Mafia Legacy

Chapter Five- Luca

By the time I got home from Marco's, it was almost dinnertime, so I didn't get a chance to talk to Leo until everyone had gone up to bed. I had cooled off a bit, and I hoped he had as well. Out of all our children, Leo was the most like me, and that was terrifying for a number of reasons. Partly because I was a hellion growing up, and partly because I understood how his mind worked. Stubborn, hard-headed, confident—sometimes to a fault. He felt like he was on top of the world, invincible, and nothing could bring him down. I knew that feeling so well; it was exactly how'd I been at his age, so I also knew how much trouble that could get him into. Leo could be a hothead and would do things just to prove he could. The kid knew no fear. Both of the boys were like that, but Leo especially. He'd been like that since he could walk, always finding trouble he could get into. It was like he enjoyed by seeing how far he could push the limits, and while I respected that, it put me in a tough position as his father.

Char had been right earlier. I raised all kinds of hell as a teenager; I was just better at hiding it than Leo was. To his credit, we didn't live in an age of social media, so it was easier to get away with things. I had gotten good at hiding shit because my father was an asshole and there was always hell to pay if he did find out. I never wanted my kids to feel like they had to hide something from me or couldn't talk to me about it, so I needed to smooth things over with Leo. He was still in trouble and would face the consequences, but I wanted him to feel like I was on his side, not just doling out punishments to make him suffer.

Another thing Leo and I had in common was that we both loved Charlotte more than anything in the world, just in different ways. She hung the moon in both of our skies, and if there was one thing Leo never did, it was disrespect his mother. When he and I butted heads, Char normally ran interference. She had a special way of talking us both off the ledge. I was anxious to hear how their conversation had gone earlier.

I knocked lightly on his door, and he called from the other side. "Come in."

I opened the door, and Leo was sitting at his desk writing in a notebook. He glanced up and his mood soured when he realized it was me.

"What are you working on?" I asked.

"Mom's making me write a letter to Uncle Marco and Aunt Haley to apologize for getting Viv into trouble." He rolled his eyes.

I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing.

"Got a minute?" I asked, shutting the door behind me and sitting down on his bed.

"You don't need to lecture me anymore. Mom already did that." He frowned, turning his attention back to his book.

"I'm not here to lecture you, Leo. I just want to talk." I said.

Leo raised his eyebrow at me, not completely convinced, but he closed his notebook and turned his chair towards me. We sat deadlocked in silence for a few minutes, each one waiting for the other to speak first.

"I'm sorry. I know what I did was wrong and I swear it won't happen again. I do take this whole thing seriously and I take full responsibility for what I did. I'm sorry it didn't come across that way. I was just pissed about football." Leo was defeated, refusing my eyes.

"I'm glad to hear you taking responsibility for it, and I know having football taken away was a big blow." I said, shifting my weight a bit. "But I hope it makes you understand how serious this is. Not just the party, but the drinking."

Leo nodded. "I do, I swear. I'm sorry I disappointed you and mom."

"Leo, you want to know why I got so upset with you today?" I sighed, running my fingers through my hair. "My dad was an alcoholic. Basically my entire life, he was drunk. He'd get mean and bitter, and he did a lot of hateful bullshit in his life. He was abusive to both your grandmother and I, he let it ruin every good thing in his life and eventually he drank himself to his death. His body basically gave out on him, and he got liver cancer."