Alonzo
I was looking at my dad while he texted on his phone. He had found Aurora outside passed out and carried her into her house. Which surprised me, I thought he would've just left her there and let her die or something.
He had texted me and told me that he was at her house and questioning her which made me nervous. I asked him if he saw her daughter around and he said no which made me even more nervous. So I decided to go to her house. When I pulled up a guard was taking out her trash cause apparently my father had ordered her dinner.
That was 3 days ago and he hasn't been off his phone since.
He stayed a day outside of her house watching her. He said he wanted to make sure she didn't leave for work again or leave the house in general.
"So?" I said to him
"So?"
"Do you like her?"
"What? Alonzo no, I'm just making sure she's okay. Because you let Lorenzo off on her" he said "A fucking car accident Alonzo? Really?"
"I told him to calm down. He didn't listen"
"You're his boss Alonzo. You make him fucking listen"
"You want me to kill him then? Can't listen if he's dead"
"Yeah but the next person will, and they won't make the same stupid fucking choices"
"So you do like her" I chuckled
"Alonzo" he sighed "She's nice looking. There? You happy?"
I raised my eyebrows in surprise that he even gave me that much information "I am" I smiled. My dad chuckled shaking his head "Dad?"
"Yeah?"
"You remember when I was little you took me to that water park, I think I was like 12 and I lied and told you I knew how to swim"
"D-Don't bring that up. You scared the shit out of me that day Alonzo."
I chuckled remembering me panicking and almost drowning. I was in the 8 feet and quickly sinking to the bottom, my dad freaked out and dove in grabbing me. He had hit my back so hard to get the water out of my lungs that I had bruises for weeks.
It was one of my favorite memories actually. Crazy right? When I think about how hard it is for my dad to show emotions or that he cares about me I think about that. My dad jumped in after me without a second thought. Sometimes I thought I expected too much out of him, when I compared him to other fathers in the mafia he was the best. Easily. I just understood being a mafia boss didn't mean showing the most love to your kid. My dad showed it as much as he could and I appreciated that.
His love was honest. Awkward but honest.
We never really talked much when I started to grow up but after my mom passed we started out little by little. Grabbing lunches or dinners. Him making breakfast when I was home or checking on me when I was gone.
"Are you staying in Italy long?" He asked me
"Depends"
"On?" He looked at me
"If you're going to stalk that lady or not" I chuckled "Somebody has to watch over the mafia"
He shook his head "Sante can do that"
"He told me he was going out of town this week"
"Well, he can wait. If you want to travel then you can. It'll be good for you" he said standing up and pulling out his phone "You're young Alonzo. It's a lot in the world you still need to see." He put his phone up to his ear "Yeah, I need you to find two necklaces for me. Check in the immediate area first under Curtis Matthews, pond shops, second-time around, jewelry stores. Anything." He said walking to the back.
I sighed leaning my head back and closing my eyes "He doesn't want me in the business"
"He's fucking 11 Bariona!" I heard my dad yell
"He should be training! You know that! You fucking baby him!"
"He's a fucking child! He should be stressing about school. Not a damn gun. I didn't even touch a gun until I was 12"
"Yeah because of where you were"
"Shut the hell up, you're fucking giving me a headache"
"I'm-I'm sorry Matteo. I didn't mean that"
"Whatever. I don't care"
"Matteo-"
"What the fuck did I say about touching me?"
"It's not fair that you treat me like this"
My dad chuckled "What do you want?"
"I'm your wife Matteo!"
"My wife?" He said laughing "You're Alonzo's mother to me, any form of friendship we had left the moment you pulled that shit"
"That's not-"
"I wouldn't even call it a fucking friendship. You were friends with Laila and Tina and I had to fucking put up with you-" I walked into the kitchen and my dad took a step back from my mom "Alonzo, it's early. Did we wake you?"
I shook my head "No, I'm just hungry"
My dad nodded his head "I can-"
"How about I make you some breakfast?" My mom said
I looked at my dad who was already looking at my mom "Can I just have some cereal?"
"Of course-"
"You need a real breakfast, Alonzo," my mom said "Sit down. I'll make you something"
My dad's phone started ringing and he looked down at it and then looked at me "I'll take you to school"
I looked at my mom "I'm not really hungry anymore"
"You need to eat Alonzo"
"I can just ask Dad-" I paused hearing my dad speak in that language again
"bialtabe sati, kayf halahu? 'aelam 'ana al'amr saeb ealayh fi hadha alwaqt min aleam" (Of course I will come, how is he? I know it's hard for him this time of year) my dad looked back at me "naema, naeam sa'ahduruhu. yumkinuna 'an nughadir baed qalili, ladayh madrasat walakiniy 'aelam 'anak turid muqabalatah ya 'abi" (Yes, yes I will bring him. We can leave in a moment, he has school but I know you want to meet him, Dad)
"What language is that?" I asked my mom
"A useless language. One you'll never speak" she said lowly
My dad hung up the phone and came over to me "Alonzo how would you feel about taking a trip?"
I nodded my head "That sounds cool, where?"
"To Egypt. Meet some of your family-"
"I don't think that's a good idea, Matteo"
"Well, that's why you don't do that too often huh?"
"Do what?"
"Think," He said and I laughed making my mom look at me. My dad smirked winking at me and I just smiled. My dad was so cool.
"He can't go Matteo that's it"
"If it bothers you that much you can come too. You know I go there every year around this time"
She scoffed "You think I would step foot on Egyptian land after what Saif did?"
"One can only hope" my dad mumbled "Either way. Alonzo has family that wants to meet him. Babu will love him"
"Babu Mostafa?" I asked, "Isn't he like a crazy killer or something?"
"That's exactly what he is," my mom said then looked at my dad "He won't be around him or Saif"
My dad's jaw clenched then he looked at me "Pack a bag Alonzo" my dad said walking out
"Okay" I was about to get up but my mom stormed out after him.
"Matteo!"
"For fucks sake Bariona! Stop! Just fucking stop!"
"You are not taking him to Egypt!"
"He's my son! He deserves to know who his family is!"
"You are not a Mostafa Matteo! They aren't your family! Saif isn't your father! Armando is! You're a Moretti! Alonzo is a Moretti! Stop-"
I heard a smack then my mom gasped "You open your mouth again and I'll call Marco." My dad said calmly "I have put up with your shit for years Bariona. Don't make me deem you useless"
My dad came back in snatching his jacket "Do you want me to still pack-"
"No," he said coldly and it made me shrink in my seat "I'll be back in a week. Call me if you need me," he said walking out.
I stood up going to the back of the plane where my dad was. He was sitting in a chair next to the bed on his laptop, his phone started ringing and he was about to answer it but looked up at me.
"Yeah?"
"You can answer it"
"It's not important, what's wrong?"
"I was thinking, back to that argument you and Mom had. About me coming to Egypt with you"
He looked a bit confused before he nodded his head "What brought that up?"
"I um" I took my hair out of the ponytail it was in then put it back in a ponytail "Was thinking about traveling to Egypt, never been there before."
"Okay? What does that have to do with the argument?"
"Well, you said you had family in Egypt, thought maybe I could meet them. Stay with them instead of a hotel, I really haven't met any family besides moms family and after she passed they just fell off the map"
My dad sat there for a second thinking then shook his head "They're not there" he said after a while and I looked at him confused
"What?"
He closed his laptop and looked at me "Family fell apart, my aunt was murdered and my uncle lost his mind, then my cousin died not too long ago and that sealed the deal for the family"
My eyes widened not knowing that "I-I didn't know that"
"I know you didn't Alonzo I never told you" he chuckled
"What about your dad?"
"It's complicated"
"But he's alive? I know you speak to your mom sometimes-"
"You've been listening to my conversations again?" I shook my head and he stood up "Look Alonzo, you're putting too much thought into this. Family shouldn't be on your list of things to worry about okay?"
"Then what should I be worried about then?"
"You're 21 Alonzo, just go travel and enjoy life"
"What about the mafia?"
"What about it?"
I shook my head "Nothing, maybe I'll go to Japan"
"Japan's good," my dad said nodding his head
"Hey, Dad?"
"Yeah?"
"Why didn't you and Mom have any more kids?"
He sat down and opened his laptop back up "Just didn't want anymore, we were happy with you."
"A sibling would have been nice," I said
"Sorry, no siblings for you," he said and I chuckled making him do so too
"Alonzo!" My uncle Sante said throwing his arms out and coming down the stairs, he looked at my dad and then waved him off "You aren't important"
"Neither are you," my dad said chuckling
I hugged my uncle who was more like a second dad to me, along with Lail who I looked at more like an uncle than a dad. They were the only two guys my dad considered friends, though Lail hasn't been coming around much the past year or so. I still talk to him every once in a while.
"You look well," my uncle said "How was your trip?"
"It was good, your friend hovered as usual"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk Matteo. Alonzo is a man now, no need to be a protective daddy all the time" my uncle said and I chuckled
"Worry about yourself self Sante, no economy for you this weekend"
"Now wait a minute," my uncle said panicking "We agreed-"
"Too bad, you can fuck around another time." He said going up the stairs
"Fucking Matteo," he said pulling out his phone
"Why don't you still go? I can handle things here"
My uncle looked at me and then shook his head "It's fine, your dad-"
"Will be fine, it's my mafia too" I leaned back against the wall "You know I'm technically your boss"
He raised his eyebrow and then started laughing "Matteos going to Fucking kill me but it'll be worth it"
"Why do you leave every week?"
"Business" he shrugged
I raised my eyebrow "Right" I walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge seeing it was cleaned out "What the hell?"
"Your dads cooking tonight, you know how he is"
"Well then that's fine, I'm starving" I closed the door and then turned around looking at my uncle who was texting on his phone "So?"
"So?"
"My dad told me about Babu"
My uncle looked up at me then shook his head "Yeah?" He put his elbows on the table leaning on them "What did he tell you?"
"You know" I shrugged "That he's related to him"
My uncle chuckled and shook his head "And where did you hear that?" I shrugged "Alonzo, don't go looking for answers you aren't ready for okay?"
"So he is related to him?"
"No, he isn't," he said in an unusually serious tone that almost seemed like it didn't fit him "And don't bring that up to anyone else, you'll get someone killed," he said walking out of the kitchen
"I'm just trying to figure out what's going on," I said to myself "And why we don't have any family"