AMARA'S POV
"Thank you so much for buying the house" I smiled "You can come by Thursday, we just need two days to move out".
Woah! That was a great lie!The look on this man's face wasn't encouraging at first and I thought he would want his refund immediately. Just kidding, I already gave him his forged receipt and document of the house.
With a wide smile on my face, I watch the man walk away in happiness. Poor thing, I am about to ruin his surprise gift to his girlfriend that would not accept his proposal until he buys his house. "They will learn soon" I shrugged.This is the third person I am selling my late parents' house to today and I can't help but feel somehow excited. Call me a thief because it's my nature and I can't change it even if I want. Not when stealing has become my only hope of surviving since I was fifteen.
Let's start from the beginning, the very beginning.
My name is Amara Zino, I am an orphan who lives with my only relative Madame Flavia. I lost my parents at the age of fifteen when they went on a 'parents bonding trip' and never returned alive. Their valuables were all missing same as some useful parts of their bodies their fingers and a significant bullet wound in between their heads. They had lots of gun wounds on their chest, head, and neck, and one on my mother's left breast. Half of my father's head had been blown off and I puked on his body when I saw it. Funny enough, the picture of my father's brain and the hole in my mother's breast never left my head for once. Since then, My aunt moved in to take care of me but what was I except? She arrived with her always-drunk boyfriend, Massimo, and her extremely spoilt 12 years old son, Bruno. Living with them for nine and a half years was hell, especially when I had to share my room in the basement with rats. Did I forget to tell you that the best part of selling my late parents' house is because Madame Flavia still lives here with her family? Yes, they still live here and I hope they will adapt to living on the street soon because, in two days, the three new landlords will come for their house. One will get it, the poor girl I gave the real documents to yesterday. I couldn't help but pity her because she is like me, 25, maltreated and homeless. Although she paid 50 Euro which I used in getting the cross bag I am having across my chest right now.Walking into the house to take my laptop, I make sure not to make a sound at all.Getting into the basement, I put on my favorite sweater and very tight jeans trousers. Stuffing the laptop inside my stomach and waistband helped me sneak out of my only useful property until I got to the front door.
"Sneaking out again?".
Dang, it!I had no idea Bruno has been around. What he is even doing her by the way with his...turning back to look at him, a deep frown spread across my face as I sight him wearing my stolen Jersey.
Two weeks ago, I went to the market to price a new white wig which I actually stole too. The Jersey was something I couldn't miss so I asked for the price and didn't notice it ran out of the store with me stuffed in my jeans and trousers. The same blue ripped jeans I am wearing now."And why are you looking so bloated like..." He moved closer to touch my stomach but I stepped back "Why is your stomach bloated?" Bruno flash me a toothy grin.
Damn! He looks like a catfish about to be catfished. No matter how I feel that I shouldn't do it because don't want, teaching Bruno a little lesson became my next priority. With his phone glaring at me in his front pocket, I moved close to him and let a single tears drop down my left eye and that's it! The next thing is Bruno offering me 5 euros and then a small pat on my back. Little did he know that the latest iPhone he brought a month ago followed me to the door. Well, it didn't get to follow me so far because the last tone I noticed was when I exchanged it for a container of Pringles, two oversized shirts, and a small bag for my laptop. Don't ask me how I got the laptop too because I stole it three months ago on a bus. The user unlocked it in my presence and forgot it on the chair. As a good, Samaritan, I attempted to return it by running after her immediately after she left but no way! You can't trust a thief with a pink MacBook she can never afford. With the balance of 3000 euros, I am happy that I have booked a flight to America and my flight would leave in the next three minutes. I have planned about this for a whole year, all the process of making a student visa, renting a very small apartment, and someone to pick me up from the airport in Chicago where I will arrive. I will miss Italy, I will miss Calabria, and the market I enjoy stealing from.I heard America is a place of opportunities so I bet I will have to stop stealing thereof I must go to college and actually get a job for the first time in my life.
No more sleeping in a dark basement with lots of Rodent friends and insects. I became so used to cockroaches and mosquitoes that I no longer feel them crawl over my body. What else do I expect I had to stay in that basement for eleven years since I was ten years old? A twenty-five years old orphan knows better than to still be scared of anything except death. Soon, I am seating on the plane with my heart in my palm. This is the first time I am entering a plane and I am terrified for my life. I can literally feel my head flying backward immediately after the plane left the ground and my heart now beating somewhere around the lower side of my stomach.If not for the nice fellow beside me, I am sure to pee on my pants. Such a gentleman to hold my hand till the plane leaves Italian soil. Sadly, he was putting on a beautiful ring when he held my hand but didn't leave the plane with it because I could not let such a good ring leave my sight. Stepping out of the plane with my small bag, I looked at the ring for the last time. It would be worth more than a thousand dollars if I sell it in America and that should hold me for rent and other things for the next three months. "Poor fella" I shrugged "I just hope this isn't your wedding ring".
Frankly, Everything sucks! Since my four months of working here, I can say I have stolen from at least ten people. I can't just stop, especially when I have to pay tasks, water bills, electricity bills, gas bills, house rent, and foooood! Adulthood is a pure scam, you wake up one morning and discover that you are owing a freaking 10,000$!!! Seating with a sad look on my face, I bit my lower lips, pretend to quiver them and it was working. The man suddenly have forgiven me and was begging my boss to let me retain my position but his Karen wife was something else. At some point, I wanted to kill her. Maybe if I pull her hair so hard, she would know better than to call me an Italian bitch. I know my accent sound a bit funny but saying it to my face is something else. She even suggested that they are not the first person I must have stolen from to be so skillful and not get noticed. 'Well, I hate to break it to you sweetheart, but you guys are not the first'
A week had passed and here I was, carrying my valuables which were my laptop and phone. Not as if I don't need clothes for anything, but with the money I would make from selling this ring, I was certain to relocate to Uk and do absolutely well. I will keep a low-key profile till I know about my environment before probably getting myself a car. Don't worry about college, I can decide to work on that or drop out. Checking the prices of that ring, I saw everything above 400 thousand dollars. That's a freaking huge amount of money! And even if I get 300 thousand dollars I will be fine. Very fine and I can be able to go back to Italy and buy my late parents’ house back. I will renovate it, make it bigger the way I want, and pay back those people I scammed. That means no more stealing for me even if I literally stole yesterday. That means more hope, I can go back to Italy and when I get disturbed, I can settle them off or even raise a case against them because I have the mo
Moving away from the tattooed face man, I grinned again. This time not nervous, but scared for my life. My eye kept looking around for anything that would help me; anything at all including me staring at where the sun doesn’t shine, you won’t blame me, I just want to escape even if I spend some time imagining how big and long it would be. When I felt he was no longer looking at my face, I inhaled deeply and dashed toward the door. Before I could get to the door, I felt his tight grip on my hair, yanking it back with so much strength that I felt it would uproot. I wanted to fight him off, to just scream and escape but nothing happened. I was paralyzed with fear that I felt myself become so light. More fear engulfs me when I felt the man’s warm palm holding my jaw tight for a few seconds before letting me go."Where is it?" His cold voice asked, "Where is the ring you piccolo ladro!" {Tiny thief}What! Did he just call me a tiny thief in Italian? I can't remember stealing from him,
The car stopped in an alley and as if we were waiting for someone, we all waited in silence.The driver soon began to talk casually to the sluggish man beside me. As they talked, I learned the driver's name or nickname was Dee. The man beside him was mainly addressed without a name making me wonder if he was nameless. Moreover, they were speaking Italian, making me a bit calm as if I was home. They were ranting in Italian about some random dude named Dickens making me a bit calm until they said something about his five years old child. "È stato divertente vedere il bambino morire dissanguato" The sluggish man seating close to me chuckled dryly. [It was fun to see the baby bleed to death] No way! They didn't just mean watching a five-year-old girl bleed to death in front of her father for fun! That was messed up! Even if the person did something bad, I do not support something like that. Even as I listened to them fall more, I could not help but glare at them and still remain
Driving into a mansion, I took my time to be aware of my surroundings. After Luciano and Dee had finished up with the dead body of the man they killed, they threw me back into the car and drove off. Getting to a desolate area, I thought we were going into another dimension as all I could see were trees, trees, and lots of trees. It was as if we were going into the middle of nowhere when the car suddenly stopped in front of a tent and went off. The men came down the car, totally forgetting about me until they got to the front of the tent and spoke with the person. I was expecting to see someone as evil as the new bass voice sounded only for me to see a handsome man dressed in a pink gown, black trousers, and a pink tiara. His hair seems high in a messy ponytail and he was holding his phone up to his face as if he was or is on a video call. “Don’t tell me it brings your kids to work day again, Luca” Sure that voice belongs to Dee, Luciano would have just
Those assholes still covered my mouth with that duct tape. That is so un-human. I didn't feel anything when I was been thrown into a cell-like room. It was dark, just sounds of dropping water or liquid, and a foul smell. I should be worried about everything but when I remember what I pass through in Italy; in my parent's basement, I shivered. No roaches, no rats, no mosquitoes here. I just lay on the cold floor, thinking about school. I can't get a carryover, but I need rest. Soon, I draft off, sleeping like a newborn. When I say a newborn, I meant I would wake up every twenty minutes to look around and cry for no reason. Then, I would remind myself of how I got myself into this mess and that I have made a deal already so killing me won't be necessary. That also doesn't mean I should sleep and have that evil-looking man point a gun at me. "Stop begging, we won't kill you now" Opening my eyes, I realized I have begged him not to kill me
A whole day! Days? I just don't know. I knelt down for a whole day without food or water. No light, no air, nothing at all. My arms were still chained and I feared that Luciano and his brother might have forgotten about me. It won't be nice to starve here to death still chained. I didn't bother to open my eyes, I just knelt still. What's the point? No light, no air, no water. If I try to shake, I am sure it would not happen; even if it happened, the glass in front of me would mess up my skin. I lost count of the hours already that I felt I have been here for months. What if I just give up? What if I just forget about everything and... I could not tell if it was my imagination but I heard the door unlock. The door soon open and I heard someone walk in. The figure seems huge as the person made pop sound with his shoe. No one needs to tell me, I can already perceive Luciano's perfume. "Let's see what we have here" I didn't say
LUCIANO'S POV Just three days! Three days and I have never had my peace with my twin brother always talking about how useful he thinks Amara is. He would give me lots of reasons why I shouldn't sell her off or just kill her. Dee has been a little obsessed with this thief, that's not a nice surprise. Since Jordan; his male lover's disappearance, there hasn't been anything like this for four years. Frankly, I feel like I should remind him that he is gay. I have never seen him so interested in a woman before. What's most shocking about this girl is her look and the way she has him wrapped around her tiny fingers. For some reason, that hurt me. "Lu Lu" While eating, I occasionally looked up at my plate to him Dee staring at me. I can't tell if it's because he called me using the name I hate the most because of what I am thinking about. "Luciano I was thinking about.." "The girl in the cell?" I asked. Dee shrugged. Dropping his cutleries, he mo