Time flew by, and he didn't even notice. Of course not, because all the jungle noise, the warm water, and the bubbles truly relaxed him… and he fell asleep in the bathtub but woke up just in time as his head slowly slid down into the water… it would have been the worst way to die.
Even imagining it was like a bad joke. Allegedly the most dangerous and feared gangster gets out of prison, gets beaten, kidnapped, kills one of the key players of the modern underworld, and then dies in a bathtub because he fell asleep… what an ending it would have been… especially in that water.
He was in there for an hour and the water was just straight up disgusting. It became blood red and full with the dirt and who knows what… without him even using any shampoo or soap. He just put his ass in the water and let it soak in it. So he reached out for a soap or whatever was on the side and washed himself off, and it just became more disgusting, the water literally turned to black.
When he was finally done and stepped out of the bathtub turning off the jungle experience he stared into the mirror and that was when he truly understood why nobody looked at him.
The unkempt beard, eyebrows, hairs, and his nose that was everything but not straight… of course everyone was avoiding the eye content, not even talking about the amount of blood that came off of him. He was looking like a straight-up barbarian.
So he did what he thought was best and started opening every drawer until he found scissors and some razors and straight up started shaving himself off.
It was kinda symbolic, shaving off all of the ten years off his face and becoming a new man… a whole lot of new man, because he suddenly looked proper to his age.
"Sir… Joseph, I brought underwear and clothes. Can I come in?" A voice came, and it was a woman, which meant one of the maids… but this time, he had nothing dirty in his mind and grabbed the towel.
"Come in." He said, and the door opened, and the same woman stepped in that was praying before eating… but there she wasn't in the maid's clothes, but in proper housekeeper attire.
"Here are the clothes which Pablo bought for you.The size might not be the right one." She said, as she was just standing there still, her head and eyes straight down on the floor. like before.
"Good… can you cut my hair?"
"Your hair?" She asked back as she now looked up, and she was surprised by what she was seeing… he looked very handsome.
"Yes, just cut it lower and that's it."
"I can try, but I'm not that good." She said, as now, for the first time was keeping eye contact.
"Then don't just stand there, come." Joseph said as he held out the scissors toward her.
She put down the clothes and underwear and grabbed the scissors from him, and pulled out a plastic stool from under the sink.
"Please sit down." She said, and Joseph did sit down on the stool and closed his eyes, relaxing and waiting… and waiting… waiting more.
She did nothing, and when Joseph opened his eyes, looking at the mirror, she had an expression that just screamed she was shocked about something.
"Is it that bad?" He asked, and his voice broke her out from the shock as she looked up at the mirror.
"No, I just… didn't expect this…" she said, as she looked down again at the back of Joseph, and it was just truly terrifying and telling a story, a story of what exactly he went through in there.
His back was full of scars, like his whole back was fucked up on a level she had never seen before in real life. She never even expected to see something like this.
She was shocked and taken aback by it for a moment, because it just told a story about him more. It was just more proof to the story that Pablo told her, and told them about Joseph. Proof that he was truly on a whole other level. Even earlier she was shocked that he didn't even react when Pablo popped his nose, not a single voice came out of him. She just could think about how much power they were beating him with, to hear him scream, to hear his voice…
"They used the lead chain as a whip." Joseph said suddenly. "Half of it was leather, but the part that connected to the cuff was iron, so when they swung it, it tore into my skin like a blade. It was—"
"It's okay." She interrupted softly. "May God punish them for their sins." She whispered as she made the first cut into Joseph's hair, who laughed.
"If God punishes them... what will he do with me? Or with you?"
"I know who I am." she replied without hesitation. "I know who I serve, and what I must do if your life is ever threatened. I am fully aware that every step I take defies the commandments of God. But it's that knowledge that gives me strength. I still believe and I know God will judge me for all I've done, and all I will do."
She paused, the scissors trembling in her hand.
"We are His sheep." she whispered. "Even if we've become wolves." The scissors clicked softly as she continued to trim his hair.
"You believe he'll still judge you fairly?" Joseph asked, because in his mind it just did not make any sense, or at least he never even believed this much like she does.
"We're not innocent. We never were. But maybe… just maybe, we're still redeemable." She said again with that low voice.
"Do you think wolves can pray?"
As he asked the question she completely stopped and looked in the mirror… at him.
"Only the ones who remember they were once lambs."