𝐌𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬

1 | And As He Burns, I Burn Too

A/N:
Hello my darling!
Welcome to the sequel of Method to His Madness. As a precaution, please don't read this until you've finished the first book because this will end up spoiling a whoooole bunch of stuff for you. It probably won't make any fucking sense either.

Like always, this book (like all of my work) will include themes of violence, sex, death and potentially other triggering or confronting scenes. If you read the first book (which is really fucking hope you did) you would know that we dealt with some heavy chapters together. This book, is going to be heavier. As an author, I do not include trigger warnings in individual chapters, so take this as a blanket trigger warning for the whole ass book.

I love you all,
- Tyler

***

I won't lie, it feels weird being in church for today's baptism, shortly after being here for Dominic's funeral. Out of instinct I feel like I should be forlorn and crying, although today is supposed to be a momentous occasion.

Baptisms are usually for babies to cleanse them of their original sins, so they may be adopted by God or some bullshit. I'm not religious, neither is Tom. The water symbolises washing away their sins and like, washing the devil away? Honestly I don't know, I've never been to one of these ceremonies.

Today's baptism however, is not for babies.
Today's baptism is called a 'making ceremony' and symbolises a new stage of life beginning and the washing away of the prior life.

I'm still getting used to how The Family works. Ever since I started associating myself more and more with Tom, I've tried to pick up as much as I can along the way. He's still pretty nonchalant about his work, he doesn't really give me a presentation on the inner workings of his life over dinner. I mean, I get that Mafia families commit crimes and make money from them, that's their whole schtick but, why do they uphold such outdated traditions that contradict their very morals?

Tom looks really hot standing up on the stage. Is that bad to say at a religious ceremony? Is that sinning? Again I'd like to clarify that I'm not religious. Actually I find myself quite a cynic towards religion but I accept the fact that people like having a level of spirituality and belief in their lives, so I don't judge.

He's standing in an all black suit, the jacket unbuttoned along with one too many buttons on his shirt. Before the ceremony started his Mum scoffed and buttoned the majority of them back up, but it seems he undid a few before he was called upon. Cheeky asshole.

The priest; who I'm fairly certain shouldn't be a priest because he's a literal member of the mafia, is droning on about some spiritual shit next to Tom. Maybe being a priest is just his day job. Maybe in between bludgeoning peoples heads in and railing lines of cocaine off the asses of strippers, he's dunking babies heads in holy water and eating those tiny bits of bread at communions. Again, I don't know what happens in church other than this and lots of storytelling.

Tom looks surprisingly good given he's been in bed for days on end and only left the house to get black out drunk with the boys. That's his way of mourning apparently; drinking away his sorrows. I'm genuinely surprised he looks so well put together considering this morning was the first time he's shaved in weeks.

Tom can't really grow facial hair very well, so I for one am relieved that he's clean shaven again. It just made him look seedy and unhygienic. He's in mourning though, he's allowed to be unkempt.

"When do they dunk his head in the water or whatever? He spent so long on his hair this morning, I'm going to have to not to laugh," I whisper to Robyn who is sitting next to me on the front Church pew.

"This isn't a normal baptism girl, just you wait and see what happens," she whispered back, chuckling at my naivety in how the Mafia world worked.

We were both shushed by Nikki, Tom's Mum as she leant froward to glare at us both. I don't know why she doesn't like me, but she never gives me the time of day unless Tom is around. And even then, she's only marginally nicer. I wouldn't even use the word nice.

The priest made Tom stand front and centre on stage, reciting some sort of oath to The Family and vowing to always make The Family his number one priority; even above himself. Let me summarise the rules in the simplest of terms and save you all the time that I'll never get back by listening to this old guy ramble.

1) Be loyal to The Family. Snitches are killed. Informants are killed. Double crossers are killed. A lot of people are killed if you're a dickhead to The Family.

2) Don't be a fucking idiot. If you know you're going to lose a fight, don't start the fight in the first place. You have a reputation to uphold, don't lose.

3) Be a man of honour. Respect the men around you. Respect the women you all marry and don't steal another mans wife. That will also get you killed.

4) Be chill. Don't be a sell out. Be courageous. Be cool. Don't be a pussy about what The Family makes you do. Don't ask questions. Ever.

5) Be a classy mother fucker. Dress nicely, date hot women, I dunno, just make people envy you. Be independent and make your own decisions. Again, this relates heavily back to the whole 'don't be a pussy' rule.

The priest then drew blood from Tom's trigger finger with an expensive looking knife and made him smear it across a photo of Archangel Michael; the apparent protector of the crime syndicate.

Again, I can't imagine a holy saint like Archangel Michael being a supporter of a mafia crime family, but again, I don't vocalise my confusion to these old age traditions in a room full of people who believe them.

Tom raises the now bloody image of the Catholic saint above a fire that the priest lit and recites the following:

"As burns this saint, so will burn my soul.
If I am to betray The Family, my flesh will burn like the saint watching over us. I am no longer to be judged by other men, only I am to judge myself.
I will always reserve a bullet for myself, in acts of protecting The Family at my forefront.
I enter The Family alive and will leave The Family dead."

Fuck, this whole thing just seems so contradictory. Surely it's a sin to literally burn an image of a saint inside a fucking church. Holding my mouth awkwardly shut as I suppress a yawn, Tom makes eye contact with me and winks - classic.

Again, Nikki frowns at him, then at me.

This church proceeding is becoming quite repetitious. The priest says some corny bullshit, Tom recites it, I judge the very basis of this entire baptism, remind myself why I'm not religious and then Nikki shows yet another way to express her dislike towards me.

The photo of Archangel Michael is now burning slowly in the fire and the entire church bursts into a triumphant applause; I follow their lead because as much as I'm proud of Tom and want to support him, I have no idea what is going on.

Except for the fact that I guess the applause means Tom is the new Godfather of The Family now.

Fuck.