl, you speak spanish?" The man in the front seat asks me.
"Fluently. Why?"
"So you knew what I was saying aye?"
I nod,
"I didn"t speak because it wasn"t my place to respond."
"Mhm, good answer. Now get the h.e.l.l out of my car and Ricardo, take her to her room."
"Oh yeah, this is gonna be a s.h.i.t show."