🍁BITTERSWEET

CHAPTER 89

"I'm going out to the farm" I tell my mother and aunties that are sitting in the kitchen and peeling the potatoes.

After braiding Triambika's hair I took a shower and read a book to pass time. I was bored and then decided to go out. "Come join us" aunty Florence says.

"Let her go out and get some fresh air" my mother says and I immediately take the chance and walk out. I don't want to sit and peel potatoes and listen to Italian gossip.

Walking in the farm a garage catches my attention. I can't control my curiosity and eventually find myself outside it. I push the door a little bit enough for me to take a peak.

Antonio is in a vest that is sticky to him due to the sweat. It looks like a gym judging by the equipment around. He looks occupied by the boxing bag. He kicks it and punches it. Now I see why his body is in good shape at a old age.

"You can come in?" He says startling me. How did he? Or even when did he?.

"You welcomed" he says since I've been standing there unmoved. I enter the garage and a fresh breeze calms my nerves. I walk over to where he is seated taking off his gloves.

"You gym at such a old age" I say breaking off the silence.

He takes a sip of the ice cold water and wipes the sweat off his forehead. "I need to keep fit cause you never prepared for what may happen" he says putting his bottle down.

I pick up the gloves and put them on. "You really are a gangster?" I ask him.

"No. What I do is small compared to that. I deal with the dark side" he tells me. Dark side.

His a mafia. He deals with the darker side. That's scary yet interesting.

"Was it your dream or just something that came about" I ask him again. I want to find out more about him and this dark theory.

I'm hoping for a hint about Vally. Maybe he was also involved. With that ego and aggression it wouldn't come out as a surprise.

"My father. Your grandfather was a mafia also. It runs in the family... Christopher and them were too innocent to take over so I had to. It was the only way we could survive" he explains to me. So if I were to be a boy it would have also been my way of life.

"I am sure mother never approved of you getting into such dangerous things" I say.

"She was very difficult. She even wanted to disown me once but I'm her brother after all" he stands up and walks towards me. We both now face the boxing bag.

"Let me teach you some skills" he says.

"Punch it" he points to the bag and I do just that. My fist isn't as strong as his because the bag doesn't even move.

"Anger. Take out all your anger. All the pain hidden inside you. Release it" he demands in my ear after seeing the disappointed look on my face. Anger.

All that I went through now comes back. Natalie not talking to me. One punch. Adele's lies. One punch. Father's death. One punch. Mother disowning me. Another punch. The abuse from my step father and mother. Another punch. Vally cheating on me. A punch. And last but not least hating myself. One punch.

"Okay, you'll hurt yourself" he stops me. I am breathing heavily and my head feels like it's being hit by a bus. I sit down and put my hands over my head.

"I didn't know you hid so much in you. But we'll leave it for another day" he says taking the gloves off my hands. He then passes me a bottle of cold water which I gulp down without feeling the coldness hurt my teeth.