𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐞 || A Mafia Love Story

iv

Most days Marlee would enjoy her lunch outside on the benches, surrounded by the sounds of the birds tweeting and the wind rustling in the trees. But the weather was the poor girls enemy today and decided to endlessly pour rain. Thus making her lunch time routine impossible. Which for her meant she had to eat in the cafeteria, surrounded by her spiteful peers and their hateful words. Marlee entered the cafeteria. Air rushed past her face as the large doors shut behind her.

The girl joined her classmates in the lunch line and picked up a tray. "Pig" Ava hissed as she brushed past Marlee, knocking into her shoulder. Marlee knew she was a little pudgier than most but by no means fat. Marlee truly didn't understand why it would matter even if she was. But her need to be liked by her peers overpowered her logic and she excepted their words as the truth.

Marlee entered another line and grabbed a small paper dish of chicken nuggets and a small side of salad. Marlee didn't care much for the school lunch as her standards had been set high by her grandfather preparing a lunch for the girl nearly everyday, but one day she requested him to stop out of the blue when she was in the 10th grade. The girls grandfather was a saddened by that fact that his little girl didn't want him to pack her lunch anymore but he understood the other kids may have been teasing her a bit. But little did he know their treatment of his little granddaughter was much worse.

Marlee brought her tray to a desolate table in the back of the cafeteria and started munching on her salad. She wondered why that strange man was harassing her grandfather the other day. What money had he owed and what had he gotten himself into? Her papa was a capable man and always had the right people to call on so she wasn't too concerned over his safety but she knew once her nonna found out there would be no end to her fussing.

The way that man's dark eyes bored into hers made her stomach drop and her whole body tense. He was scary, and Marlee doesn't like scary things. She wondered if she should ask her grandfather about it after school but he seemed very frightened when it happened. Marlee had never seen her grandfather behave in such a way and if he was that shaken by what happened she doubted he would want to relive the situation. The girl would rather live in ignorance than cause her grandfather any unnecessary fear or pain.

The rest of the school day breezed past smoothly, a few names here and there from Ava and her friends but it wasn't anything Marlee wasn't used to. She felt lucky, the older the kids in her town have gotten the crueler they've become. Most days she's met with a shove or being tripped but today she left school without one bruise or scratch. Marlee felt maybe this meant she was making progress with her mission of befriending the bullies at her school. Of course Marlee would never refer to her peers as bullies.

The final bell rang and Marlee made her way through the bustling hallway and outside into the misty air. Her mother was working late meaning she gets to walk home today. Marlee has always enjoyed walking home although her grandfather always made sure it only happened when absolutely necessary. He always droned on about the dangers of walking on her own and the things that could happen.

Marlee thought her grandfather was ridiculous, what could possibly happen in a small town such as hers where everybody knows everybody. Her town is a rather calm one with only a small handful of violent crimes yearly those of which are usually drunken brawls that take place at the local pub.

The ground was still wet and mushy from todays storms. Which meant for her, wet shoes and socks. Marlee and her family's home resided on the outer edges of town where the side walks ended and the buildings trickled away into silos and cattle, out in the grassy fields of California.

Marlee enjoyed the feeling of the wind nipping at her face and hands and sounds of the wildlife scurrying through the grass and trees. Marlee heard the sound of an engine roaring causing her to whip her head behind her, maybe it was Mr. Jackson! Mr. Jackson was her neighbor if you could even call him that he lived about half a mile away but that never stopped her from making the trek to chat and pay a visit to some of his animals. But the car rumbling up the road was not a familiar one.

There were around four families living this far out and she would be able to recognize the vehicles of every one of them. This black SUV did not belong to anyone she knew, and she knew just about everyone. The car slowed which put Marlee on edge as maybe her grandfathers warnings really were true but as the car approached it continued on past eventually picking up speed again once further down the road. Marlee shook off the feeling of fear that crept up her spine and made her hair stand on end. 'I'm becoming just as paranoid as Papa.' the girl thought to herself. Marlee continued on with her walk home as usual enjoying the scenery and the fresh smell of rain still lingering in the air.