Mafia and Doctor

Chapter 5

"Wait, so let me get this straight. Enzo's father has decided to make a special appearance at Jasper's house?" Celestino asked, looking around at the 3 other teens currently in a square around the living room table. As soon as they had gotten off of work, Celestino, Giovanni, and Laurent had driven to Jasper's house. Brenda had gone back to work again and left the teens alone in the house.
"Yep which is why Enzo and I need to crash at your place for tonight," Jasper explained.
"Yeah okay, that's more than fine. Whatever you guys need," Celestino stole a Cherry Danish from Laurent.
"What are we supposed to tell Enzo?" Laurent asked, running a hand through his hair.
"I have no idea," Giovanni shook his head.
"How bad is his dad anyway? Enzo doesn't talk about Italy." Jasper looked at the only person who fully knows Enzo's childhood.
"Bad enough that I am debating whether to tell him about this."
"Well, how else are we going to get him to my house?" Celestino took a bite of the cherry pastry.
"Boys' Night at your place?"
"Ah true."
"No," Laurent suddenly yelled. Giovanni and Celestino started and looked over at Laurent.
"Remy, what's wrong?"
"I don't want to lie to Enzo."
"You don't want to lie about what?" Enzo's voice behind them scared every single one of the teens in the living room.
"Your dad is in town and paid this house a visit today," Laurent said quickly before hiding behind Giovanni, who gave Enzo a sheepish smile.
"Of course he did. Alright, Jas, where are we staying now?"
"Wait, that's it? You're not scared?" Celestino gaped up at Enzo.
"Honestly, I couldn't care less. I knew my past would catch up. Now come on. I need to pack camping stuff."
"Why camping stuff?"
"You people don't read your texts do you?"
"We've been busy conspiring," Laurent said, peeking his head over Giovanni's shoulder.
"Mrs. Carter has announced that on Monday she's passing out slips for us to get our parents and guardians to sign."
"A camping trip."
"Yep. So, I'm going to grab that stuff. Gio, we still on for our boys' night tomorrow?"
"Yeah of course. Why wouldn't it be on?"
"I don't know. I wanted to make sure."
"The reason it wouldn't still be on is if y--" whatever Giovanni was going to say was interrupted by Enzo's phone ringing.
"Hello...Yep....But it's my night off.....Then have someone else do it....Oh, come on!" Enzo hung up his phone and dropped it on the table. He rubbed his hands over his face before groaning and looking down to see his friends staring back up at him.
"You just got called into work again," Jasper guessed, receiving a nod and another groan from Enzo.
"It's the night shift. I have to stay there for the night shift."
"But you just worked a 12-hour day shift. They can't do that can they?"
"Yeah Jas, they can. One of the real doctors called in sick with the flu so I'm covering for them. Sorry boys. Have fun without me though," Enzo gave everyone a hug before leaving the house.
"I'm definitely telling my mom to sign his slip for the camping trip. He needs a break from this internship."
"I second that thought," Giovanni raised his hand.
"I third that," Celestino raised his finger.
"Well, it would make me a bad friend if I didn't agree," Laurent shrugged. "Also, who the fuck ate my Cherry Danish?"
************
Monday afternoon found 7 of the teens in History class. Alex, George, and Nick hadn't been at school at all and it didn't pass Laurent's attention that Oliver and Caspian kept looking at the clock since before class started.
"Are they okay?" Jasper asked Laurent, pointing to where the other two were whispering to each other.
"I think it's the sketchy job that their friends have," Laurent replied. He took his phone out to text Caspian when the three missing teens came running in. George had a gash on his forehead but luckily there was no fresh blood. The Marinelli crew watched as Mrs. Carter tried to hide her fright and Caspian and Oliver ran to George's side. Alex rolled his eyes and went to his seat.
"Alright back to my announcement. In two weeks, there will be a field trip to an old war site. It has nothing to do with Europe but I thought it would be fun for us to visit. It is a beautiful campsite with cabins, a waterfall, berries, and history all around us. We will be gone for a week and I will be assigning cabins to everyone. Also, in case any of you don't want to learn, there will be no lessons to learn from me. Let the area speak for itself," Mrs. Carter explained. Celestino and Giovanni raised an eyebrow at Enzo, who shrugged.
"So we are totally going, right?" Jasper was basically bouncing around his friends after class on their way to soccer practice.
"We already established on Saturday that we are all going, especially Enzo, who really needs to take a break from work."
"I have been working for a week. I'm fine!" Enzo did a little dance to show that he was in fact fine. However, he only ended up being an embarrassment to his friends.
"Yeah working 24 hours at a hospital is amazing," Laurent rolled his eyes.
"I'm getting paid for that extra shift I picked up. That means I can pay for us all now. Thank you very much!" Enzo turned on his heels and walked into the locker room. Enzo immediately noticed Nick sucking faces with one of the freshmen girls. He cleared his throat and watched as Nick pushed her away from him. She blushed and ran out of the locker room.
"What do you want, Marinelli?"
"Uhm to get to my locker so I can change," Enzo said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Don't you dare say anything to Giovanni," Nick whispered in Enzo's ear as they walked past each other.
"Why would I want to? If we ever gossip, it's never about you," Enzo retorted. Then it clicked in Enzo's head.
"You understood it," Nick stated, seeing the look in Enzo's eyes.
"Yeah, I did. You two are worse than Remy and Caspian."
"Yeah like you were any better in 7th grade," Nick rolled his eyes.
"Oh shut up, Struff," Enzo was quickly losing his patience.
"Come make me, Marinelli."
"Not doing that. I don't want my friends coming in here and getting into a fight with you."
"ENZO! Jasper and Givanni are trying to kill me," Laurent came running into the room with Giovanni and Jasper running in close behind him. He jumped on Enzo's back, causing the latter to nearly fall forward from the force. Gio and Jas growled like wolves and circled the duo. Celestino came strolling into the locker room with Oliver and Caspian walking behind him. Alex and George came in from outside.
"The sophomores are late," Alex growled. Enzo sighed and shook Laurent off.
"Patience Schmidt. It's only their second week of training and we have been hard on them. God knows they're going to come in here with--"
"FUCK NO!" Everyone jumped at the sound of George screaming.
"George, what happened?"
"There's shit on my training clothes," George groaned. Geroge's locker is behind Enzo's locker which made the Italian think back to Nick and that freshman girl. Enzo raised an eyebrow at Nick, who smirked back. They both stifled their laughter at George's misfortune. George glared daggers at Nick but didn't say anything because the sophomores and juniors had finally arrived in the locker room.
"Oh, finally you all decide to show up," Alex exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. Taylor Fireheart was in front of the other players and stepped closer to the senior players.
"You don't control us, Schmidt," the younger student stated. Nick walked closer to his best friend but stayed back.
"I am your captain!"
"So is Enzo! Do you see him being annoying?"
"He is always annoying!"
"Let's just go down to the field, please," Oliver got between the two raging players.
"Fine!" "Great!"
"Unbelievable! I'm supposed to be the only one who is allowed to argue with him," Enzo joked as he followed the rest of the team to the field.
"You can still have time, Marinelli," Alex winked, causing everyone to laugh.
"I will regain the title of arguing with my arch-nemesis," Enzo evil cackled. Giovanni smiled at his best friend and brought him into a side hug.
************
At Celestino's house, the teens were sitting in a circle doing homework. Enzo and Jasper had temporarily moved in for a week and the arrangement was great. It felt more of a sleepover between small kids rather than hiding from a dangerous person. They all felt like best friends in elementary having a party than teenagers trying to hide one of their friends from seeing their father.
"Hey, when do you think this will be over?" Jasper was the first to break the silence that had been floating around them.
"I hope that it is soon because I miss cooking my own food and not having someone else cook it. I mean don't get me wrong, Cele, I love your mother's cooking but --" Enzo started to say.
"But you're more used to cooking," Celestino interrupted, finishing Enzo's statement.
"Yeah. Plus I feel really guilty when your family does something for me," Enzo added.
"Enzo, you're like a brother to us all. Our parents consider you their son. Never feel guilty for anything," Celestino hugged Enzo. Giovanni looked at his friend with a sympathetic look and held a hand out that Enzo gripped and squeezed.
"What would I do without you boys?" Enzo was close to tears and Giovanni tackled Enzo and Celestino to the ground. Laurent and Jasper looked at each other before jumping in.
"You'd be failing school or living with Gio, painting your crappy pictures," Laurent joked, causing everyone to laugh at him.
"My paintings are amazing!" Enzo defended his artistic side.
"Uh-huh, sure if you were 6," Jasper teased.
"Oh fuck off asshole!" Enzo shoved Jasper with his foot.
************
Oliver and Caspian were playing video games in their apartment when someone knocked on the door. Caspian paused the game and ran to the door. He ripped it open to reveal Nick, Alex, and George standing on the other side. George was holding a pizza, Nick was holding beers, and Alex was holding a soda.
"You brought pizza!" Caspian grabbed the pizza boxes and ran back to his spot in front of the tv. Behind him, he could hear George bark out a laugh before walking into the apartment.
"Just a reminder, not that you guys will listen anyway but, neighbors were complaining about the noise level here again. I don't want to leave this building until after college. So keep your volumes low, thank you," Oliver waved his hand around without looking away from the tv.
"Yeah fat chance of that happening," Nick smirked as he took a slice of pizza out of the box Caspian had just opened. Alex took a big bite off Nick's slice. George chuckled and took Oliver's slice from him.
"You guys are barbarians," Caspian laughed.
"No, Cas, they are immature assholes who... Alex, why is George holding a bag of frozen peas?" Oliver brought everyone's attention to George.
"Oh no reason," Alex looked between George and Nick for support.
"One of you got hurt," Caspian stated, not even trying to make it sound like a question.
"Yeah. One of the guys had a mean left hook and punched me." George explained.
"Idiots! I knew this would happen. I knew it and I told you guys! Does anyone listen? NO!" Caspian jumped off the bean bag and stomped into the kitchen. He grabbed the first aid kit and stomped back to his friends. Oliver stifled his laughter and grabbed the rags from Caspian.
"George, sit on the couch. Alex, you get me the bag of ice in the freezer. Nick just hold George and look pretty. Cas, get me the gel in your room." Oliver took over and immediately everyone went to do what he asked of them.
"Oli, I'm fine!"
"Beckett, if you were fine, you wouldn't be carrying the peas around. Alex, tell that man that you three are done with this bullshit. I am tired of Cas and I having to worry about you guys constantly."
"One day, you aren't going to be at school or at our workplaces and we'll find out that you died. I don't want to make a speech at your funerals. Please, George, Alex, Nick, leave this lifestyle while you still can." Caspian added. He was close to tears now and when Alex noticed, he brought the younger one into a hug.
"We're sorry but you know I have no choice. My father is going to kill me if I don't do this." Alex said into Caspian's hair. Cas whimpered and hugged Alex tighter. George grimaced when Oliver pressed his pointer and middle fingers on the freshest bruise.
"As his friends, we could be killed as well so--" Caspian's phone rang interrupted whatever Nick was going to say.
"One second," Caspian answered the phone and walked into his bedroom. "Hello?"
"Oh good! Cas, you answered!"
"Remy? Are you okay?" Immediately, Caspian stood up straighter and tried to control the sad emotions.
"Yeah, I am but um, Stino doesn't have Oliver's number."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, he forgot to ask him for his phone number at work last weekend."
"Oh well, I can text you his number later."
"Thanks...Alright! I'll ask him! Cas, can you ask Oliver if he minds helping Stino tomorrow after practice at the shelter because one of the other people canceled and he doesn't want to work alone?"
"Yeah, I'll ask him. One second," Caspian turned to his friends and muted his side of the call. "Ollie? Are you good to work tomorrow after practice?"
"Oh yeah, I'm free. Why?" Oliver yelled back. He had stopped covering George's bruises and cleaning his cuts.
"Laurent is calling on behalf of Evans." Caspian saw the other three grimace at the mention of Laurent and Celestino.
"Tell him that I'll be there."
"Alright cool," Caspian unmuted the phone. "He'll be there."
"Alright, thanks. Bye Cas," and with that Laurent hung up leaving Caspian with the ringtone.
"So, Laurent Andrieux has your number," Nick stated, his voice holding nothing but curiosity.
"Yeah. We work together so I gave him my number. Is there something wrong with that? Other than the obvious fact that he's friends with Giovanni and Enzo."
"That's the only reasoning I have for there being a problem." Nick shrugged and went to the kitchen to grab an apple.
"Exactly! Alex, you are not allowed to say anything. You are the worst person to say anything about this. Now excuse me, I'm getting more soda from the fridge." Caspian announced, waving his arms dramatically as he entered the kitchen. Nick patted him on the arm before going to the living room.
"How is the idiot, Ollie?"
"Unfortunately, these injuries have not cured him of his stupidity. But other than that, I predict that he'll be fine."
"Let's go back to the game," Caspian said as he sat down on his bean bag again.
************
The next day at work, Oliver and Celestino were playing with the puppies when the big boss came in to tell them that they would be having a fundraiser in two weeks in order to sell off all the animals.
"I hate that guy. Why open a shelter if you don't care about them?" Oliver whispered after the boss left again.
"Who fucking knows! He's not here much so I don't give two shits." Celestino said before grabbing a bouncy ball from the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel he was playing with. He dropped it from above his head and watched as the puppy tried to grab it in her mouth. The ball hit her on the snout and she looked around in confusion, The two teens couldn't stop themselves from chuckling at the confused puppy.
"Are you and your friends going on the camping trip in a week?" Oliver asked after another minute with the puppy.
"Uh yeah. We figured it would be fun to go. It's a perfect opportunity to get Enzo to take a break from work." Celestino bounced the ball again.
"Oh? What does he do as work?"
"He's a doctor at the General Hospital a few miles from here."
"That's cool. So he's going to be going to medical school after this then."
"Yeah he is but at this rate, I'll be surprised he's not in the ground before the end of the school year."
"Oh? Why is that?"
"They've been overworking him. I doubt Enzo has had much sleep between school and work."
"Yikes! Yeah, that's not good."
"At first Gio and Jas thought that it was a way to impress a person he liked in 7th grade. He was always looking up ways to help out with an injured kid but then as they grew up, it became apparent that he was really enjoying being the medical encyclopedia. So, when Laurent found out that Enzo loved helping people, he asked his mom if she could take him under her wing and teach him about being a doctor."
"Wow! That's impressive."
"Yeah but he hasn't said anything to anyone because he knows it's going to get to your friends and Nicholas, George, and Alex are going to say something to him."
"I'm pretty sure Nick already knows. His mother works at that hospital as a nurse."
"Oh my fucking god! Laurent said one of the nurses looked a bit like Nick! Shit!"
"You think Nick has brought it up with Enzo?"
"Without a doubt. I think I know when he said something to Enzo as well."
"When?"
"Three weeks ago, the first day that Enzo started work."
"Oh yeah, the day after he left practice early. Why did he leave practice early?"
"I can't say. That's only for Enzo to tell you. It's not my place to say anything.
"Yeah, I understand that."
They went back to work and before they knew it, it was time to lock up the shelter. The puppies were all sleeping in their crates, the kittens were sleeping on the scratch posts, and the small rodents were all spinning on their wheels with no care in the world. Oliver looked over at Celestino with a smile.
"Same time tomorrow?" Celestino looked over at Oliver.
"Same time tomorrow, Oli," Celestino laughed. They walked out and saw that George's car was sat next to Celestino's and George was sitting on his hood, vaping.
"Evans, you actually work here?"
"Yeah Beckett, I work here."
"That's cool."
"I don't remember asking your opinion on the matter." Celestino unlocked his car and tried to walk past George. Keyword there: tried. George grabbed his arm tightly and didn't let go.
"Careful, Evans. One might think you can actually fight."
"Fuck off asshole. When I tell Enzo or Gio, your ass is toast."
"You mean if?"
"I mean when." They would have stayed like that for a while longer if Oliver hadn't grabbed George's arm and pulled it off Celestino. Cele got into his car and drove away. Oliver got into the passenger seat of George's Cadillac convertible.
"Why can't you try to be civilized? And why are you even here? I can drive myself home," Oliver gave a side-eyed look at George.
"Alex is in the hospital." Oliver went pale.