9

I shoved Dante so hard he almost toppled over. He straightened himself out, balling his hand into a fist.

“Stay away from me, you old creep,” I accused. “I’m leaving!”

“We can meet up just this once and never meet again,” Dante persisted, shrugging. This man couldn’t take no for a fucking answer. “We’re only going to a restaurant. I’ll raise the money to 1000 pounds just for you to have dinner with me tonight.”

I drew a deep breath in. My mind was in a state of confusion. 1000 pounds… that was more money than I’d ever seen in my lifetime. Just to have dinner with an old man?

“I’m not sure I should,” I said uneasily, and Dante burst into a fit of laughter at my discomfort.

“I’m not an animal, Ellie,” said Dante. “I’m offering you so much money just to come to a restaurant with me. It’s not like you’re gonna see anyone you know.”

I don’t know what came over me at this point. I didn’t have time to think before the words tumbled out of my mouth. I felt under pressure with Dante here, and I felt like he would carry on pestering me until I agreed to go to the restaurant with him.

“I guess I’ll come then,” I said uneasily.

Dante nodded in approval, leading me in the direction of his car. I just wanted to get this over with and then never see him again, after how betrayed I felt. It felt like my world was crashing down on me. I really never expected that Dante wouldn’t be the man he said he was. I trusted him… This man had sent me nude images of himself, he made me feel loved and wanted compared to other boys at school.

I guess this was karma. Karma’s way of punishing me for bullying other girls at school. Karma’s way of punishing me for wanting an older man, when I myself was underage.

I guess with time I would heal. At least I was getting some money out of today...

§ LOUIS §

I stood in my living room, excited. Mum was being discharged from the hospital today, and she’d made a full recovery. I was so happy that she was finally coming home.

“Mum!” I yelled happily, as she walked through the door. She giggled, and then pulled me in for a hug.

But then I jolted backwards, as a massive man started bolting into the house at full speed, knocking the door down. It looked like a policeman.

“What the hell?” I reacted, afraid.

“Who are you?” asked Mum, terrified. “Me and my son haven’t done anything wrong!”

“Have you come to arrest us?!” I cried.

“I’m a High Court Enforcement Officer,” said the man angrily. “I’ve been given a High Court Order to seize goods from your property.”

“What are you talking about?!” I said, dismayed, and Mum’s chest was heaving upwards and downwards; she was going white in shock.

“Your mother has had a long-term debt that she hasn’t paid off yet,” the debt collection officer said angrily. “She's going to have to come up with the money within 2 hours or we're going to have to repossess your property.”

Mum started sobbing uncontrollably, not knowing what to do. I couldn’t bear to watch her like this… She’d just been discharged from the hospital, and now these bastards stormed in here demanding money.

“Mum, why didn’t you ever mention that you were in debt?” I asked sadly.

“I thought it would go away,” Mum cried. “I can’t afford to pay it off.”

I put my finger to my chin in thought, trying to think of a possible solution. I couldn’t let this happen to Mum… she’d had bad enough luck already.

And the only person I could think of that could help us get out of this situation… was Steve.

I felt bad because Steve had a lot of bills to take care of under his measly wage as a plumber, but I couldn’t let Mum break like this. I couldn’t let these officers take our home. I was going to have to put my differences with Steve aside to sort this, no matter how mad I still was at him for letting me down time and time again. He was the only option… so I just hoped that he would be able to help us out.

I bolted out of the room, running as fast as I could… ready to make my way to see Steve.

§ ELLIE §

Dante was driving at a fast speed on the motorway.

“This isn’t the way to the restaurant you were talking about,” I pointed out awkwardly.

“We’re going to a different restaurant,” Dante reassured.

“Oh, okay…” I folded my arms uneasily, wondering why time just couldn’t speed the fuck up.

§ LOUIS §

I stood with Steve in the town’s square, and took a deep breath.

“Louis…” Steve began, scratching his hair. “I ain’t heard from you in weeks.”

“I’m still mad at you,” I shrugged, so that he wouldn’t get the wrong idea about why I was meeting him.

I sighed.

“I need a favour,” I admitted.

“What is it?” Steve asked.

“A debt collection officer came by the house today,” I explained.

“That’s weird,” Steve commented. “Linda never told me she had any debt.”

“We've gotta pay it off within a few hours or they're gonna repossess the property,” I sighed. “Can you help us?”

“Sure,” Steve shrugged. “I’ll be there in an hour.”

“What? Just like that?” I was taken aback. “You’re not even gonna ask how much the debt is?”

“Money isn’t a problem,” said Steve awkwardly.

“That’s weird,” I pondered. “Plumbers earn hardly anything. How is money not a problem?”

§ STEVE §

I scratched my arm awkwardly, knowing that I would have to choose my next words really fucking carefully. Louis was onto me… he couldn’t know about the drug cartel. He couldn’t find out about anything, and I needed to fucking make sure of that. I tried to think of an excuse quickly. I was so pissed off at myself for not thinking straight before I spoke.

“I have savings, Louis,” I shrugged.

“Okay,” Louis said awkwardly, and then scratched his neck sheepishly. “Thanks Steve.”

I nodded at him. The poor guy didn’t know that a couple of thousand quid meant nothing to me. I was making racks and racks everyday through the Mafia… and he had no idea. That’s the real reason why I always let him down, the real reason I was always too busy to play happy families with him. Business always came first for me… it’s kill or be killed in my world, and if I don’t stay on top of things, consequences can be fatal.

§ ELLIE §

I followed Dante out of his car.

“The restaurant’s this way,” he said.

I nodded uneasily, taking his lead. He stepped into a damp, dusty alleyway. The surroundings were dark… and there wasn’t a soul in sight.

“What is this creepy place?!” I questioned, repulsed. “Where’s the restaurant?!”