Family Business

*Chapter 8.*

I have finished all my undergrad work today!! Officially (almost) a college graduate, so expect updates coming soon

~Ryker POV~2035

I had positive and negative memories of growing up in our family. One of the positive memories was when I was about five and Papà randomly took us all out for ice cream. We walked around, petting the cows and chasing the chickens before ordering big cones and we sat, watching the sunset in the valley. Another was when we went to a water park and Draven and I were allowed to go down lots of water slides. Papà even went down a few, but Mama only one because she was scared. We had stayed almost the whole day in the unbearable heat.

But, of course, there were bad memories that occurred as well. For example, we were at dinner once and Papà and Mama were talking about business, so Draven and I had to be quiet. Draven and I had been laughing uncontrollably about something, trying to stay quiet as Papà talked. When we couldn't, Papà hit Draven. It was not hard, but enough to convey his point. Mama started yelling at him and I started crying. Draven practically yanked me out of the room and we heard dishes break as we ran upstairs.

Another occurred when I was about 9 years old because that was when I first killed a man. Draven and I were helping Papà out on some job. Draven, already 11, had shot up and gotten pretty tall. I did not remember the specifics of the job, but I remembered that one of Papà's men hoisted me into a building through a small window. I was supposed to run to the door and let them in, but there was a man who heard me. I stood up after climbing down and he grabbed me, yelling at me. I knew that there was no other way in for Papà's men to help me and the man dragged me back to an office, despite my struggles.

In the office, there was a man sitting in a chair. He smirked at me, telling the guy who found me that 'he would handle this'. That guy left, shutting the door and the man got up, ignoring the story that my friends and I broke in just to see what was inside. He said that I could apologize to him for trespassing before he attempted to touch me in places where I should not be touched. I struggled hard and landed a kick between his legs. Then, I grabbed his hair, slamming his head over and over into the desk until he stopped moving. The blood was all over me, the floor, and the desk. I dropped him to the ground and then went to open the door for Papà's men. Papà thought I was ruthless and he was right.

In school, Draven and I were kings. The teachers were mostly too scared to reprimand us from acting out, as well as most of the other children. We were able to release any and all aggressiveness that was pent up from being exposed to violence at such a young age. We got into trouble and fights, but me more so than Draven. I changed my behavior, wanting to become a good student once Draven went to high school and I was alone in middle school. I buckled down and learned a lot, but by the time I reached high school, I was jumped by Matteo, so Papà pulled us out of school which was unfortunate.

Once he pulled us out, however, I had a ton of free time when I was not on the job or studying. I would hang out with Father's men and discovered how they got through the tough jobs. That was when I first began doing drugs and it just escalated from there. I was used the inordinate amount of drugs to deal with everything that occurred on the job. I would go out, partying almost every weekend, and became seriously addicted. I remember getting in a lot of trouble with Greta because Aria saw me high once, but that was when Fletcher got arrested so it got overshadowed.