Dàrk Desires

She sighed for the hundredth time in less than an hour, looking at her legs again she sighed, her legs are so dirty due to the long walk she's having, there was an heavy rain fall doing less justice and her legs are covered with muds. She gently opened the main door to her house, trying to sneak in without her parents or siblings catching her but luck wasn't on her side.

"Maria! Come here" her mom had said, not angrily like she expected but it was coated with sadness Maria's heart skipped a bit, forgetting about her dirty legs she vowed to wash as soon as she enters her home, she went closer to the rest of her family members and saw everyone is present, her two siblings and parents but their faces clouded with negativity

"What's wrong?"Maria asked looking around,her eyes fell on her mom "mamma!"

"Sit down"her mom said weakly and she obeyed,she look at her dad who is sitting on the floor and his head down, she can barely see his face and wondered what happened

"Talk to me please!"she said getting seriously scared, the silence was killing her and she doesn't like it

"Your papa is in debt"her mom said and she shot her dad a look before looking at her mother

"What?"she asked

"Your papa is in debt"Her mother repeated

"Not the first time and why the solemn mood, I thought something very bad have happened"Maria said feeling at ease slowly

"Something very bad have happened Maria!"her brother Angelo have said

"Your papa went ahead to lend money from Pietro without even telling me about it!"Her mom said and her heart stopped beating for a second

"What?! Wait... which Pietro?!"she asked her heart beating fast

"Which other Pietro!"her other brother Aldo said

"Papa!"Maria exclaimed and their father slightly lifted his head up, Maria wasn't aware he was busy crying throughout the time he's head is down

"Maria!!!"her father called in a crying tone "I wanted to right all my wrongs, I wasn't expecting this to go this way"

"Why will you collect money from Pietro of all people papa! You know the kind of person he is. How much did you collect?"

"Two hundred and forty thousand euro"her dad replied and her eyes went wide.

Maria and her family are barely surviving, they barely have two meals a day and now their father went ahead again to lend money and this time around, he collected such a huge amount

"Papa!! What.... What did you use the money for?!"Maria asked falling on the ground, she felt her body going weak immediately and tears clouding her eyes, this is the worst news she ever heard in her life

"I was robbed on my way back home after collecting the money"Her dad said with his hands visibly shaking, it's obvious how scared the old man is

"Why didn't you tell any of us, we will surely never let you borrow even one euro from Pietro!"Maria said placing her hands on her temple, she can't even start to think about the trouble she and her family just fell into, Pietro is a very dangerous man and everyone in the vicinity is afraid of him

"What do we do now?"Maria asked in a small voice

"I don't know"her mom had replied with same voice. The sitting room became quiet as each member of the family were busy thinking in their own world

***

Throughout the night, Maria wasn't able to sleep. She kept on tossing and tossing around the bed thinking about how they're going to sort this money issue, the worst of it all is her dad didn't tell them when it just happened, it's when it is due for him to pay he decided to let the rest member of the family to know about it.

Maria look at her legs and hissed, she didn't ended up washing her legs the previous night, the news have eaten her up so much that she forget about all she planned on doing. She sluggishly stood up from her bed heading to the kitchen, she saw her mom standing near to the kitchen island, lost in her own thoughts. She knows her mom is taking this very hard and it's not easy for her just the way it's not easy for the rest of the family

"Mamma!"Maria said bringing her mom back to the presence, her mom gave her a weak smile and went back to turning the sauce she put on fire "good morning, how are you doing?"

"I don't know"her mom replied dropping the spatula she's holding

"I don't know where to start from Maria, I couldn't sleep throughout the night. What will we do if Pietro visits us, I'm trying to save so that you can go to the university and now this? Your dad have done nothing but cause trouble in this family, he's always bringing one problem or the other and I'm tired of all this!"

"It's okay mamma"Maria said going closer to her mom

"It's not okay Maria!"her mom said and bursted into tears,Maria went closer to her mom immediately hugging her while she cried on her shoulder,awhile later her mom took a step away from her wiping her tears away.

Maria can see how fast her mom have aged, the family problems are really weighing her down.

She didn't see her dad before she left the house going to the tea shop she works in. She pushed the door open and saw her closest friend Elisa busy cleaning one of the tables

"You're late"Elisa said and Maria ignored her going straight to the changing room, Elisa noticed her mood and followed her inside the changing room

"what's wrong with you?" She asked

"I'm not in a good mood Elisa, let's talk later"Maria said and Elisa nodded leaving the changing room, Maria gently placed her head on the wall and bursted into tears, she couldn't hold it all in and wonders what's going to become her family.

Awhile later she stopped crying and wiped her eyes acting like nothing happened and went out of the changing room to start her work for the day.

Maria have closed for the day, she slowly walked to her house, on opening the door she slowly peeped in after hearing a gruesome voice, she saw how pale her mom have became and got scared immediately opening the door widely and went inside

"And here she is"she heard a thick voice of an unfamiliar person, she went closer to them and can see Pietro sitting comfortably like a king in their old sofa while her dad knelt down on the floor facing him looking very scared, her mom standing close to the wall, her little brother Angelo holding her tight while Aldo is at the other end of the room

"Not my daughter please"she heard her father say and wondered what they're talking about her

"Come here"Pietro said and Maria move closer to him

"well she lived up to what I have heard about her"Pietro said looking at Maria from head to toe "Andrea your daughter is really beautiful"Pietro added and Maria felt disgusted immediately, she have heard a lot of news about the gang leader and seen his pictures and she knows how everyone is scared of him but not for once have she ever thought of having anything to do with him, she hates him with all the veins in her body

"I can't give you my daughter Pietro"her father have said again stealing Pietro's attention from Maria to him

"What did you say?"Pietro asked chuckling

"I will find other means to pay you I promise, my daughter is too young to go through all these"Andrea said

"I have been giving you chances to pay over some months now but you haven't done a thing, and well your daughter will go well with me"Pietro said giving Maria a lustful look

"I will pay you back!"Maria suddenly said and all eyes fell on her

"Maria!!"her mother shouted, she clearly didn't want Maria getting involved. Pietro interest was picked with what Maria said, he wondered how Maria wants to pay and finds it interesting

"How?"he asked

"Give me two months! I swear I will pay you back within the two months,if I don't you can do whatever you want to do with me"Maria said and her mom's eyes widen while Pietro chuckles

"Maria!!"her mother shouted again

"I love your courage little girl, but two months is too much, I can only give you one month and if you say no then no deal, answer carefully"Pietro said tauntingly

"Okay, I agree"Maria replied after several minutes of silence and thinking about what's more beneficial to her at the moment

"What was wrong with you Maria?! What were you thinking?! How can you sell yourself off like that!"Maria's mom shouted

"I didn't sell myself off mom, do you want him to take me just now, if he tries to no one can stop him, not me, not you or papa. No one!"Maria said her voice louder than she intended. Her eyes landed on her dad and she saw him sitting on the floor shaking

"What are we going to do?! One month is too short to pay such big amount"Andrea said and his wife gave him an angry look

"You should have thought about that before going behind my back to do such a foolish thing!"his wife shouted

"Lucia!"Andrea shouted

"Don't Lucia me! All you have done is always bringing problems to the family in one way or the other, ain't you tired of always hurting us?!"Lucia shouted getting emotional

"Mamma!"Maria called

"Don't Mamma me, let me talk to this man. You keep on drinking and drinking, borrowing money for useless things and I keep on paying for your debts , you promised me seven months ago you will stop all these!"Lucia shouted

"I swear I did, that's why I went to Pietro"Andrea said trying to move closer to his wife but one look from her stopped him

"You promised but still went back to borrow, I don't want you to borrow at all and you foolishly went ahead to borrow money we can't even make for a life time, now my innocent daughter is going to suffer for this"Lucia said a tear escaping her eyes,Maria went closer to her immediately hugging her. Andrea tried going closer to her too but Lucia raised up her hand stopping him

"I don't want to see you"Lucia said and Andrea just turn leaving the house

"Mamma"Maria called again, she can see how heartbroken her mom is and she hates everything about it with all the fiber in her being. Her mother left the the sitting room and Angelo followed her immediately

"What are we going to do Maria?"Aldo who have been quiet all through suddenly said, Maria look at him and sighed. Her younger brother looks tired and she just noticed he is still in his school uniform

"Go rest Aldo,it's late"Maria said going closer to him and kissing the top of his head. Aldo sighed and obeyed his elder sister. Maria sat on one of the sofas thinking about what she can do, one month is short to pay such amount like her dad have said, she decided to rest for the day and seek help the following day, she definitely don't like the state her family is in. They never had it easy but they haven't been in such solemn state before,Maria suddenly yawn and stood up heading to her room.

***

The sun shine brightly on Maria's face, she squinted and yawned. Moving like a blind woman and pull the curtain down, she stood up checking the time and it's past eight in the morning, she wasn't bothered because she wasn't on duty this morning, she entered her bathroom performing her morning rituals before joining her mom in the kitchen, she met her mom busy preparing frittata and suddenly her eyes landed on the cappuccino her mom already made

"Mamma!"Maria said sounding very happy, her mom just combined her favorite breakfast food

"Good morning to you too Maria"her mom said with a stern look and she chuckled

"Good morning mamma"she said and took a cup of cappuccino, she tried digging her hand inside the pan of frittata, her mom hit her hand with the spatula she's holding

"I have warned you several times never to do that"Lucia said and Maria chuckled sitting down on a stool,sipping her cappuccino quietly

"Where's papa?"she suddenly asked

"He didn't came back yesterday's night"Lucia replied looking like someone who's not ready to indulge in such conversation. Maria ate her breakfast quietly in the kitchen before grabbing her bag about to leave the house.

"Mamma, I will be out"she says

"Where are you going?"Lucia asked

"Job hunting, anything that pays more than working in a tea shop"Maria said and her mother sighed

"Be careful my angel"Lucia says

"Yes mamma"Maria replied before leaving the house. She wondered where she can get a paying job that can cover up such money and chuckled, she knows it's definitely not possible and she might end up in Pietro hands, something she definitely doesn't want. She grab her phone from her bag dialing Elisa's contact, Elisa too is having the day off and she's sure she will be at home

"Mamita!" She heard Elisa said immediately she picked her call, Maria chuckled. Elisa always call her Mamita reminding her of her beautiful body shape

"Not this morning Elisa!"Maria said playfully

"I can't hear you hot girl"Elisa said and Maria bursted into laughter

"Are you at home?"she asked

"Sure! Where will someone like be me apart from the tea shop"Elisa replied and Maria chuckled ending the call, she turn around heading to Elisa's house. Few minutes after, she arrived at the beautiful house Elisa lives in, she knocks on the door and Elisa came down running to open the door for her, she knew it is Maria knocking

"Mamita!"Elisa said hugging chuckling Maria. Maria followed her to her room, Elisa's parents are barely around. Elisa have no siblings and she ends up been on her own most of the time

Elisa pull the door open and Maria entered, she wasn't expecting to see Carlo, Elisa's boyfriend in the house, though they do have a good friendship relationship

"Maria!"Carlo said waving at Maria and went back playing the video game he is so engrossed on

"Carlo!"Maria said and sat on the floor with a heave

"You don't look too good"Elisa said and Maria look at the ceiling thinking about where to start from

"I'm in deep problem Elisa"Maria said finally looking at her friend's eyes

"What? I don't get, what problem?"Elisa asked

"My dad"Maria said with a sigh

"What has he done again?"Elisa asked looking very uneasy

"The worst Elisa! The worst! He went ahead and borrowed money from Pietro"

"Which Pietro?"Elisa asked

"Which other Pietro you know of?"Maria said rubbing her temples, Elisa eyes went, shaking with fear

"Pietro?! How did he get access to Pietro?! Not him of all people, that dangerous man, he can do anything!"Elisa said and Maria squeezed her eyes shut feeling pains in her chest, she can't still believe how true this nightmare is

"Pietro came to our house yesterday, he demanded my dad pays him back or he takes me as payment, I can't even imagine myself with Pietro Elisa! I begged Pietro to give me two months to pay back or he can do whatever he wants with me, but he said just a month, a month Elisa and I have no choice but to agree with him because I wanted to buy time and sort my head up"Maria said and Elisa's face fell

"This is not good at all, how much are we talking about here?"Elisa asked

"Two hundred and forty thousand euro"Maria said and Elisa's eyes went wide

"That is so much! What did he do with the money?!"Elisa asked

"He got robbed on his way home"Maria replied

"What are we going to do now? This is totally bad, our ten years salary is not even enough to cover up for all these and now a month, this is bad"Elisa said and Maria chuckled dryly " I'm doomed"Maria said and Elisa shake her head in disagreement

"Why not run away for the main time?"Elisa asked

"Pietro will kill my family, I can't afford that. You can never say anything when it's involved with the gang"Maria said and suddenly saw Carlo sitting up, seems like he have been listening to their whole conversation

"I know this talks is between you girls but I have a suggestion if you might take it" Carlo said and the two girls turn their attention on him " I know a casino, it was newly built three months ago and I know someone there that can help you get a job, the pay is high and it's the most paid casino in Milan"Carlo said

"A casino? No, that's too dangerous"Elisa replied

"But the pay is okay, it's owned by a mafia lord much more powerful than Pietro, apart from the money, the security too. You need something powerful to combat with something powerful"Carlo said and Maria became quiet

"Are you sure the pay is very okay?"Maria asked

"Yes, very very good"Carlo replied

"Are you seriously considering this?!"Elisa asked

"I have no choice Elisa"Maria replied and Elisa opened her mouth to argue but nothing came out of her mouth

"What's the name of the casino?"Maria asked Carlo

"Casino di Mansueto"

Maria have returned home an hour later she agreed to visit the casino with Carlo, Elisa wasn't that okay with the idea but she doesn't have a choice but let it be, they have no other means to help Maria and according to what Carlo said, Pietro wouldn't mess up with any of the Mansueto workers. The security alone have convinced Maria, she don't want to end up with Pietro and she knows if she denies him with no enough reasoning, she might end up loosing her family.

"Mama I'm back!"Maria shouted entering her room, she slumped on her bed immediately she entered her room, she feels so tired and weak at the same time. The door on her room suddenly opened revealing her mom who stood close to the door

"You look tired"Lucia said and Maria nodded

"More than you can imagine"she replied and yawned sitting up. Her mom entered the room,making sure to close the door behind her, she sat down on the bed close to her

"How was today?"Lucia asked

"It was...."Maria paused thinking about how her mom will definitely react if she tells her about working in a casino, that's the last thing her mom will ever accept "I met Elisa's boyfriend and he promised to help me look for a good place that pays well"Maria said instead, not entirely saying the truth

"That's so nice of him"Lucia replied and they suddenly heard Andrea's voice

"My love!"Andrea shouted

"I'm inside Maria's room"Lucia shouted back, in few seconds time, the door opened and Andrea entered the room joining the ladies

"My love! I found a way! I found a way to pay the money back!"Andrea said picking the interest of the women, Lucia stood up immediately and Maria sat up with wide eyes

"Aspetta! What did you just say?!"Lucia said finding it hard to believe what her husband just said

"I find a way to repay Pietro back"Andrea said with pride

"How papa?!"Maria asked

"I talked to Rocco about what's going on and he promised to borrow me the money to repay Pietro"Andrea said proudly and Lucia slumped on the bed angrily

"You want to go and borrow again?!"Lucia asked angrily

"My love...."Andrea try explaining

"Don't my love me! It was borrowing that ended us up in this predicament and now you want to go ahead and borrow again? Are you never tired and now it's Rocco who loves taking from people you want to go and borrow from? Someone that will ask you to pay times two of what you borrowed!"Lucia said angrily

"I was thinking about how it can solve our problem at the moment so that Maria won't end up with Pietro"Andrea said in a quiet voice, all the joy he felt when coming back home to share the good news with his family died

"Is it Rocco Maria won't end up with when you can't pay him back, think Andrea! Think!"Lucia shouted and marched out of the room banging the door on her way out

"You can't blame mamma"Maria said and Andrea sighed

"I know" he replied dejectedly. Lucia have tried so much for the family, when Andrea lost his business to fire and conquered to alcohol, she have single-handedly carried the family's weight on her shoulders, she have done so much to keep the family going but Andrea keeps on drinking, gambling and borrowing money which left them in a huge debt and now he went ahead to borrow money from the most notorious man they know in their community

After awhile of absolute silence, Andrea heaved and left Maria's room without another word.

Maria lay back down looking at the lazy rotation of the fan, she feels so sad and angry at the same time, she doesn't like anything that makes her mom have any kinds of negative feelings, she knows how all these is eating her up and for that reason she decided to do all she can and make sure to get the job at the casino

***

"Are you sure about this?"Carlo asked Maria and she look at Elisa

"We can always turn back, it's not too late"Elisa said and Maria smiled sadly

"Don't worry guys, I'm okay and I'm sure about this"Maria said opening the door of the car coming down out of it, Carlo and Elisa did the same. Elisa went over to meet Maria hugging her

"I love you mamita"Elisa said

"I love you too"Maria replied squeezing her a little before releasing the hug.

Carlo and Maria entered the casino while Elisa sat down on the car waiting for them The guards have let them in with little check ups, seems Carlo is a well known person in the casino, they have followed through a back door and Maria wasn't able to see much inside the building, Carlo gently knocked on a door they are standing in front of and they heard a faint come in,Carlo pushed the door open allowing Maria to enter first before she does.

They met a lady sitting down on a rotating chair, the woman motioned them to sit down and they did just that.

"This is the girl I'm talking about,Maria"Carlo said and the woman shifted her eyes to look at Maria

"She looks very young,how old are you Maria?"the woman asked

"I'm nineteen years old ma'am"Maria replied and the woman gave her a wary look

"Are you sure you can work in a casino?"the woman asked

"Yes ma'am"Maria replied

"Stand up let me see you"the woman said and Maria stood up, moving round for the woman to see her. She wondered why the woman wants to see her body

"good" the woman said satisfied with the way her body looks

"So what do you say?"Carlo asked

"She looks good enough, but she will have to go through five days training if she doesn't mind"the woman said looking at Maria

"I don't mind"Maria replied

"Good, everything is settled. Will have to train her before Mr Mansueto returns"the woman said and Maria got confused wondering who is that.

"Anyways you will be calling me Madam Penelope"

"Okay ma'am"Maria replied and Madam Penelope raised up her hand dismissing them. They stood up leaving the office and head back to the car where Elisa is patiently waiting for them.

"How was it?!"Elisa asked immediately her eyes landed on them

"It was.... Okay"Maria replied shrugging and they entered the car

"So what job were you given?"Elisa asked and Maria realized she didn't make any enquiries about the job

"What?!"Elisa said looking confused

"I forget to ask all that!"Maria said face palming

"You should have, this is crazy"Elisa said shaking her head

"Remember you have a training to begin so you can ask when you get here tomorrow"Carlo said and Maria nodded

"Don't forget tomorrow again"Elisa said playfully and they all chuckled

****

Carlo dropped Maria in the front of her house, she waved him and Elisa goodbye before walking inside the house. She wondered what she's going to tell her parents about the job, she definitely can't tell them she's going to be working in a casino. Pushing the door open she met her parents in a very heated argument, that broke her heart immediately. She doesn't like a situation where her family fights all day everyday

"Mamma!"she called looking at her mom "papa!"she said turning her attention to her dad, they look ashamed of the act Maria caught them in. Maria is so angry and sad at the same time that she didn't even think twice before saying her next words

"I found a job, the one that pays much more better than the one I have before"Maria said and her parents turned their attention on her

"Where? And it's still not enough to settle for everything, remember we were given a month"Lucia said and Andrea look away, feeling ashamed of himself

"I told them I will work extra hours and begged them to pay me 6 months in advance"Maria lied

"My poor daughter" her mom said going over to hold her hand

"you're not suppose to be carrying our cross"

"I don't mind mom. I know it's not enough to cover for all we owe but at least enough to ask for more time"Maria said

"I will try to raise as much as I can too"Andrea added and his wife shot him a look

"No more borrowing!"Lucia said and Andrea nodded

"Yes no more borrowing"Andrea replied

"So you two should stop fighting, let's be in one page and see how we can settle this once and for all"Maria says

"I agree with you"Andrea replied and Maria gave him a grateful smile

"Come here my baby"Lucia said hugging Maria, Maria giggled.