The cold war 24

Chapter 2 - A lamb to the slaughter

“So, are you going to tell me what happened, last night”? Irina asked Ben as they went through their morning aerobics routine together.

Ben looked up, “there’s nothing to tell”, he quickly replied before looking away.

“Oh, come on, Bunny, you can’t fool me”, Irina shot back, “you couldn’t stop grinning when you got back home last night, and you can try all you like to cover that mark on your neck with your hair, but I know a hickey when I see one”.

Ben lifted his feminine looking hand to the side of his neck defensively, “well... we... ok, maybe there was a kiss”, he said bashfully.

“I knew it”, Irina announced loudly, clapping her hands together, “that’s so great, A fool could see that boy is into you, the way he's always looked and flirted with you”.

“What”? Ben said stopping what he was doing, “we were just friends, there was no flirting”.

“Ha, you don’t think I know what a man flirting with a girl he likes looks like”, Irina replied rolling her eyes, “you must have felt it”?

“Ah… I… I… don’t know, maybe", Ben replied closing his eyes, "it's all this girl stuff it's messing with my head, I’m finding it difficult to know what is real anymore”.

“Stop overthinking things, this is the 21stcentury, gender and attraction is no longer black and white,”, Irina replied stopping herself and wiping the sweat from her brow with a hand towel, “answer me this, how did it feel when you kissed him”?

“Err… well… nice I guess”, Ben replied looking away.

“Just nice? Come on you can do better than that, nice is when you kiss your grandma”, Irina shot back, “come on be honest, it’s me you’re talking to”.

“Oh... ok, I liked it”, Ben blurted out, “I mean, at first I kept telling myself it was wrong, but it just felt so… so… exciting, like riding a rollercoaster or something”.

"So, are you too, like dating now"? Irina asked playfully.

"Umm... I don't know", Ben answered, "maybe, he's taking me to dinner next Wednesday".

Irina stepped forward and threw her arms around her feminized stepbrother, “that’s really great, Bunny, I’m really so happy for you”.

“Hey, we're not getting married”, Ben said chuckling while playfully pushing her away, “yuck, you’re so sweaty”, he added pulling a face.

Irina smiled, “you know, Bunny, growing up I always wanted a sister to share things with, and I know at first this was all a bit weird, but right now, it feels like I’ve actually got one”.

Ben looked up and smiled, “I feel the same, Reeny”, he replied, launching himself forward and hugging her once more.

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At 10.50, Jake stepped out of a subway station, in a neighbourhood he had never been to before. With graffiti covering the walls and homeless people littering the sidewalk calling it a bit rough was an understatement.

Feeling very much out of his comfort zone, Jake set off up the street, wishing he had worn a hoodie that day, wanting nothing more than to pull up his hood and hide inside.

Having studied the route before he left home, Jake knew exactly where he was going, and just as well as he was now mighty reluctant to pull out his phone, convinced someone would try and snatch it from him.

it was only a five-minute walk from the station but the further he walked into his neighbourhood, the more worried he became, he was suddenly glad he had persuaded Ben, or Bunny as he now kept reminding himself to say, not to come along as he wasn't sure he'd be able to protect him if anything happened.

The thought of Bunny momentarily took his mind off things, as he thought back to the previous evening, and how the very thing he had fantasized about for years had actually come true.

He still didn’t know if this made him, gay or bisexual, but to be honest, Jake didn’t really care, all he knew was that he loved Bunny and it seemed like, he loved him back.

Thinking about the steamy make-out session on his living room sofa, made his heart race, the feeling of holding Bunny in his arms, the touch of his plump soft lips against his, and the sweet smell of his long silky hair, made him feel warm inside and reminded him why he was doing what he was about to do.

Rounding a corner, he thought about their relationship and how it had changed, as exciting as it was, Jake was determined not to push things along too quickly, he was going to take things slow, the last thing he wanted was to scare Bunny away, and if truth be told, having only ever dating girls, he was a little nervous himself.

Stopping in front of an alleyway, Jake finally pulled out his phone to check the map, it was the place.

Taking a deep breath, he looked around and seeing nobody, he slowly entered the eerily quiet dingy-looking alleyway, not knowing what to expect.

The sides of the alley were lined with dumpsters, and the smell was atrocious as Jake continued forward, stepping over piles of garbage, checking the doors for the number fifteen.

He found it halfway down, and having arrived at his destination, he realised he didn’t know what to do next, should he knock on the door? Should he call the number?

After a few minutes of looking around anxiously, debating with himself on what to do, and checking the time every ten seconds on his phone, a car pulled into the alleyway.

With his heart in his mouth, Jake watched as the car slowly cruised along before stopping next to him.

Staring at his reflection in the tinted back window, Jake started to shake, the image of the window opening and a gun appearing suddenly popped into his head and was now the only thing he could think about, after all this alley would be the perfect place if someone wanted to get rid of him.

He heard a thud, and the window began to descend. Screwing his eyes tightly shut and about to pee his pants, Jake waited for the bang. Instead, he heard a loud booming laugh, “What’s wrong, little lamb”? a man announced from the backseat, “are you scared”?

Opening his eyes, Jake came face to face with Danila’s intense stare, and not knowing what to say, he just stared back at him with a bewildered look on his face.

“Get in the car”, Danila announced loudly, “you have a busy day ahead of you”.

Every fibre of his being was telling Jake to run, run away and never look back, but he knew he couldn’t do that, instead, he reached out, opened the car door, and climbed in. He had no choice, he had to do this, for his family, for Bunny.

Closing the door, Jake felt the softness of the leather seats surround him and the warmth of the air conditioner warm his face, “be strong”, he told himself, “don’t let this arsehole, see that you’re scared”.

“I want to know where we are going”? Jake said puffing out his chest.

“All in good time boy”, Danila replied, “all in good time”.

“Not good enough”, Jake shot back, suddenly feeling a surge of adrenaline, “tell me or I walk away”.

Danila laughed, a deep booming laugh that made the hairs on the back of Jake’s neck stand on end, “oh, I don’t think you want to do that, take a look at this”, Danila said before leaning across and clicking on a television screen on the back of the seat in front of Jake, “you will do as you are told, that is, if you don’t want anything, shall we say unfortunate, to happen to your pretty little girlfriend”.

Jake gulped as the courage he had felt a moment earlier evaporated into the ether. On the screen, he saw Bunny, walking on the street, entering his office building, arriving home at his apartment building. It was obvious Danila was having him watched wherever he went.

Jake gulped and felt like he was about to throw up, “ok, I’ll do what you want, just please don’t hurt her”, Jake replied in a quiet voice, as he continued to stare at the screen in front of him.

“Oh, I’m sure, there will be no need for that”, Danila replied chuckling, “because, you’re going to be a good little lamb, aren’t you”?

(see image 2.1)