Breaking the Omertà Code

The Omertà Training

It felt like all my problems were over. Do I have problems? I don’t know, but I felt a great sense of relief.

I was so close to the skies, the breeze that was blowing directly at my face was something else.

I closed my eyes, lost in thoughts, till Umberto tapped me.

“Sleeping already? We’ve got to go. You wouldn’t want your father to catch us up here”.

“Please, just five minutes more,” I pouted my mouth and begged Umberto.

“No, we will come back again sometime, I promise, let’s go.” I followed reluctantly.

We got to the main building and noticed that almost everybody had gone home.

“I didn’t realize we spent so much time there. I forgot there was a party going on here”. I said to Umberto.

“Spent so much time in where”? A voice behind us said.

We turned around to see Aunt Donisha staring at us.

Umberto and I both turned to look at each other.

“Oh you little rats, what mischief are you up to again, and where have you both been?” Aunt Donisha added.

“Nowhere Aunt Donisha, did you miss us? Umberto moved forward to give Aunt Donisha a hug.

“Oh please, go and take a bath, you stink.” Aunt Donisha said as we all shared a laugh.

"Elletra” We heard someone call my name.

We turned to see one of our father’s men in front of us.

“Boss, wants to see you in his office now,” he said and left.

“I think he has another job for you, Aunt Donisha said”.

“Oh God, no.” I muttered under my breath as I strolled to my father’s office.

The sight of the treasures I saw in the safe room hasn’t left me yet. I couldn’t do another kill so soon. I kept saying some words of prayer, as I hoped father didn’t have another assignment for me.

No matter how guilty I feel, I can never say” No” to my father.

I stood in front of his office, as I tapped at the door.

“Who’s there?” I could hear his thunderous voice.

“It’s me, father”. I answered boldly, I dare not behave or speak in a calm way when close to

father.

“Oh come in, Mia Cara

As I turned the door knob, my heart skipped. I didn’t know what to expect, but I knew I wasn’t ready for any job at the moment and I didn’t want to disappoint father either.

I was once again caught between making father proud and making myself happy and guiltless.

I descended into the dimly lit underground training room, the scent of old stone and sweat filling her nostrils. My trainer awaited me, his piercing gaze scrutinizing my every move.

"Today, we focus on stealth," he announced, his voice low and even.

I nodded, my heart racing with anticipation. I have been training for months, and my skills have been improving rapidly.

My trainer led me through lots of exercises, each designed to test my agility, strength, and cunning. I moved with precision, my body honed from years of discipline.

As we trained, my mind wandered off, a lot of thoughts began coming into my head.

“Why am I learning these deadly skills”?

“What do I need it for?”

Why do I need to equip myself with so many killing skills?

My trainer’s voice snapped me back to attention. "Your mind wanders,Elletra. Focus.”

I apologized, pushing aside my thoughts.

The training was grueling, pushing me to my physical and mental limits. I learned to wield knives, guns, and my own body with deadly precision. My trainer’s methods were unorthodox, but effective. He forced me to confront my fears, to tap into a deep well of inner strength I never knew existed.

I began the omertà training. It was a training session mostly played by the Italian Mafia.

“Omertà,” when translated to English, means “The code of silence.”

I was being taught that no matter what happens, I should never give out any information that has to do with the organization to an outsider or a governmental organization.

I was taught that if I was being caught by the police, I should rather kill myself than give out a piece of information to them.

As I took the deadliest oath, “the omertà”, I knew that I had begun a trip to my life that would have no end.

As the weeks turned into months, my skills improved dramatically. I could disarm an opponent with ease, slip in and out of the shadows unnoticed, and execute a perfect kill shot. But with each new skill came a growing sense of unease.

“Why was I learning this?”

“Who was I being trained to kill?”

My trainer’s answers were always cryptic, laced with a hint of danger. "You'll know when the time comes, Elettra, For now, trust me."

One night, I caught a glimpse of a file on his desk. It was labeled with my name, and a single phrase: "Project: Nightshade."

My heart racing, I felt the ground beneath my shift. What was Project Nightshade? And what did it have to do with me?

Back in the present.

As I walked to my father's door, I met him standing facing the window. That’s how he usually stands when there’s someone or somebody troubling him.

I was scared, my thoughts started to raver away. I was wondering who he wanted me to kill this time.

“Pick up the file, all you need to know is in there, do the mission as stealthily as you can,” Father said ruthlessly.

“Make me proud, as you’ve always had,” he added.

I picked up the file and the following letters were inscribed on it: “Nightshade.”

This little piece of writing raised a lot of memories in me from about several years ago.

It took me back to those days of training with my trainer.

As I opened the file, my hand shook. I was suddenly scared, I found myself vibrating the way father’s telephone vibrates anytime it rang.

I suddenly realized that I wasn’t as ruthless as I thought I was.

“So, finally, this was the reason why I’ve been trained all these years. The day has finally arrived,” I muttered to myself.

“Maybe this will be the last mission then,” I suddenly felt a sudden comfort in me just at the thought of that.

I opened the file and I saw the most popular drug lord of Rome's name written in capital letters with his pictures pinned at every corner of the file.

“No, father can not expect me to think of killing this man, it’s not impossible.”

“Father, all I’m seeing here is “Don Brutus’s name, I think I got the wrong file.”

“No, Mia Cara, Don Brutus has always had the biggest place in Rome. I didn’t see him as a threat, but now, I’ve got news that he’s encroaching on Italy as well, and you know what that means if it eventually happens. I can’t afford to lose everything I’ve fought for just for Brutus. I want you on the first flight to Rome tomorrow. He has a conference to attend at the Piazza Novena. Like I said, everything you need to know is on that file.

He continued: ”I’ve been planning for this day, even before you were born. I knew a day like this would come. This is why you are here, Mia Cara. This is why you’re my daughter. That is why you’re being trained by the world's best assassin. Now, go out there and make me proud.

I was scared for the first time since I swore the Omertà oath. I didn’t know that father would think of sending me to such a deadly mission alone.

“I have a mission to plan for then. I’ll take my leave now”. I bowed and turned to leave.

“Mia Cara”. Father called.

I turned to look at him.

“Please, come back alive.”

“If only you had known how scared I was, you shouldn’t have made this statement," I thought.

I was literally bleeding in my heart. I had already planned on how my burial would be, because Don Brutus would never be killed without the killer being found on the spot and murdered as well.

“Yes father," I barely muttered and left.