The Mafia’s Flower

Ivy gives her manager a short wave with a wry smile. “Have a good night,” Ivy calls to him, as she unlocks her car. “You too Ivy, be safe tonight.” Ivy almost wants to laugh at the ridiculousness of the statement, considering they were closing up at just three in the morning now in one of the most dangerous parts of town. Thankfully and unfortunately she doesn’t live too far from work, in a worn down house her uncle and late aunt raised her in. A small one story house with chipped blue paint and thick, forest animal-themed blankets covering the windows like curtains. She used to hate this place when she was younge, and was often bullied for being poor, but now all she feels is happiness and comfort when she sees it. And she would probably stab anyone that said anything now about her cute little home. “Uncle? I’m home,” Ivy calls as she enters, taking off her shoes next to the front door. . Sure enough she hears the familiar clunking of her uncles fake leg and his other foot step against the tile. “Hey kiddo, welcome home.” Her Uncle and guardian Hugh Jonessen greets back gruffly. His aged, pale face appears tired and Ivy gets concerned. “Are you feeling alright?” She asks sincerely, giving her uncle a hug. She looks back at him seriously, “you’re not getting sick, are you?” “I’m fine, just a little under the weather today but nothing to worry about.” He assures. “How was work?” Ivy pulls away with a sigh. “Long. Boring. It was slow tonight which I guess was good because it was only Bobby and I closing, but it made the shift feel so long.” She slumps into thick chair in the living room, her uncle joining her in the matching one next to it. “Guess you can’t be picky.” “Guess not,” Ivy shrugs and reaches for a beer in the small fridge they kept in their living room. They actually didn’t have a large fridge so it was where they kept everything. Ivy’s eyes narrow when she notices there’s smaller number left of beers than she remembered. She quickly chalks it up as forgetfulness and not important so she shrugs it off, taking a good drink. “So, how did it go, any luck on the job search,” Ivy asks lightly, her eyes trained on the TV screen. Hockey, as always. “I forgot.” My uncle answers simply, as if the answer is obvious. He reaches for the last beer, not noticing Ivys incredulous look. She frowns. “You forgot?” She repeats with disbelief. Her uncles pasty face reddens a little. “That’s what I said.” “I just don’t know how you could have-“ “Well I did so drop it,” he snaps out and takes a long drink of his beer. “Look Uncle Hugh, I’m just trying to help you like you and Aunt Cynthia did for me. But you have to meet me there-“ “And you don’t think I’ve been trying?! You think I’m some kind of failure?!” Her uncle suddenly jumps from his chair and is standing furiously over Ivy. Ivy tenses and moves into a position that would allow her to jump away from her uncle is need be. She’s always known of her uncles anger having been raised by him, but it has been a while since he’s gotten like this. “I work hard to care for you and this house! But no, I’m still a huge failure! Why don’t we go out and tell all our neighbors what a failure I am! Couldn’t keep you through college like I always wanted and promised to do! And now I can’t even support the woman I view as a daughter. I’m such a failure.” His voice, while angry at the beginning, turns sad and sorrowful. He suddenly drops back to his chair and drops his head in his hands. Ivy doesn’t move, cautiously watching her uncle. Her uncle doesn’t continue but starts to silently weep. After a moment, she speaks, “uncle, what is going on?” Hugh heaves a long sigh and straightens, his eyes red and watery. “I’m so sorry Ivy but we’re going to be evicted.” Ivys eyes widen. “I thought my income from Dittos was enough to get us by for a few more months?!” “Apparently not. We have four more days to pay off the balance we owe or we have to have our stuff out in that time.” Her uncle sighs, handing Ivy the old eviction notice. Her eyes circled in on the amount owed and feels her heart drop. “I’ll try to figure something out,” Ivy states confidently, Hugh gives her distrusting look, like he wasn’t too sure if there was anything for Ivy to do. “Sure, you do that,” he ridicules in a mocking way. “Give it up my ivy-vine, there’s nothing we can do. There’s not a job in this stupid small town that will pay enough for us to afford this place.” “Then I’ll find something out of town, even if I have to drive back and forth every day.” “You think I can afford that sort of gas?” She frowns, then an idea suddenly comes to mind. “I’ll figure it out, trust me,” Ivy urges passionately, not at all deterred by her uncles disbelieving look. “You can try but I’ll believe it when pigs fly.” He grumbles as he takes a lengthy sip of his beer and turns his attention to the television screen. Ivy ignores Hugh as she pulls out her phone, but she hesitates. Shes has this idea once before when she first heard of her uncles debt at the end of high school, but she decided that the idea might cause too big of mess that it wasn’t worth it. Now, she knows she has no choice or her and her uncle will end up homeless. Pushing back her fear, she taps on her probably only friend, Rico’s contact. And sends him a short message asking to meet up with him. He quickly replies as always and says he’s open now. Ivy smiles at her uncle, “hey uncle I’m gonna go hang out with a friend tonight.” “Alright.” Her uncles waves her off, and Ivy smiles sadly to herself. She’s glad he’s stayed the same in that aspect at least, even if it hurt her when she was younger. “I promise uncle, I will figure this out for us,” she promises determinedly as she walks to her room to get ready, not waiting for a reply knowing she likely won’t receive one.