A Mafia's Obsession

CRYSTAL

After my partial emotional break down display, I saw a different new side to Leonardo.

I am seriously still finding it hard to believe that I actually surrendered myself to his embrace. He felt so warm and I felt so little as his huge body enveloped mine in a warm hug. He was actually being more human and caring which was totally shocking for a man of his attitude.

I expected my lash out to make him reveal why he was being so kind to me but instead it showed me a totally calm and placid side to Leonardo Constanzo.

Several times I would ask myself within me if I were dreaming as Leonardo comforted my tensed nerves.

I know that before whenever I did try to raise my voice at him, it would always end up in a punishment from Leonardo.

But now--today-- he hugged me. He really hugged me like he cared for me.

I struggled to get that off my mind but it stayed filtered through my thoughts.

I engaged in a little têtê-à-têtê with Leonardo afterwards and I actually discovered some things about him.

For one, I learnt he always slept with a gun and he would never go any where without it. I cringed knowing how dangerous he was.

I totally forgot that this man ran a mafia and was a crime boss.

I did more of the talking whilst he just nodded his head. It was more of a question and answer session as I was trying to decipher who exactly was Leonardo Constanzo.

Though never letting go of his uncanny mask, I was beginning to see little signs of human nature in him.

He hated avocados and he didn't like to talk alot. I ended up pinching in one or two stories about my life whilst he just listened with rapt attention.

It was evening. The few thin strips of cloud in the horizon turned shimmering gold and pink as the sun set over the mansion.

I had spent my entire day in the room as usual. But Leonardo strangely stayed with me. He watched me eat, engaged in a têtê-à-têtê, lulled me to siesta and by the time I woke, my lunch was already served.

The doctors were on time to check on me and administer my drugs. Like me, they probably didn't want to incure Leonardo's wrath.

He would always bark at them if he noticed my face being disconcerted as I was receiving my daily dose of intravenous injections.

They would freeze on the spot, their rigid eyes darting to the ground the moment Leonardo barked orders at them, breathing fire and breamstone on them.

At some point, I felt sorry for the trepadised doctors observing how frightened they would become whenever Leonardo noticed my features contorted in pain so I did my best to mask the pain I would feel as I recieved my injections.

After the doctors left, Leonardo called a maid who had my bath prepared after which we both had dinner in my room.

He had his arm wrapped around my shoulder with my petite figure hauled against his large frame.

He was reading me one of the books I did not get the chance to complete before I got hit by this dreadful illness.

It was tittled 'Faceless' by Amma Darko, a Ghanaian novel.

I really loved the novel. It portrayed the phenomenon of the street child especially females who were left to fend for themselves in a world dominated by greedy, irresponsible and cruel men in their lives. Reading the story kind off reminded me of my own father. Never actaully contributing to the upkeep of the family, he was an alcoholic and a chronic gambler.

Deposing all the workload on my poor mum, I watched my mother painstakingly struggle to put food on the table whilst my greedy father swindled away her money on womanizing and gambling.

Whenever I thought of my childhood, I got so emotional. While other children of my age had nice and enthralling memories, mine was filled with nothing but pain, grief and sorrow.

Mother would work her ass out to take care of myself, Mabel and our greedy father yet he wouldn't have the decency to live up to his responsibility as the man of the house.

On many occasions, I witnessed him hitting my mother. Heaven knew I had tried calling 911 countless times but I was always stopped by my mother. She later got me to promise her that I'll never call the cops on my father.

I was dumb struck. So many nights, I would wonder why my mother was still habiting with my irresponsible and non challant father.

Could it be because of I and Mabel? Was she scared of how she would take care of us by ourselves?--I would ask myself.

But it felt absurd because even though she still stayed with my dad, she was the one taking care of the family. She was the breadwinner, she was the wife and she was the husband. My father was just another living being in our house. The only tittle I saw fit to address him as was as my mother's 'partner'.

Questions like those rummaged my mind every fucking time, as I sought answers to why my mother was willing to endure my father's abuses.

It wasnt until I gathered up courage to go ask her the reason she stuck by my father.

Her answer got me weak in the knees. With tears in her eyes, she narrated her life with my father.

It turned out that my father was never like this from the beginning.

Mum described him as being the perfect man for her. He was kind, caring, loving and hard-working.

Life was, well sunny for them at the start. But everything came dwindling down when my dad's business crashed.

According to my mother, my dad's supermarket caught ablaze as a result of an electrical failure. He lost everything.

To top it off his savings got ripped off from him when he engaged in a business with one of his supposed friend who later on duped him of everything. Several times my dad tried commiting suicide but was stopped by my mum. She believed and hoped for a better future but my dad according to her had lost all will to live.

He became uncaring and unappreciative towards my mum, not contributing a dime or more support to the upkeep and wellbeing of his family.

He resorted to gambling and somehow managed to get himself in debt to Leonardo before his demise with my mother in a car crash.

Reminiscing about those gloomy memories brought tears to my eyes.

I sniffed my nose and fought the tears from spilling.

Life was so hard on I and Mabel. We moved to New York trying to get away from our depressing childhood but the past still haunted our present which was how I found myself here. "Crystal what is wrong?"Leonardo asked which pulled me out of my melancholic thoughts.

I had totally forgot he was in my room with me. Seemed like I zoned him out.

I could barely remember what he read.

"Nothing"I replied with a shake of my head.

He gave me a quizzical brow. "I can read you like an open book. Spill"

"I said nothing!"I snapped back which I immedately regretted afterwards.

I shouldn't have done that. He had been calm with me and now probably he was going to change back to giving me his beastly attitude.

I shook like a leaf as his blue cold glaciers stared at me, the white rays of the moon shining through the curtains and falling on his sharp profile making his eyes shimmer and look so devilish.

He dropped the book by the bedstand, our eyes not leaving each other.

"What's wrong Crystal?" he asked one more time.

I let out a breath I didn't know I was even holding. I expected him to shout at me but he somehow was calm.

I inhaled sharply. "I was just thinking of my dad and mum"

"Oh Travis price" he acknowledged.

Wow. He remembered his name.

"Yes"I replied with a nod.

"Why were you thinking of your dad?"

"I don't know. Well this book reminded me of him. It is a book that gives detailed narration of the plights of females in broken homes. And my home was broken"I answered, my tension reducing. Leonardo nodded with a hum. "Atleast your dad and mum never seperated did they?"

I shook my head.

Even with dad's unbearable attitude, mum never left him and dad well he never did leave home without coming back.

"No actually"

He gave a false chuckle.

Did his mum and dad seperate?

Come to think of it, Maya never spoke about his parents and Leonardo never did so too.

I was tempted to ask but I felt frightened and timid.

Leonardo browsed my facial expression. "I know you want to ask Crystal" he said as if reading my thoughts.

I gulped and nodded at his statement.

"My mum left my dad. They divorced. Apparently she left with her lover. Later on my dad had to bring in Maya to take care of me. Maya brought up I and chase in this mansion. My dad rarely had my time. So who I ever knew as a parent was Maya and is still Maya"

I stared at him with longing eyes. This was probably the only personal information about himself Leonardo had voiced out to me.

Was that why he grew up to be so cold? Did his childhood really traumatise him this much?

"Crystal well that was in the past" He added with a gruff as if the very thought of his childhood brought him vexation.

I could only nod.

I watched him pick up the novel. Glancing at me and back at the novel, he began reading without hesitation.

I watched him read, a million thoughts running in my mind.

Probably I and Leonardo were not as different as I thought.