Run

Daddy Issues

"I swear to god Matteo, Gio better have been lying to me" my fathers anger is barely contained and I can't help but smile when imagining how red his face must be and how badly he's probably shaking. Gio is my fathers right hand man and he is always keeping an eye out on our moves to report back to my father. Dante says we should kill him but that would not go over well with my father and we live on his whims. When he gets angry its often all consuming to the point he does not care what his actions are. Hes liable of killing us all just for the fun of it.

I suppose its a tight rope to walk pushing his buttons but not enough to risk his all out wrath.

My father continues, "or I'm going to ask Lily to plan another funeral". And just like that my father has managed to wipe another smile off my face. His usage of the word another is not lost on me and it cuts deep. Matteo and Luca seem unaffected, maybe they didn't quite catch his wording but also her death never had a large impact on them.

"You are no longer in charge, you will let me handle this" Luca says his voice is cold, venomous, and I don't think I would enjoy being on the receiving end of it.

"It has been a month and you are slowly destroying everything I've built" my father states "I can't believe I raised such an idiot" he falls into a coughing fit which usually happens when my father gets too worked up. His doctors recommend him managing his stress levels as it only aggravates his condition. Thus his biggest source of stress, his job, he was forced to leave behind. Leave behind to Matteo. I suppose my father wished to be dead when Matteo eventually took over. That way he wouldn't have to witness Matteo in charge.

"if it helps you played almost no role in my childhood. I guess the girls you fucked weren't the best role models" Matteo says. The second he says it he looks almost regretful. Our childhood is always a sore subject for my father along with the fact that he can only take so much abuse from his children in a day and I'm afraid I've set the limit.

"I've already heard an earful from Dante and Luca" Matteo adds.

"Well clearly it wasn't enough otherwise we would have answers or bodies. Dante is more of a man than you'll ever be. If I could he would take over hell Gia is a better option than you". The rules garnering our family our strict otherwise Matteo would be out of a job by now. I sometimes fear my father will kill him just to save himself the trouble of getting Matteo out of power. It's a laborious process requiring multiple votes and council meetings. There's much more back and forth between the two but I tune it out settling to pick at my nails. My manicure is left to chipped splotches by the time Matteo ends the call. I look up and fear crosses his features.

"I really fucked up" he says. It's not entirely his fault but it happened under his control so to anyone with eyes he's to blame. Matteo never got the training men in our industry typically get. They are introduced to it during childhood giving them the time they need to rise to the top. Matteo's not a bad Don but "not bad" does not cut it. "Not bad" loses you money "Not bad" gets you killed. Luca refused to even entertain the idea of being Don when my father finally broached the topic of his retirement. Him finding out he wasn't invincible turned out to be quite a shock to him and it left him scrambling to set Matteo up as his successor a task he left neglected for so long. Matteo never truly wanted the role. He's never said those words before but I can tell that this is not the life he wanted. But his wishes are irrelevant so he sucked it up and took over.

My father never wanted Matteo to take over either but his Capos were getting agitated that my father didn't have a clear successor especially considering his weakening state.

Matteo was the only choice left. The only person who could by blood take the throne. My cousins are on my mothers side making them ineligible otherwise my father would have had Dante as his heir. My father doesn't have any siblings leaving Matteo the only choice. Unfortunately Matteo lacks the ruthless cunning leadership men of this role typically have. Matteo tries but he falls short, he always falls short.