by Jolie Damman
It was warm as it should be, and it began to make me feel better. I stayed still in the water for some minutes before beginning to swim back and forth.
I was all by myself, and I was alright with that. I needed some time to think, and now was a good time for that. I needed to think about the day and what I would do with my life. I still didn’t know if I would finish my degree in Journalism.
Did I even want to be a journalist? I only started that degree because my father insisted I needed to go to college.
I kind of liked the profession, but not much, and right now, thinking about such a thing felt hopeless and meaningless. My professors did say, if journalism was right for me, that I would find the answer on my own one day.
Well, I was waiting for it to happen.
The night outside was also a calming one. I was thankful we lived in such a peaceful neighborhood. My family was part of the Mafia and while some people would be afraid of something like that, I wasn’t.
I was okay with being part of the Mafia. Nothing of importance happened because we were anyway. Nothing that concerned me, to be more precise. I was sure my dad had his shady deals, but he kept our family away from them.
Being part of the Mafia did mean I was kind of helping with one thing I didn’t like, though. The Mafia was bloody. They killed people and ‘ran’ businesses outside the law. One thing that comforted me was knowing the police would never come to put us in jail.
They never would. I trusted my father to keep us safe, and he would. He always would. He was a good man at heart, even if some people disagreed with that.
I swam for a couple more minutes, and then rested by putting my arms on the tiled floor that surrounded the swimming pool. I was still in the water, and I didn’t want to get out of it right now. It was so good.
When I was going to grab a banana I brought with me, I heard gunshots coming from outside the house. I almost forgot I was in the water still, drowning in. More gunshots came from the outside, and they sounded closer now.
Something bad was happening, and my heart was beating like a train that just couldn’t stop accelerating. I got out of the water quickly and grabbed my things. I walked through some rooms and when I stepped into the living room, I found out what was happening.
I was not a stupid girl. I knew more or less what was going on the first moment I heard the gunshots. I felt like the world was ending for me and I was gonna get killed in the coming minutes.
Well, now that I was seeing the scene in front of me, it seemed I wasn’t wrong about that.
My father was holding a gun, and he was pointing it at none other than Barnaba Calabrese. I knew his face. Knew his name. He was the head of the most frightening and important Mafia family in Sicily.
What was he doing here? I knew he killed our guards, but why was he pointing a gun to my dad’s head?
And my dad wasn’t alone. My brother and uncle were with him. My mom and sister were behind them, their hands clutching their chests. Their eyes were filled with worry. I was scared too. I couldn’t wrap my head around what was happening here.
This was the first time a Mafia family invaded our property and looked ready to kill us all. We didn’t do anything wrong, did we?
The Calabrese family was all here. Or most of them were.
I also knew a couple more of them. The tall guy with black short hair was the oldest son of Barnaba. His name was Basilio, and I heard he was as frightening as his old man. I made a mental note never to piss him off, hoping I could do something about what was going on here.
Paolo Calabrese was with them too. He was skinnier than his older brother, but still just as scary. He was almost like the brain of the family. His father ranked him quite highly, and I was sure that was something his brother didn’t like one bit.
My father spoke, “Barnaba, I don’t know why you just came straight into my house and killed my guards, but I’m sure we can work this out.”
“We can work this out? Do you know what you did?”
“What happened?” My father asked.
“We had a deal, Igor. You fucked it up. You thought you were going to get away with it, isn’t that right?”
I examined my dad’s expression. It didn’t change one bit. I wouldn’t say I was good at reading people, but I thought he would be surprised. If he was being wronged here - if he didn’t do anything wrong - then he would flat out say Barnaba was mistaken.
But he didn’t say anything immediately after. I didn’t want to think my father did something wrong with the Mafia. He couldn’t have done it, right? He wouldn’t have been crazy enough to do something so terrible. He knew the consequences.
“I did what I had to, Barnaba. I’m not going to explain myself.”
And then, a shot. Very loud. Ear-piercing. Our living room wasn’t big. My heart slammed against my ribcage.
My father’s head tilted backward quickly as blood flew in all directions. I couldn’t believe what was happening. It was almost as if it was all happening in slow motion for me.
I watched as his body lost its strength, his blood splattered everywhere. My mom ran forward and got on one knee. She held his torso in her hands, and cried as she tried to talk to him. My sister ran forward too and tried to comfort my mom.
I stepped forward, but immediately stopped. I heard the click of a gun coming from the right, and my uncle opened fire. He killed two of the Calabrese, but he was then quickly put down. It all happened so fast in real life, but for me, it did so in slow motion.
I screamed and felt that my whole life was being ruined. It was all ending for me, and they might as well kill me now. My dad and uncle now laid dead on the floor. My sister went to my uncle, and I could see that Igor was suffering too.
His eyes were filled with rage. I had never seen anything quite like that before with him. His mouth was contorted, and I was sure he was holding back the urge to open fire and kill Barnaba Calabrese.
It was all happening so fast, and it all came out of nowhere. I didn’t see any signs that something terrible was occurring behind the scenes. Did my father really not hold his end of a deal? Was that deal so important?
I was still paralyzed. What was even going on here at this point? A couple of minutes ago, everything was fine. I was having a good, relaxing moment in the swimming pool, and now my whole life was ending right before me.
My brother wanted to end everything right now, but even though he was good at shooting, he wouldn’t be able to kill everyone from the Calabrese family before they ended his life. If there was one thing about him we were all proud of, it was that he thought before acting.
Barnaba spoke, “Now that the idiots are dead, maybe we can begin to think about what to do with this family.”
“You are not going to do anything to us. We are leaving Sicily. We are leaving Italy,” my brother said.
He was the only man of the family, and thus, he was the head of it now. My mother was still in shock, crying, and whimpering. My sister wasn’t faring much better herself.
My aunt was also crying and whimpering. I felt so sorry for them. We shouldn’t be living all together in the same house. I knew it was big enough for all of us, but now that I was thinking about it, it was such a... mistake.
“I don’t think you’ve got a choice here, boy. Your father and uncle are dead. You are the man of this family. The only one here. It’s time for you to make a decision, and I hope you make the right one.”
“And the right one would what?”
“You are going to work for us, and I mean really work for us. You are not going to get paid or anything. You are going to do whatever we wish of you, and you aren’t going to complain.”
I was nothing more than a spectator right now, only watching as this terrible moment went on.
With my father the way he was right now, it was pointless to call the ambulance. The police wouldn’t be of much help either. Calling them would only put my whole family - or what was left of it - in jail, and I didn’t want
to make something like that happen.
I wanted to go over to my mom and tell her it was gonna be alright, but I couldn’t. It wasn’t something I could do easily right now as if nothing had happened and was happening.
I could see my brother wanted to say something else, but he… lowered his gun and said, “Alright. Just don’t kill more of us.”
Basilio stepped forward. “Father, I have a score to settle with him.”
“Really? Then go right ahead. I’m not going to get in your way.”
My brother’s head snapped back up. “What do you want, Basilio? I don’t have anything to do with you.”
“Oh, but you do. Remember Editta?”
“Editta? What does she have to do with any of this?”
“You have been fucking her, haven’t you?”
My brother froze. What was going on here? Was Editta lying to Gino this whole time? I didn’t think she had someone else. Didn’t think she had another boyfriend, or whatever Basilio was to her.
“She is my girlfriend. I love her. I don’t know what you mean. Why is she being involved with this?”
My heart leaped. I thought Basilio was going to pull the trigger and kill my brother right here and now.
But he didn’t, and a smirk crept up on his face. “Is that so? I guess you wouldn’t want to know I was fucking her too.”
My brother’s eyes bulged. “B-but that is impossible. She would never do something like that to me.”
“You are such an idiot, Gino. No wonder she managed to fool you so well.”
“You are mistaken. I would have known.”
Basilio’s smirk widened on one side. “I honestly don’t know if I hate her more than I feel pity for you.”
I needed to do something. I couldn’t watch this develop without doing something.
I stepped forward, drawing their attention to me.
“Whatever is happening here with Editta, I’m sure it’s nothing more than a misunderstatement.”
Basilio eyed me from bottom to top. “Damn, Gloria. I should have seen you like this before. You are a hottie.”
My cheeks blushed. That was the last thing I expected him to tell me right now.
“Basilio, don’t involve my sister in this.”
“She already is, dipshit.”
Gino turned his attention to me. “Go to your room, Gloria.”
I slammed my foot on the floor. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Then, I’m taking you there,” he said before coming to me and beginning to drag me up the stairs.
I fought, struggled, and eventually jerked myself free from him. “I’m not going to pretend this isn't happening! I can’t leave you all alone with him.”
“I won’t be alone. Please, do this for me. I need to know you will be safe.”
I looked at Basilio. He could be… well, he could be so much more if he wasn’t such an asshole. I hated him with my life. I wanted to kill him right now, but I wasn’t crazy enough to do something like that.
Not right now. Maybe when I had a better chance.
I looked into Gino’s eyes. They were trembling. I could feel how much he was frightened right now, and he really meant it when he said he needed me in my bedroom.
I grabbed his hand and held it tightly. “Don’t die on me. Don’t let him humiliate and kill you. I’m going to kill him if he does that.”
He gave me a half-smile. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to die. I’m going to talk to him and figure out why he is so pissed.”
He moved his lips closer to my ear and whispered. “We are going to have our revenge on them. Don’t worry about it. I’m going to kill them all one day.”
I had nothing to believe he would be able to do that one day. We didn’t have the numbers, the support, and the firepower needed to bring down the Calabrese. They had everything they needed to put us down right now, if they so wished.
But something in his tone told me something else. He meant it all. Gino had just made it his lifelong objective to bring down the Calabrese. They didn’t just kill my father and uncle in front of us, they did so because of an idiotic deal.
Barnaba was a cruel, heartless man. He was so different from my dad. I remembered some of the good moments I had with him, and I wished I could live through them all again. But right now, they were nothing more than distant memories.
I let go of his hand and said, “Alright. I’m going to trust you on this, Gino, but I’m not going to forgive you if you let a shithole like Basilio kill you.”
His half a smile widened on one side. “Heh. Don’t worry about that. He won’t kill me.”
I also didn’t have anything solid to believe such a thing was beyond happening, but I still trusted him. I wasn’t too worried. Gino was going to come back, and he was gonna be stronger.
One day, I would even help him bring down the Calabrese.
Chapter 4
Everything Changes
Basilio
Iwatched as Gloria walked up the stairs. “Hey, idiot. You think she will be safe up there?”
Gino walked down the stairs and tucked his gun in his waist. “She will be safe. I’m going to make sure of it.”
My dad and Paolo lowered their guns. “Son, I’m going to leave the rest to you. Don’t disappoint me.”
Paolo gave me a smirk. “You shouldn’t disappoint dad, Basilio. You don’t want me to become his favorite, do you?”
His smirk grew, and I so wanted to punch him right now. He was an asshole, and always had been one. Problem was, I couldn’t do anything to him. Couldn’t kill him. He was my brother and my father would be so pissed if he lost him.
“Don’t worry, papa. I’m going to deal with him and the rest of his family, not that there is much left.”
Dad smirked and patted my shoulder before walking away with Paolo. The rest of our family followed them, and I heard as they turned on the engines of their cars. I returned my attention to Gino, who was now walking toward me with rage-filled eyes.
The rest of the family carried the bodies of the people we killed and I could hear one of them using the phone to call the ambulance and the coroner.
The living room grew silent, and I said, “You have been fucking my girl, and that is not something I can ignore.”
His gun was still tucked in his waist. Good. It meant he wasn’t going to grow balls all of a sudden and do something stupid. He wouldn’t be able to kill me, and I didn’t want Gloria to cry even more.
I could hear her sobs coming from upstairs.
“Basilio, I don’t know what you are talking about. I don’t know you much personally, but Editta is my girlfriend. Always has been.”
“Oh, really? How long were you two together?”
“For years. I don’t understand why you are acting like this right now. She and you didn’t…?”
I wanted to punch him right now, but I contained myself.
“She is my girl, dipshit. Maybe she is the one to blame here, but I feel like killing you right now.”
“Then, do it.”
His eyes grew fiercer. He meant it. He wasn’t afraid to die right now. He hated me with his guts, and he was willing to sacrifice himself.
“Just don’t harm anyone else from my family. I want to know they will be safe,” he added.
“As if I would do what you want.” I laughed.
When my laughter died, seconds of silence ensued. I was wondering what he was going to tell me next.
“I know what is going on here. Editta needed someone else, and you had to be a good boy again, didn’t you? You comforted her and things developed from then on, right?” I asked.
“I don’t know why you are feeling as if she owes you something,” he said.
“She owes me everything!”
More seconds of silence ensued. I was still studying him. I needed to get under his skin.
“Basilio, just leave me. I’m going to tell Editta I don’t want her anymore, and then she will be yours only.”
“Like it never happened?” I asked.
“Like it never happened,” he replied.
I punched his idiotic face, hard. He stumbled, but didn’t fall on his ass.
I approached him so much he had to lean back a little. “It did happen, and I’m not going to forgive her. I’m going to have a long conversation with her, and then I’m going to make her regret ever being fucked by you.”