A Hideous Profession

Ren was woken up at an ungodly hour on a Tuesday morning by the cacophony of stainless steel reverberating through her empty house cabin. She cursed her parents for being early risers and would demand colossal amounts of bacon for the disturbance, but then she remembered they left town two days ago. She quickly sat up in her queen sized bed and tossed off the duvet. Someone uninvited was in her house.

She slowly tip toed to her walk-in closet with an ascending heart rate with each step. She opened the small cabinet within her closet that her older brothers installed— without her consent— a few years back. They assured her it was just for precaution and since it was five against one, she wasn’t going to win that battle.

Ren grabbed her brother Marcellous’ baseball bat from high school and held it tightly by her side. She had other options like a sixteen pound shot put, a hockey stick, a tennis racket and whatever other objects her older brothers managed to shove into the space. Although, she always came back to Old Reliable.

Ren poked her head out the door frame and listened for other noises the intruder might make to give away their location, but she was only greeted by the sound of sizzling oil.

“What the hell?” She sprinted downstairs to her grand granite kitchen and then slowed her pace to creep up on the shirtless figure with long, unruly blonde hair who was standing in front of the stove humming an unrecognizable tune. She sighed in relief because there was only one person in this world she knew who had that catastrophic bird nest of a head.

She held her bat up as if she were about to swing and cleared her throat. The figure turned around and screamed in surprise. He jumped back to only fly into the stove with his hand landing in the recently turned off frying pan. “Shit!” He cursed as he quickly sprinted to the sink to run his hand under cold water.

Ren's arms went limp as she scoffed, “Serves you right, you rat, and what are you doing in my house…” she looked at the digital clock on the microwave, “At three in the freaking morning!?”

Her neighbor and childhood friend, Osbourne “Oz” Westling, peered over his shoulder. He looked at Ren with his puppy dog eyes that resembled those seen on animal cruelty commercials; cue ‘In the Arms of an Angel.’ “Dad’s on a trip with Uncle Mario and there isn’t any food left in the house, so here I am.” That wasn’t the first time he came in unexpectedly looking for food.

“How did you get into my house?”

“I know where you guys keep the key and your alarm wasn’t turned on.” Ahh, that’s what Ren forgot to do before going to bed; to turn on the security system. With all her brothers moved out and parents out of town all the time, everyone was extremely concerned with the youngest and only girl of the Del Vecchio household.

Oz continued, “But there’s really nothing to worry about because, c’mon, everybody here knows what’s up.” There certainly was nothing to worry about, especially when the tight knit community of Clement Lake was a safe place to live. Not only that, but with the town wrapped around Mario Del Vecchio’s fingers, no one dared to cross him.

“I see Old Reliable has made an appearance tonight.” He said as he nodded to the bat. “Hey, I made you some food!” Oz began, “But I kind of ate it while I was making it so…”

Ren rolled her copper eyes. Typical Oz, the guy was five-seven with a runner’s body and an appetite of a lion; she didn’t know where he packed it all.

“Hey, want to swim to the buoys?” Oz proposed.

Ren raised her dark brows and made a ‘are-you-kidding-me’ face, “Hell yeah.” No matter the temperature, she never turned down a late night swim because the numbing always kicked in. “I’ll even race ya!” And growing up in a field of boys, competition was like second nature.

After she put on her bathing suit, the two teens sprinted to the freezing waters.

Oz looked over to his competitor and shouted, “Hey, if I win, you get to make me second breakfast!”

ONE WEEK LATER

“Hey, I’m ready!” Ren shouted from the water as she held onto the forty foot rope and adjusted her feet on the wakeboard. Her other childhood friend, Roscoe Taverns, gave her the ‘okay’ signal and turned around in his speed boat. In a gradual acceleration to fifteen miles per hour, she planed out of depths of the water and onto the surface.

The winds of the eighty degree weather was feeling great on her skin and the sweltering sun made her feel invincible. Ren decided to release one hand from the rope, twist her body to launch herself up into the air and do a one-eighty trick. She grinned to herself when she landed perfectly back onto the water and continued to glide as Roscoe pulled her around the lake. She did a few more tricks, but on her last three-sixty, she heard hoots and hollers from the balcony of her house cabin.

She looked over and saw five heads and broad shoulders waving their arms and jumping frantically up and down. Ren smiled from ear to ear and waved with her free hand. She shouted for Roscoe to pull her back in.

Ren handed her board to her friend as she waded to her dock. “Theres our girl!” Alessandro, the second oldest Del Vecchio, greeted with the other four men following close behind, looking like marching statues.

The Del Vecchio brothers were all well over six-foot and by far towered over Ren’s five-foot-five stature. In appearance, they looked very similar to one another, yet different with their own twist. Marcellus and Alessandro were identical with straight, dark brown hair, deep brown eyes and had smiles that could melt gold. Rafael, almost looking like the “Satue of David,” had curly brown hair, warm eyes, a straight nose, and a cleft chin. Paolo was the tallest, standing at six-foot-five and looking like a young Marlon Brando. Julian much resembled Paolo, but what set him apart was his jawline that could cut through stone and obsidian eyes that could read people’s soul. And lastly, Ren had familiar features to Marcellus and Alessandro, but had layered pixie hair that showcased her angular face and Angelina Jolie lips. Ren was a killer, no doubt, and she didn’t even know it.

She was about to hoist herself up when Rafael, the third Del Vecchio, pushed his older kin a side. “Nah, man, I get her first!” He leaned down to help Ren up, but was only pulled back by Paolo, the fourth Del Vecchio.

“Suckers!” Paolo grabbed his sister’s hand and pulled her straight into his arms. “I missed you, Renny.” He mumbled as he lifted his sister up.

She tightly hugged him back and said she missed him, too. Going down the line, she greeted Rafeal, Alessandro, his twin Marcellus, and then finally— “Best for last, eh?” Grinned Julian, the fifth brother.

Ren excitedly leaped onto his waist and clung onto his neck as she engulfed him in a koala hug. “Julie!” Ren never admitted it, but Julian was her favorite brother. He was only three years older and took care of her most out of his four older brothers. At the time, Marcellus and Alessandro were twenty-nine, Rafael twenty-seven, Paolo twenty-five, Julian twenty, and hen there was Aaren at the prime age of seventeen.

Julian put his arm around his sister as they all walked down their lengthy dock. Rafael then came out of nowhere and put his head between Ren’s legs and lifted her up on his shoulders. Ren screamed in surprise and he ran off the dock. She laughed as she held onto her brother for dear life.

“Don’t you dare drop your sister!” Screamed Angela from the grill on their deck. Mario chuckled behind her as he placed more beef patties on the grill. Mario looked at his wife and smiled. Even after six children, Angela still looked as beautiful as she was when he first met her and maybe even more beautiful. He placed his arm around her waist and she smiled up at him. “Here comes our lake rats.”

At six o’clock, guests started to arrive at the Del Vecchio residence for the boys’ homecoming party. As Ren watched neighbors, friends, family, and co-workers pile in by the minute, she also spotted few brawny men standing at each corner of her house; bodyguards. Ren sighed. Just when Ren thought it would be a relaxed gathering, her father had to bring in his guards, too. Mario worked for the Mayor of Silverview, a grand city two hours from their placid lake town. Ren didn’t really know what her dad actually did for the Mayor, but all she knew was that it was boring and important.

Later on, Ren, Roscoe, Oz, Marcellus, his model girlfriend Francia, and a few other members were on the basketball court playing a shooting game. So far, Marcellus was winning and it was Ren’s turn.

“You miss this one and you’re out, baby girl.” Marcellus warned with a sheepish grin.

Ren glared at her brother as he walked over to her to put her in a headlock and give her a noogie. She pushed Marcellus off and shot the ball when suddenly a face she never expected to see again appeared under the basket and ruined her concentration, making her miss completely.

“Mm, you’re out already? I see your shot hasn’t gotten any better.” Ryer McAllister said as he caught the ball under the hoop.

Ren made her eyes into slits and glared at the demon. He grinned, tossed the ball to Marcellus, and walked over to the fuming princess.

“Her shots are fine and they’re just bad right now ‘cause you’re here, asshole.” Julian said jokingly as he patted his friend on the shoulder. “Hey Renny, you remember Ryer right?”

How could she ever forget the constant teasing and Hell on earth experience growing up with him? When she found out he was moving five years ago, she was ecstatic and bottles were popped— soda bottles, that is. She thought she’d never see him again, but that was just far too much to ask for, wasn’t it?

“Hey, Babe.” Ryer winked.

Ren glared into his bright, Caribbean blue eyes. When people called each other ‘babe,’ it usually had some kind of endearing meaning behind it, but in his case; it wasn’t. Growing up, Ren was overweight and Ryer would never let her forget it. He called her ‘Babe,’ like the pig from the movie Babe: the Gallant Pig. He said Ren was like Babe because one, she was chubby and two, she wanted to be part of the boys like Babe wanted to be a sheepdog. What a damn poet.

But what got Ren the most was that when Ryer and Julian went to school together, they hated each other and now they’re buddy-buddy? Oh no, no, no, no, no.

“A word?” Ren said to Julian as she nodded across the court.

“What’s up, baby girl?” Julian asked innocently.

Ren raised her right eyebrow, “What’s up? Usually college guys brings back home a girlfriend or an unfortunate STD, but you decide to bring back our neighborhood antichrist, Ryer McAllister, AKA Lord Demon of the Underworld?”

“First of all Renny, you know I don’t do girlfriends… or sexually transmitted diseases. Second, he’s gotten me out of a lot of shit and I owe him my life.”

“How did you manage to owe your life to someone like him? And last time I checked, you guys hated each other!”

“We did, but then we met again in college and we got things sorted out.”

Ren looked over her brother’s shoulder and saw Ryer tossing his shirt to the side revealing his taut, rippled core to join the crew to a basketball game. She watched as his strong body moved deftly up and down the court and when he ran passed her, she noticed that he had a few tattoos snaked around his upper left bicep. Ryer ran his hand over his buzzed, ashy blonde, almost brown hair and stood a defensive stance under the hoop. He then cupped his chin and rubbed the light scruff that covered it. Honestly, if he wasn't such an asshole, she’d probably consider him really attractive.

Ryer then caught Ren staring at him and winked at her.

Ren rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to Julian. “I still hate him.”

—-

It was eight o’clock and Ren craved desert. She went to the food table and was about to grab a plate when her hand collided with another. “Oh sorry!” They both said in unison. She looked up and saw a charming boy, probably her age, with black hair and cloudy, gray eyes. He wore a white v-neck that showed off his tanned chest and khaki shorts to finish off his outfit. The two giggled and she wanted to melt at the sound of his laughter.

“I’m Kade and you must be Aaren. I’m Dorothy Conifer’s nephew and I’m visiting for the summer.”

“Oh hi, yes, but you can call me Ren.”

The duo chatted and laughed as they picked up some food off the tables and continued to walk down towards the beach to find a place to sit. Ren lead him down the stairs to the beach from her deck and when she thought she made it, her foot missed the last step completely and lost her balance. Kade tossed his food as he went to grab Ren’s arm, but reaching for her only made him lose his own balance and they both tumbled to the sand with Kade landing on top of her.

Kade asked if she was okay and Ren laughed and said she was fine. Kade wiped sand off of her head and laughed along with her.

Suddenly, Paolo shouted from the deck, “Hey asshole, get off my sister!”

The four other Del Vecchio brothers that were either chatting with guests, enjoying food, or playing games heard what Paolo shouted and snapped their heads to look below them. They all instantly dropped what they were doing to follow Paolo’s lead.

Fire was running through each of their eyes as they stomped down the stairs like angry housewives who caught rumor that their husbands were cheating on them with the neighborhood hussy.

Ren looked over Kade’s shoulder, “Oh, hell,” she sighed. She then looked back to his beautiful, non-bruised eyes and apologized for what will happen next.