Raised In The Mafia

Chapter 2: Growing Troubles

                                                                                  ~ 5 years later ~

So it turns out that I still have to go to school... Ugh... But not the school you are thinking of. In our school, we have to go to school six days a week. We learn the hierarchy of the Mafia and how each group has its own place. Let me explain,

There are basic groups called teams, normally the people you work best with and each team has to have a wide range of skills. That being said, if you can cover the basic skills needed to qualify as a team, with only two people, then you can have a two person team! Typically though there are four or more on your team. Some teams even have close to twenty people in it. The team that I grew up in was Team Racer, which is a four person team now that I am on it. The other members are Rick, Alex, and Sue. They are also the closest I will ever let anyone be to me. I don't really have anyone I rely on, but myself.

Anyway, a bunch of teams make up a family. The head of a family is the strongest person of the strongest team. And when I say strong, I don't necessarily mean physically the strongest. A guy named Butch is the head of our family, and he got to be in his position because he was strategic, quick on his feet, good at fighting with weapons, and the team he recruited works together really well. He seems to have taken a liking to me and I am still debating whether or not that is a good thing. He is always paying more attention to me than the other kids whenever he comes to observe our classes. I'm trying to just ignore him for now.

Back to the hierarchy, five families make a clan and you have the strongest of the five family heads to be the Alpha or the leader of the clan. Clans can make alliances with each other and typically you will see that each country will have one or two Mafias, because the clans will unite and claim a whole country as territory or will split the country in two. That happens when two different Mafias claim the same country but do not want to unify forces or if they are at war with each other.

Getting back down to the lower ranks, the teams will usually figure out which of the other teams are stronger and which are weaker than them because they will sometimes try to influence other teams or make a pact. A pact is where multiple teams come together within a family and are able to rely on each other. From there they can become an agency, which is a place where someone within their clan or an allying clan can hire them for jobs that were not asked of them from the higher ups. So one team can go to an agency to get back up for a job they were assigned and stuff like that. It is a way to make money within the Mafia instead of getting a job, like a normal person, outside of the Mafia.

Speaking of which, we are all technically citizens of a country. We have jobs, homes, and sometimes even families that don't know of the Mafia! Well, most of us anyway. Some of us, like me, are legally listed as dead, so we are always living in the shadows. Or at least away from anything that might make someone question our identity. Yup! These are the basic lessons for a five year old in the Mafia...

Other than school, not too much has changed. The biggest thing that happened to me is probably the discovery of how many genetic mutations I have. Due to this, I now wear colored contacts, hair dye, and a mask, that covers the bottom half of my face, on a day to day basis. With these accessories, my style actually looks more mature than it should and I am often mistaken for a full fledged Mafia member who is just really short.

Today I have the day off of school and I am planning on running a couple of errands for my team. On my 'To Do List' for today I have to just do the basics and grab some groceries, pick up Alex's gun from the repair shop, see what new gadgets Sue's sister has for her, and the daily task of checking the bounty on each of our heads. Yes, even I have a bounty on my head at the age of five. I like to see how much trouble I can get into without getting caught. Another one of my genetic mutations in my brain makes my mind age a lot faster than the normal person. I am just as smart as someone over twice my age. It is a very useful tool... hehehe...