Life In The Mafia

Chapter Two

After being on the road for a matter of minutes we get to the bar/restaurant that my father had set the meeting at. We stepped inside, and my father tells the waiter who we are. Immediately the waiter then leads us to a table in the middle of the restaurant, with a clear view out the front windows.

"Isabella! My sweet niece, how are you?" Uncle Emilio pulls me in for a hug then pats me on the shoulder.

"Hi Uncle, good to see ya." There was a twinge of awkwardness in the air.

"Come, take a seat! Don't be shy." Uncle Emilio pulls up a seat for me next to a possibly Chinese man I've never seen before. He must be one of my Uncles associates. My father takes a seat across from me. "So, Uncle, my father told me that you got me a gift of some sort."

"A gift you say?" He glances over at my father who is currently lighting another cigar, but a slight smirk can be seen behind it. "A gift is one way to put it." Continues my Uncle "The man sitting next to you is an assistant for the leader of the Chinese mafia called The Ice Dragons."

I turn to the man who extends his hand as to shake mine. Firmly I take his hand in mine and he says in a thick Chinese accent "It is an honor to meet you Ms. Castellano."

"Please, call me Isabella." I insist, the turning back to my Uncle I ask jokingly "So he's my gift?"

He laughs loudly, enough to catch the attention of a few other people around us. "No sweetheart, but you're close. I set up this meeting to discuss marriage."

My heart sinks slightly at the sound of that word "Uncle, you know my feelings toward marriage. Why would you arrange this very well knowing that?"

"I know that with what happened with Giovanni was a horrible fate for the poor boy... We've all been hesitant about having another man marry into the family, he was a great guy - But that's beside the point, the reason for this is strictly business. The Ice Dragons have a lot of weapons and materials that we can't get our hands on in America, on our own at least."

"I don't see how an arranged marriage has to do with any of this Uncle."

"It was the only way we were able to get the Black-Market goods. The head wasn't interested in anything else we offered him." Uncle Emilio goes on to explain.

I sit there and let my brain absorb the information as I sip my water. My eyes glance up towards my father.

"I wouldn't make you do this if we didn't have to sweetie. It's for business."

Before I could even open my mouth to respond the Chinese associate cuts in "I think this meeting might have to be cut short." His gaze was towards the front doors and we all turned to look. A large group of men climbed out of a car. One in-particular was wearing a white suit and had blonde hair that was corn rowed on one side. They seemed to be looking for someone.

Uncle Emilio curses under his breath.

"Emilio, what did you do now?" Asks my father.

He gives my father a nervous yet cocky smile "Oh you know me Vinny" he pauses to pull out his gun "I'm always getting into some sort of trouble."

The moment the group of men walk through the door they pull out their guns. "EVERYBODY GET DOWN!" Yells my Uncle. He flips the table onto its side and we all duck behind it just before gun fire.

The screams of people roar throughout the restaurant. All of them running, trying to get out. Some not too lucky. A man runs past us trying to make an escape through the back, only to get a bullet to the head. His corpse collapses in front of me, his blood splattered on my face. Through all of this, I could make out a child's whale screaming, pleading, for their parents.