Family: Out of Business

Fixated

Claire's pov

"That's two," my uncle dictated coldly, holding up two fingers, in case I'm too stupid to know what the number two symbolizes in value.

"Ok, ok. I'm sorry, Uncle EJ. I promise I'll listen to Chris and Sergio and not give them any trouble." I smiled sweetly in an effort to disarm his annoying persistence at belaboring his irrelevant points.

"That's more like it," he quipped, seemingly satisfied with my attempt at placating him. "Any questions, piccola ragazza (little girl)?" he asked, staring at me intently.

Gosh, he is taking this way too seriously. I'll put a stop to that.

"Yeah, just one."

"Go on," he prompted.

"Am I allowed to have any fun?"

"Claire, I'm warning..." He started to blabber before I cut him off.

Looking at the text I just got, I hurriedly replied, "They're gonna be here in less than ten minutes, Uncle EJ. I gotta finish getting ready," before taking off, running up the stairs. I put the finishing touches on my outfit and redid my hair in a ponytail before spritzing on some citrus vanilla body spray. Looking in the mirror, I was finally satisfied with my appearance so I returned downstairs to wait for my ride.

"Behave yourself today, mia nipote (my niece)," Uncle EJ ordered sternly, as soon as I came down.

"I will, Uncle EJ." OMG! He's so annoying, I swear. Always a buzzkill. He's turning into such an old fart already, sometimes I forget he's only like twenty-something years old.

"I mean it, Francesca. If I hear from Sergio or Chris there's one iota of trouble at the carnival thanks to you or one of your little friends, you can count on a spanking when you get home. Sono chiaro (Am I clear)?"

"Si, Zio, sei chiaro (Yes, Uncle, you are clear)," I responded, in an annoyed tone. He's seriously such a pain in the ass all the time.

"Mia nipote (My niece), I'm not joking. One bad report from either of them and you'll go to bed tonight with an extremely sore, spanked ass."

OMG! Samantha just texted me they're here.

"Bye, Uncle EJ!" I yelled, rushing out the door.

"FRANCESCA!" I heard him shout, as I ignored him, now halfway out the front door.

"Wasn't that your uncle yelling something to you?" my best friend asked, before the door shut fully behind me.

"I don't know. Who cares?" I retorted, grabbing her hand and tugging her to the running car. "Let's go, Bestie. I've been waiting for this day for like two weeks now." We ran to the car giggling with excitement.

We had the best time at the carnival. It was so much fun, even better than I thought it would be. We rode a bunch of really fast and scary rides and ate so much fried fatty food, I thought I was gonna hurl for sure. Samantha and I spent a lot of time giggling and running around, talking about the boys behind their backs. You know, typical girl stuff. Dante held my hand the entire time on the Ferris wheel and he even kissed me when we got stuck at the top and I got scared. OMG! He's so cute and his lips are so soft.

We all pretty much behaved and listened to Chris and Sergio. There was one little snafu, however, totally not my fault though. Alex got mad at Sergio for not lending him more money to play the throw darts to try to pop a balloon game, cuz he was trying really hard to win this super cute stuffed panda bear for Samantha, so when Sergio said no, Alex swore at him and called him a not so nice name. Luckily, Chris calmed Sergio down so we didn't have to go home but Sergio did still end up spanking Alex with his belt while they were in the Fun House. He had Chris stand guard outside so at least no one else saw him get spanked.