At the Manghini's refurbished family home, Led, Mali's little brother paced to and fro anxiously. He was the closest to Mali and could feel deep in his bones, that something was off, that something had happened to their sister. But Mali's phone wasn't reachable.
"Calm the fuck down, I'm sure she's fine," Warren, Mali's older brother, told Led who scratched his head in frustration.
"Then why isn't she answering her damn phone?" Led almost yelled.
"Watch your tone," Warren warned.
Led continued pacing and tried Mali's phone again. It still wasn't reachable. He yelled, "Fuuuck!"
Warren rose from his chair with a glass of scotch. He, too, was beginning to get worried. "Try that bastard's number. What's his name again? Uh, Peter."
"Oh, yeah." Led dialled Peter's number and it rang unanswered. He tried again.
Napoleon, otherwise called Napo, Mali's twin brother, waltzed into the office room and paused for a fleeting moment when he saw an anxious Led. He then proceeded to sit.
"What's your deal?" he asked Led.
Warren answered for Led, "Girlie isn't answering her phone."
"I actually tried calling her too, maybe she's in the theatre," Napo said with a shrug. "I checked; the tracker shows she's at the hospital."
"No, something's wrong," Led told them, "I can feel it. I know something's wrong. Why aren't you both worried?"
Napo knew Led was right because he, too, had been feeling a little awkward. That's why he'd tried to call Mali. But then he decided to just shrug the feeling off.
"Have you tried calling Lei?" Napo suggested. "Maybe she knows-"
"Ah," Led interrupted, "why didn't I think of that?"
Led was busy scrolling through his contact list when Napo's phone rang.
Napo dug it from his pocket and looked at his brothers worriedly. "It's Lei."
Led was in front of Napo at lightning speed. He snatched the phone from his big brother and answered the call.
Led answered, "Hello, Lei. Is everything okay? Did something happen to Maliah? Why isn't she answering her phone?"
"Maybe you should give me the chance to talk," replied Lei.
"Put her on speaker," Warren ordered.
Led tore the phone from his ear and pressed the loudspeaker icon.
"Uhm, Mali is in the hospital," Lei informed them.
"Yes, because that's where she works," Napo commented sarcastically, earning a glare from his brothers.
"Is she okay?" asked Led.
"No, uh, she's been hospitalised. She-"
"What happened to her?" Warren practically growled into the phone.
"She asked me not to call you but, uhm, you need to know this." She told them everything, "So she went to dinner yesterday with that scumbag Peter. She said that some bitch came in the middle of dinner and introduced herself as Peter's fiancée." All three brothers cursed, with Led gripping the phone tightly. "And that's not all. Uhm, Mali was pregnant, and she lost the baby shortly after that ordeal."
Silence.
Warren let out a ferocious roar and flung his glass of scotch against the wall where it shattered into a million pieces. His hands shook at his sides as he balled them into fists.
"H-hello?" Lei's soft voice came through the speakers.
"We'll be there soon," Napo told Lei after grabbing his phone from Led. He hung up.
The three brothers, with Led leading them, quickly shuffled out of the room they were in, out of the house, and into Warren's sleek Benz.
"Do not stop for anything or anyone," Warren instructed the driver as he sped out of their driveway that bended and stretched longer than a driveway should.
It was a forty-minute drive to the city where Mali lived, but with the speed they were going at, they'd arrive in half the time. Warren had no regard for traffic laws or any laws for that matter, and so did his men. The driver ran every red light, ducking and weaving in between the traffic.
The silence in the car was deafening. Neither of the three brothers spoke. Led was fiddling with his watch, and Napo was just, well, he was moderately worried. He knew it wasn't as bad as his brothers thought. Warren's leg bounced anxiously. His body felt hot. He ripped open his shirt buttons at his neck, trying to get some air. He rolled up his shirt sleeves, itching to get out of the car and to hit something.
"War," said Napo, "calm down."
While Napo loved Mali to death, he could never understand Warren's excessive to protect their sister. Warren would set the world on fire and watch it burn if it meant keeping Mali safe. His love for her was teetering on obsession. And Napo wondered if it had something to do with the incident that took place a little more than a decade ago.
"Oh, dear God. Buddha. Whatever else. Please let nothing happen to my sister," Led whispered from the front seat, his eyes shut, and his hands clasped together.
When Led opened his eyes after the short prayer, he glanced at the rear view mirror and found that his brothers were looking at him weirdly.
He shrugged. "What? Now may be the time to start believing in a God."
"Gods don't answer prayers from people like us, Leonard," Warren told him.
"You never know," replied Led.
Once they arrived at the hospital, they rushed to the front desk and asked for Mali's room number. It took a moment for the nurse behind the desk to find her voice. She knew who they were alright.
"Room 216. Third floor," said the nurse in a trembling voice.
And off the brothers went in search for their sister. Along the way though, in the hallway, just as they were about to reach Mali's room, Led bumped into Peter. The two colliding men cursed in synchrony, abd then paused for a split second before Led growled and threw a hard hit that made Peter lose his balance.
"'The hell are you doing here?" Napo snarled.
Peter was about to swing his own punch back at Led when Warren grabbed him by his collar and shoved him against the wall. Before he could utter a word, Warren's hand was firmly placed around his neck, squeezing tightly.
"Stop!" screamed Amanda, who'd come accompanying Peter. "You're hurting him. Please!"
Warren didn't let go. Peter's face seemed to bloat, and he was gasping for air. His arms were flailing about, hitting Warren wherever he could make contact, but Warren was a big man, tall and solid, so Peter struggled to gain any type of control of the situation.
Napo and Led had seen Warren so angry many times before. And it didn't bode well for Peter that he was the recipient of Warren's fury. They made no effort to stop their older brother however - Led tucked his hands in his pockets, and Napo leaned leisurely against the wall, smirking.
People started to gather.
Warren began to lift Peter off the ground, his feet now dangling below him, and the only thing holding him up was Warren's hand still tightly wrapped around his throat.
"If I ever see you near Maliah again, you're going to regret the day you slid out of your mother's cunt." Warren threatened calmly, yet menacingly. "You hear me?"