My Life As Emmalyn

Patience is Key

I'm sure I have mentioned this before. I like to think I am a patient person, but with all the secrecy going around I'm becoming very irritated. I want to know what is going on, and I want to know now. I cannot stand being so clueless!

I take a deep breath and then open my mouth to begin my little investigation. Before I can get a single word out, Don raised his hand to stop me.

"I was really close to Roma. He helped me out a lot since I was little. In fact, if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't even be here alive." He stops momentarily. "I think you're old enough to know all this stuff. Whatever I say tonight, please keep your mind open. We only wanted to protect you." Those words seem to be popular these days. I am not even judgemental sheesh.

"Who's we?" I pick up on his plural pronoun.

"Your mom and I have been friends since..gosh, it's been so long! Well, she was a family friend of sorts but I viewed her as the older sister I never had." He chuckles as he reminisces. He does not answer my question. Then, he turns serious once again. "Your mom never told you about her and my childhood, did she? I might as well give you a brief overview of my childhood..."

I shake my head. I never questioned it. Mom and Don were like siblings, on occasions I would even call him uncle.

"My mom was a full-time nurse and my dad a football coach at a local high school. Yeah, I guess I took after my dad. Anyways, we actually lived in a bad neighborhood, riddles with crime and violence. I guess we were in a city almost like Compton, but a little better. Your mom lived in the nicer side of the city though, near my school. I didn't. My parents struggled to pay for my brother's and my education. They enrolled us in a private school so we could have better education. It took us almost an hour to get there walking, running most of the time. At least that was how I kept in shape." He tries to lighten the mood a bit. "Anyways, in such a bad neighborhood my parents, working in a local high school, wasn't exactly in the best environment."

"Why didn't you guys just move? I mean wouldn't it be easier to just live near your private school?" I ask.

"It's not as simple as you think to pack up your home and move to another city. We could barely afford even the cheapest apartments near the school in the first place. Also, we had many connections and ties in the city, so we couldn't just sever the bonds. Plus, all our family lived there. Well, who were left were my grandparents." He adds. "A lot of the time my parents, especially my mom, had to work extra shifts. I didn't really know what my dad did but he worked extra shifts too. He was the reason why I was so close to Roma." I can feel the air start to thicken.

"There was a drive-by shooting one night around our neighborhood, which was actually a regular occurrence with all the gangs around. And guess what?" Don laughs bitterly. "It was supposed to be one of our little celebration for my mom's promotion at the hospital. We've had many gang fights nearby so all of us knew what to do to survive. However, I guess our luck ran out. We were exiting a small diner when gunshots rang out and all hell broke lose. Suffice to say, we were caught in the middle of the fight and I was pretty sure I was about to die."

The silence becomes heavy. "My parent's first instinct was to protect Craig and I. They shielded us while we ran for cover. We made it to the car but both my parents had been hit multiple times." He says with a deep sigh. I only wait for him to continue. The news were just too shocking for me. This was the first time I was hearing this.

"I shall spare you most of the gory details. They..." Don's eyes glisten with unshed tears. "The wounds were fatal. Though I shouldn't and wasn't supposed to have, I watched as their spark of life fade away..."

"Anyways, my parents were prepared that if anything happened to them, my bro and I were taken care of. They just didn't think it would be so soon. We had some money left but Craig couldn't even access it for us. My bro was still too young to legally take care of me. My grandparents could barely take care of themselves. Everyone we knew were already struggling by to get every mouth fed and safe. To say the least, Craig and I accepted the fate that we would most likely be dumped in an orphanage. Yet, it was a complete surprise that Roma showed up that very night and ordered that we were going to be living with him."

"I was suspicious at first at his quick arrival. He showed me some proof though. Roma and my dad were pals. Apparently, those extra shifts my dad had been doing were with Roma. I guess he was to be our new guardian, but Craig and I were never told about it."

"Well, back then I didn't really know Roma. I heard of his reputation, and it wasn't exactly what a seven year old (I think that was my age) should've heard or seen. Life with Roma was tough and it hardened Craig and I." Don makes eye contact with me. "I'm not exactly proud of the things I did, but it was the way I survived. I've learned and tried to repent. I'm a better person now."

"Your mom didn't even know every single thing on what really happened. She thought my parents passed away on a peaceful note. I let her believe that. She really tried to help me off, particularly when I started acting out in high school around the time Julieta and then Roma passed away. " Don cuts off and clears his throat abruptly. I choose not to question him. He's already saying a lot so I might as well let him keep some of his secrets. "So...I didn't really know much of Zach. I just didn't really associate with him. I knew of him and he knew of me. I had other things to handle-my job, school, sports, and staying alive. I tried to stay on the nicer path but there were many times that uh I had to drift off..."

"Roma definitely became a more nicer and changed man after he met Julieta though, which was barely a year after my parents passed. He was actually always a chill guy. Just because he was a gang leader didn't mean he was a cold-hearted bastard." Don seems to think carefully. "Now that I think about it, I think I saw Zach around more than I initially thought. We weren't super close but we did talk and hang sometimes. He was a happy and fun guy up until Julieta passed. Okay, the most important thing is that I think some enemies saw Julieta as a weakness, no matter how much Roma tried to protect her. They tried to exploit that weakness. As a powerful leader, Roma was a constant target. An attempted assassination ended up killing Julieta instead of Roma."

"I remembered Roma become more darker. He and Zach really got affected by Julieta's death. She was like my second parent. Of course I was affected, but not as much as them. Roma would drink to dull the pain, while Zach would go out all night and fight like crazed man. I was almost arrested for some actions."

"Then, one day they just left. poof!" Don mimics an explosion. "Gone! Roma leaves me in temporary charge. I was starting to clean up my act and about to begin college. Your mom was talking to me and counseling me. Craig was off playing football for the big leagues by then so he wasn't as affected not bared any responsibility. to say the least, I was rather pissed. I didn't get any warning. Thus, in my fit of teenage rage, I handed the position to Roma's second in command who should've gotten the power."

He shakes his head. "There was still a reason why I was given the title. Roma didn't trust nobody besides me. It was rightly placed. Somebody ratted Roma and Julieta out. I wouldn't have thought it was Roma's second in command, who said Roma ran away and thus committed treason. I tried to warn Roma, but before I knew it, word spread that he had been killed in an enemy gang fight. I call bullshit but I would most likely be killed for speaking up."

"There's more but I'm sure you're mind is exploding.." Don finishes. "I shall tell you the rest later. I do have more but it's getting rather late so I'll finish up tomorrow, ok?"

"I still feel wide awake..." I mumble, but I agree this is a lot on info so I should rest and let it digest.

"Thanks Don.." I hold back a yawn. I give him a huge hug. "I'm sorry."

"It's the past. look at how I am now." He grins.

"Yeah," the corner of my lips curl up into a small smile. "you're a fine godfather."

"Hell yes I am!" He fist pumps.

"What have I said about fist pumps?" I widen my eyes in horror.

"I'm still young enough to do them!" He whines.

"Whatever" I shrug.

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A/N

I tried my best to write this!!

I hope it's ok and not confusing!

I'm probably going to edit it more(:

But I wanted to update this!!!!

:) yay update

Thanks for the support!