PastAugust 2009As Luc left, my cousin soon asked:"Did you hook up with the stranger?""That's not your problem, and if you came to question me, you can go Chloe," I said simply."Well, I'm going straight to the point, I came to get help..." I don't know what to do," he confessed in a broken voice and sat down on the couch. “I can't tell Abi because her response will be to tell my brother and I had no one to talk to...”"What's wrong?""I think..." I think I'm pregnant.Gods.I couldn't help but open my eyes in surprise and sit next to her because she started crying."Aren't you sure?""No, I'm not sure, I'm a week late and if it's true... My future would go down the drain," he said before shaking his arms."No, don't say that, look, just think it's stress...""We did, but there was a time when he took off the condom, he told me it was broken and well, he did everything possible to get me a morning-after pill, but I didn't take it within the recommended twelve hours," he explained a
PastAugust 2009"Do you know what Cosa Nostra does to cowards?" old Russo asked, and I made no move. We shoot them in the forehead because it doesn't work. “Your father, who has been a faithful man, told me that I could do it if it would help to make up for the damage you did, the humiliation of my princess Diana... Tell me, why don't I kill you?”I didn't say anything, my tears were stuck."Beat him up so he learns to respect, don't touch his face because I want him pretty for pictures," Russo told one of his men. “You're going to marry my granddaughter this Friday, if you don't, I'm going to kill your brother and sell your sister to the Chechen mafia.”That one upset me, it made me shake, I wanted to kill the damn old man and I looked at my father to get him to tell me in the face that he was going to allow that madness. He ignored me and what Russo did was laugh before taking the cane and with incredible strength for an old man, he hit it in my stomach, took all the air out of me
PastAugust 2009I wasn't surprised when Russo and my father entered my room in the night, the news of Maurizio Moretti's death spread like wildfire. It was something he had seen coming, so with a long sigh I sat down and before they said anything I decided to put my cards on the table. "If you're going to hit me again, I won't be ready for the damn Friday wedding the way you want it to, so think carefully about what you're going to do about it.""You're an insolent brat!" The old man shouted angrily."You know that, but you didn't pay attention to the fact that I was never going to let you lay a finger on my grandfather, my real father, or on your crazy damn fantasies," I snapped, annoyed. “That man had already died long before I had the time to know, because of you, so I don't care much about your revenge of, I'm fed up, tired of having my life screwed up enough to deal with the best man I've ever known. I don't care... And if you really think of putting a hand on my brothers, try
PastFrom August to September 2009The month of August ended and the first weeks of September consumed me in a pathetic spiral that led me to sleep everywhere, to cry like an idiot and to be listless. My father kept me locked up most of the time after that disastrous fight in which he proved that I was the worst of them all."Emma is punished until further notice, she has to spend time at home and not walk around like a street person," he snapped before slamming the door in my aunt's face.It was hell and it opened up when days later my mother asked me for pads because theirs had run out. That set off alarm bells everywhere because for the first time I was aware that I was late for my period.On a day when my parents went out, I checked the calendar and counted the weeks. I was a week late; a whole one I didn't think about while I was a mess in bed crying for Luc."It can't be, it can't be," I said to myself, curling up into a ball on the bed.I thought about what the hell to do, thou
Past From September to November 2009I woke up in a hospital room with a searing pain in my belly, as well as a general malaise and listening to Grandpa recite the Lord's Prayer while holding my hand. The man was crying in a way that reminded me of my grandmother's death, and when he lifted his face and looked me in the eye, he cried harder."You're awake! You're awake!” He exclaimed before getting up and going out to warn.I felt confused, in pain, and in a desire to cry that I didn't know where they came from. Three women came in and the gynecologist who had done the examination passed by with a serious face."Good afternoon, Emma, welcome back," said one of them. “I'm Dr. Kay, and together with Dr. Ackerman we take care of you. How are you feeling? Do you remember anything that happened?”"Not much," I replied with a parched mouth.“You were transferred from Britton Care to St Luke's Midland Hospital: Forkel Todd MD. You were beaten, which resulted in you having cerebral edema...”
Past December 2009 to February 2010December arrived without anesthesia.I was locked in a luxury apartment where I lived with my wife, an innocent girl who had been miserable since the moment we got married. I remember perfectly well that two days after burying my grandfather, I was forced to wait for her at the altar, one where she arrived walking through tears, in the most pompous dress a young woman could wear.His first words to me, just before the wedding, were:"I'm sorry to have your life ruined like I am.”Then she burst into tears as if the world had ended. I didn't know how to react to it, I just gave him a tissue and took out the prenuptial agreement that my brother carefully snuck in. I opened it and presented it to him in that state."If you want to annoy your grandfather for what he's doing, sign this," I said, and he looked me straight in the eye."What's that?""Lee, you have to sign it before we can get married.""It's a... prenuptial agreement? How does signing thi
Part IV. DecisionsPastFrom March to May 2010I was trying to make my life in Minneapolis when I was told I had to report for Abel Casey to be charged.I didn't want to go back, I had to beg and allude that I had a lot of problems about it, and the doctor who was treating me sent a report specifying that the trial would be very damaging to me. They made me go to Aberdeen to rectify it with some psychological analysis to back it up, then I asked the social worker in charge of my case if I could be left out of the whole investigation process, she said it depended on the results. That made me visit Grandpa Bruce, one who was aware of everything that was going on and when he came out of the horrible trials, he picked me up."I missed you very much, child.”"And I, to you, grandfather, thank you for helping me with the payment of the residency.""It's the least of it, although I'm terrified that you're alone in a city, I understand why you should do it, how's the work going?""Well, I'm i
PastJune 2010We were going to get rid of old Russo.That was the conclusion the three of us came to after learning the gender of the creature.She was a girl, one who would have problems as soon as she was born. That didn't seem fair to me, I didn't agree with how women were treated within the mafia, so I had to get into a plan that my brother came up with.We had no choice."My grandfather will come soon to check that everything is going well, I..."Diana couldn't continue talking without crying, the enlargement of her belly made her look prettier, however, she was much more susceptible than usual and that was starting to irritate my brother."I'll take care of everything at the gender reveal party, it's our closest opportunity," Adriano said seriously, "we'll leave before he comes himself, we'll say we'll take into account the doctor's recommendation to look for a specialist in early detection of diseases."That's when I realized he was very cunning, maybe too cunning, so I asked