Page 9

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Lunchtime was hell.And I thought I left hell back in Palermo. I was wrong. Hell is lunchtime in an elementary school cafeteria. Hundreds of eyes peered at me as I walked in. Then the whispers started. “I heard her parents died in a fire she set…”
“Her uncle is a Pimp.”
“A real one?”
“Yeah.”
“She looks like a freak with that pale skin and that red hair. No Italian looks like that. She’s fake.”
Some spoke in Italian while others were harder to make out. But it was easy to understand no one wanted me here.
Hurriedly, I stumbled in the food line, quickly grabbed whatever was there before finding my way to a table scrunched in between the garbage and an emergency exit.
“Yo! Freak!”
I turned and that was a mistake. A wad of hot mush met me in the face. I swore vehemently in Italian before grabbing a pile of napkins to clean myself.
With a bang, I set my tray down and faced the group of sixth grade boys rolling with laughter.
Fuck them, I thought. I picked up my own plate of slop and hurled it right in the face of the closest boy to me. Then I jumped on their table and pretended their food was a soccer ball and launched all sorts of shit in their stunned faces. The grand finale was me, hurtling through the air like a Diva from Monday Night Raw as I jumped high, landing on the group of boys trying to flee my ugly scene.
Some fought back.
But I gave as good as I got.
“Bella? Suspension on your first day?”
“I’m sorry, Zio. But I will never be afraid of anyone ever again. Especially not some Brooklyn bornItaliano.I’m a true blood. I’m a mafioso queen. How dare they?”
“Ah, bella.” Zio hugged me tight. “You are a tiny tigress. A true survivor. Those boys didn’t know what was coming.”
“But save the fight for Salvatore not the schoolyard, eh?’
“I’ll try, Zio.”
But no one ever fucked with me again. I ruled the school after my first day. They called me Little Italy. I liked it. If they only knew how powerful my bloodline was. My people ruled all their people back in the day on that tiny slice of Mediterranean paradise I’ll always call home. But my secrets needed to stay my secrets until the time and day comes when Romina Fiorelli rises.