Cruel love

Chapter 19 Barbara

                      6 months later

"Liam no don't run" me and Lily chased him as he started running as soon as he finished his breakfast. I saw the time sh*t "come on let's go or we would miss the bus". I handed them their lunch and we headed out of the house.

I have rented this small house in a small town in Poland, and found this small school for Lily and Liam. Life is tough now. I have to work in two shifts to pay for rent, school fees and other basic necessities. In the morning I work in a backery and in evening in a dinner as a waitress. Initially I took only backery job, but I realised to meet my expenses I have to do a second job. I didn't want to as in my morning job when my shifts ended I picked up my siblings from the stop and spent the rest of the day with them, but now I have to ask our neighbour Mrs.Nowak to take care of them until I return. She is an old lady who lives alone and loves kids.

I was returning from my evening shift and walking through the streets of the town. I was tired from back to back work. I was thinking about how my life has changed in just a year. Then a thought about Enzo popped up in my mind. How was he, what he would be doing? Then I pushed the thought away. He is the last person I should be thinking about, he destroyed my life and killed my father, because of him, I am living in another country with another name, another hair colour. I changed my name to Samantha Rose, I wanted to change Lily and Liam's names also. But I wouldn't know how to explain the change of names and everything to them so I kept the originals and changed their surnames instead.

I walked towards the door of Mrs.Nowak and knocked. I smiled at her, although it must have looked forced as I was so tired. She gestured at me to keep quite by putting finger on her lips as my brother and sister slept on the couch. They are slept almost always when I come from work. I knelt beside them and smiled at them. I asked Mrs. Nowak in whisper "did they trouble you too much?" She smiled and replied in whishpers "they never trouble me sam. I have fed them dinner, would you like something to eat?" I told her no and thanked her. I carried them up one by one in my arms to my house. I placed them on bed and cover them with blanket. I lied beside them.

This is a small one bedroom house, with a small kitchen area and living room.
Lily and Liam ask about our dad sometimes. I always lie to them that dad is very busy but will come for Christmas, new year but he doesn't comes. So I have to postpone his visits just to give them hope, but it's always crushed.
They used to ask me about Enzo but I told them that we had broken up. So they don't ask me about him. They were a bit confused initially when I did their admission in the school. They asked me why are we getting admission here we have school back at home. I lied again to them that I loved it here so much that I want to live here. They were a bit reluctant initially but went with my plan.

Next morning is Sunday. I don't work on Sundays although dinner offer better tips on the weekends but I want to spend time with my siblings. It's only day in the week I get to spend with them. On weekdays I only get little time in the morning which is preparing them for school. I get to talk to them very little so Sunday is our day. I wait for Sunday whole week.
We did a late breakfast and headed for the park.

Cezary joined us in the park. I met Cezary in the bakery. He takes his morning coffee and croissant or sandwich sometimes from backery everyday. We eventually became friends. Cezary is outgoing, funny and a little flirt. We connected easily and became friends. He owns a couple of properties in this town and rents them, he owns the bakery property also. He finished his college and is taking this year's drop to figure out his life. He sometimes joins us. Lily and Liam love him. They found him hilarious. I too enjoy his company, he is charming and fun to spend time with. He is 22 and doesn't have parents either, his parents died in a horrific car accident a couple of years ago. Now he lives with his uncle. I told him how my mother died and for dad I opted for a story of an accident and told him that I wanted a fresh start, so I moved here with my siblings.

After playing, we were exhausted so we sat under a tree where I set up a picnic basket on a sheet. I packed lunch for us. We all ate and laughed at Cezary's jokes. He pulled Lily's check when she pouted at Liam who made a funny face at her. Lily blushed, her full cheeks turned red, but she got up and chased
for Liam, who is already running across the tree, leaving me and Cezary alone.

"Lily definitely has a crush on you". He replied "well what can I say ladies find it difficult to resist my charm" he waggles his eyebrows with a smug smile "but there is still one who is not under the spell yet" and points a finger at me. I rolled my eyes at him and he snorted a laugh and brushed his blonde hair with his fingers. He told me about a month long trip he is going to take to France, Germany and a few more countries. I told him that I also like to travel but not for this long. I like my trips short. Talking to Cezary I realised how much normal my life has become without the involvement of the mafia, just like I always wanted. I do get overwhelmed sometimes with work and bills, but I enjoy the freedom and power I have to live life on my own terms. I never had that even with dad, my life was a bit controlled as dad worked in the mafia so I couldn't do anything beyond a set
of rules, but now I feel liberated.