The Mafia’s Possession

TITUS’S POV Titus watched as his beautiful daughter Selena worked effortlessy in the garden. It was as though her beauty was more radiant than the plants around her themselves. How she had grown to become such a beautiful young girl he could not comprehend. Then it hit him. His wife Solana had been extremely beautiful, the talk of the town. He had been the only lucky man to win her heart and although she had died at child birth, she was forever in his heart. He had struggled to raise Selena and in his eyes, he had done his best. She was beautiful, hardworking, caring and the eyes of everyone. She was unlike other girls who let their beauty make them vain. Selena seemed to even be unaware of her own beauty. He never wanted to let her go. She was the most valuable thing in his heart and the thought of losing her one day broke his heart. Yes he knew she was going to get married, but when the time came, he was going to have her wed the most suitable man he could find. She was a princess and she deserved a king who would love and care for her. He sighed as he watched her from his verandah as she worked. Then a black Range Rover pulled up in front of their yard and he became alert. The door opened and he saw three men come out in suits. He immediately knew who they were. "Selena come inside." He said to her. She got up from the garden and walked up to him. "Should I get some things for your friends papa?" Selena asked. Her fire emerald eyes shining. If only she knew that they were not his frirends. "Errr... no my princess." He told her, hurrying to have her gone in. He didn't want the men seeing her. "Just go in. We have something to discuss. Something very important." She nodded. "Of course papa." Then she pecked him and went in. He watched as the men came up to the verandah and he saw one of them looking at Selina. "Welcome." He said trying his best to draw their attention away from her to him. Then the one who had been looking at Selena, turned to him. "Please would you like to have something?" He asked them. Even though he had no intentions of sharing anything with them. He wanted them out and far away from us. "Your debt to our master is yet to be paid." One of the men said. “He doesn’t like defaulters.” One of the men said. “I’m sure you have heard what he does to people who default in their payments.” The other said. “Things are just really hard now.” Titus tried to explain reasonably to them. The economy is terrible but then- “You would pay up your debt just as you had agreed to initially.” The first man said. Titus swallowed and nodded his head fervently. “Of course, I would do that.” One of the men lit a cigarette and took in a heavy puff and smiled at Titus. “We don’t mean you any harm Titus. We are just doing our job.” “And our Job is reminding our debtors about their almost due payment.” The first man said with a straight face. He didn’t seem too amused. “Of course.” Titus nodded his head. Then the two men walked out of the house and got back into Jeep and they drove off. Once they were out of sight, Titus sat down on a chair weakly and heaved a heavy sigh of relief. He covered his face in anguish as he thought of the mess he had gotten himself into. His business had been failing. In fact, almost everyone’s business had been failing. The economy wasn’t as strong as it used to be. Italy had supposedly had some issues with the other countries and so there had bene travel bans and travel restrictions placed on them. People like him whose business lived off of tourists had experienced a massive loss. There was no one to come by his shop and so he had become extremely broke. Then he had remembered Don Leonardo Martini. Don Leonardo Martini was at his age, the biggest Mafia Boss in Italy even though he was just in his late twenties. Don Leonardo was loved and hated at the same time. But most of all, he was well feared. He was known for frequently loaning money to people who truly needed it and when it was time to pay up, you just had to pay up. Titus had heard so many stories of people who hadn’t paid up, hoe they had ended up. But Titus had taken charge and gone up to the Don himself and after months of requesting to see him, he had finally been let into his presence. Don Leonardo had been so hospitable to him and welcomed him in. He gave Titus the money and there and then he had witnessed Don Leonardo shoot someone to the head. “Clean the mess.” Don Leonardo had told his men and the men came and pulled the body away. Titus had been so shocked. He had no idea what the man had done and all through he was there he had his throat hanging I fear. “I don’t need to tell you that you have to pay me my money back.” Don Leonardo told him calmly, but fiercely. Titus watched the Man’s handsome face and nodded. Then Don Leonardo smiled and shook his hand. “It was nice meeting you.” Now almost to the end of the year, his payment was due. Lucky enough for him, the travel restrictions and travel bans had been lifted up and now tourists had resumed coming to the country and business was back in motion. But he was worried that he wasn’t going to make enough to pay up for his debt. “Papa.” He heard a soft feminine voice behind him. He turned around and saw Selena behind him. “Papa are you alright?” She asked him. Titus smiled weakly. “Of course, I am my child. Why wouldn’t I be?” She walked up to him and squatted down before him. “You were fine before those men came in. What’s wrong? Who are they?” He smiled at her and kissed her forehead. “It was nothing, I promise you everything is fine.” But it was all a lie nothing was fine. (TITUS'S POV) (FLASH BACK) Titus had met Solana for the first time when he was going down to his father's farm. she had just moved into the town and he had never met her before. He had only been twenty two by then and she was still eighteen and in high school . "Titus I need you to help me go down to the ranch and take a look the pigs." his father said. titus gave a very twisted face. "Dad I can not be going to the farm not this evening the boys and I are going to watch pele play and you know it." He said. But his father had countered him and said in very fluent Italian. "Do not come here acting like some big man of some sort. if you are still going to leave under my roof then you have to and I say you must do what I tell you to. You hear me?" Titus scowled. "so what am I going to do with my ticket?" His father got up from his seat and walked up to where Titus was standing and then he snatched the ticket from his hand. "I will keep this with me until you are done with what I have told you to . Moreover I have told you about going to see that ranch for a while now and you kept on procasting." His father said . Titus pursed his lips and his mum came in side the living room with a tray of pie in her hand. "Oh Titus just ignore your father and do as he says is i am sure he is not going to take so long. If you go now that he has told you maybe you could simply catch up to work." she said as she set the pie on the table. "But have some pie first and yes I would like you to give some pie to the Mayflowers." Titus was upset first his dad was sending him on an errand now his mother who he had assumed was on his side was now telling him to give pie to some people. At this point if he did not make a quick exit they were going to end up picking out a number of errands for him to do and it would be midnight and most certainly by then he would be too late for the concert. "Did you hear me?" his mother asked him as she snapped her fingers at him. "Hey." "I am here and I can hear you." Titus said. "if you are here and you are still listening to what I am saying then what did I just tell you?" She asked him her hands set on her hips as she looked at him. He tried to crack his brain and think of what she might have actually said and when he could not figure it out he eventually gave up. She rolled her eyes. "Now I know why you and your father are always arguing. I said take this pie and go and give the Mayflowers." "Who are they?" Titus asked confused. "You would have noticed them if you attended church with me more often." His mother said. "They just moved here from Sicily. To be down here with us in Syracuse. Mrs Mayflower attends church with me and some other women in the congregation. She’s an extremely nice young lady and she has about just two kids." Titus screwed up his face and looked up at his mother. "So what am to do now? Go down to her house and give her the pie?" His mother with a very happy smile said. "Yes you do just that for me and then make sure you do it before you go down to the ranch I do not want you smelling around like some animal or pig of some sorts." His father laughed and said. "but that very same pig is what you eat all day and moreover if not for you pigs we would not be eating your very special pork recipe." Titus got up from his table and his mother looked at him in surprise. "Are you not going to have some pie?" He shook his head. "No I need to be going on if I want anything done because I might be late for the concert and I cannot afford to miss this opportunity of watching a great match that my own father would try to make me miss." He had said it with such long sarcasm. His father drank some beer and toasted at him and said. "Boy you better make sure it is the best or if I come down to the Ranch and I see that you didn't do any cleaning I will make sure that you have no other choice but to work again at the ranch and that simply means that I will come down to the concert and pick you up and take you back in the night and maybe when you are done you can go back to the concert smelling like a pig let's see if one of your little girlfriends like you that way." "Paul that is not a nice thing to say to your son." His mother said But his father smiled and winked at his mother and said "that is the best way we can have our son growing up in our image." Titus had had enough and then he quickly got up, picked up the pie and left the house at least before his family members sent him on another errand. Then he got into the truck and then he set the pie inside and just drove down the road to where the family ranch was. He kept on complaining to himself on how he was supposed to already be hanging out with his friends by now but instead he was on the way to he family ranch to clean some pig sty. After about ten minutes on the road, he got to the wallflower house and then he packed his car right beside the house . He stepped out of the car and then he picked up the pie and jogged up the very short steps . He knocked at the door and stood there still waiting for someone to come and open up for him. "Yes who is there?" Came a very soft and young female voice. "Give me a minute I'll be down there." But the person did not just come in a minute, Titus was left standing there in anger and it was only about after three or five minutes of what seemed like an eternity to him that the door flung open. And just as Titus was about to make a complaint on how long he had been standing there he froze when he saw the very beautiful girl with long dark hair standing in his front. She smiled and looked at him. "Hi I am so sorry that I am late, I was actually having my bath and then I had to get done and put on my bath robe before I came down to see you. No one is at home yet." He could not even say a word all he did was look at her and then she looked at him confused. "Hello are you even listening to me?" And then he realised that he had been staring and it was probably rude and maybe she saw him as a creep of some sort. "Yeah I am so sorry I had this pie that my mum sent me with." then he handed her the pie and in his clumsiness, the pie fell on the floor but he was able to catch it before it reached the ground. Why was he acting so clumsy? She smiled and set her hair behind her ear. "I am so sorry about that." he said. She held the pie and she smiled at him and said. "no problem it happens to the best of Us." Then she looked at him. "so who should I tell my mum was the person that sent the pie for us." He shook his head and realised that he had not even told her his name yet. "sure I am sorry I am Titus my mum just lives down the road. We Own the ranch, I mean sorry we live far away but we only come down here to work." The girl nodded. " I think I know your mum she has come here and i think she works in the choir too, along with my mum." He smiled like a sheep. "Okay I will pass the message to her thank you." She said and then just as she was about to go in, he Stopped the door from closing and he said. "oh I'm sorry but I did not get your name." she grinned at him and smiled. " it's so rude that I did not tell you my name it is Solana." "that is a very beautiful name I've never heard that before from around here." Titus blurted out before he could stop him. She blushed her hair and tucked her hair behind her ear. " I will take that as a compliment." She said and then he realised that he was still standing and looking at her like a fool and then he scratched the back of his head and said "I have to be going now." He took back steps and he tripped and almost fell down on the floor. She jumped. "Are you okay?" He nodded uncomfortably. "Yeah sure I'm fine." Why was he acting all gingerly with her? Why was he so clumsy? And it was then he had realised that he had never ever seen someone as beautiful as she was. Who was she this solana. And then he would have loved to walk back to the truck but he remembered that he had to go to the Ranch and clean it up. And for the first time since the afternoon that he had been sent on the errand he was glad that he had gone because if he had not he would have never gotten to see Solana.. She waved at him as he walked into the ranch. When Titus had gotten to the Ranch he saw the amount of dirt the pigs had left and he started doing the work instantly. For a while he had to be running around the pigs chasing them into their spot so that they would steer clear of where he had cleaned but every single time the pigs would run back and he became very frustrated after about what seemed like a whole day of working in the sty, he was done and he had clean everywhere. He packed the bucket of dirt and threw it into the dustbin that was going to be picked up by the disposal people. He smelt himself and he knew that he smelt very badly of pigs and then he looked at the time it was already five on the dot. Then he closed back the ranch and make sure everything was secure before he left. As he turned to go he saw Solaona and she was sitting down by the porch of their house. He could not walk up to her even though that was what he wanted to because of how he smelt and it would have been a turn-off for her to see him smelling like that. He waved at her and she waved at him back and he wished he had an excuse for staying in the house at least to know more about her . He got into the car and then he smiled as he drove back home. That was the very first time he had ever met Solana . And years later she was going to be the mother of his child, Selena .