I Lie Well

“I’m sorry sir,” The doctor said.

Matt felt his knees give out beneath him. “No.” He said.

The doctor sighed. It wasn’t an annoyed sigh, though. It was sympathetic. “Unfortunately, due to the over whelming amount of trauma… Your wife… She didn’t make it.”

Matt jolted straight up in his bed. Sweat covered his body and his sheets. He’d been having that dream a lot lately. He knew it was because it was almost a year to the day since he’d lost his wife.

In his line of business, people come and go. But it was different when it happened to him. It was different because he’d planned on spending the rest of his life with her. She was his world. She was his light in his dark life. His life was nothing but dark twists and turns. But it wasn’t his fault entirely. He’d been born into it.

His father had been in charge of the mafia in the state of California. When his father retired, he’d left big shoes to fill, and those shoes were left to Matt. He didn’t really have a choice. You can’t turn down something like that. Not unless you want to embarrass and disrespect your father.

Matt’s phone rang out loudly in the silence of his home. The clock next to his bed let him know that it was a little after 8 am. He couldn’t help but think that if it had been a Saturday morning after 8 am a year ago, he would’ve heard Beth in the kitchen. She would’ve been singing softly to herself and making breakfast for the two of them.

“Hello?” He said into his phone.

“Hey man, it’s Brian.” Brian was Matt’s second in command. “Meeting at 10. Something happened.”

“See you at ten.”

Matt hung up his phone and took a deep breath. It was becoming an unfortunate occurrence lately that ‘something happened.’ He got out of bed none the less, and made his way to the bathroom to shower. He glanced at himself in the mirror before moving to the shower and turning the water on. He hadn’t cut his hair in almost a year. He smiled as he thought about how much Beth would hate it. She would always say she loved his hair just when she could grab a handful of it.

After his shower, Matt got dressed quickly and headed out of his house. He missed having his dog around. Bella was a great dog too, but after Beth had died, he’d given Bella to his parents to watch for a while, and before he knew it, she’d become comfortable there and he hadn’t wanted to shake that up for her. He kept telling himself that once he found the man who killed his wife, he’d bring Bella back home.

His office was in his home, and that was where his men usually met for meetings, but lately they had been meeting up at Brian’s house because it was easier for Matt to be outside of his house then inside. Once he’d stopped for coffee and made the quick drive through town, he’d made it to Brian’s. He could see that everyone was already there, and he frowned. Matt hated being late.

“Good morning Michelle,” Matt said as he walked into the house. Michelle was Brian’s long time girlfriend. There was even a time when Matt had dated Michelle’s sister. But that had been a long time ago.

“Hey Matt,” Michelle said. She smiled brightly at Matt, but he could see it in her eyes that she still felt sympathy for him. He almost hated to admit it, but losing his wife had left a big hole in his personality. He hadn’t realized that having her in his life made him a different person. But now that she was gone, he hardly smiled anymore. And that didn’t go unnoticed by the other people in his life.

Matt took the familiar walk through Brian’s home and soon he found himself at the head of the table in Brian’s office.

“What happened?” He asked immediately.

“Theres a group of guys in Santa Monica that are trying to start up a heroin business.”

“We don’t deal with drugs here.” Matt said, even though his men already knew that.

“I’ve been thinking of maybe planting myself in their ring. Maybe we can find out some other things from them before getting rid of them.” Johnny said. Johnny was the newest part of Matt’s team which maybe him the most eager to prove himself.

“I don’t know.” Matt said. “I can’t imagine what we can learn from them.”

“It kind of makes sense,” Zack said. Zack was a vital member of Matt’s group. He was a lawyer. “Johnny may be able to find out if there is anyone else in the area trying to start up drug businesses. It may be a way to be proactive and try to keep some of the harder drugs out of the cities.”

“If you think so, then fine. But be careful.”

Matt looked around the table at the four men closest to him. They were the four people he trusted with his life. He had other people working for him. A lot of other people, but these were the four men that knew him inside and out. He looked up at the opposite side of the table at the one man who had been quite the entire meeting. He was Matt’s third in command and his name was Jimmy.

“You’ve been quiet,” He said.

Jimmy shrugged. “Got a lot on my mind.”

Matt frowned. Jimmy was as attached to Beth as Matt had been, but for different reasons. Jimmy was her twin brother.

“I know.” Matt said.

Jimmy just nodded.

When Beth had died, Jimmy became distant. Matt still trusted him with his life, but things changed some. Matt attributed it to the fact that Jimmy had lost his twin sister, and his best friend. But it was starting to get on Matt’s nerves.

“If you’ve got something to say, please don’t hold back.” Matt said.

“You know I wouldn’t.” Jimmy said back.

Matt didn’t speak that but he couldn’t help but feel that his third in command blamed him for the death of his wife, and Jimmy’s sister. And Matt would never admit it out loud, but he blamed himself too.

He just hoped this wouldn’t get in the way of their business, because if there was something a mafia leader didn’t need, it was trouble within his close nit working family.