The Syndicate by Brick

a close crop of curly hair atop his head. He carried a stern look about him as he sat with his hands clasped in front of him. Just as Javon had studied them, it seemed as if they had studied up on him as well.
    â€œNeither did I,” Rusev added, his accent not thick enough to impede his English.
    â€œI would never sanction such a call, Mr. McPhearson,” the woman named Ming Lee answered. She was younger than she looked in the picture I’d seen of her before. Her long hair fell into a silky wave over her eye. The side was held back by a floral hairpin nestled in the side of her hair. Her eyes lured you in, but clearly she wasn’t to be taken lightly. She too was dressed in a black suit, like the men at the table. As they spoke, Javon walked closer to the table. I looked to the left and right of me and decided to stay where I was. Cory and Uncle Snap flanked Javon. The tension in the room was thick.
    â€œCormac, you’re sitting at the head of the table as if you’ve been voted to take the place left vacant by my mother.”
    Cormac’s hair was pulled back into a ponytail. Catlike gray eyes followed Javon’s every move. His pale skin needed a tan, but his arrogance was on a hundred as he eyeballed Javon.
    â€œThe rules of the Syndicate dictate that someone step up in the interim in case the boss of the bosses vacates their seat. I stepped in because I’ve been with the Syndicate just as long if not longer than your mother has . . . well, was,” Cormac said.
    My eyes turned to slits at the way he said “was.” I didn’t even know the man and wanted to kill him on the strength of the fact that I thought he was making fun of Mama’s demise.
    Javon walked around the table and touched each man and woman on their right shoulder. Some nodded as a show of respect, others bristled. I had no idea what he was doing, but I trusted his logic and instinct. “Cory, bring me Mama’s chair,” Javon said.
    I watched on silently along with Naveen, Monty, and Inez. Once Cory brought Javon the chair, Javon set it next to where Cormac was, then stood behind the man.
    â€œDid you take my sister and my brother?” Javon asked calmly.
    Cormac’s face reddened when Javon laid a hand on each of the man’s shoulders. My fingers moved on their own out of nervousness. I started to feel antsy.
    Cormac signaled one of the guards. They left the room and came back seconds later with a distraught Melissa and visibly shaken Jojo. Our little brother didn’t have his glasses on so I knew he couldn’t see two paces before him. Melissa’s right eye was bruised, which angered me.
    Cormac chuckled and tried to look behind him. “I, ah, I simply wanted to get your attention, lad. It’s been seven or so days and you haven’t reached out to us. I know Raphael has told you the way things are done by now. Your mother was a smart lady. I know she left provisions in place.”
    Javon did something I didn’t expect. He laughed. It was almost maniacal in nature. “Oh is that it?” Javon asked as he patted the man’s shoulders and then looked around the table. “Oh well then, it’s no big deal, none at all. He just wanted to get my attention. Ha, ha. I respect that. I respect it,” Javon said, almost as if he was rambling.
    Then he stopped laughing and talking. His upper lip twitched in the left corner. His sleight of hand was baffling to the eyes. He snatched up a long fork and before anyone could react, he jammed the fork in Cormac’s neck over and over and over again. Each stab was harder than the one before. People at the table sat unmoved as if they were used to seeing people killed in such a violent manner. Blood spurted and spewed all over the place. Javon’s teeth were bared as he did so. He’d snapped. Cormac gargled blood as he struggled to breathe. Futilely, he tried to grab behind him to claw at Javon.
    The guard