章節 2: Red

Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.

Perhaps that's why the young prince rejected the crown.

Perhaps he feared that his head could not take the weight.

Maybe the prince needs a new crown.

Light enough to relieve the weight on his neck.

But what if the weight was never in the crown? But in the mind of the wearer?

"May the soul of the departed Rest In Peace" Ralph heard the priest say, just as he alighted from his car. His men walked behind him as he approached the gathering.

Gasps and whispers could be heard from the crowd as they paved a way for him and his armed men to pass.

"He is supposed to be dead" he heard someone say.

"I guess the dead are waking up after all," another said

"This is so unbelievable" this and many more statements did he hear while he walked towards Sophie. She stood in front of her father's casket, while lost in her thoughts.

"Sophie " he called her name gently and nudged her.

"Ralph," she said and turned immediately towards Ralph. "I knew you would come", she threw her hands around him and hugged him tightly. He laid her head gently on his chest while she sobbed. She wept for the loss of her father and the return of her best friend who happens to be her cousin.

"You knew I was alive, didn't you?" He asked frowning. He wondered why she did not contact him while he was away.

"Get that frown off your face Ralph" she replied

"Yes, I knew you were alive but I could not put your life in danger by trying to contact you. They would have found out and killed you".

Everyone thought he was dead but she has always known he was alive, although her father tried to keep it away from her, she still found out.

"I understand" he nodded slowly

"Are you ready to take on west London?" She asked

"You are now the new Don, Ralph" she held his hands tightly "The whole of west London now belongs to you". She looked from him to his men who stood some meters behind them, probably to give them some privacy.

"I know" he replied. He lifted her chin with his index finger and stared into her bluish eyes. He saw the pain in her eyes even though she tried hiding it and it bit deeply into his soul. "Your father's killers will die by my sword, I swear to you on my honor as the Don" he promised.

Don Vadaly Wesley; Ralph's uncle, had taken over the family business when Ralph's father Don Alessandro Wesley died of heart disease. Vadaly was more suitable for the job, he took over his brother's position after his brother's demise. He had the brawls to pressure the rest gangs of west London to submit to The Wesleys and seeing that Raphael was a possible target for attack by the enemies of The Wesleys dynasty after his father's death, Vadaly had to protect him. He did exactly what Don Alessandro would have done if he was still alive, Vadaly faked Ralph's death and sent him to an undisclosed location for his safety and rained hell on the underworld of London just to ensure that the Wesleys were never messed with. At one point he was called the Ruthless reaper. Possibly because he always wore black which was more or less the family's Favourite color, a color that describes his heart and soul and shows his close resemblance to the devil. And to think such a man was killed in a room guarded by over ten armed guards, Without a trace, it was simply Unthinkable.

"Don", it was Ralph's right-hand man calling him. Ralph hadn't seen him approach them. The young man acts like a shadow.

"You are late," Ralph said sternly

"I'm sorry Boss," he said. "I had to finish everything up". "It's also time for the eulogy Don"

Ralph nodded. He looked from Sophie to his right-hand man and said "Protect her". He turned and walked towards the platform.

In truth, Ralph Zander Wesley wasn't scared of the fact that he was about to face the representatives of the most Dreaded gangs in London, not because he had an SW Model 29 handgun well positioned in his suit or because his guards were watching over the sober event, rather it was because he had no reason to fear and no one worth being scared of.

This past few days, he has badly suffered constant momentary gaps where his mind slips away from reality and gets lost in thought of how the great Don of the Wesleys, who was feared for his ruthlessness was killed.

Although it's hard to believe. But that was the reality of things and seeing how all the hotel staff and guards had vanished without a trace, it was pretty clear that the job was done with a lot of planning and professional expertise and some of the traitors are here at the funeral. The question was WHO?. He knew Thomas was a slug and a pushover, there was no way he could have come up with the idea of killing The Don alone. The real killers were still out there.

As he Climbed up the platform he got a closer look at the crowd who were in attendance. They were all friendly gangs, he could see the Malo brothers, these were the worst among the gangs in London, they were well known for their messy and disorganized way of getting jobs done, and they were the least to be suspected for his uncle's murder, but Ralph won't mind putting a bullet in all their brains since he hated them and the way they worked. They use to run the city in the 1880s until The Wesley's ancestor, Ralph's grandfather tinted the scale of power through blood and guns in the 1990s. The Axe lords, Pitchers, and Rounders where all in attendance, and most especially the Hashtags led by their 60year old boss Hashtag Seawood. Ralph hated them the most. When he was younger and before they became friendlies there was an underworld clash where the Hashtags had murdered Lynda Wesley(Ralph's Aunt) though the Wesley's repaid the favor in tenfolds before peace reigned, ever since both Families have never seen eye to eye though they remained friendlies. They were the only ones who could have the balls to take down Vadaly.

If Ralph had the chance he would love to slit down the throats of all these guests in attendance. At least he was certain, one of them would be the bastard who killed his uncle.

From the top of the Platform, he felt the gaze of everyone on him. They looked shocked. Why won't they? they felt he was dead and he did a good job staying hidden all these years. His eyes caught a lady standing quite a distance away from everyone at the event but she still stood out. And that was because, while everyone else wore black or gray for this event, she wore a dark red suit and topped it up with a red Summer Laced Sun Hat Anti-UV Beach dark shades. She had notable light auburn hair.

He could barely see her face cause her head was a bit down.

'Was she one of his uncle's lovers?'

'Or perhaps a psychopomp who was here to take Vadaly's soul to hell?'

'Who was she?'

He found himself thinking about this redhead as he read the Eulogy.

Ralph had gone through the first page of the Eulogy, and his mind sailed far off, leaving his body numb, just one more page and he could step down from this platform. The first thing he'll probably do once he steps down will be to verify the identity of the lady in red who seemed to have caught his attention.

Just as Ralph tried to flip to the next page he found himself on the ground. Jack his body guard knelt above him as though trying to shield him. Just then he realized that he heard a gunshot.

'Was a shot fired at him?'. Anyway as he laid down something his uncle had said when he was younger crossed his mind

"Focus Ralph, For the life of a Wesley's king is like a movie, one minute you're having fun and the next you're dodging bullets" how ironic!