Affliction

AFFLICTION

ALFONZO

VOLUME

XIII

Copyright © 2013 S.W. Frank

All Rights Reserved

Paperback Edition

First Printing

Printed by Createspace, USA

S.W. Frank Publishing, U.S.A

ISBN-13: 978-1492926993

ISBN-10: 149292699X

No parts of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system in any form without prior written permission of the author. Piracy of the book is a crime. Alfonzo detests thieves and liars, he also believes in Karma. Sometimes it is not laws which govern a person, it is what a person does when nobody watches which is the test of a person’s character and the law of self.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and events portrayed in this story are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead is entirely coincidental.

I
mages are for illustrative purposes only.

THE ALFONZO SERIES

♠

ALFONZO: VOLUME I

ASCENSION: ALFONZO VOLUME II

ANARCHY: ALFONZO VOLUME III

ATONEMENT: ALFONZO VOLUME IV

AWAKENING: ALFONZO VOLUME V

ANNIHILATION: ALFONZO VOLUME VI

AFTERMATH: ALFONZO VOLUME VII

AFFIRMATION: ALFONZO VOLUME VIII

ASSOCIATES: ALFONZO VOLUME IX

ANIMUS: ALFONZO VOLUME X

ADVERSARY: ALFONZO VOLUME XI

AVARICE: ALFONZO VOLUME XII

‘Of all afflictions, the worst is self-contempt.’

-Berthold Auerbach

‘Let your heart feel for the afflictions and distress of everyone, and let your hand give in proportion to your purse.’

-George Washington

‘Beckon affection to champion this putrid mourning,

This affliction
cannot be eased without my darling.’

-Selange

To K,

There’s a battle raging. Hundreds of thousands are in the fight. Insidious is this foe
that sneaks in to take lives. Take heart; valiant wars are fought to abolish this blight. Leading the charge are fearless soldiers, dedicated and determined. They’re holding down the trenches to beat back the charging invasion. Heroes they are and brave to the end. An army of reinforcements march to their aid with love as weaponry to stand unafraid against this cancerous plague.

Love Eternally,

A
devoted soldier.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Glossary

A
FFLICTION

“Beware good people of affliction rooted in hearts,

B
arbed branches can tear pleasure from bark,

Weak seeds
are where misery’s infestation starts.”

PROLO
GUE

The diminutive Rabbi entered the 215 foot square cell. A large painted Star of David glowed from the floor. At his side was a young Jewish female. She wore plain clothes which hid her shapely figure, and her eyes never wavered from the ground. The inmates were ten strong. They wore yarmulkes, and ate the kosher food sent by the rabbi. 

Among the inmates in Block
3 were lifers, and those doing hard time for major drug offenses. They were underlings of a powerful Israeli, a Jewish Mafioso who carved out a life of comparative luxury within the prison. With cash sent in by friends and relatives, he bribed the guards to have only ten inmates in his quarters of his choosing and not the standard twenty. A colored TV equipped with cable and a library were items outfitted to give the sterile environment a sense of home. Today the rabbi brought the female to the corruptor of souls. The young lady was for Yosef Glavovitz, once a respected figure in the Israeli Intelligence office and now considered the ring-leader of a drug and diamond smuggling network. According to the U.S. State Department White Paper on Global Narcotics, the Jewish State had become a drug-consuming country with serious marijuana, hashish and heroin use. The increased consumption of cocaine, LSD, and amphetamine had flourished courtesy of the man staring at the woman with eyes of brown stone.

Yosef’s Israeli crime group was so adept at global distribution of substances,
like Colombia, Thailand and Pakistan, they became a trafficking power. They shipped stolen diamonds through Brussels and Amsterdam to points worldwide. Prison did not sever Yosef’s hand but the losses to part of his distribution threatened to take the limb off.

“Shalom,” the rabbi greeted the man seated across the room.

“Shalom,” he replied. His eyes inspected the female visitor from a distance. The gruff tone was accustomed to giving orders and that is what he gave the frightened young woman. “Come here, girl!”

The shy thing hesitated. The rabbi gently nudged her forward. The guards were occupied. When the rabbi came, they went to make their unscheduled rounds.

The men were quiet as she moved toward Yosef. Many became aroused by the sight of a woman, but none displayed their hunger. Yosef never shared, they would watch and salivate. Fear is the emotion that ensured they remained disciplined. Not long ago a former cellmate merely asked Yosef if he could arrange for him to enjoy similar perks. Yosef’s response was to slam the man’s head against the cement wall. “Ungrateful bastard. The perk you have is the privilege of sharing a cell with me!”

The man
expired in the infirmary due to a massive cranial bleed. His death as far as prison officials were concerned meant one less lifer to house and feed.

The young woman halted in front of the seated figure. She gasped when he lifted the hem of her dress to examine her body. “How old are you?” he asked.

“I’ve recently turned twenty,” she answered.

“How many men have you
fucked?”

“One.”

“A boyfriend?” Yosef asked with a lift of a thick brow.

“Yes
, but we recently broke up.”

“What is his name?”

“Ian.”

“Do you love
this
Ian
?”

The young woman did not like the questions. She had come here by choice. The money was her incentive; poverty was not. “When I was foolish, yes.”

“And now?”

“I am no longer foolish. My love has ceased.”

Yosef smiled. He liked this girl. He ordered the rabbi to take her home.

The confusion on the girl’s face brought a smile to Yosef’s lips. “Disappointed?”

She frowned. “I was told…that…you…”

He waved his hand
. As a former intelligence officer he was highly regarded. But then a corrupt official is often charming, as well as intimidating. His voice and stature were imposing, the Iron Fist, he was nicknamed because he once broke a lieutenant’s jaw for making an unproven accusation. As a result of his action, he was put on suspension. Once Yosef returned, he decided to forego years of servitude and resigned. Cracking the hated lieutenant in the face is how he officially quit. 

He looked the female up and down.
“Forget what you were told, you will be paid.”

She stammered a protest. “But…I have not…”

The brown eyes settled on her face. “But, you feel you have not earned it, is that it?”

Her gaze faltered. She had left Israel with nothing to escape the sight of Ian and had lived with her brother Petrov. She was unaware her esteemed brother’s money came from crimes,
or he used drugs until this morning.

When Petrov had not returned home this morning, she grew anxious and phone
d their rabbi. It is through the cleric she learned Petrov had overdosed last night and perished. He’d taken her to the morgue to view the body. Petrov’s pallor and the track mark bruising to his arms made her cry. The comforting arms of the rabbi soothed her angst, but then he told of her brother’s theft from his employer to feed his drug habit that made her cry again.

Petrov worked for this man,
and stole thousands of dollars that she could never repay. However, if she were an honorable woman, the rabbi advised, she would settle her brother’s debt. When she told the rabbi of her finances, he frowned and made a phone call. He informed her that Yosef agreed to cover the burial expenses for her brother and forgive his transgression, but there was a codicil. The rabbi said Yosef was very wealthy and his wish like many romantics was marriage and children. If she agreed to matrimony, she would receive generous compensation. In fact, one hundred thousand dollars in cash would be a grateful man’s up-front payment as a show of good faith.

If she refused
–well then he’d assume she worked in consort with her brother and he would press charges against her instead.

Initially, she considered declining the offer bu
t then the prospect of prison or fleeing to Israel without a cent caused a change of heart. What was there except Ian and heartache? Her father died years ago and her mother remarried an abusive banker who treated her and Petrov like dogs.

No, she would not go back
to a land of suicide bombings caused by religious strife. Money is freedom; sometimes what is traded is worth less than what is gained. A wealthy benefactor who would care for her in exchange for marriage was far better than loving someone for free, only to learn he loved many.

However, s
he was shocked to discover Petrov’s employer was serving time in jail. The nature of his crimes was withheld, and what was more surprising was the luxurious cell. Yes, the mature and handsome inmate had the air of money. He also exuded what her bubbe described as ‘chutzpah!’

She spied a
privacy screen near a comfortable looking bunk with fluffy pillows and quality linen.

The man stood.
Her eyes traveled upward until he reached his full height. She was but five-six, he had to be a foot taller.

Yosef
grinned down. “You thought I’d be short and balding?”

“No…no,” she lied.

At fifty-seven Yosef boasted a military person’s physique. Years of training field personnel in combat consisted of a regimented living.  He then spoke Hebrew to the rabbi. Seeing the young doe eyed woman, he had decided. The others began to move to an opposite wall to give the couple privacy. Their marriage would be officiated and consummated immediately. The papers were already signed.

The clipped sentences were in
Hebrew as the rabbi recited passages from the Torah.

Yosef opened the screen
and they were hidden from view. Yosef’s voice came in a seductive tone that gave her goosebumps. “This Ian who is no longer your boyfriend, did he wound your fragile heart?”

She nodded. A warm hand pressed against her skin. The intensity of his closeness burned her flesh. “Yes.”

He removed her dress. “Do you want to hurt him in return?”