His protective love

Chapter 2

Antonio's POV

I wake up to my alarm blaring in my ear. I press stop and get out of my bed. I go into my bathroom and wash my face, brush my hair and teeth, and comb back my hair with gel.

I put on a pair of baggy jeans, a red football jersey, and a pair of red and black Jordan 4s. I walk downstairs and see my mom making coffee. I walk over to her, kiss her cheek, and grab an apple.

"Buongiorno, come hai dormito?" She asks me.                                                                      (Good morning, how'd you sleep?)

"Good, thank you." She turns around with a cup of coffee and gives it to me. I sip it slowly as I hear steps coming down the stairs. My little brother, Alfonzo, walks in the kitchen and kisses our mom on the cheek.

"Buongiorno, come hai dormito?"  She asks him. Okay, so I'm not special.

"Good, grazie." He responds. "Morning Tony." He says to me. I get up and pretend to throw punches at him. He puts his hands up in defense. "It's too early for this, Tony!" He yells.

My mom and I laugh, and I sit back down. He starts pouring himself a bowl of cereal before eating it like he's never eaten before. I laugh slightly at that.

"You ready for your first day back?" I ask him.

"Yeah, you?" He replies with his own question.

"I'm chilling, just like any other year." I tell him and take a sip of my coffee.

"But you're a SENIOR, it's the most important year!" He says, emphasizing 'senior'. Mom and I laugh. A few seconds later, our youngest brother, Angelo, comes downstairs.

"Tito!" He yells and runs up to me. Tito is a name he gave me when he couldn't say Antonio. Since then, that's the only thing he calls me.

"Ay, what's up pop!" I say to him and pick him up for a piggy back ride, his favorite. "Are you ready to have the best time at school?"

"I'm so excited! I'm gonna play calcio, like you!"
(soccer/futbol)

"You should, it's fun. But remember, only play it because you want to, not because I do. Okay?" I say. I want my brothers to have every opportunity to do what they want, and not have to take over the family "business".

"Okay Tito! Hi Fonzy!" He says to Alfonzo as I put him down. A nickname he gave to Alfonzo before he could say his name.

"Hey Angelo." He says and gives Alfonzo a high five. The last person to come downstairs is my dad, who also gives my mom a kiss on the cheek.

"Mattina boys." He says to us.

"Morning dad." We all say in unison. He comes around and kisses Angelo on the top of his head, gives Alfonzo a high five, and gives me a fist bump.

"Hey Antonio, where you thinking about for college?" He asks me. I swallow the apple chunk in my mouth before I respond.

"North Carolina looks good, but so does Berkeley." I tell him. He nods his head with an impressed look on his face.

"You're a legacy if you go to Berkeley, you should go there." He winks and goes to drink coffee with my mom.

I take a closer look at my dad. He's a tall man, a little shorter than me. He has a strong build, but covers it with a suit. He has a defined face, with wrinkles under his eyes and stubble on his jawline. He has a thin mustache that's noticeable as the first thing you see.

I inspect my mom closer as well. She's a tall, thin woman, but short compared to my father. Her wrinkles are barely noticeable at all. She's a beautiful woman with green eyes like emeralds. The way they interact with each other shows they're in love.

They got married when my mom was 17, and my dad was 21. They got married because my mom got pregnant with me, even though we were broke as hell, living in the poorest part of Italy. I'm glad my brothers never had to see that.

My dad walks up to me and pulls out his wallet. He grabs 100 dollars in cash and hands it out to me. "Here, you got that party tonight, right? This should be good for food, but if not I'll send some to your card."

"Nah, I don't need is dad, I'll be good." I say refusing. After growing up the way I did, I'm always refusing when it comes to money.

"I'll take it if he won't." Alfonzo butts in. We all laugh before my father talks again.

"Too bad, you're taking it." He shoves it in my hand and walks away. We all laugh as I try to give it back, but he won't take it. "Alright, come on Angelo, I'ma take yous to school." He says, letting his Jersey side come out. They walk out of the house and I grab my backpack from the living room.

"You ready to go Alfonzo?" He finishes his cereal and puts his bowl in the sink.

"Yup! Let's go." He says and runs out of the house to the garage. We get into my 1965 chevy impala, and I open the garage door with the key fob attached to my keys. As I'm driving to Alfonzo's school, I notice he's quiet.

"What's up pop? Why you so quiet this morning?" I ask him, maybe he'll give me an answer.

"If you go to college, will I have to protect Mamma and Angelo from the bad men?" He asks and my heart breaks. I know how horrible my dad's rivals are, I've knocked a couple of their teeth out.

"You ain't got to worry about that, okay? Ever. I ain't leaving ya'll." I tell him. He looks up at me with his little green cow eyes. "Stop looking at me like a cow." I say and we both burst out laughing. I drive up to his school and drop him off. "Mamma's picking you up after school." I say.

"Aight, by Tony." I smile and drive away. A few minutes later I pull up to my school and see my homies in their usual spot. Man, it's crazy. We're seniors. I hop out of my car and walk over to my friends.

"What's up Ant?" Divine says and daps me up.

"What's up? Dawg, we're Seniors! That's what the fuck is up!" Jay says excited and daps me up.

"You're very calm about this." I say and we all laugh.

"Yo, check this out." Divine says, and we both turn to look at him. "Serene has this homegirl that got kicked out of Southeast, right? So they transferred her here. She's supposed to be some sort of smart ass prodigy or something."

I raise an eyebrow at that. That's weird, they never have people transfer here from Southeast, it's on the other side of the city. It's in the ghetto or whatever, but I like it out there. The people are hella sweet and caring. "What she get kicked out for?" I ask.

"She got into fights and cut school hella. Crazy, right?" It is crazy. Doing something like that out here, is serious, but I guess they don't take it as serious on the Southside. They be having kids arrested if they get caught, like staying the night in a cell type shit.

"Damn, she sounds cool." Jay says. I roll my eyes and laugh.

"Her pops is the one that owns that Italian restaurant, Rosinas." Divine says. I freeze. That girl from last night was talking to Matteo Guerreo. Oh shit, what if she's his daughter? I'm lost in thought when I see Serene's car pull up. I see them get out, and I notice Nini, Ameera, and another girl. Her.

Fuck, this gonna be a long day.