" you can hit me now" June said. she was learning to fight and June was her opponent and her teacher. according to her mum, martial arts was essential for her. her mom was hell bent on making June teach her, amidst her constant opposition. she didn't need martial arts to survive in mafiadom, her dad didn't even know how to fight. he was always armed with guns and she'd seen him use it when she was a kid. she didn't know why her mom tried to make her different from the other mafia bosses before her.

"focus BB" again with the BB.

 she didn't want them to call her boss, not just yet. but her mom wouldn't listen, she made sure that everyone called her boss Bianca.

 "call me Bianca" she widened her legs as she made a hit at June

"I'm not allowed to do that" said June, dodging the hit.

"well, I'm not comfortable with y'all calling me BB" she protested

"you have to get used to it" said June "we will go back to attacking later, let's go to defense"

"okay..."

"I'll hit now!" said June, then flung her fist so quickly, Bianca barely dodged. she tripped over and landed on the ground. she groaned in pain, her ass hurt. this martial arts training was beginning to get shitty.

"focus" said June as she stretched out her hand and helped Bianca up

"let's start over"

June threw a punch, she dodged it, she began to feel like she was getting good at this. June hopped closer, flung another punch, it hit Bianca's shoulder but she was quick enough to grab June's hand and incapacitate her.

"good" June commended "I want more of this"

June hopped closer, then she grabbed Bianca's waist and tossed her to the ground. 

"defense" she yelled as she tossed blows on Bianca

she blocked a few of the blows but couldn't block the lot of them.

June got off Bianca and helped her up.

"when this happens next time", said June "make sure you plan your counter strike while defending yourself"

"is that possible?" a fagged out Bianca asked

"yes" said June "I'll teach you next time "

"okay, let's go again, you can strike now", June said, as she came closer and threw Bianca a fist, she dodged then June tried to hit her again but failed. the third time, June got her temple. she winced as pain seared her head. not thinking straight, she came at June with a blow, but failed as June got hold of her hands and tackled her.

"owww!" she shrieked as she felt her ankle twist. 

"patience, Bianca" said June "it's another trait you lack. while fighting an opponent, a whole lot of patience should be exercised, in other to detect the next move."

"are you okay?" June asked as she crouched over her

"how can I be?" said an enraged Bianca. focus, patience, she was tired of all of it. this was all too distressing.

"let me see" June took hold of the ankle and pulled it. a crack sound was heard and Bianca screamed in anguish.

"it's done now, I'll apply an ointment and wrap it up"

"this is all your fault, June" she whined "this training is dumb "

"we have just begun" said June "you still have a lot to learn "

"fuck it!" she yelled "I'm not going through this again"

she tried to stand up, but failed because of her ankle

"what are you waiting for?" she scowled at June "carry me up!"

in seconds, she was on June's back. she struggled to endure the pain from her bruised ankle as June carried her. how was she going to meet Lorenzo like this now?

*************

"they've been stopped on the way, boss" a capo came reporting to Lorenzo. 

"by who?" he barked. who'd dare to stop their goods from crossing over?

"some custom officers inspecting the border stopped our truck"

"Dang it!" Lorenzo cursed, he couldn't let them search the truck, it contained stolen goods worth millions.

"where's our officer?" luckily, they had an associate who worked with the customs protection agency. he'd informed the officer about their goods beforehand.

"I don't know if he's at the venue. let me give him a call" 

said the soldier as he did that

"I want to speak with him" Lorenzo requested when the officer picked the call and he was given the phone

"do not let them search my truck" Lorenzo said to the officer sternly

"I won't" came the reply at the other end of the phone

"you know what you are meant to do" he said this, not as a question but as an order. the officer and some of his colleagues had worked for his dad so he was sure they knew what to do.

"of course" came the reply

"go there right now!"

his order met silence at the other end of the phone

"are you there?" he asked the officer 

"I won't tolerate little boys ordering me around" said the officer "I worked for your dad and he didn't make me promise to work for his little son"

Lorenzo restrained himself from snapping at the officer for calling him little. that sounded condescending. he really felt like barking over the phone but he couldn't because his goods were at stake.

"I'm sorry" he hesitantly apologized

"good" said the officer and then cut the line 

he sighed. he couldn't waste his fury on undeserving people. Ever since he took over from where his dad left off, he'd been working tirelessly. As he learned how his father ran things around here in his time, he implemented new stuff on his own. the only thing that kept him sane now was work. he couldn't relate to his mom anymore, he couldn't even share his burdens with anyone. he only thrived on the fact that his mafiadom would one day become the most renowned and undisputed and the he'd punish Carlo Rizzo's family.

yesterday's memories still stayed in his head.

"boss" someone called him

he looked and saw two capos. they both panted like they've been running

"talk" he said to them

"it's the soldiers. two of them are fighting eachother" one said. "they'll kill eachother " said the other

Lorenzo rolled his eyes. that wasn't his concern. he had bigger things to bother about.

"why are you called capos if you can't control the soldiers assigned under you?" he asked in a derisive tone

"it's greater than us" they wailed

"call your colleagues to assist you " he said in a dismissively

"some of them were assigned to transport the stolen goods while some were assigned to some other duty"

this was a frustrating situation. he needed more workers. he could have assigned his underboss to take care of this issue but he too was busy.

"there's nothing I can do" he said "go!" 

a malevolent side to Lorenzo surfaced and he called them back after they began to leave.

"come back!" he said and they immediately came back, looking at him with hope in their gazes.

"you both should stand here" he said to them, and that glimmer of hope in their gazes vanished instantly 

"since there's no one to stop them from fighting, you should let them kill eachother " said Lorenzo, brutally 

"don't move until, I hear gunshots and screams from them" he said "even if we do not have so much members, we shouldn't have to put up with their shenanigans, should we?" 

although the question sounded rhetorical, he still waited for a response

"should we?" he barked at them

"no, boss" they both chorused quickly

sounds of gunshots rang from a distance, and Lorenzo knew that the soldiers had killed eachother

he looked at the two capos who stood in front of him. they had their heads bowed

"don't worry" he feigned concern for them "you won't be held responsible for their deaths. you can go now "

they scurried off

it was all about the survival of the fittest in this family. he didn't want to concern himself with measly problems as those.

he needed some kind of respite. then he thought of Bianca. the lady he met yesterday after four years. he didn't expect her to look like that, her mass of golden hair was caught up in 

a tumble of curls that framed her round face. he could vividly remember the dress she wore, how it caressed her delicate curves.

he didn't look away that time she approached him because he feared that what he saw in front of him might be a fantasy. 

his heart warmed with strange emotions that seemed hard to fathom the day she approached him and when they walked together.

she succeeded in taking his mind off the burden he felt since his father died.

 he thought of how different he felt when he was with her. how he could just let everything go. he felt like he had two sides of himself. calm and gentlemanly when he was with her.

aggressive, stern and dominant when he did mafia business.

he liked how her company changed him and he couldn't wait to treat her to dinner by sunset.