Twenty-one: Audrina Bianchi

Twenty-one

Audrina Bianchi

The first few years of my life weren’t that bad. I had a happy family, even. Mama---that’s what I called Marie before I found out the truth----took care of me during the day. I remembered coloring at the kitchen table while she baked in the kitchen, humming to herself along to the old radio we had. At night, Dad would come home, always with dinner and a smile for the two of us. Dad would kiss Mama and spin her around, until she’d hit his chest making her burst into laughter. It was a happy time.

Things changed on my thirteenth birthday. Grandfather Lorenzo always made the biggest deal out of birthdays and holidays. Everyone would gather around for a celebration. I had a frilly pink dress Mama had gotten for me. There was a giant, pink Unicorn cake. I’d already been modeling for a few years at that point and there were a few other girls that I’d made friends with who were models also that came.

Grandfather themed the back patio of his upstate, New York ma