Before you read, I want to first thank you for giving my work of your time and actually read it.
Thank you so much for reading please comment. You have no idea how happy your comments make me.
(FYI, English is my second language).
I hope you enjoy.
*****
My mother and I left the office so that the men could draft the contract and plan for the afternoon business of saving us.
My mother looks at me in a sad weird way and says.
"Oh honey, I feel terrible that you will again give up school because of the payments"
I feel relief that she doesn't have any suspicions about my supposed job.
"No worries Mom. It will just be for a few years and I might attend night school. Everything is fine."
"I hope so my sweat Hope."
She comes to me and hugs me really tight. I hug her back feeling a bit better about the arrangement I had with Dimitri.
"I am going to my room to have a nap. Will you wake me when it is time for lunch?."
"Sure. Let's go."
We both take the stairs together, I escort her to her room, hug her again and go down to my own room.
I sit on my bed looking at the ground thinking about her. She seems very worried. Then I remember that Boris is going to do the meeting and deliver the money. He is risking his own life for her and for me. She must be anxious about that. I should have stayed with her, kept her company.
I go back up to her room and open the door to find her lying on her side facing it and crying.
I go to her take her in my arms and lie next to her.
"Shhhh, don't cry. Everything is going to be ok. Boris is a tough guy, he will be ok."
"I feel like I will lose him. They will take the money kill him then kill us. He will die because I don't deserve to be happy. I shouldn't have dragged him in my problems."
And she starts sobbing uncontrollably, I try to comfort her telling her that she was the best mother and a good person and that Boris is lucky to have her. I tell her she deserves happiness and that she will get it. I keep talking until she falls a sleep.
Poor thing, my father has messed her up more than I thought. God! I hate him and every man like him. I hate all criminals, they can't be into shady businesses and be good people at the same time. Their criminality manifests itself in all aspects of their lives.
I stay next to my mother patting her hair and murmuring soothing words until I fall asleep myself.
My mother wakes me up and says.
"We should get something to eat. I can't stay in the room any longer. Let's go."
I shake my sleepiness away and follow her to the kitchen slash dinning hall.
There are very few people there and no sign of Dimitri nor Boris. Dimitri must be at work and Boris must be delivering the money. I felt both relieved at the absence of one and impatient at the absence of the other. I was eager to know whether we live or die, more for my mom than myself.
We start eating, more likely nibbling, our food. After a while we finish and I try to help with cleaning, but the staff just wouldn't let me. We decide to go sit in the garden. We talk for awhile, then we just couldn't keep it up because of our worries.
After a long silence I couldn't take it any more and resorte to the best way that always cheers me up. I take out my phone and put some music on. When I am stressed or happy, my most favorite thing to do is to dance. I am a great dancer. I can move my belly like Shakira and my ass close to Nicki Minaj.
I start dancing for my mom, then take her hand and force her to join me. It is a great way to relieve stress. She is dancing and we are laughing at our own goofiness when Dimitri and Boris join us in the garden.
"Celebrating your freedom in advance?"
Asks Boris in a playful tone. We are giving them our backs when we hear his voice. My mother turns and throws herself at Boris.
"You are back! And you are not hurt. I am so happy."
"You will be happier to know that everything went smoothly and we are officially free."
I feel a jolt of happiness burst inside me, mostly for my mom. I hug her from behind and mouth thank you to Boris.
He puts his hand on the top of my head and pats it. My own father never touched my head in this tender way. I am thankful to this man for so many things, I can't begin to count.
"You need to also thank Mr.Patroviskov. He went to the bank withdrew the money than accompanied me to Giorgio's house. He stayed hidden but guided me through it using an ear piece. I have never thought he was such a noble man."
I feel conflicted at his words. Do I feel grateful for his precious help or disgusted by it as I know the real motives behind it?
But I can't help but feel a bit of gratitude at least for bringing back Boris to my mom unharmed.
My mother looks at me and Boris then says.
"Now that this ordeal is over. There is something I need to say to the both of you. Hope, can you join us in our room sometime before dinner?."
"It depends, if it is something good I will. If not, you can write a letter and post it to me."
I give her a wink, indicating that I will join them as she wished.
I go up to my room, to find that dinner was to start being served in one hour. We had our lunch a bit late, so I still feel full. I decide to take a bath before I go to my mom.
I soak in the heat of the water and enjoy the variety of bath salts and soaps. I shave what needs to be shaved. And wash my hair more than twice. Today is a special day. My mother and I are free from the hell my father imposed on us.
Today is the first step I take to leave behind this life of crime, cruelty and selfishness. It is true that I will be working for a criminal, but working for one is not the same as being related to one.
Having to eat from the food they bring you. Having to listen to them trying to control every aspect of your life forever. Having to bear their bickerings and humiliations.
My work for Dimitiri is different. It is temporary and after it is over, I will not even watch a movie remotely related to mafia or crime for the rest of my life. I want a normal life away from the stress of the survival of the fittest mentality.
After I shower, I wash my underwear because I only have two sets. So I always need to wash one while I wear the other.
I put on the second and the last outfit I have. A summer dress reaching to my knees. It is yellow with spaghetti straps.
It was tight on the breasts which makes them push up to form an enticing shape; as they are trapped between my chest and the bodice of the dress, my breasts form two globes with their circular shape clearly defined under the fabric.
The dress also provides a tantalizing peek at their tops as they form a curved "v" with two perfect semicircles.
Under the breasts, the dress floats loose and free to allow the air entery from the bottom. It is beautiful comfortable and sexy.
Now, I regret the choice. I only packed this dress because it was my absolute favorite. We didn't have much time to pack, so I packed one practical outfit and one for my own happiness. If only I knew.
Chapter three
I head towards my mother's room knock and wait. Boris opens the door with a scrawl on his face. It makes me wonder what was wrong?
My mother sat on the bed, head held high and eyes puffy from tears. Boris points to a chair, and I sit.
"What I am about to say is really heavy. That is why I want to unload it. In order for me to be able to start a fresh new life, I need to bare the past, look at its ugly face and shut the door on it. I need to know that I am not the only one seeing its face and still chooses to go on."
Boris takes her hand in his and says.
"You really don't need to do this. I can imagine what you went through and I don't care about the past. I only care about the future. But if you feel you must, go ahead."
"Absolutely mom. You don't need to bare yourself to prove that you are not cheating us. We love everything about you. I love you no matter what and I think Boris feels the same."
Before Boris could speak, my mom says.
"I need to do this for all of us. First of all, I am so sorry again that you have to work for your father's mistakes. I tried to protect you and put up with him for your sake, and only your sake, all these past years. But, when I met Boris, my life brighten and I forgot what your father was capable of."
"Mom, I lived in the same house so you couldn't protect me no matter what you did. He was bad to the both of us."
"Oh honey, you don't even know half of it. What he showed you of his character, doesn't come near what I suffered from him."
"What do you mean?"
I ask surprised at her words. If what I have seen from him was a nicer version than the one my mother dealt with, I can't imagine how that must have been.
"I need to come clean about everything in my past in order for me to be able to start a new untarnished future. Your father is an evil man. He is really bad, I have never met anyone that sick. You can't imagine the things he did to me."
"Mom, I really can. I know he beat you, he humiliated you and demeaned you."
My mother gives me a bitter laugh and continues talking looking at the wall ahead of her.
"No, you can't. I need to tell you this not for you to hate your father, but to understand our situation and to be less bitter about your job here."
"I am not bitter, on the contrary I am grateful."
"Listen to me and you will be even more grateful. Your father beat me, insulted me, cheated on me, hated me but couldn't go on without me because I was his punching bag. In order for him to feel superior. He raped me and caused me vaginal bleedings because he didn't just use his member inside me. His raping caused me hemorrhoids and lesions in my rectum as well."
I feel a wave of dizziness take me but I try not to show my aching-soul to the person who has actually suffered these atrocities.
To my disheartening, she continues.
"Remember the nights your father and I spent away together as vacations?"
"Yes" I say feeling something bad coming.
"I actually spent them in hospitals recovering from his abuse, while he spent them with God knows whom, doing God knows what. When I get discharged, he comes, picks me up and we go back home like nothing happened."
