My Property

Tension

~Malia~

Rita's arm grabbed the back of mine, twisting me into an uncomfortable position. I kept tapping out cause the pain was unbearable, I'm not built for this.

"You could of got out of that one" she sighed, her hand going to her chest.

I bent down to the ground, breathlessly staring up at her. I kicked my leg forward, aiming to drop her to the ground. But she pounced over me, kicking me straight in the stomach".

"Time out" I huffed, battling my way onto the bench. I stayed there for a minute, my hand pressed firmly down below.

She's been trying to teach me these different tricks for the past hour,  they're really 'self defence' methods. I am terrible at each and every single one, that she presents so elegantly.

Rita came and sat next to me, her mind anywhere but here. She was so frustrated, I felt the cause of it might be me.

"If this is just a game, why so stressed?" I tease, bringing myself back up.

She smiles, the look on her face hiding her pain pretty well.

"I know what you guys are trying to do",

Rita looks over at me, her eyes sunken and her lips no longer tilted.

They want me to train, become something I'm not. I've told them a million times that I can't, because I'm incapable of it. I haven't got the strength, the mindset or even the courage to lead. I break down over the smallest things, I'm not physically or mentally fit to do what someone like Romano has been doing nearly half his life. When I see the way he controls people, I can't even imagine myself like that.

"Malia you don't understand" she speaks, her hand brushing off her loose strands of blue. "We have all being struggling for a long time, we have been careful and tried our best to keep you safe. People like Lorenzo could have let the Mafia fall to the ground, or even taken over it for power. But Him and everyone else have always had respect for you family, you not coming back is....... selfish."

Selfish? I still don't understand why I had to be a part of this. I feel guilty for all the things that people I don't even know have done for me. I really do want to try, but I'm afraid of failure.

"Malia whether you like it or not, this is the life you were destined with. Your names already gotten out, more on more people find out about who your are everyday. And some of them may not be so friendly, people crave power and with someone as weak as you around, it's easy to take."

"But I don't have power for them to take" I debate,

"Oh but you will" she laughs nervously, "when I tell you the thousands of people that are ready to bow down to you, on your Fathers behalf."

It all feels surreal, the ground that my feet lay on, the light that reaches into my eyes. It feels impossible to imagine myself as anything but ordinary.

"All I'm asking from you, is for you to at least try" she smiles,  laying her hand out.

I pounce onto my feet, my stomach still aching from the strength of her foot. I reach my hand out to hers, pulling her up.

"I can't tell you I'll succeed, but I'll promise to try my best with whatever you need me to do",

The least I can do is try to become this version of myself, that I haven't yet ventured. Plus I'd love to understand at least one of the many languages, that I do not seem to understand when watching movies from different cultures.

"Grazie"
(𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑦𝑜𝑢)

"Grazie" I copy in her accent, making her laugh towards excitement.