La Mafia González

01. The Life of Valeria Ruiz

"Being a family means you are a part of something very wonderful. It means you will love and be loved for the rest of your life."

-𝐿𝒾𝓈𝒶 𝒲𝑒𝑒𝒹

Don't read the old comments

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They say that family will always be there for you, and will always love you no matter who and what you are. They will protect you from any harm. Are they wrong? yes, they are. Not every family loves their own. Not every family protects their own, and certainly, not every family will be there for their own. If that were true, there would have been no orphans. Indeed, Valeria should be grateful to have a family, but a mother who doesn't love her makes her less grateful.

Her father, on the other hand, is a coward. He loves his daughter deeply and Valeria knows that. She loves him too. But he never stopped her mother, and never will.

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Valeria

Seville, Spain

I was born on February 10, 1998. According to my father, I was a happy child. I used to always smile and giggle. But as I grew older, I doubted that I was ever happy.

It is September. The weather is starting to get colder and I am living for it.

I don't understand how some people enjoy summer. I get that you get to go to the beach and swim, but still. It's too hot.

But again, just like I don't get them, they also don't get me.

I write a note, telling my father that I am leaving to work, and stick it on the fridge with one of the magnets, an 'I LOVE ISTAMBUL' magnet I got from Mrs. González when she traveled to Turkey.

She's a lovely woman. You'll see.

I wear my white Nike Air force I finally got on my birthday last year from the outlet store, and head outside to start my walk to the bus stop. I always leave an hour early because my house is far from the González's. I first need to walk to the bus station, which usually takes ten minutes, then take the bus to a near bus stop near the González's mansion, and that takes twenty minutes, and final fifteen minutes' walk till I reach their house from the second bus stop to their house.

I like to arrive at least fifteen minutes early, just to have time to change my clothes and get ready for my shift. I work from 8 AM to 6 PM. But Mrs. González is kind enough to give me a two-hour break whenever I want them. My salary is also great, but my mother snatches almost all of it, leaving almost nothing for me. She doesn't work, and neither does my father. I need to pay the rent and other expenses.

When my father was working, we were living comfortably. I was going to enroll in the university and study psychology. But when he had an accident, which left his right hand paralyzed, he had to stay home because no one would hire him.

My mother, on the other hand, doesn't want to work. She claims that she wasted most of her life being a mother and now wants to live comfortably, doing absolutely nothing.

I hop into the bus, swiping my card to pay. As affordable as it is, it's still too much for me because I use it every day. Mrs. González had offered before to let her driver take me home, but I was ashamed to agree. She doesn't even know where I live and doesn't know where my money goes. She pays me well and I was ashamed to tell her that at the start of the month, I have almost nothing left.