TIED TO THE MAFIA

LILY It was a cold Friday evening, and I was about to close up the studio and get ready to go home when I remembered I still needed to go and see Don . Don was a loan shark who used to give out loans to people who were in desperate need of money with ridiculous interest rates and not paying up was not an option as he was a renowned thug. I didn't have a choice because of my father's unending debts which made life very difficult for me. my father was addicted to gambling and when my mum passed everything became worse because my dad found solace in drinking, spending every last penny he had on drinks loosing his job in the process. I had to take on two jobs plus my student loan to keep us afloat i was trying my best because I was all his had but I dont know how much more i can take ,with one final sigh i lock the door and head home for the night. On reaching home i was surprised to find two hefty looking men in our house with my dad they were having a conversation which immmediately stopped the moment i walked in. “Daddy, who are this people and what are they looking for”, i asked eyeing the first one who had a black eyepatch on his left eye. “Its nothing sweetie they just came to deliver a message dont worry yourself about it”.he tried to assure me but i knew my dad like the back of my palm and i knew something was wrong,terribly wrong. I saw one of the men signal the other and he spoke up. “If you’ll excuse us w willl tak our leave now, mr cooper i believe we have an understanding it would be a shame for mr viletti to have to come here hiself,have a goodnight” and they both left. “Daddy did he just say viletti as in Matteo Viletti?, i hope its not what im thinking dad ,i really do” i was already fidgeting , matteo viletti was the devil himself,even the rumours about him make my spine shiver. “Sweetie……” he started and i just knew we were f****d up. “Oh no …… daddy what business exactly do you have with matteo vitelli and why are his men threatnng you”. “I borrowed some money sometime ago and cant pay it back,but not to worry I will handle it”, Perplexed, i yelled. “Handle it?, wow dad , how exactly are you going to do that! We are already sinking in debt for years now you have done nothing but make a mess of yourself! and im left to pick up the pieces after you,you dont even have job yet you’re always at the bar or gambling away the little i give you . i am still in college for crying out loud yet i’m working two jobs while my mates are studying for examsl I even took out a student loan to help relieve your debt while struggling to keep us a float and then you go ahead and make a deal with the devil himself just great”. “I didn't have a choice I was desperately in need of the money then your mum was ill and there was no one else who would agree to lend me the money so I had to meet Mr villetti”. I had never seen my dad look this broken before. Sighing, i asked him “how much is the money?”, but he just bent his head looking at the floor. “Answer me Dad, how much are you owing them”, “ Three humdred toudand dollars” “Wha!t why on earth will you borrow 300,000 what did you even need that much money for we barely used up to $100,000 for Mom's hospital bills”. “ I used it to play a bet which I was sure would give me returns of over 2 million I didn't think I was going to lose the money”, “So what are we going to do now because this isn't just some random person you borrowed money from this is matteo villetti he's the f*****g mafia boss he could have us killed without batting an eyelid”. “Those men said we have to pay the money tomorrow or else they are coming after us I really wish I didn't take the money and now I can't even protect you”. “I was planning to go and see don tomorrow to see if I could borrow some money to pay Mr Leonard as well let me see if I can come up with something Just go and get some sleep we will figure it out tomorrow”. ***************************************************************************************** The Next day didn't go as planned because I could not get the don to loan me any money anymore because apparently my dad was already owing him somehaving run out of options I knew there was only one thing left to do, run!. We had to run away because Mr viletti's men were coming after us and if we wait for them to catch up with us I knew for sure that they were going to kill my father . Picking up a few of my belongings and packing a bag for my father as well in the night we set out ,not knowing where we we're going but anywhere that was safer than here.