Marionette - A Mafia Tale

Seven --> Mall Havoc

PRESENT

I stood outside waiting for my brothers along with Austin. The car was ready and my brothers were not.

"Seriously what's taking them so long? It's just a trip to the mall" Austin spoke, clearly impatient.

I shrugged and scrolled through my phone, getting impatient as well.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" Austin said to me, grabbing my attention.

"Did... Luke cook for you the previous night?"

"Yea he did, but how come you know about that?" I asked.

"I wanted a drink so I was preparing to go to the kitchen then I spotted you both and guessed what was going on by the aroma"

"Well, you were right, he did cook me some ramen"

"Well, that's surprising," Austin thought out loud.

"It was," I said as I agreed along.

"No, not like that. It's just that, Luke hasn't cooked anything for the past three years"

Now that made me feel shocked. Luke loved cooking. It was even therapeutic for him as he'd say. So why did... Oh.

Austin saw my expression and gave me a reassuring smile.

"Ever since you were taken, everybody spent their days in their own shells.
William spent his time alone and got more addicted to smoking. Luke stopped cooking and vowed he would never cook again till you had returned. Mirzaya... well, let's say he got more involved with the Mafia. The twins became more aggressive, causing unnecessary fights but it might be their teen hormones. Our parents... I still don't know where it all started to go wrong. And I hate that."

I listened very carefully. I was taken surprised by the fact that Austin was opening up to me. Also, the way my family coped with my absence, I felt like I was obligated to do something about it. Luke broke out of his shell and I'll help the others as well.

'Why do I suddenly feel responsible for this?'

"What about you Austin? What did you do to cope?"

"I didn't have time to cope"

'Huh?'

"I am the eldest and I felt responsible. I had to take care of my family. So I immersed myself with work and duties, I even had to take care of dad's work"

He was alone. When was the last time he took care of himself?

"Austin, try to enjoy today as much as you can, try to be free of your responsibilities"

He chuckled, almost sadly.

"Estelle, that's sweet of you but I am responsible for you and your brothers today. I won't be free of duty but yes, I'll try to enjoy it. Speaking of your brothers, there they are"

"Ester!" Mirzaya yelled out running up to me and hugging me softly.

Why was he hugging me? I don't know.

"You look cute in that hoodie Ester"

"Thanks, Zay, now shall we go?"

After a small argument between Austin and William about who was driving and another argument between Luke and Mirzaya about who was sitting next to me, we finally started our mall trip.

"Well, where to first?" Austin asked as we stood infront of the multi-complex mall.

"Dresses I suppose" Mirzaya said as we walked into the dress showroom.