THE PURPLE STARS

I didn't know who T.K. was, but I knew the change in the room was dangerous. The businessmen at the back tables had already slipped out the side doors. The guards had tightened their circle.

David Sterling slid down the cracked mirror, gasping for air, clutching his throat. He stared at the silver watch in Vincent’s palm with absolute terror.

“I… I bought it,” David choked out. “Pawn shop. Downtown. I swear to God.”

Vincent didn’t shout. He didn’t hit him again. He just stared at the intricate engraving on the silver lid, his thumb tracing the letters. His brother, Thomas Kane, had been missing for six years. The streets said Thomas took a large sum of syndicate money and fled to Europe.

“Thomas never pawned this,” Vincent said, his voice entirely devoid of emotion. “It was our grandfather’s. He would have sold his own kidney before he sold this watch.”

Vincent looked up. The deadness in his eyes was far more terrifying than his anger.

“Who gave it to you, David?”

“I told you!” David sobbed, holding his hands up. “A pawn shop! I don’t know anything about your brother, Mr. Kane. Please!”

Vincent snapped the watch shut. He slid it into his pocket, then gestured to two of his men. “Take Mr. Sterling to the walk-in freezer. We’re going to have a private conversation about inventory.”

“No! No, wait!” David screamed as two massive men in suits grabbed him by the armpits, lifting him completely off the floor.

As they dragged him kicking toward the kitchen, David turned his desperate, wild eyes toward my mother.

“Tell him, Sarah!” David shrieked. “Tell him where the money came from! Tell him who you really are!”

The metal doors of the kitchen swung shut, cutting off his screams.

Vincent slowly turned around.

My mother was still standing near the dining tables, the tray of water glasses completely forgotten. Her face was ashen. She looked like she was about to faint.

I ran to her, wrapping my arms tightly around her apron. She dropped to her knees and hugged me back, burying her face in my shoulder. She was trembling so violently that my teeth chattered against her collarbone.

Vincent walked over to us. He didn’t tower over her. He crouched down, bringing himself to our eye level.

He gently set the folded piece of paper with the purple stars on the floor between them.

“He owes you five thousand, four hundred, and thirty dollars,” Vincent said, his voice returning to a smooth, calm cadence.

My mother didn’t look up. “Yes.”

“And what did he mean by that last comment, Sarah?” Vincent asked softly. “Who are you really?”

My mother pulled me tighter. “He’s lying. He’s just trying to deflect.”

Vincent watched her carefully. He was a man who read people for a living. He saw the way she positioned her body between him and me. He saw the calluses on her hands that didn’t come from carrying plates.

“My brother has been missing for six years,” Vincent said. “The men in my circle believe he stole from me. That he betrayed our family. But that watch… it means someone took it from him. It means he didn't run.”

My mother finally looked up. Her eyes were rimmed with red. “I don’t know anything about your brother, Mr. Kane.”

Vincent nodded slowly. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a thick money clip. He peeled off fifty hundred-dollar bills and held them out to her.

“Your back pay,” Vincent said. “Take your daughter. Go home. You don’t work here anymore.”

My mother stared at the money. It was more than enough to pay our rent, fix the heater, and buy groceries for months. It was survival.

She reached out with a shaking hand.

But as her fingers brushed the bills, the front door of the restaurant chimed.

A man in a cheap windbreaker walked in. He didn’t look like one of Vincent’s polished guards. He looked rough, dirty, and frantic. He held a small, crumpled brown paper bag in his fist.

He ignored the guards and walked straight up to Vincent.

“Boss,” the man said, breathing hard. “We tossed Sterling’s office in the back, like you asked. He didn't have the cash reserve. But we found his private safe behind the filing cabinet.”

Vincent didn't stand up. “And?”

The man looked nervously at my mother, then back at Vincent. He held out the brown paper bag.

“We found this inside.”

Vincent took the bag. He opened it.

I couldn't see what was inside at first. Vincent reached in and pulled out a small, heavy object.

It was a woman’s wedding ring. A distinct, vintage gold band with a square-cut sapphire in the center.

My mother let out a strangled gasp. She let go of me and grabbed her own chest, her eyes wide with absolute horror.

Vincent looked at the ring, then looked at her left hand. There was a pale tan line on her ring finger, exactly the width of the gold band.

“David didn't steal this from a pawn shop, did he?” Vincent asked, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper.

My mother started to cry, shaking her head. “Please. You don’t understand.”

Vincent turned the ring over. “Answer one question, Sarah. Open two more. Why does the man stealing from me have your wedding ring locked in his safe?”

My mother looked at the kitchen doors where David had been taken. Then she looked at Vincent.