by Prince, DD
I used the tip of my tongue to scoop the cherry into my mouth and dropped the cone in the trash bin outside the shop and glanced in the window. She was staring at me, mouth open. After a few flicks of the tongue behind my teeth, I pulled out the stem and showed her that it was now knotted and then put it between my teeth, winked, and then I got into my car and drove directly to my father’s office, tonguing that stem while I drove.
I didn’t knock; I strolled right in, interrupting a phone call and ignoring the 4 other people sitting there with him at a conference table, one of them my brother.
Pop had looked up at me and put his hand over the mouthpiece of the phone.
“Tia O’Connor? Make it happen,” I told him, dropping the knotted cherry stem into the trash can beside the table.
“On it,” he’d answered with a huge smile and then lifted his chin at Dario, my brother. Dare got up and cracked his knuckles, “Let’s go,” Dare said to Bruce, Gus, and Earl, who were all sitting there with him.
Later that night, Dare called me and told me he’d visited with Greg O’Connor and told him the score. He walked in and told him Tom Ferrano was calling in his debt. If he didn’t have cash on the spot, he was to hand over his daughter Tia, that Tia would be presented to Thomas Ferrano Jr. as potential marriage material and that if marriage didn’t happen she’d remain Ferrano property in order to clear his debt. Dario had brought muscle with him, expecting resistance even though Pop told him not to bother.
O’Connor hadn’t even seemed all that surprised, according to Dare. Said he knew that my father wasn’t done with him yet and had a feeling this day would come. That my father had warned a few weeks prior that Tia might be the payback for what’d happened back in the day, whenever and whatever that was.
O’Connor had told my brother it was almost a relief that the day had come and that Tom had chosen to handle things this way because he’d been carrying around the worry for years. What the fuck? Piece of shit. Whatever the beef was between him and my Pop he wasn’t even gonna try to barter or fight for his daughter? What a sorry excuse for a father, for a man.
Of course she was already mine in my head so there was nothing he could do even if he had the money to pay the debt but that the man wasn’t even trying? He’d get zero respect from me.
Dare thought it was funny that Pop had done this to get me married off and said he was surprised that I was going through with it. I told him it was a means to an end and we joked about the fact that he’d be next. I’d seen Dare date plenty; he got a lot of female attention and had even been engaged already but she’d broken his heart and in return he’d broken the jaw of the guy she was fucking as well as bankrupted the guy’s family’s business. Since then he was about as interested in settling down as I was.
I saw my Pop the next evening at dinner at his house with him, my two sisters, their families, and Pop’s wife, wife #4 if I hadn’t lost count yet, and he told me on the side that he’d told O’Connor years back that he’d have his daughter someday. I tried to ask questions but again he brushed me off.
Why that son of a bitch didn’t leave the country to protect his little girl was beyond me. I mean, we had reach across borders but if you’d at least tried to get out of his line of sight maybe you’d have somewhat of a chance of getting off his radar. I knew that O’Connor had left his kid to rot in foster homes right under my Pop’s nose while he put cocaine up his own nose, while he repeatedly bet all his earnings on the horses and in card games, while he paid no attention to his kid whatsoever. Knowing Pop was threatening his kid, how could he stay around here?
I didn’t know what the beef between Pop and O’Connor was about as Pop was being tight-lipped but it had to be a pretty big beef for Pop to let a wound fester for years and then decide that the payment would come in the form of about 120 pounds of flesh. For whatever the reason was, I’d be getting that flesh in my hands right after she graduated from high school. It was all arranged. Dare would pick her up and deliver her to me.
Tia
The SUV stopped in front of a gatehouse and then when the gates opened, it pulled up a driveway in front of a gorgeous Tudor style house. A mansion, really. I clutched my purse close and when the SUV emptied, big black scary dude reached for my hand and helped me out. He gave me a little smile. Hmm, not so scary, really. Now that he’d smiled at me, he reminded me a little of Michael Clarke Duncan. The guy from the Green Mile isn’t scary, just misunderstood. Maybe this guy wasn’t scary. The other two, burlies one and two were scary, though. Burly Number Two from the back seat looked a tad like Lou Ferrigno, the Incredible Hulk. Burly One looked like a total criminal --- Sopranos or Godfather henchman type --- angry dark eyes, uni brow, deep acne scars on his cheeks. All three of them were huge men. The blond driver in the front looked little less scary but his attitude was scarier than all the other guys. He was in maybe his mid-20’s, and while he was good-looking, wearing an expensive suit, he looked pissed off and impatient. He seemed like the one in charge.
The Michael Clarke Duncan-looking dude finished helping me out of the SUV and blond angry hot guy motioned for me to follow him. I did, wondering what the heck I was walking into here. I was on a gated property with several big scary guys and I’d bet money they all carried guns. The blond guy led me through a big foyer into a room down a long hallway and rapped on a door.
“Come in,” A man answered from the other side.
The two burlies and the Michael Clarke Duncan guy stopped and waited in the hall while the blond guy opened the door and signaled for me to walk ahead of him. My heart felt like it was in my throat.
I was inside a large office and a man was behind a desk. He had salt and pepper hair and light brown eyes and looked handsome for his age, kind of George Clooneyish. He wore a suit and he looked tall and muscular. He looked more businessman or hot shot lawyer than mobster.
A guy in a mansion with all these thugs or whatever was buying debts from bookies? It didn’t add up. How big could Dad’s debt actually be? Who would front him more than a few hundred dollars on a poker game, knowing he wasn’t capable of earning more than the minimum wage?
“Athena, I’m Thomas Ferrano. Call me Tom. Please sit.” He motioned toward a chair in front of his desk.
I sat. His name sounded familiar. His face sort of seemed familiar, too.
“Aren’t you lovely? You graduated high school today, I hear.
Congratulations.”
I stared at him. Words won’t form on my lips.
He narrowed his gaze at me, “No need to be rude.”
I shook my head, “I’m not trying to be rude. I’m just a bit overwhelmed. Thank you. For the congrats.”
He nodded, “Dario, get a bottle of water for Athena.” Angry hot blond guy nodded and left the room.
“So, I take it your father filled you in? Why don’t you tell me what he said to you, ah? He used to have an unfortunate habit of leaving out important facts. Maybe he still does.”
Boy, did I know that.
Blond guy, Dario, returned with a bottle of water and handed it to me, then left the office.
“Umm thanks,” I took a sip, “I haven’t seen much of my father in years. He turned up today at my high school graduation and then told me I had to be a marker for a few days so he could get money together to clear up a gambling debt?”
Thomas Ferrano laughed, “Interesting spin.”
My heart plummeted. Spin? If that wasn’t the truth, what was?
“Isn’t that the truth?” I asked, starting to tremble.
“Not exactly. Your father owes me a rather large debt, one I’m not sure he can ever actually repay.” He looked at me expectantly.
“Why am I here, then?”
“Let’s say you’ve been drafted.” he smirked.
Huh?
“My son Tommy needs to get married. He hasn’t found Miss Perfect yet. Your father owes me a great deal. I’ve agreed to consider writing off the debt if my son decides you’re Miss Perfect
.”
I started to laugh, “Am I being punk’d?”
“Excuse me?” he asked and I knew, then, that he was serious.
“I don’t understand…” The room began to slowly turn. I was white-knuckled, gripping the arms of the chair I sat in.
“Simple, really. As of now you are property of the Ferrano family.”
If my chin wasn’t touching the floor right now, it must be awfully close. Had I been transported back to the dark ages? I didn’t know what to say. I was totally and utterly gob smacked.
“So, I’ve arranged for you to be transported to Tommy’s home. There you two can get acquainted and go from there, see if this is an amicable arrangement for him.”
For him? For him?
“What?” I can’t fathom this, “No.”
Don’t I have to agree to this? I don’t agree to this. He raised his index finger and his eyes narrowed. He took on a much more menacing look, “Listen carefully. This meeting, the one between you and my son, if it doesn’t go well it won’t bode well for your father and it may not bode well for you, either. We have many options available for where you could go. I think you’d prefer ending up with my son over the alternatives. We’re a wealthy and powerful family so you could be in a much worse position, believe me. I’d advise you to cooperate. You’re in an enviable position, Athena. I’ll be seeing you soon. Tommy’s brother will drive you. Dario!”
Enviable? Was this man whacked in the head?
The door opened and Dario popped his head in.
“Take Athena to your brother. Athena, don’t be difficult. I wouldn’t advise it. It was nice to see you again. You’ve grown up to be a lovely girl. An almost dead ringer for your mother.” He gave me a big smile. My blood ran cold.
My mother? This man knew my mother? See me again? When had he seen me before? This man was scary. The brother was scary. Their thugs or whatever they were --- really scary. Was I in the middle of the fricking dark ages or what? An arranged marriage to a mafia kingpin’s son to save my father’s life? This was nuts! If I was asleep I wanted to wake up right now!
Dario led me back out to the SUV and two of the other guys got in, too. One had apparently opted out of this leg of the drive. They thought they needed muscle to get me from point A to point B, evidently. Were they afraid I’d try to run? I didn’t know what the heck I was dealing with here so no, I wasn’t about to run now before sussing things out. I didn’t want to end up dead. I didn’t want Dad to end up dead. Did Dad really sell me out like this? I mean, he was a lousy father, for sure, but did he really sell me to the mafia in exchange for payment of his old gambling debts? Not a marker. Not temporarily. Sold, like chattel. Married off. No way. He was capable of a lot but this? Surely not. This was North America and the 21st century. This kind of stuff didn’t happen.
I combed through my memory. The name Ferrano rang bells. Was he known in the city as a mafia guy? Where had I heard his name from? I stayed somewhat up to speed on current events and his name and face was familiar but I couldn’t place it.
What might’ve been about ten minutes later the SUV was pulling up in front of another set of gates. The drive had been quiet, more sports, I figured out was soccer, on the radio and no talking other than a “Woo” and a “Yes!” in unison from angry driver, err Dario and burly # two (number one had opted out) on what must’ve been a goal… it’d all been white noise to me due to my state of mind.
“Wait here,” Dario told me after getting past the gate and then he walked into the house alone. Me and the muscle sat in awkward silence.
My purse started ringing my ringtone for Ruby, Sexy Back by Justin Timberlake.
“Hand it over,” Burly #2 said gruffly and I knew he meant business.
I took my cell phone out and handed it to him.
Tommy
Dare was inside my doorway, “I come bearing gifts. I deliver your bride,” he gave a gallant bow and then snickered at me. I’d just gotten here and had known they were going to be along soon.
I rolled my eyes, “Fucking Pop.”
He laughed, leaning against the wall, “She’s a looker, bro. He did good.”
“Don’t look at my bride.” I pointed at him, a little smirk on my face. I punched his shoulder playfully, “And just you wait. I’m sure he’s lining up someone for you to marry next.”
“Since you’ll be head of the family, I think that means you get to pick, doesn’t it?”
I threw my head back and let out an evil laugh, “Oh yeah. And just you wait!”
“I’ll go get her,” He told me, grinning. He knew I’d have his back. Truth be told, he couldn’t wait for Pop to head out to pasture. Dare and I had plans for taking the family business to the next level together. We were half-brothers and five years apart but we’d grown up together and were alike in many ways. He was the only other person I’d 100% trust to have my back. I didn’t even trust my father 100%.
I didn’t think he’d set out to do harm to me intentionally but I knew that we were all pawns, to a degree, and that his idea of having my back and Dare’s idea of the same would diverge.
“Put her in my bedroom and lock the door.” I said and wiggled my eyebrows. Then I walked into my office to tie up a few loose ends before the big reveal. I didn’t know much about her yet but from what I did know so far, I guessed that she wouldn’t have taken the news of today lightly. I was anticipating, even hoping for some resistance and looking fucking forward to it.
Tia
The guy with my phone gave it to Dario when he came back to the SUV.
“Let’s go,” Dario said to me with a chin lift.
Michael Clarke Duncan lookalike guy let me out and I had to walk around the back of the truck to meet up with Dario. I couldn’t run. The gate was shut. Would I run, though, if it wasn’t? Thomas Ferrano threatened me, pretty much saying Dad was a goner if I didn’t cooperate, and maybe me, too. But what was going to happen to me here?
I followed Dario into the big house, feeling a little shaky and a lot queasy. I couldn’t help but notice the architectural details of the place because it was the sort of house I’d always dreamt of living in. It looked like a pretty hacienda, had an orange terra cotta roof, white parging with archways. There were loads of flowers everywhere. Climbing vines, overflowing baskets, covering the ground, everywhere.
Inside the front door was a foyer that opened to a staircase directly to my left and a long hallway under an arch to my right. This was the kind of house Mom and I used to talk about having, a hacienda and beautiful gardens. It was her dream to live in a house like this and it’d become my dream, too. I shivered at the thought of my Mom, unable to fathom all this.
“Follow me,” Dario led the way up the stairs, down a long hall with several closed doors to a set of double doors, and then opened them both and walked in. I followed inside.
“Bag?” He motioned.
I hesitated.
“I’ll give your bag and phone to Tommy. He’ll decide when you can have them back.”
I was trembling. I couldn’t help it. I was in a big master suite with a king-sized bed, about to be left for someone who thought they had a claim on me. I was supposed to be at a party celebrating the end of my childhood and the beginning of life as an adult. An adult with choices, a future, independence.
This was not that. This was something else. This something else was bad. Very bad. He nodded politely, reached over to the bedside table and picked up a cordless phone, and then he left with it. I let out a big breath, as if I’d been holding it in for hours. I had to keep my cool somehow. If I had a freak out, there was no telling what would happen to me. If I kept my coo, I could suss everything out and then make a calculated decision about what to do.
I surveyed the room. It was nice, luxurious, even. Soft dove gray walls, big dark wood furniture, lots of leather, exposed beam ceilings with ceiling fans. The room was decorated in gray and black. It didn’t really match the hacienda theme outside and I wouldn’t say it wa
s my taste, really, but it was nice. There was a big difference from this room to the kind of room I was used to. The small room I’d shared with Bethany with our two twin loft beds with desks underneath and drawers for stairs was small but we’d made it our own. Here was a room I was expected to share with a man. I cringed, looking at the bed, fearing what I’d be expected to do. I knew nothing about this Tommy. All I knew was that I was in a pickle of a situation and I didn’t know how I’d get myself out.
Rose, Cal, and everyone must’ve been worried about me right now. Or had my Dad made up an excuse? They’d probably report me missing if they didn’t hear from me in a few hours. They knew how stoked I was about this party. Rose had made me my favorite artichoke and spinach dip as well as mozzarella sticks plus a plethora of appetizers that the other girls had requested. There was a huge cake for us, two thirds vanilla and a third chocolate because me and Mia preferred vanilla and Beth preferred chocolate. Cal had suggested three separate cakes or cupcakes with icing slathered all over to hold them all together but we were all so close we wanted the same cake. Rose had said she had our photos put on in icing. I never saw my cake. A tear slid down my cheek. Then I heard the doorknob turn and I dashed it away and held the others back. I put my lips together and stood still, back straight, took a deep breath, and waited.
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