I grew up in a fairly normal house with no tales of woes. My parents were married and settled into a small but decent house in a decent neighborhood so I never really worried about getting kidnapped or anything like that. I remember my dad having a lot of friends over all the time and the house almost always smelled like beer and smoke. Mom would keep me outside most of the time or in my room with books, shows, and video games. Anything to really keep me occupied while dad was talking with his friends.
As I entered elementary school, I had a hard time playing the same way other kids my age had. I didn't have a sibling or really any one else to play with before then so I was slow to warm up. Especially since I kept seeing things that never happened; at least everytime I asked I was told it never happened and I had a vivid imagination. Not only that but whenever the other kids were picked up and they saw my mom or dad doing the same for me, I saw a good portion of them actually tense up. I didn't understand then why a lot of parents were angry at my parents and didn't like us, I just knew that they didn't.
I got through a few different grades without ever really knowing why no one was ever allowed to come over to my house, nor why I couldn't go over to anyone elses'. It wasn't until the summer before I went into forth grade that I finally was let into the secret.
During the summer where most kids were free to play, I found out just why I'd been isolated during school. My mom was at the hospital, really sick, and my dad couldn't get a babysitter on such short notice (with his reputation), so he had to bring me along with him and his friends. We ended up at what seemed to an abandoned warehouse where at the front door I saw my dad hand off some money to one of the deputies who'd visited my school last year. Then I woke up in the car only to see the same scene repeat itself. When we got inside I saw a lot of makeshift tables thrown up for various different card games and dice games.
That wasn't the worst of it. There were drugs floating around and people who were getting hurt because they couldn't pay their debts to our family. I realized that my dad was like that one guy I saw in the movies - a mobster. The realization proved to be true...mostly. We weren't an Italian family or anything but yes, my dad collected blood money. In fact, that was why neither of my parents ever seemed to need to work. If that wasn't enough of an issue to deal with, my mom and dad ran a gambling ring as well.
I didn't know how to handle that at first. What kid would? I knew why my school friends weren't allowed over now - somehow their parents knew and they were afraid. After watching one guy get his hand crushed and told to tell his wife that it was an accident with a door or something, I couldn't blame them. I didn't want them to get hurt either so I kept our friendships at school. I spend more and more time with my dad and mom learning how to play the various different card and dice games. In fact, that's pretty much why I was so good at more advanced maths as the classes went on. I could already divide and quickly add up sums like they were instinctual. I kept the reoccuring deja'vu moments to myself
The only issue with that is that going over to one another's houses was a natural part of growing up and staying together as friends...something I didn't get to do. As we moved on to middle school I saw less and less of my friends and talked with them in less meaningful ways. The one exception was Brooke. No matter how quiet or reserved I was, she stuck around. She was and always will be the exception to the rule. By the time I got to high school, I was a good student but I couldn't seem to fit in anywhere. Not to mention a lot of the students avoided me as well afraid that if they somehow insulted me or hurt my feelings my dad's "friends" would come to get them. No doubt that was something a lot of their parents had warned against.
It might have been true...I didn't know. All I know is that I'm a princess of an underground ring and it's a lonely place to be. Especially when I keep imagining and dreaming of the horrible things that happen to people that get caught up in this life.
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