Page 2 of My Mafia King

I experienced most of his abuse since I’m his oldest daughter and also developed a habit of talking back at him.

Tina has paid a price, too.

And it’s worse for her because she’s younger and witnessed everything, feeling even more vulnerable than I have.

I’ve thought about this development the entire summer while working two jobs and dealing with a nasty, so-called boyfriend.

You know what they say… Nasty father. Nasty boyfriend.

Well, maybe they don’t say that, but if they do say that, I totally get it.

It’s not like I went out there and looked for someone like Beau. I call him Dick. Everybody calls him Dick, sometimes behind his back, and yes, it has to do with his character, not his genitals.

Truth be told. I needed a way out. And he was it.

Most men who had approached me were too soft, and the ones who weren’t soft were much older and reminded me of my father. And I wanted to forget about him.

Beau ‘Dick’ Anthony reminded me of my father, too, but I thought I could have a smidgen of control over him since he was only five years older than me and convinced me he wanted to be serious about me.

I believed him for a second.

That...

And I also needed a way out, as I said before. The worst possible way out if you ask me.

And then there was the‘Maybe I can fix him’thing, some stupid idea I’d come up with before realizing I was about to derail my life just like my father did after my mother’s death.

‘Dick’has been a dick this summer, cheating on me and making me break up with him, and now I’m ready to make some big changes in my life.

So, yeah… I may be able to pull away from everyone––my father, Dick, and his thuggish existence––but Tina is too young to follow me on this crazy journey.

So, for this to work, it must be more than that.

More than me buying a one-way ticket, hopping on a Greyhound bus, and ending up in a different state.

Texas, Florida, South Carolina, or New York.

If it were only that simple, or only about me, anything would do, but I can’t be so far away from Tina.

I need to stay close to home, so Vegas will do.

That is only one part of the plan.

The other part is me making some serious money, and by serious money, I mean‘fuck you’money.

No, not in that big sense when you have a lavish life style. I can’t hope for that.

If I can pick up Tina, take care of her, and get lost so my father can’t get to us, take her from me, and bring her back, that, for me, would be‘fuck you’money.

‘Fuck him’money, to be exact.

Money is essential.

If I stay, nothing will change.

We’re dirt poor and the only help we have and our only relative left is our aunt, Edith.

My heart softens as I look at my little sister.

---