Everyone having sex is at least 18. This is a work of fiction. I made this all up, you can check reality at the door and enjoy it for what it is, a story. The TV talent contest is fictional, although it's modeled after one of the real shows. Special thanks to goducks111 for his help.
Warning: This story builds slower than most of my stories. Many of my main characters are strong willed and born leaders whereas this one isn't. Initially, he's harder to like, but he grows on you. By the end (four parts), I hope most of you will like him and the story.
*****
Chapter 1 - I hate my Life
My alarm goes off. It's 5:30 AM. Yikes. I need to get in the shower. I hate my life. We are an old Italian mob family. Yep, straight out of the movies. I have four sisters that hate me. They seem to think I will be like my brothers, abusive, stupid, and get myself killed. I'm nothing like my brothers, I hate them. Ok, I hate my sisters too if you ask. The women run the family. Grandma rules the lot of us while mom controls our house. My eldest sister Rosemary, we call her Rose, is first in line to take over after mom.
Dad, a younger brother, and my two eldest brothers have already been killed over the years. I have one older brother left, and he has had three near misses. Why would I want in on the family business? I don't. No way, I can do better than that. Sure, they have strip clubs and hookers. I can get an endless supply of drugs to make me high, run faster, date rape pills, or make me a God in bed. Yeah, my family has all the sleazy businesses you need going. I have numerous uncles in jail. That shows how great it is. Yeah, right.
The family is short on employees; therefore, I'm expected to join up and help. I'm not wild for this way of life. I want to be an actor or a singer. I can do both. I'm so numb to my life that I'm recounting my life under a hot shower. I don't even remember coming in here. I have taken too long, and now Anna is banging on the bathroom door. Arrrg. I get out and dry off. I place a towel around me and open the door.
Within a few milliseconds, the door is pushed open, knocking me back and stunning me. Anna takes my towel and throws it down on the floor and uses it as a rug.
She then looks at me, covers her mouth like she is laughing, then says, "My, my, you are my little brother."
I run to my room, embarrassed. That is the type of shit I put up with. My brother tries to toughen me up, then my sisters belittle me, mom is always ordering me to do something, and grandma is a mean one. She is a genuinely nasty person, unlike everyone else's grandma.
I turned eighteen a few days ago, and tomorrow I graduate high school. I plan to attend a small college out in California. I have lots of money saved up. Over the years, the family has given me money for college. It's crazy the way the family throws around cash. Uncles were throwing $10,000 boxes of cash at me. Yeah, my family doesn't believe in checks.
My plan is simple, hang out with my friend Aaron for two days. I have a ticket to Los Angeles. I will take a shuttle ride out to the tiny town where my college is, rent an apartment close to campus, and in two months start classes. I'll be far enough from the family that they won't be able to find me nor touch me. I will be free of them forever. Or so I thought.
After graduation, I told my mom I was going to a friend's party. There is no way they would bother throwing one for me. They could care less about me. For my sisters, they would have rented Disneyland. There was a real party, but I'm at Aaron's house. Great simple plan, yet that turned out poorly.
I'm up in Aaron's room; we are playing a video game. I hear a huge crash downstairs, screaming, and then two gunshots. Oh shit, a rival gang is here to take me out. I grab Aaron's hand and pull him to the window. We are on the second floor, and there is a tree we've climbed down before. However, this time three burly fat men are waiting for us. I'm thrown over a shoulder, and I see Aaron get gutted with a knife. His white shirt is quickly filling with blood.
I cry the entire way to Grandma's house. The men don't say a word to me. Once inside, Grandma is behind a big worn leather chair in an office that is surprisingly devoid of furniture. Just a computer and some ledgers with three pens. The desk and the chair look much older than even Grandma.
She looks at me and was going to ask a question, then decided to just tell the men, "Rough him up a bit. Make him know you don't run from family. Not this family."
They start to drag me out when Grandma says with an icy voice, "NO! Here. I want to watch."
I'm a big guy, heavy bone structure, and a fair amount of muscle, but nothing prepared me for those brutes. A quick shot to my stomach knocks the wind out of me, a blow to my face breaks my nose, then two more shots, and I blackout.
+++++
I wake up to screams. Oh fuck, no alarm clock. Holy shit, every part of my body hurts. I can taste blood in my mouth, and I can't open my eyes. I can't move. Now there is a second scream, quickly followed by a third. Then I hear steps running down the stairs. The hands turn my head, and then I hear a phone calling someone.
Jason, our butler says to the phone, I need you at (our address) I have a severely beaten eighteen-year-old male in the front doorway of the house. He's a mess; he needs help quick.
I pass out again.
+++++
I wake up in a hospital room, alone. Wow, nobody cares about me. Not even a bodyguard, I mean that little to them. I have a tear running down my cheek. It looks like morning; the sun has just come up out of the East. It seems like I'm in a shared room, my roommate is talking in Spanish, his family is here.
Hmmm, with nobody around, I can leave. No, I can't, I don't have my wallet. I push the red button; I need a pain killer. I nice looking nurse comes in. She is older, yet she has a nice smile. Something I have not seen in a long time. Her badge says Samantha (Sam).
I try to talk, but it hurts to move my jaw. That's when I lost it and start to cry. This seems like such a helpless situation, and every part of my body hurts. Sam looks at me with real compassion, it surprised me, I had never seen that before.
She holds my hand and is soft when she said, "It's ok baby, I'll give you some pain pills. You were dropped off here. They took off. You're listed as John Doe. I don't know who did this to you, but we aren't about to ask you for your name. Some guys were here. They took your clothes, wallet, and cell phone.
"We called security, but they ran off. We moved you to a different wing, and security is on the lookout for any Italian thugs. Do you want us to contact someone?"
I shake my head gingerly, no. I could not convey, no fucking way do I ever want anything to do with my fucking family for as long as I live. However, I think she understood.
+++++
I woke up crying from pain again. When I tried to reach for the red button, I couldn't, mom had my hand. OH, FUCK NO! Immediately I'm scared, I'm breathing hard, my heartbeat is soaring, I'm freaking out. How did she find me? Why is she here?
Four nurses and security come running into my room. They thought I was dying from their monitoring station. I'm positive I have a scared look on my face. I'm pushing her away, trying to look elsewhere. Security quickly restrains her.
Mom is pissed, "Unhand me! This is my son! What happened?"
Sam is more aggressive than mom, "Oh, I think you know exactly what happened. That boy has been crying for the last several days. You show up, and he wants to jump out the window. Start talking now or ... never mind. Security: check her out and see if she is responsible for his condition. Get the police and the DA involved. I know who she is."
Mom is pissed, "You're messing with the wrong mother. You have no idea who I am and what I can do."