Page 45 of Giovanna
“Who?”
I just shake my head. I can’t verbalise it.
“You need to get laid. By a woman. To find out if you’re into women or just have a thing for this one. Can you fuck her?” Sammy is so blunt. No wonder her and Massi are gelling so well.
I snort. “I wish. No, not possible.”
Before they can delve any deeper into my masturbatory fantasies, Bluey reappears, dripping with water. He stands over Massi and shakes his hair like a dog, spraying him with cold water droplets.
“You dropkick!” Roars Massi, but he’s trying his best to suppress a smile. He punches Bluey hard in the gut and then yanks his feet out from under him so he comes crashing down on the sand.
Bluey dives on top of Massi, pelting him with playful punches to the head and shoulders.
Again, Sammy and I exchange meaningful looks.
“This is all feeling vaguely sexual, boys,” Sammy comments dryly and Bluey springs back onto his heels and plonks himself on the sand between our towels.
“Nah this shitcunt isn’t butch enough for me,” Massi jokes, blowing Bluey a kiss.
I look at the huge, muscled redhead with a chiselled jaw sitting next to me and back at Massi.
Bluey just rolls his eyes. “We all know if I was gay I’d top the fuck out of you.”
Chapter Eighteen
Francesca
16 Years Old
“Why do I have to go? I don’t understand.” My heart is beating so fast as I look from one parent to the other.
Dad frowns and looks at his watch as if I am wasting his time with all my questions. As if he hasn’t just announced that he’s sending me away to live on the other side of the world.
I’m 16 and they’re shipping me off, but I’m not getting sent away for the usual reasons. I’m not a wayward teen. I have good grades and don’t get into too much trouble. No, this isn’t about that.
We all know why I’m being sent away. It’s because theFamiglia, the mafia comes first. And within theFamiglia, the men reign supreme. Because it is not only easier to send away a girl than it is to hold the man who wronged her accountable, it is the natural order of things.
My existence is the problem. Not that a man saw fit to take from me what was not his to take. The solution is to remove me from theFamiglia, because I am a walking, talking problem.
“Don’t make this harder than it needs to be, Francesca,” Dad grumbles. He shoots sideways glances at my mother as if to try to catch her eye. He wants to leave her to deal with her tarnished daughter.
I realise at this moment that it isn’t just that I don’t have a close relationship with my Dad or that we clash. He just feels nothing for me. He doesn’t love me or hate me. I’m just an irritant. Better to place me out of sight so I can be out of mind.
I’m bristling like a cat ready to fight. “Congrats Dad. That’s 3 out of 3! 100% of your kids think you’re a fucking dickhead!”
“Put a sock in it! Pack your suitcases and stop being a brat! You’re not being sent to a bloody internment camp. You’re going to your grandparents.” I’m satisfied that I am succeeding in pushing his buttons. I’d like nothing more than to make him as miserable as possible.
Wanting to push him further, I stand with my fists clenched and hiss at him, “Tell me why you’re sending me away! Tell me the truth! You can’t can you? Because you’re so fuckin’ weak. Can’t even stand up to your own brother. I hate you!”
His open hand collides with my cheek snapping my head towards my opposite shoulder so quickly that I think my head might spin off. It’s the first time he’s ever hit me. I clutch my stinging skin and look at him wide-eyed, but he just storms out of my room without a backward glance.
My mother has been present the entire time. She is the weakest human I think I have ever met. Pathetically chasing around after a man old enough to be her father after she stole him from another woman.
Still holding my face, I ask Mum, “Have you ever stood up for me? Even once?”
“Don’t be melodramatic, Francesca. You pushed your father too far.”
“So you’re just going to let him send your only child to the other side of the world? Or are you looking forward to having no responsibilities again?”