4 Brothers and a Secret Life

|II||Francesco|

"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their entrances and exits; and one man in his time plays many parts..."-William Shakespeare

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Present time, Italy 

Francesco

"Francesco, we have another task for you." The man says. We're in a small café, sitting in a dimly lit corner. 

Its been 7 years. 7 years. And he couldn't even give me his name. For 'security reasons' I wasn't allowed to see anything even closely related to the word 'mafia' with the exception of this man and my brothers, if you can call them that.

He hands me a cheap staples file and I briefly skim through it. Just a USB drive and a picture. Like always. Unsurprised, I close the file without glancing at the photo and carefully place it into my backpack.

Making sure the file isn't peeking out, I casually walk away from the man. 

Parking lot

Reaching the parking lot, I unlock my car. I got my drivers license last year, (16 yrs old) and since then, I have been using this car. Its a second-hand, from one of my older 'brothers'. I scoff. Despite being from a wealthy-family, I'm not even worth their money. It's been badly scraped and dented, most likely from some of their 'minor accidents'. 

After driving for a couple miles, I stop and park. I go to one of the only private international high schools in the area, designed for rich kids and transferees new to the language: Crestview High. Such an imaginative name. It's still around half a mile away (A.K.A a long walk) but I always park in this abandoned lot. Because of the dents on my car, I attract a lot of attention. Walking that far means I have to wake up earlier: 5:00 A.M., not that I have much of a choice. As if I ever had a choice to begin with...

After jogging for a bit, I reach the school a little before the final bell. I have Mrs. Witten as my homeroom and English teacher. I like her the most because she frankly doesn't give a f*ck about her students. All the better for me, but the other kids hate her for giving out so many F's. 

Her room mirrors her personality: drab and old, with little to no color. The chair are in rows and there is one small side window. I sat down in one of the middle seats with less dirt on it. I could probably pass all the classes with  flying colors. I find myself looking longingly at the front seat. A throb of jealousy passes over me when I see a kid take that spot. What a strange feeling.

I shake it off. 

The announcements go by and it's almost time to go already. I'm out of my seat, ready to leave this h*ll hole when Hailey walks in. Much like her name suggests her personality is very bland. But her appearance is drop dead gorgeous, with wavy golden locks and a cute smile. 

With her looks, she could date anyone in school. In that case, I guess I should be honored to be one of her ex-boyfriends then. Like always however, it was purely out of necessity. Always. Her current boyfriend, my brother Antonio, however is dating her for fun. What a luxury, I think sarcastically. But why is she looking at me? We ended our relationship on a sour note and she hasn't spoken to me since...

Glaring at me as she walked past, she slowed down just enough to whisper, "You little sh*t. Lets see what your brother does." With an unnerving grin, she walks to Mrs. Witten with an innocent smile on her face, leaving me to wonder what the f*ck she meant.

What my brother...does? A chill goes down my spine. As far as I'm concerned, none of my brothers give a flying f*ck about me...

1:00 P.M., Crestview High, Lunch

I'm sitting in my little secluded corner of the cafeteria. It's a little chillier here because I'm directly below an air vent so it's really one of the best places to be in the cafeteria. Or that's what I tell myself. I slowly stand up to throw the trash from my lunch away but place my lunch back down onto the table when I see Antonio with a small crew with him. 

Is this what Hailey talked about? I have full confidence that Antonio would win me alone, so what is he doing with a whole-ass army?! Its ok. When it comes to speed, I'm the faster one. I'm the faster one. I slowly back up and wheel my ass out the door. I run and run. I run all the way to the gym room where there should be a gap somewhere-

There. By the equipment room. But there's no time to make a full escape, so I hide behind the bleachers. A flurry of voices come and go. I slowly take in air, trying to calm my heart. Suddenly, I get this feeling. Is it deja vu? But why...why is this feeling so familiar? 

I have to move on. Right now a stupid 'strange feeling' isn't important. I'm actually being f*cking manhunted by my sh*tty excuse of a brother-OH GOD I'M BEING MANHUNTED-...I shake off the looming terror and force myself to focus.

When I get home I just know Antonio will be there to greet me with a little more enthusiasm than he's shown towards me in an entire year. But that's something future me will have to deal with, so present me can breathe a sigh of relief. I turn towards the bleachers.

I'm so deep in thought that I don't notice a little wriggling ball of fur until I get under the bleachers. I need to get my act together. I can't be distracted like this...Focus Francesco... Ok, there's a wriggling orange ball thing...next to me... Shit, why don't schools tell us how to handle situations like this? 

Squatting down closer to the ball, I get a good look at it. Seems to be some kind of...small squirrel? "Uhm.. you ok?" I gently pat the tiny animal, trying to comfort it. "Heh, you can't even understand me-what the heck am I doing?" It's the first time in a long time I'm doing something for myself...for me. This small squirrel is for me! I can't hold back anymore and my face breaks out into a ridiculously childish grin. How long has it been since I genuinely smiled like this? I chuckle. A bit of glee races though me as I realize it's not running away from me. I pick up the squirrel. It looks so small... too small for it to be an adult squirrel... 

Oh no...its shivering!...Its so small... I jolt. What am I thinking?! Snap out of it! Another voice in my head interrupted. Where's the mother?!  Did it die? Or was it abandoned?  I feel a sharp pang of empathy. It must've been so lonely...and cold...don't worry, we can stick together from now on. One thought won over the other and the next thing I could feel was slipping the little squirrel into my pocket. 

But I must've dreamed for too long. Because no matter how hard I cling, nothing lasts forever in my hands...

Author's Note

Hi guys! I'm feeling evil today so you get a cliffhanger :D! But in truth, I really wanted to finish this because it was getting kind of long-almost 1350 words! The ending was my try at foreshadowing, please let me know if it could be rephrased better or something, because I just spent 10 whole minutes on it and I can't understand anything I wrote-the lines just keep repeating in my head haha! 

P.S-Update on my eye: I'm fine! My doctor is working on getting me some improved eye-stuff..? In doctors we trust! Shoutout to all the doctors reading this!-The Writer

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Debate time!

Which is better: Dogs or Cats? 

Sorry cat lovers...I'm a dog fan! (Don't worry it's mostly because I'm allergic!) I do think cats are really neat though! Especially the OrAnGe CaTs. XD