Five's A Crowd

seventy

On the way back home we were all very hesitant to say the least. Our father is still instable, and at risk of ripping his stiches, but threatened to shoot up the entire hospital if the doctors didn't let him come home.

My brothers didn't want that, or want me to see that, so they reluctantly agreed to take him home, and monitor him from there. But I have a feeling that our father won't allow a lot of monitoring to be going on.

With seven of us in the car now, I have been forced into the seats at the very back of the car. Matteo is driving, Our father sits next to him in the passenger seat, holding all of the files that state his new medical needs.

Axel grumpily chose to sit in the middle row, stuck in a seat next to a window. He should be grateful, because he's not in my situation, but instead he's grumbling aggressive curse words under his breath about how unfair the world is.

Tell me about it buddy.

Next to him is Chase who was less than happy to be trapped in the middle of two other grown men, but he didn't have a lot of say in the matter. He's spending his time looking straight ahead, rolling his eyes, which I can see in the revision mirror.

Chase's twin brother, Charlie has the other window seat in the middle row, and is looking down at his phone curiously, as if he's just spotted some lovely looking nudes, or texted a girl that it ten years older than him, and interested in a relationship. Mummy issues much...

I  scoff at whatever he is doing, trying to look over the seats, but his very large body completely blocks my view. Much to my dismay, he's not making any noises to alert me to what he's doing.

In the very back with me, is Levi, who seems to have calmed down a lot since we arrived at the hospital.

Despite him deciding to storm off to the hospital room ahead of the rest of us, he's back to his normal, quiet, calm, docile self.

I hum quietly, trying to figure out whether I should start a conversation with him. He's staring out the window, however his eyes are not analyzing the scenery like I expected them to.

Instead they are blank, like he's thinking of other things that are far more important than trees and dead grass.

"So," I quietly say, hoping not to disturb any of my other brother, or my father, who are ahead of us. "I see that you have been taking a break from teaching recently. Is there a reason behind that, or?"

My third oldest brother lazily looks at me, turning around and processing my question in his head. "Yeah, yeah. There's no crazy reason to go back to the school. We had a feeling that Noah was related to the Russian mafia, and we were waiting for proof. On top of that, your protection is very important and we didn't want you to get hurt."

I hum in approval at his words, feeling satisfied with his answer, but decide to dig deeper. "Are you ever going to go back to teaching, since you have a way to do it. You know, a diploma or whatever people call it, these days," I wave away my poor choice of wording, and wait for my brother's response.

"I don't know, Ze. Right now, I'm not thinking about teaching random students. I'm thinking about my family, who will always be the most important thing to me. I'm thinking about my father who should definitely still be in hospital, and I'm thinking of food, because I'm actually really hungry." Although most of Levi's words are harsh, his tone is gentle, and conveys to me in a way that is not scolding, but informative.

My head bobs up and down, feeling interested by what he's saying. "Let's say in ten years. Our father will be all good, and back to how he was before he was taken all those years ago. Then, do you think you will ever go back?"

"I still don't know, Hazel," Levi shakes his head in denial, and clears his throat several times. "I'm dedicated to the mafia. I've put my life towards it. I can't just stop doing it to become a teacher. It goes far deeper than that. I'm in it for life, whether I want it to be that way, or not."

I realise the heaviness of his words, and mutter a small 'yes, I understand that,' before shutting my mouth, and averting my own eyes out the window.

I'm fully aware the becoming a member of the mafia is a massive deal, as well as commitment. However from the way that Levi is talking about it, he makes it sound like it's the end of the word if he does something else that doesn't revolve around the mafia.

I know that I made a promise to join the mafia, and help my brothers to show how strong I am, but I'm reconsidering my choices.

A life is a long time. I still have many years left, I hope. My mother was only one of the people who died, due to a mafia war, and if I'm the reason someone else's family member dies, I don't think I could forgive myself.

I know that for the last several months of my life, I've talked about joining my family's mafia, and helping out, but right now, I'm not sure that's what I want.

A/N: Hey guys, thank you so much for reading. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE VOTE, COMMENT, AND READ WHEN I GET A CHAPTER OUT TOMORROW. I have a plan for where this book is going, I just need a little support. Also, thank you very much for 64400 reads and over 2k votes- 2550. (I know that it's not a lot,) but to me, it means the world. Keep slaying in life, and I will see you tomorrow night- or day depending on where you live- when I update tomorrow. Bye <3