by Anna Widzisz
When she’d been younger they’d spent more time together, so whatever their relationship was like today, she believed that he just wanted to protect her out of love and duty towards his family. She was the only one that mattered at this point. It had been a long time since he’d admitted it to her, but twenty-four-hour supervision and disciplining when she did something wrong was enough to let her know it. What’s more, Severo couldn’t afford to cut his daughter some slack, as it would reflect poorly on his reputation among soldiers.
She left the building and sat on the stairs, knowing that it would take a while before her father would come. Looking around, she could swear that someone was watching her. It had been a constant feeling that she hadn’t been able to shake off since going to Palermo. However, a quick scan of her surroundings revealed that no one was close by. Father’s paranoia was slowly creeping into Lynette and it made her angry. There was no need to think the worst when nothing was happening. It was as peaceful as it had been ever since moving to Seattle.
A loud car honk startled the girl back to reality. Severo was sitting in his black Range Rover in the parking lot. A furious gaze bore into her, suggesting that he was in an awful mood. Again. It always brought on another lecture about respect, responsibilities and showing remorse. Lynette could swear it wasn’t that hard to figure out the exact words she would be hearing in a moment.
”Salve, padre.” she greeted Severo, hoping her hunch would not come to fruition.
Taking a deep breath, the girl prepared herself for the reprimanding talk coming her way.
”I’ve told you to wait for me inside and I would call you when I arrived. Since when do my words mean so little to you? Show more respect. You’re sixteen, figlia. It comes with certain responsibilities.”
The man gripped the steering wheel in an attempt to reign in his anger. He had a lot of flaws but punishing his daughter wasn’t one of them. He had never raised his hand at her. Or any other woman for that matter. How ever, when he was furious, there was little that could stop him so he tried to restrain himself in whatever way he could think of.
”Sì, padre. But I felt sick so I decided to catch some fresh air.” she lied while buckling up, wishing that the conversation would come to an end.
”I am not going to repeat myself anymore,” Severo said, not bothering to look at Lynette. ”When we come home, we need to talk. I have important news,” he added.
Lynette nodded but as soon as she did it she also acknowledged it aloud, knowing that her father didn’t tolerate a lack of words. Everything had to be out in the open. Which was surprising since Made Men were masters of untold things. They preferred not to say anything to anyone who did not already know what they were talking about. They communicated in codes, hints, fragments of phrases, stony stares as well as significant, meaningful silences. For the outsiders, it had to come across as weird and unintelligible information. And Severo was a person to sustain such a course of action, but when it came to Lynette he acted differently.
The rest of the drive passed in complete silence. It gave the girl some time to ponder what her father wanted to talk to her about. There was only one thing that came to her mind and it gave her a deep feeling of unease. She was sixteen so sooner rather than later she would have to marry. And begging for her gut instinct to be wrong was all that was left for her at this point. Maybe the time still hadn’t come for her and she was just worrying over nothing? But with Severo, it could never truly be nothing.
§ § §
Mafia was a sense of defiant pride and honor rooted deeply in the identity of Sicilians. Not just a crime organization, as it was commonly believed. They had their own set of rules that led them towards achieving the goals they’d set. Made Men built their own society within society. There, they could easily operate. You could see how profoundly dominant they became whenever they talked business.
For women, that could only be appreciated and watched from afar. Not a lot of Made Men shared their adventures with their wives and daughters. Since forever, they were believed to be the weaker gender, unable to handle most of the things that were happening in the Famiglia. They were meant to take care of the house and family as well as they could. That was their solemn purpose.
However, for Lynette, it was not as strict as it could be. She knew a couple of things that normally she shouldn’t, and although Severo did everything he could to protect her, he also didn’t mind if she overheard some meetings. He talked to his soldiers in front of her, yet the hardest, most important conversations always took place behind the closed doors of his office. Lynette was never meant to go in there. That’s why it came as a surprise when Severo invited her inside. As he’d mentioned before - he had news but at this point, the girl wasn’t sure she wanted to hear them.
The strong voice of her father beckoned her to enter when she knocked on the door. She did as told, warily coming in. Severo was seated in his leather chair behind a huge mahogany desk, proudly wearing his thousand-dollars suit.
He wasn’t alone.
Near the window was her uncle Emilio, in his white dress shirt and black pants. His holster safely rested across his back and he didn’t bother to cover it up in Lynette’s presence. He was emotionlessly gazing at her. The man was never too keen on oversharing his feelings. Satisfaction and sadness looked exactly the same on him. It made a lot of people suspicious in his company. Especially Lynette. They were family and she was supposed to feel safe around him, but he wasn’t a family type of man. Judging by the way he acted around his children and wife people had every right to feel cautious. After all, a stone-cold expression, coupled with a hard but restrained attitude was nowhere close to being easy on the eye.
”Sit down,” said her father, glancing up from the files and settling his eyes on the girl.
She took a seat in front of him, trying to show the strength that was required of her. She was always told to keep her emotions in check and never to show any kind of weakness. No matter who she was with.
”As you are well aware, it’s been a year since your mother died.”
10 months.
Lynette wouldn’t dare to voice it out. She didn’t like where this conversation was heading. Sofia Selvaggio was not often mentioned by Severo anymore.
”Our Famiglia has to grow into more power. We are expanding our businesses as much as we can and along with that we also need to expand the number of people that we are working with.”
Confusion grew bigger and bigger with each word. It didn’t make sense that her father would start talking about his deceased wife and then move onto business. However, she knew better than to interrupt. Even though her curiosity piqued.
”I sent you to Palermo so you could rest and be able to join the social circles once again. It makes no sense to keep you away any longer. People would start to wonder whether something has happened to you and I can’t have it. Soon you will be reaching a marriageable age so taking an active part in the social events would be a reasonable move. Me? I will probably start looking for a wife soon enough, seeing as I still need an heir.”
There it was. Hidden in the unnecessary information regarding her father’s intentions towards his own future. As if he wanted to soften the blow.
Lynette had always suspected that her family was different. After all, she’d never heard of any of her friends’ fathers carrying a guns under their jackets. Most mothers worked while hers stayed home and took care of the family, only going out so she could shop or visit her friends. Most of the time it was for the social events that happened all the time and were as fake as they come. Every single one of them.
Surprisingly, her parents loved each other very much. Lynette could see it in the way they interacted. Talked. There had never been a time when Severo didn’t take his wife’s opinion into consideration. Despite it being an arranged marriage, they made it work just fine.
That was the reason why Lynette couldn’t believe what she was hearing. It hit her like a ton of bricks. At times it
'd crossed her mind that Severo would find a new wife, however, ten months seemed like a disrespectful move. And no one knew more about disrespect than him.
She looked at her uncle who’d shifted, taking more interest in Lynette. He was obviously analyzing what she was thinking at the moment. Trying to read her. And right then, the girl realized why the man was in the office. It was supposed to be simple manipulation. Emilio Meccuci served two different purposes. First, he was her mother’s brother so his agreement was important for Severo. That was a matter of reverence just as much as business. However, he’d never been close to Sofia or any of his five other siblings. So, that particular move was null. Second, he was an Underboss ruling over Seattle with her father. His position was just a little bit below the Capo, but he garnered almost as much respect as the boss himself. That is why after his first wife had passed away a few years ago he’d married another woman. Or more accurately - a girl.
Flora was only nineteen when she married Emilio three years ago while he was twice her age. It had been a huge no-go for Lynette. Life in the mafia wasn’t fair to women most of the time and the girl had paid the ultimate price of her parents’ incompetent negotiation skills. They’d agreed to the proposition, thinking that it was an honor to be a part of the ruling family.
Now, after some time, Flora became a stepmother to three children - Avyanna, Siana and Nario and a mother to the two-year-old Domenico. Her life changed immediately. And at that moment Lynette wished that her father wouldn’t choose someone that young too. She could barely look at the girl as it was during social events, let alone live with someone like her.
Everything in the mafia world revolved around money and high ranks.
Lynette decided to bite back her opinion. She nodded her head that she got the message loud and clear and was promptly dismissed by her father. Leaving the office she wished that there would come a time when she’d be able to tell him what was really her the mind.
§ § §
The power went out in the entire house. Darkness engulfed everything. At first, Lynette thought that maybe a storm caused the power outage, however, it was peaceful outside. Nothing but a slight wind blowing. Not even close to being strong enough to do any real damage.
Getting up from bed, she went out of her bedroom to see whether she was needed. But as soon as she stepped out of her part of the house, Severo sent her back, his stern voice leaving no room for protests. Though, for the first time, Lynette decided to ignore it. Instead, she hid behind the pillar near the garden’s exit doors, since none of the soldiers were anywhere close by and they still wouldn’t be able to see her from outside through the window. It was a safe space.
She was listening in on the conversations held in the living room between her father and his soldiers. She could clearly distinguish each voice: Emilio’s, Ricci’s and Romeo Badea’s, who was the lead enforcer of the Famiglia. They weren’t talking about anything of particular interest to her. The Capo was mobilizing the bodyguards to check whether something more serious occurred outside and dispatching them to fix the fuse box.
Mailo Venas’ name caught her attention. She’d already heard it a few times throughout the years. Lynette didn’t know a lot about him. Just that he had been her father’s associate and had been killed along with his entire family. No one directly admitted it, but the girl imagined that it happened at the hands of Severo. He’d betrayed him and the price to be paid for that had always been death.
In other words – another ordinary day in the mafia world.
She decided to go back to the bedroom before any of the soldiers could spot and out her to Severo. Besides, she didn’t care about the business all that much. Reaching for the phone, there was an unread message. No one really texted her. Ever.
She clicked on the envelope.
From unknown: Maybe we are all bound to go to hell. It is just as dark in there.
Catania, Sicily 1997
“Luca!”
A voice spread through the large mansion. A little boy with a wooden sword clutched in his tiny hand came running to the living room. Since birth, he’d been taught to follow the orders of his parents. And especially to show up when his father called him. It was expected of him, and so he was severely punished if he decided not to obey.
“Go get your sister from the garden, wash your hands and come to the dining room. Dinner is already on the table,” said the man, putting down the newspaper he’d been reading.
He pulled his glasses off his nose, revealing his visibly tired eyes, then yawned, remembering the day that he’d spent working. The thought that he would have to go to a business meeting later wasn’t the most enthusiastic perspective. And the last thing he wanted to do today.
In the distance, one could hear the voices of giggly children, and a moment later, the man saw them ready and waiting. The girl, seeing her dad, ran to him and threw herself at him, tightly embracing him. The man smiled widely and picked her up. Such moments were one of his few joys. For this reason, he loved coming home to his family.
“What's taking you so long? The food will get cold,” a dark-haired woman with an apron tied around her hips appeared in the doorway.
Seeing her children and husband she smiled, tearing up at the rare sight. She came up to her son, grabbed his hand, leading him toward the large, already-set table. The boy, upon seeing the food called out gleefully. If there was something that made him happy besides sword fighting, it was food. Always with anticipation, he counted down the seconds until he would be able to eat, and between meals, he would always sneak into the kitchen for sweets when his parents weren’t looking.
The whole family sat down at the table and began eating. Dinner was the only time when it was impossible to disturb the Venas family.
CHAPTER 3
Lynette
She closed the locker hoping that no one would hear it. It was already a couple of minutes after the class had started, though Lynette was in no hurry to go to American literature.
Throughout the whole night bodyguards had been patrolling the area. And for the first time, it was not only outside her window but also in the corridors. For some strange reason, the girl’s father had decided to tighten security as if it was possible for an intruder to get inside their property. Lynette wasn’t sure she could even do that and she knew the house layout inside out.
During breakfast she even thought of asking him about it but decided against it, seeing as he was not keen on talking this morning. Severo would probably shrug her off saying that she imagined it, and if there was one thing that made her angry it was being treated like a stupid, naïve child.
”Is everything alright?” a male voice interrupted her train of thoughts.
She looked up and saw a dark-haired boy, whom she recognized as Isaac and Francisco’s friend from yesterday. His deep, brown eyes were attentive, marred with slight concern. He was tall compared to the girl; around six feet, so she reached up only to his chin. Because of that, her gaze traveled to his clothes. He was wearing a plain, white T-shirt, which perfectly suited his slim but definitely athletic body, and black jeans hanging off his hips. It was obvious that he didn’t care a great deal about his appearance with his casual clothes, but somehow it still looked like he went an extra mile to look this way. Even the messy hair that fell in his eyes didn’t kill his charm.
Lynette couldn’t take her eyes off the boy. He seemed rather familiar, not only from yesterday. But she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. His strong, prominent jaw tightened but a second later he smiled lightly.
She bit her lower lip, evening out her breath. Unknowingly, she clenched the strap of her bag hard and finally nodded her head answering his question. The girl wasn’t used to talking to anyone at school. Most of the students were too afraid of her so they only came up to her as a last resort, which usually had to do with a group project.
“It may sound odd, but have we met before?” he asked, taking Lynette by surprise. He also recognized her so it had to be
more than merely her imagination.
Lynette looked in his eyes one more time and remembered the goddamned Christmas Day which had happened a few months ago. He wore the same expression of concern. There was no doubt that it was the same person. Every feature she remembered was the same, except from the hair which was a little bit longer now.
Never in her wildest dreams had she thought that she would ever see that boy again. That awful day had left an imprint on her, the person in front of her had somehow influenced the decisions that she’d made since. But the last thing she needed right now was for him to realize who she was.
”I’m sorry. I don’t think so,” she answered quickly.
Too damn quickly.
His pupils dilated with realization. ”I saw you on Christmas Day, didn’t I?”
At least a thousand swear words came to her mind. He wasn’t supposed to have such a great memory. And she could only pray that the boy wouldn’t start asking her questions that she didn’t want to answer. Not right now. Probably never.
”Possibly,” said Lynette and passed by him without another word, running through the corridor towards her class to avoid a longer conversation.
§ § §
When she came back home, she made her way to the kitchen where Rosalia was already preparing dinner. The woman was standing by the sink washing the dishes. Noticing the girl, she smiled widely and started asking her about the day, as well as the summer. They hadn’t had the chance to talk about any of it earlier. As far as her school stories went she kept them short and breezy. Lynette loved Rosalia and knew that she was a private person, but if she found out about the rumors circling around school, she would see it as a threat and tell Severo. It would most likely end in her being taken out of school. That could not happen as it was the only time Lynette felt at least slightly normal, surrounded by other teenagers and without a bodyguard following her every move.
