Gaia Azzaro
I was the mafia princess of the Camorra but only in the eyes of the world. There was never anything special about me, except for my top of the world flaws. I was invisible my whole life until the Brigadier (Capo) of the Russian Bratva se...
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When my eyes peeled open again, I felt a headache growing. My jaw was quenched hard painfully, stomach growling in starvation. The lack of food was overwhelming me. My eyes watered from tears. The plate carrying chicken wings was still there, along with a glass of coke. A small puddle of water was circled around the bottom of the glass due to condensation, showing the glass once had been carrying chilled coke.
Pushing on my forearms, I stiffly got into a sitting position and clambered toward the plate. With trembling hands, I picked the half-eaten chicken wings with my dirt-smeared hand. A fat tear fell on it. I threw it back on the plate as a sob escape from my mouth.
My stomach rolled again, and my vision swam. No matter how many times I had tried to starve myself in my teenage years to lose weight, I couldn't. I would die of hunger before catching the STD and the risk of having the drink being spiked with roofies. I am already locked in a cage. How worse it can be.
With trembling hands, I brought the wings to my mouth, holding them with both hands so I didn't end up dropping them. I ate the chicken wings, which tasted like acid in my mouth. Taking small sips of the coke, I washed it down my throat. Karma has a weird way to show you your place. The mistakes I had made explicitly were coming back to me.
AGE 6
A few months passed, but nothing changed. Carina had made her own spot in the corner to watch me play. She would sit on the small chair whose one leg was broken under my weight, but she somehow balanced to sit properly on it. She was graceful, unlike me.
Today she was wearing one of the black dresses with lots of frills everywhere. It had a hole as I had fallen while playing, scraping my knee. The dress has swallowed her small frame. The hem that used to reach below my knee is reaching her ankle at her height but she still looks pretty.
Aunt Vera handed me a glass of orzo and sweet toasts in my favorite plate and glasses that have barbie princesses printed. From the corner of my eyes, I saw Carina smack her lips, eyeing the glass. I realize I have never seen her eat or drink anything. She barely goes to her kindergarten and spends most of her time picking flowers in the garden when she thinks no one is looking.
Mamma and Papa have gone to the airport to get my brother Valerius, and aunt Vera went back to the house for the preparation to welcome my brother.
I amble towards Carina. Her pretty face turned into a frown. Jumping from her chair, she shuffled back, holding her doll that was dirtier than her.
"Do you like o-orzo?" I asked her. She eyed the glass and shook her head.
"I don't know." She whispered roughly, pursing her lips in a thin line.
A giggle escaped from my mouth, splashing the orzo out of the glass as my body shook with laughter. Her voice was really rough. I had expected her to sound like one of the pixies from the Winx Club. But her hoarse voice reminds me of Yoda.
