- A m a r a R u s s o -
"So, about what happened yesterday..." Salvestro trailed off, and I perked up.
Salvatore had decided that we are going to be taking a day off today because of all the news about the twin's sweet sixteen birthday being crashed. I still didn't understand why it had happened, and I was hoping to get my questions answered soon. Preferably now.
My brain was starting to hurt with all the questions it was forming, and the only thing helping me right now were the voices as they gave me helpful suggestions of what had happened.
'It might have been the Mafia.' The voice shrugged.
'Why would the Mafia want anything to do with Salvatore though?' I frowned, and the voice hummed, not replying to me.
"Yeah?" I replied hopefully to Salvestro, really wanting answers.
"So, pretty much what happened yesterday shouldn't have happened."
"I figured that much out." I commented sarcastically, and although the twins were both bummed at their failed birthday party, they still snickered at my words.
The Romano family have also left this morning, and I didn't even get to say goodbye to either of the adults before they were on the plane back to California.
"Anyways," Salvestro continued, giving the twins a warning look. "The people yesterday are part of a gang. They thought that they would be able to over power us, but they were wrong."
"But what about the guns? Why did you guys have guns?" I asked, questions still jumbled at the front of my mind.
It was as if the questions in my head were young children and they were all shouting and raising their hand to be picked. In this case, it was to be picked so that their question could be asked from my mouth.
"Remember? We always have guns on us because of emergencies." Salvestro shrugged as if it was normal.
"Are you even allowed to own a gun?"
"In our case, yes because we have our permits." Sandeo answered this time, and I nodded my head slowly.
"Then why were there cars following us?" I inquired.
"Because they thought that if they kidnapped one of us, they would be able to take you as leverage, making Salvatore have to give them money to get you back. Fortunately, we managed to escape their grasp." Salvestro replied.
"They were going to kidnap one of us?" Aghast, I faced the others with a look of horror written across my face.
"It shouldn't be surprising, Amara. Everyone wants us, dead or alive so that they can get Salvatore to give them money, or even worse, his entire empire." Santino shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal.
"Dead or alive?" I repeated, my jaw hanging as I processed his words.
"Preferably alive, of course." Santino continued, "But beggars can't be choosers."
"Why are you talking about this so normally though?" I shivered, wrapping my arms around myself.
"Because it is normal to us now." Salvino acted like it was nothing to him, but I can detect the haunted look in his eye. It was the look I saw every day when I was still with Jake.
"But why would they want to kidnap Samantha?" I frowned.
"Because Samantha is Ace's wife." Sandeo answered as if it was obvious. Well, it wasn't obvious to me. "It is so obvious that Ace loves his family and would do anything for them, so if they kidnapped Samantha, the 'kidnappers' could pretty much ask Ace for anything and he would have to deliver or risk his family."
"But that isn't fair." I argued.
Salvestro who was silent as his brothers answered my questions gave me a sympathetic glance. "Life isn't fair, Bambina. We just have to roll with it and adapt to it as it goes."
"This is our life, sis." Sandeo added, "There is nothing we can do to change it, and I wouldn't change it for anything else. Sure, we may receive death threats because of our high social ranking in the world, but we live a life where we don't have to worry about our financial problems. I also have a family that cares about me and puts me before others, and I wouldn't change that for anything."
For the first time, Sandeo sounded serious, and he was so passionate when talking about it. I've never seen him like this, and I had to admit that it was refreshing to see him act so mature about this subject.
I had no idea what to say to Sandeo's statement, so I went with the easiest way out. I changed the topic, and it was blatantly obvious.
"So, uh, did anyone get hurt?"
Even I winced at my efforts to change the topic, but Salvestro didn't miss a beat.
"No one died." he replied, and I nodded my head.
"That's good. What happened after I went to bed? How did Salvatore get home?"
"Salvatore hitched a ride with the Romano's back home. They were fine, and Salvatore wasn't injured at all." Salvestro answered, "Salvatore obviously did research on who put the attack on them, and he found out this morning which is why he left at five in the morning as he had to deal with the law and all the paperwork regarding what happened."
"Oh, alright. So what am I supposed to do now?"
I felt like my questions were never ending, and the moment I thought the questions were over, a new question would pop into my brain.
"You can do anything, really. But you also have to prepare for testimonials, I think." Salvestro mumbled to himself, before he nodded to himself and faced back to us.
"Yes. You four are going to have to testify as you guys are witnessed to what happened. Anyways, everyone knows of the shooting already, so the police are obviously going to be involved." he said simply, "They're probably going to be bringing all of you to interrogate you on what really happened when you were inside."
At his words, I grew pale. Talking to my family, no problem. Talking to a bunch of menacing police officers, a huge problem.
Noticing my dilemma, Salvestro chuckled and wrapped a comforting hand around me.
"Don't worry too much, Amara. All you have to do is say the truth. Saying the truth prevents lies, and stating the truth makes you more believable. Salvatore is also on good terms with the police, so if you all four of you have the same story, which is the truth, the police will have no reason to be suspicious of you."
"Don't worry too much, sis. This has happened before, and the police are nice." Sandeo butted in.
"Not all of them are." Santino just had to ruin the mood didn't he?
"Yes well the majority of them have good attitudes." Sandeo retorted.
"And a few of them have sticks stuck so far up their as-"
"Santino." Salvestro warned, and Santino sighed in defeat.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." he muttered, and turned to face me. "Just say the truth and everything will be fine. It's not like they are interrogating you because you are a suspect. They are only bringing you in as you are a witness."
"Anyways, it's not like you saw anything really." Salvino added, "You really have no reason to be worried because you didn't really see anything. You only know what happened because we told you what happened, and the police won't want to hear that. They will want to hear what you saw and heard during the time, not what you know already.
"So technically, the information you can give them won't be much at all because we are the ones who filled you in on what happened. It's us that have the real information because we saw the entire thing, not you."
For some reason, his words brought me relief, but also a hint of annoyance. Sure, it was nice being ignorant about a few things, but sometimes, you feel annoyed when you didn't know things you were entitled to know.
"Anyways, I want all of you to go back to your rooms. Stella will call you down for lunch when it's ready." Salvestro said, and pushed us out of the dining room and onto the stairs.
Damn, I still had more questions.
~
"Amara! What happened?" Elena whispered to me the next day. "I heard, but I don't know the entire story."
Elena didn't know the entire story because even the media didn't know the entire story. All the media knew was that there was a shooting at the twin's Sweet Sixteen birthday party with a few of Salvatore's business partners.
This morning, we had a discussion with Salvatore, and he had told me to not tell my friends the whole story of what had happened, and only tell them what they already knew from the news.
Apparently, he didn't want people to know what had really happened because then the media would make a huge deal out of it, and it would only cause more unnecessary drama that we didn't need in our lives.
For once, I had agreed with him because the media liked to exaggerate everything they hear to get more clout. The majority of the news they spread is false as well, and is only there so that they could get more money. Naive people believe the media when they don't know the true story behind it.
If I told Elena anything, we might whisper too loud, and other people might over hear our conversation, and then our conversation would then spread like wildfire, which is why Salvatore had suggested - more like told - for Sandeo, the twins, and me to stay quiet and act like we had no idea what had happened.
He said that it was easier that way, because then people wouldn't crowd us for answers we weren't allowed to give them.
"Nothing really happened. There was a shooting." I shrugged my shoulders, and she gasped.
"How can you act like you don't care? You could've died!"
"It's fine. I wasn't even there for the majority of the shooting anyways, so I don't really know." I told her.
I honestly felt terrible lying to Elena as she was my best friend, but Salvatore's warning came to the front of my mind and I heeded it. I really didn't want attention, and if keeping a small secret like this is what it took, then it didn't matter.
"Oh alright." Elena looked so disappointed by my answer that I felt my lungs contract around my heart painfully. Why did it hurt so much?
"Yeah, sorry." I muttered, and she gave me a small smile.
"Oh no, it's fine. I was just curious y'know?" Elena shrugged, and changed the topic. "Anyways, we got to go to class now. See you during lunch?"
"Definitely." I grinned, and she bounced away, a slight skip in her step.
I love her, there was no denying that, and that only made the guilt worsen in my gut.
~
"So how was school?" Salvestro asked us when the twins and I piled into the car.
"It was fine." I murmured, and the twins echoed their agreement before falling silent again.
"Alright," Salvestro said, "I heard you had to join clubs am I right?"
"Yeah."
"Well, Salvatore told me to tell you that it is mandatory for you to try-out for one of the sports teams at your school." Salvestro told me, and I opened my mouth to object.
"What if I don't want to?"
"Then you'll have to take it up with Salvatore." Salvestro shrugged, and his piercin,g steel blue eyes bore into my plain old brown ones. "I won't help you though because I know that exercising is healthy for you. Exercising helps your body, and since you are in desperate need of healing your body, I actually approve of you trying out for a sports team."
I stared at him with my mouth agape, not knowing what to say.
"Are you saying that I have to join a sports team?"
"No, I am saying that I'd prefer if you joined a sports team, but Salvatore said it's mandatory." Salvestro corrected, "The twins and Sandeo join a team every year, and it would be easier for everyone if you joined a team because then I wouldn't have to drive two times to go to school and back to pick them up."
"So I have to join a team."
"Well if you look at it that way..." Salvestro trailed off, giving me a grimace. "Yeah."
'It's not that bad, sis." Sandeo tried to comfort, but he just wasn't cut out to be the comforting type. Salvestro was the comforting type, not Sandeo.
"Right." I drawled, "I haven't played sports in years. What makes you think that I can join a sports team?"
"Well that's why it's called trying out." Salvino shrugged, trying to be helpful. It wasn't working.
"It's not like you'll make it for sure." Santino added, and I cast him a scathing glare. I definitely didn't know that, Santino.
"Anyways," Salvestro broke in before an argument could start brewing, "Salvatore just wants you to try out because it would be more convenient for us, and it also gives a good benefit to your body."
"So what am I supposed to try-out for then?" I rolled my eyes, annoyed at the situation I was in.
Although I really wanted to protest and say I didn't want to join any type of sport teams, the small girl in me was shaking at the thought of trying to persuade Salvatore. She didn't want any type of interaction with him that was needed for him and I to be in a room alone together, and I did agree to her to a certain point.
"Try-out for anything." Salvestro replied, and turned back to face the front.
What such helpful advice.
"Anything that interests you, really." Sandeo amended.
Even more helpful advice. So specific!
~
"Are you going to try-out for volleyball?"
Elena stared at me with wide eyes, her jaw dropping to the floor as I looked back at her nervously. For some reason, I felt like I needed my best friend's validation, and the feeling was consuming me.
"Yeah. Is it bad?"
"No, no." she corrected quickly, "It's just that I'm surprised."
"Why?"
"Because you honestly just don't seem like the sporty type." Elena blurted, and although I knew that I probably should've been offended, I wasn't because it was true.
I am not voluntarily trying out for volleyball, instead being forced to. Sandeo might argue with my choice of words, but I was technically right.
"I'm not offended." I giggled, "It's true. I just wanted to try something new."
"Got for it, then. Just so you know though, the junior volleyball try-outs are during lunch, which means that you are going to be late in..." she checked the clock. "Five minutes."
"Five minutes?" I shrieked, my bags flying everywhere.
"Yeah. I mean, I can tell your brothers you went to volleyball try-outs if you want. I can bring your bag to your locker. You'll just have to tell me your locker pass."
"You'd do that?"
"Of course!" Elena replied giddly, and picked up my bags for me as I whispered to her the pass to my locker and started running to the gym.
"Thanks!" I yelled backwards.
"No problem! Make the team, will ya?" Elena shouted back, and I chuckled.
"I'll try!"
~
"Who here, knows how to do a spike?" Mister A asked the group of about thirty different girls ranging from grade seven to grade nine.
"Me." everyone answered simultaneously, myself included.
"What about an overhand serve?" he raised a brow, and no one replied except for a certain female.
"Me." Caroline spoke up confidently, her spandex shorts and t-shirt clinging to her body as her hair which was normally up in a bun, was now in a high ponytail.
"Great! Can you show me how it's done?" Mister A said excitedly, and passed Caroline a ball as she walked to the back of the gym, her smacking ball a few times on the way like all other volleyball players.
I do it a few times as well to test out how much air was in the ball so I knew how much force I needed when I served, but it was pretty important for Caroline to know the amount of force she needed in her own ball. This is because too much force can make the ball go out of bounds, and too little force can cause the ball to not make it pass the net.
Caroline smacked the ball on the ground a few times, before a look of pure concentration passed her face.
Before I knew it, the ball was spinning in the air, and Caroline had squatted down, her arm raised in the perfect serve position as the ball dropped onto the ground.
With perfect time maneuvers, the ball sailed right past the net and made a huge bang on the floor as the volleyball made hard contact.
I winced, only imagining the pain her opponents would face when she served. That would hurt their arm, no matter how much practice they had.
"That..." Mister A looked breathless as his eyes were blown wide. "Was amazing!"
Caroline blushed, a look I've never seen on her face before.
"Thank you, Sir." she mumbled.
"No, thank you for the perfect demonstration!" Mister A corrected, and his gleaming eyes turned to the rest of us.
"Who else knows how to do that?"
No one raised their hands, even the certain few who could get their over hand serves past the net. Everyone knew that their serves were nothing compared to Caroline's, and they didn't want to get humiliated for it.
"No one?" he frowned disappointedly.
When no one answered, he sighed a disheartened one.
"Alright. Let's go back to serving them. Everyone gets a ball. I'll be marking you on your underhand serves."
We all rushed to get the ball that was pumped to the fullest. Thankfully, the majority of them were pumped, and only a few unlucky ones had balls that were half deflated.
"Right. I want all of you to line up. The first person will serve, and one that person has served, you will go after. I want no hesitation when serving alright?" he demanded.
We all responded with a corresponding, "Yes, Sir!"
"Good. You may go first." he pointed to a small blonde girl.
The girl squatted down, her arms fully positioned as she took two steps forward and swung her arm like a bat. I didn't even have enough time to duck before the ball went sailing straight into my face.
***
We are almost at 18k views, and 800 votes! Thank you all so much for the support guys! I really appreciate it!
Anyways, I kinda feel bad for Amara. Like her brothers aren't telling her the truth, and now I feel like a bad Author. What do you think?
Other than that, how do you like this story so far? Please give me a 'to be honest', as I really want to know what I can improve on. I know that I have so much more room for improvement, so if there is anything that makes you unsatisfied with my book, just leave a comment!
Stay safe guys and please remember that I am always here if you want to talk to someone! Stay tuned for the next Chapter on Wednesday!
~ CRAZY40429 💋
QotC: Who here plays volleyball?
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