Chapter 29

My eyes flew open as I awoke from my deep slumber. I rolled to my side and checked the bedside clock.

5:30pm

I groaned. I had slept for more than an hour and 30mins past the time I allotted for my nap.

I rolled out of bed, fixed my hair and my makeup. I grabbed my purse and a few bills, in case I needed to buy something for Aubrey and left my room.

I didn't go down the stairs, instead I went to Arabella's room first and knocked on the door.

"Arabella?" I called out.

No answer.

I knocked for a few minutes, when I got no reply I went in search of Emilia.

I found her in her room, painting her toenails.

"They're not back?” I asked from the doorway.

"Nope." She replied.

I sighed deeply. "In case they do come back, tell them I went out. I don't want them to get worried about me."

I turned to leave but Emilia stopped me. "You're going back for round two, aren't you?"

"Excuse me?" I turned around stunned.

"I said, you should have a great day out."

I wanted to ask her the meaning of what she had just said but I let it go, it wasn’t worth fighting over.

I walked down the stairs and out the front door.

I got to the ice cream shop a few minutes later and found Aubrey running around. When she recognized me, she ran up to me and threw her hands around me.

"Ophelia!"

"Hey, Aubrey." I said, patting her head

I let her lead me to the booth she and Jessie occupied. I looked in the direction of the counter and saw Anabelle talking to the old man from yesterday. His face was all red and he was pointing around in different directions in a heated argument with Anabelle. She had her face lowered to the ground, like a child receiving serious scolding from a parent.

As if she could sense my presence, she looked up and held eye contact for a few seconds. The emotions that welled up in her eyes said more than a thousand words could, she was in trouble.

I sat down in the booth besides Aubrey, Jessie put her book down and uttered a silent "Good evening."

"Evening, Jessie." My eyes on Anabelle.

Aubrey was bouncing up and down, when I looked in her direction, she gripped my arm and asked politely. "Will you buy me a cup of ice cream?"

Thank God I carried some money. "Yes."

Movement in my peripheral vision caught my eye. I looked up to see Anabelle making her way to us. "...oh look, your sister is coming this way."

Anabelle slid into in the booth and sat beside Jessie.

"I'm sorry I'm late, I overslept." I said.

"It’s okay." She replied, looking away. Her face crest fallen.

Something was wrong, really wrong.

"Anabelle, is everything alright?"

She nodded. "Ophelia, can you please take my sisters home?" She took out a keyring and slid it across the table.

"Anabelle I..." I opened my mouth to protest but she cut me off.

"Please, Ophelia." She pleaded with her eyes, her voice broke.

I pursed my lips, when it was the right time, I would explain the consequence of her action.

"Jessie, Aubrey, let's go home."

"What about my ice cream?" Aubrey protested.

"I'll buy you one tomorrow." I replied.

I waited until Jessie had packed up, then we left the shop hand-in-hand into the windy street.

The sky was gray and it looked like it was about to rain. I shivered as the cool breeze touched my bare skin, I was wearing only a tank top and a short. Aubrey pressed herself against me and Jessie did the same but with one hand over her nose to keep the dust out.

We walked past the Piacere house. Anabelle said to take the kids home, but what was I going to do when I got there? Watch them? They would be hungry and if I remembered correctly, the remaining oats in the tin would only be sufficient for one person.

I couldn't take them to the Piacere house for obvious reasons, it wasn’t a place for children and Arabella had said something about a 'no bringing others, home' rule. Which left me with only one option.

"Girls, we're going shopping."

I led them to the shopping mall across the street and picked a cart.

We went by different sections and I gave the girls the opportunity to pick out whatever they wanted.

Jessie picked sensible things, house products, a few cosmetic products, hairspray, lotion, sunscreen but Aubrey picked out anything that caught her eye, doughnuts, cookies, more doughnuts, 3 different types of cereals, crème filled biscuits, juice packs, the list was endless. I picked out groceries, cleaning products, fruits, vegetables, spices, anything and everything that could keep a house for a minimum of two weeks.

By the time we were done, we had an overflowing cart. I prayed the money in my purse would be enough to pay for everything.

We went to the check-out point. The money was enough to the last euro I carried. When the bags were packed, we had one more problem, how to get the things home.

I couldn't carry all the bags and hold the kids at the same time.

Jessie solved that problem. "Why don't we carry them in our backpacks?"

"Great idea."

So, my hands were free to hold the kids and the weight of our purchases were evenly distributed among us.

We got to the block of flats and went up to the second floor. I put the key into the keyhole and opened the door, letting the kids in.

We went into the kitchen and started work.

I helped Aubrey onto a chair and she brought out the bags from the backpack and sorted the items into things that should be put in the cupboards and things that should be put in the fridge, while I put the items into the cupboards and the fridge. When that was taken care of, I started dinner.

I made a simple dish, spaghetti atterrati and served up.

The girls ate up quickly, they cleaned their plates. It didn't take a rocket scientist to tell me they hadn't eaten something good in a long time.

After eating, Aubrey dashed off to the living room to watch TV, while Jessie stuck around to help.

"Go, don't worry I'll take care of things here." I implored her to go watch TV.

I wiped the table, did the dishes and tidied up some things.

A few minutes later, I heard the girls talking to someone else in the living room. I poked my head out of the kitchen to find out who the third person was, it was Anabelle. I sighed in relief.

She sat down on the dining table, I put what I had reserved for her into a plate and placed it in front of her.

She stared at the food, surprise etched on her features. "You made dinner?"

"Yes." I replied.

"Did you bring it from your place?"

"No, I went grocery shopping with Aubrey and Jessie."

"Okay." She started eating.

Halfway through her meal, she bit her lip and pushed the food around her plate, I could see something was bothering her.

I took a seat. "What's wrong, Anabelle?"

"It’s nothing important." She sighed.

"Then tell me."

"It’s my boss." She said.

"What about your boss?" I had already drawn the worst conclusion.

"It has something to do with my sisters." She paused. "Don't get me wrong, Michel loves kids but when he gets his mood swings, his opinion about them changes."

Nothing made sense to me at this point but I didn't interrupt.

"Since I started working there, Aubrey has made it her duty to know our regular customers on a first name basis. She's sweet, adorable and wins everyone's heart with her charming smile but Michel finds it annoying even though none of the customers have complained. The straw that broke the camel's back was when she hugged you today. He remembers you from the ice cream incident and he thinks Aubrey is a troublesome brat that throws tantrums in order to extract money from his customers."

I reached over and squeezed her hand.

She sighed deeply. "Long story short is, he doesn't want them to come to the shop anymore. It’s not indefinite but they can only stop over once every week. They don't have anywhere else to go and if they come home from school there's nobody to look after them, till I get back from work."

"There's nothing I can say, he's your boss and you have to listen to him, unless you have somewhere else they're offering you a job."

"I don't."

"That means you don't have a choice. As for your sisters, they can come home, I'll drop by the house after 4."

"You will? Oh, thank you very much." She smiled appreciatively.

There was another thing I needed to talk to her about.

"Anabelle?"

"Yes?" She tried to answer, her mouth filled with food.

"I need to talk to you about trust."

"What about trust?"

“What about trust?” She swallowed.

"You have to be careful with who you entrust your sisters' care with."

"I don't understand the point you're trying to make." She replied, after she had swallowed the food in her mouth.

"You shouldn't put your sisters' care in just anyone's hands."

She frowned. "If you’re referring to yourself then, I don't put my sisters' care in just anyone's hands, I let you take care of them."

I huffed. "That's exactly what I'm saying. Today, you gave me the key to your house, you let your sisters go with me, what if I was some robber, kidnapper, or a sick perv who takes pleasure out of little girls, or better still a human trafficker?"

She smiled. "But you're not."

"You don't know that, Anabelle. Besides, I said 'what if I was'."

She started laughing. "You aren't, you're you."

"This isn't funny Anabelle, I'm serious!"

It must have been the expression on my face, because she stopped laughing and looked at me puzzled.

"Calm down, Ophelia. There's no need to raise your voice, I'm okay with you around my sisters."

"That's what I'm trying to tell you, you don't know me!"

It took a while for the words to seep into her mind. When they did, realization set in, she looked at me wide eyed and I was able to surmise what she was thinking from the way her body tensed up.

I lived down the street in a brothel, what did that make me? A shameless whore, who did nothing more than commit shameless acts and sell her body to men for money.

I had a bag of social vices and bad habits that I could rub off on her sisters. I gave them money and helped them out because I wanted something in return, maybe I wanted to bring them into the prostitution ring.

As the motions went through Anabelle's head, emotions flashed through her eyes. Anabelle had judged me in less than five minutes, her face turned red in anger.

She stood up from the table and gripped the edges.

I was about to be thrown out.

Even though her judgement of me was wrong, she was missing an important piece of my life.

I was in the Mafia.

It was a mark I carried since birth, and a curse of, 'whoever I associated with had to join the cartel or face instant death.' followed me everywhere.

I didn't want to drag three innocent girls into a world of violence, murder, death, drugs, and unadulterated shit. Besides, James Baddo was after me, if he found me with these girls, I would no doubt, have ruined their lives and destroyed their future.

I picked my purse from the worktop and left the kitchen, things were better this way.

I was about to open the front door when something wrapped itself around my legs.

I turned back to see Aubrey holding my legs.

"Don't go Ophelia, please." She pleaded. She must have heard the argument in the kitchen.

"What did Anna do this time?" Jessie asked, behind her.

"Nothing, I...." I halted my statement as Anabelle walked into the living room, eyes blazing.

I tugged gently, trying to free my legs from Aubrey's grip. I had to leave now.

I gripped the door handle the same time Anabelle shouted. "Sit!"

Thinking she was talking to Aubrey, I turned around to urge Aubrey to obey her sister when I found out that Anabelle was talking to me.

"You're not going anywhere until you tell us who you really are Ophelia, if that's even your real name."

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