The Mafia Girl

Chapter 1 3 months ago ... I buried my mother today. As I’m standing next to her grave, trying to hold in my tears, I’m staring at this man next to me. I’ve never met Grandpa before, but he’s the biggest mafia in South Korea. I’m used to the life of the mafia, but just standing next to him makes me scared. He whispers into my ears, and the soft breeze of his voice shivers down my body. I get that feeling of danger and it makes me freeze in time. No sound, no movement comes out of me, I’m just staring at this man while he walks away. Today, I’m standing in the airport in Seoul, waiting for Grandpa to pick me up. I’m supposed to stay with him and finish my last school year. As I’m standing there, I notice this guy from the group of people, waving a poster with my name on it. “Miss Layla Wang”, he shouted. Quickly I raised my hand and waved back at him. ‘welcome to Seoul”, he said. Amazed at this guy, I’m standing there, no words came out just a shy smile. He quickly took my luggage, “Let go the Chairman is waiting for you at home”, he said. We walked to the car, he opened the door and politely told me to enter the car. He never made any eye contact, just looked straight and drove. We reached home, and he opened the door and said, “Please go inside the house, I’ll bring your baggage inside”. I went inside slowly, didn’t know what to expect. The house is cold and looks abandoned. No sign of Grandpa, only servants working in the kitchen. As I was staring at them, one lady walked towards me, she must be the head housekeeper. “Good day Miss Wang”, she greeted me politely. But in her voice, you got to hear fear and scaredness. She also doesn’t make any eye contact, just stares down to her feet. “Miss Wang, is there anything I can get you for drinking”, she asks. “no thanks, but can you tell me where’s my grandpa”, I ask. “The Chairman, must be in his office, but no one is allowed there”, she said. Before I could ask anything else, she left and then the driver came with my baggage. “Please follow me to your room Miss Wang”, he said. I entered my room, it’s the most beautiful room, I walked to the window to open it. To my surprise, there’s no view just another building on the other side. It’s a little less upgraded than this one, but it’s big enough to close even the clouds. I quickly closed the window, turned and smiled at the driver. “well that be all”, he asked and then left. This house is cold almost like winter. The whole night went passed but no sign of Grandpa. The next morning arrived, and I couldn’t wait to go downstairs to meet Grandpa. The breakfast table was full of all kinds of food, but it was empty. I looked around, then called the head housekeeper. “good morning, where’s Grandpa”, I asked. “I’m sorry miss but he left early this morning”, she replied. Once again she left me standing there before I could ask anything else. An old man walked towards me, “Good morning Miss Wang, are you ready for school?”. I just shook my head and walked out. This old man opened the car door, but something caught my eye. One lady talking with a boy, wearing the same uniform as me. sudden relieved feeling rolled down my spine, at least he would be in my school. At that moment the driver called me and I walked towards the car. I entered and sat there, still staring at the boy, couldn’t see his face. As we drove to school, my eyes caught the beauty of Korea, it immediately put tears in my eyes. I miss home, my friends and my life so much. The life here with Grandpa seems so much different from what I’m used to. My life is changing every minute, and there’s nothing I can do. “Miss Wang, we reached the school, but before you get out, the Chairman ask me to tell you that you must keep your identity a secret”, he said. Before I could reply, he got out and opened the door. I forced a smile, while he politely smiled at me and closed the door behind me. Here I’m standing, looking at this big school in front of me. Well, Layla, it’s just a school, I was thinking by myself. Other students glared at me, almost like hungry wolves, just waiting for the right moment to attack their prey. It makes me so uncomfortable, a shivering feeling goes down my spine, not knowing if must I move or just run. Slowly I’m moving towards the gate, glaring over my shoulder, the driver is talking with that boy. Again I can’t see his face, just his back. Thinking by myself, I don’t have a clue where to go, must I ask for help or not. But on the other hand, it’s better to ask, “Excuse me, can you help me to find the English class”, I ask. This guy stared at me and just walked away. Well, that was very rude, finally, I found the class. Nice Layla, the class already started, couldn’t you move faster? I’m standing at the door, not knowing what to do. Then, the teacher called me in. “please come in, class sit down we got a transfer student here today”, she said politely. All eyes were on me again, the Centre of attention, I was thinking out loud. “please introduce yourself to the class”, the teacher said. I took the moment to introduce myself and to make friends. But I just started talking when I noticed the class didn’t even take any notice of me. I looked at the teacher, and just froze in time. The teacher quickly came to my rescue and said, “Welcome here Layla, I wish you all the best, please find a seat”. As I walk to the back of the class, trying to not fall over everyone’s feet, I notice this guy, smiling at me. it’s the same guy who picked me up from the airport. I suddenly feel relieved and smile at him. I sat down, and the teacher started explaining the work, not long after someone came to call the teacher and she left. Three girls come walking towards me, bumping all my stuff off the table. Staring at me, like I’m their target at war. Politely I’m asking them if I can help them. They started laughing out loud, bent closer to me and said, “You better watch your step, or even better go back to America, you will never last here”. One girl said, “She won’t last even one week”, and they laughed. As brave as I am, I couldn’t get any words out, just looked at them and sat in silence. Just before the teacher entered the room, they looked and said, “My mother is the principal and I get my way with everything, this is just a bit of friendly advice, in case you try to do something. And they left, just as the teacher walked in. In my thoughts, I was just thinking about these girls, if only they knew who I am. But the words of the driver pop up in my head, I can’t tell anyone who I am.