Living in Power (First Draft)

Chapter Two: Danica (Two years later)

"Luciana, lets go!" I yell up the stairs

"Okay, Okay!" Luciana yelled back. I could tell she was done with me rushing her. I am just so excited to see America! I have only been there once when I was very young but it looks amazing. Papa put our bags in both of the airport cars as Luciana ran out the front door, almost tearing up. I guess this was the only home she remembered but she has to realize, the guys in america will take anything they can get. Nearly tripping over the uneven wood of the porch, barely seeing in the dark twilight, I slip into the seat in between Luciana and Ricardo, thinking to myself 'This is going to be a long ride'.

After an excruciating 36 minutes of Ricardo's non-stop crying and flailing, we arrive at Falcone-Borsellino Airport. Our flight to NYC is at 7:00 am and it is currently 5:56 a.m. We get through security and customs, with all our "papers". I stand confidently as Mama, Luciana, Angelina, Guido, and Bartolomeo squirm in anxiousness. The papers are passed and we move through to our gate. Next came the endless waiting of our nonstop flight to Laguardia. The group of us, which in total added up to six, which was the equivalent to us taking up a whole row of benches.

After we board our plane and sit through the mandatory safety procedures the feeling of being on a plane finally kicks in and gives me nervous butterflies. I do my best to push the thought away and cozy up against the window seat and put my headphones on, preparing for the insanely tedious flight ahead.

I sleep for three hours, and wake-up drooling on my neck pillow. I look at the time and think, great another 9 whole hours to go. We have already hit the time change, meaning we must have been just over London. So, Western Europe, a place I have never been. Though my family is extremely wealthy, only my older brothers and my father go on trips. Strictly business. That means I end up at home, lonely, wishing I could see the world.

When the flight attendant takes my lunch order, Luciana is still drooling and dreaming next to me. Luciana has always been the deepest and longest sleeper, so I get her some crackers for when she wakes up. She has barely any control and gets sick if she eats too much. I remember once when we were eight, she ate too much cannoli filling, and puked it all over the ballroom floor at my brother, Antonio's wedding. It was really embarrassing for her, especially since she had only been living with us for a few months.

The wedding, obviously, was in Italy, so it had to be before he moved to the U.S., and I always did miss my brother. As kids, he would always teach me how to fight with my hands in case I "needed to" which I do quite often. He is also the one who taught me how to use a switchblade and throwing knifes. Luciana likes to work with her brain, I like to work with my hands. I end up talking to my mother for a while, but I end up turning on the movie Oceania, and promptly fall asleep.

I wake up, finding out we are only five hours away from New York, and we have already crossed time zones, meaning it is now 5:00 in the morning. For about an hour I play some games on my phone. Soon after, Luciana wakes up and carefully munches on the crackers that the stewardess had placed on her flip-down tray. Her eyes flick nervously around the cabin, internalizing everything around her, it's kind of a coping mechanism for her. I wondered why she seems so nervous until I remember that this her first time on a plane.

Back in Italy, we used to take planes to the mainland, never boats. But right after I turned seven, we started taking boats instead. But, I found it strange that Luciana only came when we traveled by boat. Maybe she was just afraid of planes, maybe it was just timing. Nonetheless, I spend the next 4 hours bored on the plane.

When we arrive at Laguardia, an airport in America, we quickly get our bags and head for the car that Papa had set up for us. I walk outside behind my mother, as Luciana kept trying to keep our younger siblings in line. The mid-morning air is smoggy and warm, and it nearly chokes me out. New York is so crowded and filled with pollution, that I almost begin to miss Sicily, even though America holds so much more.

Guido, Bartolomeo, Giuseppe, and Papa had driven to Pennsylvania to finish signing the contracts for the house we bought, which meant they left off in a separate car almost instantly after getting off the plane. That left me, Luciana, Angelina, Marcilina, Tiana, Valentina, Ricordo, and Mama in New York City. Now you may be thinking 'wow thats alot of kids.' which, for the most part, is true. There is my oldest brother Antonio Forza Jr. who is twenty-five, and is married with one son, born last year, Antonio Forza III, and another one on the way. They live in Pennsylvania like we will in a few days. The rest of my brothers, Giuseppe who is the second oldest at eighteen, the twins Bartolomeo and Guido both recently sixteen, and Ricardo, the baby of the family (if you can count four as still being a baby), all still live in the house. My oldest sister, Maria Reggia-Forza who recently turned twenty-three, lives in Sicily with her husband and she is currently seven months pregnant with their first child. My second oldest sister, Tiana, who is twenty, is a software engineer and is hoping to find a job in America to kick start her career. The rest of my sisters are younger than Luciana and I. Angelina Forza, the one closest to me and Luci at fourteen, Marcilina Forza, nine, and Valentina Forza, barely old enough for kindergarten at six. Then there is obviously me, Danica Patrizia Elisabetta Ann-Marie Forza and Luciana Maria Francis Marina-Forza. We are both fifteen and, despite not being blood related, we are only a few days apart.

We arrive at our hotel and unload our bags, the room is a gorgeous penthouse that we were granted stay in through some very special connections Papa had developed over the years.

"Girls!" My mother calls, "I am taking Ricardo, Marcilina, and Valentina to a park nearby!" She glances at us from the doorway before announcing: "Tiana, you are in charge,"

Though the penthouse is massive by American standards, it's smaller than Sicily, but it will do.

"Ok Mama!" She says cheerfully but then turns to us and glares. Tiana hates taking care of us, because, of course, we're not the easiest group. Then I hear the automatic lock on the door and silence. I turn my gaze to Luiciana, who is sitting on the bed right next to mine.

"Do you know what this means?" She shakes her head. I roll my eyes, Luiciana and I may be best friends but we are nothing alike.

"Shopping spree?" I say, nudging Luciana, she glares at me through her thick glasses.

"Mama s...s-aid." Luciana paused, regained herself and repeated "Mama said no money?" she spoke.

"No money," I assured her, "Just, um, a couple of tricks."

"Cosa?" she asked,

I began to type into my phone the names of a few higher end stores that we had passed, and confessed my plans to Tiana, who reluctantly agreed after a few minutes of convincing.