Guns and Roses

01: California

Five. Four. Three. Two. One.

I quickly changed the magazine of my handgun before starting over again.

Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One.

I slipped out the used one and placed the last magazine in.

Ten. Bastard finally grew some balls. Nine. I have to pick up my things and move out to California. Eight. Why now when I'm already eighteen? Seven. Where was he when I was alone, finding my mother in a pool of her own blood? Six. I'm eighteen. I shouldn't need to go live with him. Five. Yeah. That's what I will do. Fuck him. Four. Three. He can shove him 'I'm her father and care for her' act up his ass where it belongs. Two-

I felt a tap on my shoulder and abruptly turned with my gun at the person's forehead. Stephano motioned towards my ears and I took off my ear muffs. "You know better, Stephano. Never sneak up on a lady with a loaded gun." I tsked and shook my head. "You're lucky I didn't kill you."

"You wouldn't kill me. You'd miss me too much," He said cheekily.

I scoffed and rolled my eyes. "Not that much. Marco would cry more than I would."

"I've never seen him cry though?" He had a confused look on his face.

"Exactly," I said as I started to disarm my gun.

He pouted while giving me a moment to clean up my things and put them away correctly. Once done, I looked over at him, waiting for him to tell me what he really came down here for. "Marco wants to speak to you before you have to head to the airport." I gave him a nod and followed him out.

We walked up the stairs and down a hall towards Marco's office. With a knock, I walked right in. Marco gave me a look as he was on the phone with someone. "Yes, Antonio, we are anticipating this new development. This growth will both benefit you and us." He paused and watched me walk around his office.

He glared at me as I picked up a large diamond and tossed it up like it was a ball. I noticed he wouldn't stop until I did, so I placed it back down with a roll of my eyes. I walked over to a leather seat in front of his desk as he kept humming in agreement with whoever this Antonio was. I plopped down and pulled out a lollipop. I quickly unwrapped it and placed it into my mouth.

This became an obsession of mine. When my mother died a few years ago, I picked up a bad habit of smoking. My γιαγιά (grandmother) constantly complained and said I will die an early death if I continue. So to appease her, I cut cold turkey and took up sucking on lollipops. Kept my hands and mouth busy. Unknown to me, this would have been her last request for me as she and my nonno (grandfather) were killed a year after my mother. By the same fucking people.

"Antonio. I promise you will love the West Coast Don. I expect full cooperation between us and your family... Yes... I will be able to meet in about three weeks, but our West Coast Branch will start building in a couple of days... Yes. The Don will be arriving soon." His eyes flicked over to me and then quickly back to nothing. "Yes. I will see you in three weeks. Goodbye." Then Marco hung up the phone. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in his chair.

"You requested my presence," I asked in a bored tone.

"Yes. Before you go, I have two requests." I nodded for him to continue. "One, I would like you to get the tattoo before you leave." I nodded.

Easy. It was the Famiglia's tattoo of a rose on a thorny stem on our left side, going from our ribs down to our hip. Whoever works for us must get the tattoo as part of the initiation into the Family. Everyone's tattoo was different since they are allowed to add their own style to it, but it must be a rose.