The lost Mafia prince

25

"So have you decided on a tattoo yet?" Asked Dennis. Tony smiled and nodded.

"I would love a koala." He said. We both looked at him for a while.

"A koala?" I asked him and he softly nodded.
"They are my favorite animal." He smiled. We laughed as Dennis prepared the equipment to use.

"So, do you have any phobias? Needle? Ink? Blood?" Asked Dennis.  Tony shook his head no and leaned back on the chair.

"How is your pain tolerance?" Dennis seemed to be really worried about Tony. Tony let out a deep breathe.

"Pretty much OK, I promise I won't fidget." He laughed.  Dennis nodded and dabbed a cotton wool dipped in disinfectant on the skin where Tony wanted the tattoo.

"Do want colors on it?" Asked Dennis. Tony shook his Head no.

"Pure blank ink for me." He said. Dennis arranged his equipment and started doing whatever he was doing. I sat on the counter playing games on my phone for a while but then I got bored.

"Got something to eat?" I asked Dennis. He chuckled.

"Yeah, in the car, open the trunk and bring us some snacks too." He said as I took the car keys. I went over to the car and opened the drivers seat so I could open the trunk. As soon as I got in, I saw a piece of paper on the passenger seat, where I sat when we were coming to the studio. I did not leave it there so it was suspicious. Judging from how it looked, someone had squeezed it through the slightly opened passenger side window. It was crumpled and looked dirty. I reached for it and struggled to open it without tearing it. As soon as I saw my name on the top left corner of the paper, I knew nothing was OK. I opened the later and the all too familiar smell of Moonshine enveloped the car. Alcohol and cigars and mom's all too familiar cheap cologne. Her handwriting was just the bonus to know exactly where the paper came from.

Jordan,

We wrote this, me and Jordan to warn you. You have approximately two weeks to come back home or else the bad things that will happen to people you love will all be your fault. You better come home before we come and get you ourselves because the punishment will be worse.

           Jordan and your mom.

I hadn't noticed it but a stray tear fell on the paper as my heart beat quickened. I couldn't breathe as I thought of every worst outcome of this. I was just starting to be happy, why did they have to ruin it? I frantically wiped my tears and opened the trunk. I couldn't tell anyone about this, they would worry. I had to find a way to solve this without harming anyone. I turned the paper and written in a blue messy handwriting were two words that made me remember how bad my life had always been and would always be.

Three strikes Arnie.

Clearly, it was Jordan who wrote that. My breathing picked up and I laid my head on the headrest to catch a breathe.

I don't know for how long I lay there but when the car door opened I woke up startled.

"Arnold! Are you OK?" Asked Dennis. I think he saw the bewildered look on my face. I battled whether to tell him or not. I decided not to. I let out a dry chuckle.

"Oh hey....I was exhausted...I decided to take a nap." I lied effortlessly. He nodded suspiciously and shrugged.

"OK we are taking Tony to pick up his sister then we can go home, is that OK?" Asked Dennis. I nodded and got out of the drivers seat.

"Yeah,let's go." I said as Tony sat on the passenger seat next to Dennis. I decided to seat on the back seat. I needed to clear my mind and watching scenarios wouldn't help me much. I felt nervous even as we drove through the city. I felt like someone was watching me but then just thought it was paranoia. At some point, my mind wondered back to the letter. Was mom already out of rehab? How could they release her with her mental state of a psychopath? I tried to stop thinking of them. Maybe if I told Michael he would help me. I took a deep breathe. Yeah, Michael was in the mafia, he would definitely help me. I calmed myself and decided to join in on Tony's and Dennis' conversation. They were talking about me mes and I occasionally laughed at some of them. We got to the house where we were to pick Jessy from and she sat beside me at the back seat. Turns out Jessy was just as fun as her brother. She even asked him if he was dating Dennis which caused To my to blush a bright red while Dennis smirked and smoothly answered.

"Not yet but soon Jessy." He said and Jessy was beyond excited that her brother would finally get out of the house on weekends as she out it. Tony threatened to ground her and that managed to shut the little girl up. We learnt that Tony and Jessy were orphans for a year now and Tony was struggling to feed them by working at a cafe. He had skills in coding but getting a job was hard. I could already see Dennis thinking of a way to get him a job and I smiled. They were fit for each other. After we dropped Tony home, I switched and went to sit back at the front passenger seat. The ride was silent except for Conan Grey's voice singing in the car speaker. I only enjoyed the silence for a short time however because my phone started ringing. It shocked me and I was scared so I took a sharp inhale of air and looked at the caller ID. Blake! I answered.

"Arnold!....its Liza...she's been hit by a car!" Blake screamed into the phone and I froze just as a notification popped on my screen.

"Arnold?? Are you there? Get at the mafia hospital NOW!" Even as he hang up and Dennis turned the car around, I couldn't move. The message rang in my mind over and over again.

Strike one Arnie...come back home.