Million Dollar Mafia

Chapter 4

The aroma of tabaco filled the house. My dad had a smoking problem, he did it whenever he was nervous about work or tired. Meaning, he smoked, a lot. I set my bag on the kitchen table and headed towards the fridge. The sound of feet running down the stairs alerted me that all four of my brothers were home. " Ugh, why are you here?" Adriano whined as he shoved me out from in front of the fridge. I glared at him, " I got out of school." " Girls still attend school?" Carlo teased. He ruffled up my hair and nudged past me, heading towards the pantry.

Some people would say they'd die to have siblings. Yes, siblings are great and all, but try having four adult boys living in the same house as you. Four adult boys who didn't care about informing others about their opinions. Four adult boys who didn't care if their youngest sibling was a girl.

Emiliano walked up to me, " how's school?" " Good," I answered. Emiliano was the only brother who actually cared and acknowledged my presence. I loved all my brothers equally, no matter how much of a pain in the ass they are.

" Where's dad?" Nicolo asked making his daily protein shake. " Upstairs, In his office," I said grabbing an apple from the fruit bin and walking back to my bag. " Mom home?" Carlo asked making himself a bowl of cereal. " You have a phone, use it," I said walking towards the stairs. Both Carlo and Nicolo stopped what they were doing, looked at each other, then at me. Suddenly, I was picked up and flipped over a muscular shoulder. I was spun around, the room getting fuzzier. " I swear to god Carlo, put me down!" I yelled. Nicolo picked up my bag that I dropped and watched as Carlo spun me around until the feeling of the throwing up clogged my throat.

" That's enough, put her down," Emiliano said, ending the ruckus. Both Carlo and Nicolo laughed as Carlo set me down. I swallowed as my vision cleared up, my shaking hand grabbed my bag from Nicolo. " This is what you get for being the only girl in the family," Emiliano said walking up to me. I looked at him and said sarcastically, " then please by all means, take me out of this family." Emiliano chuckled and looked at both Carlo and Nicolo who couldn't maintain their laughter.
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I switched my black jeans for some grey sweats and changed my schools shorts for a light pink off the shoulder long sleeve shirt. I tied my hair up into a messy bun and pulled out my school work. I had about five hours until dinner would be starting. Meaning, my father would be with us, at a table, boiling with anger and frustration from work.

The sun had set, portraying a hue of blush colors in the sky. My messy bun and turned into a sloppy bush hanging on my head. Books, textbook, folders, binders, and a calculator covered my bed. My chin rested in the palm of my hand as I reread my history essay.  My bedroom door opened, my mom walked in. " Hey sweetheart," my mom said warmly. I smiled and sighed, she walked over to me and hugged me. " How was school?" " Great," I said. My mom chuckled, " how's homework going?" I scanned my crowded bed and rubbed my face, " a lot, there's a lot."

My mom looked at my bed before picking up my finished AP Calculus homework. Scoffing softly, my mom looked at me. " I didn't know you took AP calculus." I looked at my mom, " you need any help?" My mom asked. " Uh, no, I finished already," I told my mom. She set my AP calculus paper back down on my bed and sighed. " Dinners almost ready, your father is still busy at work." " The usual," I said. My mom folded her arms, " do you ever wonder what your life would be like if you didn't marry dad?" I asked. " Like, what your life would be like now if you weren't born into a mafia family?" My mom thought for a few seconds before saying, " I'm happy for the life I have now. I have a roof over my head, five beautiful kids, and a husband who cares for us." I looked down at my hands, my mom was avoiding the obvious question.
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I pushed around the cut up pieces of steak on my plate. I ate half of by green beans and vegetables. The steak tasted weird, but I wasn't  going to make my mom feel bad about the food she prepared for us.

" So," my mom said, ending the long awkward silence. My dad continued to eat, not bothered by how my mom was trying to make small talk. " Carlos, how was your day?" My mom asked. " Business is getting better, we're getting new recruits this week," Carlos answered. My mom smiled and nodded, " what are the ages?" " Twelve to twenty," Carlos responded. My mom looked at my dad, " do you know what he's working on?" Quiet and obviously frustrated about work, my dad ate his dinner in silence. My mom maintained a happy expression before turning to me. " Thal?" I looked at her, " how was your day?" My mom asked. " Uh, school was fine," I answered dryly.

Dinner was always the worse part of the day. No body talked, nobody did anything but eat. The sound of forks scrapping on glass plates rang in my ear. For someone who loves silence and being quiet, my family dinners made me really uncomfortable.

" I'm flying down to Verona tomorrow morning," My dad finally spoke out. Everyone looked at him, my dad cleared his throat. " You just came back from a trip," Adriano said. " How long until you get back?" Carlo asked. Staring at my dad, I could see how barely he hated family dinners. His eyebrows were stiff, anger filled his eyes.

" I'll be gone for two weeks," my dad informed. My mom grinned and patted my dad's hand, " that's great news, we're all going to miss you." I looked at Emiliano who looked at me, our mom tried so hard to please our father. " Well," my mom said. " I'm planting some new gardens in the backyard." I looked at my mom, she loved gardens. " Any requests for plants?" My mom asked. The dinner table was absolutely quiet, you could hear a pin drop from upstairs.

" I don't want you planting anymore of those Dahlias," my dad said calmly. My mom looked at him, she knew that he knew that Dahlias were her favorite flower. " I think we should plant more Dahlias," I said, looking down at my plate. My dad's stern stare averted to me, I could feel it numbing my head. " Excuse me?" My dad asked. I looked at him. For most people, my dad was intimidating. But for me, I just viewed him as someone who had anger issues and a hot tempter. My dad never scared me, his dark tone didn't either.

" Mom likes Dahlias, we all know that," I had the balls to announce. I saw the muscles in my dad's jaw tense up, his grasp around his fork tightened, causing the fork to slightly bend. " Thalia it's okay, I don't have to plant Dahlias this year," My mom said kindly. I looked at her, she gave me the don't-fight-your-father-on-this- look. I averted my eyes back to my father, who was still glaring at me. " I think mom should plant Lily's." My dad's stare softened, he sat back and continued eating his food.

Adriano, Carlo, Emiliano, and Nicolo stared at me as if I was a crazy women for posting up to our father. I looked at Emiliano and knew exactly what he was thinking. I looked at my mom, who looked exhausted and tense. My father was too busy eating to have a decent conversation with his kids and wife. A loud and eat piercing screech came from my dads chair as he scooted back and stood up. We all looked at him and watched as he turned and walked back upstairs to his office.

Once out of view, everyone looked at me. My nerves flustered up, I hated being the center of attention. " What exactly are you trying to do?" Carlo asked. I looked at him, " having a conversation with my dad, you should try it sometime." " You know how tired your father is Thalia, don't push him," my mom said. " I'm not pushing him," I clarified. " Well your pissing him off, and it's working," Nicolo said. I scoffed, " you're all scared of him, why?" Emiliano sighed, " you don't understand what dad goes through every day." I raised my eyebrows and looked at him, " oh I don't? Then please, by all means, inform me."

The table was quiet, I looked at everyone's still face. " I'm the youngest, so I apparently know nothing about what dad does," I said. " That's not what we said," my mom said calmly. " Then what is it?" I asked impatiently. " I know what our family goes through, we're in the mafia, life's full of fighting and shit!" I said getting angry. " Thalia Damitra Galonos," my mom said sternly. " You watch your language when at the dinner table." I stared at her, my brother's attention switched from me to our mom. " Your dad is a hard working man, he's doing all of us a favor," my mom said calming herself down. I scoffed and shook my head, " yeah because killing other families and showing dominance is doing us a favor." Without looking at anyone, I scooted my chair back and walked up to my room. I could hear my mom sigh and mentally see her drop her head into her hands.