Chapter 2 Selling your girl
1673 Words
A couple of days later,
"Riccardo, I mean it," John begs the big mafia boss.
"My daughter is worth it." He tells him and Riccardo shakes his head.
"I don't know who you think you have in front of you, but we don't do this kind of thing… buying people for s*x." He informs John. But John wants to try again.
"But she's young, she's still a virgin.. and.." He tries and Riccardo gets furious and hits the table with his fist.
"ENOUGH!! NO! IT'S YOUR DAUGHTER YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!" He yells at the man.
“ARE YOU F**KING NUTS!? YOU’RE TRYING TO SELL ME YOUR VIRGIN DAUGHTER, YOU PIECE OF SH*T!" Riccardo is about to lose it, so Riccardo’s best friend and cousin Luca pushes himself off the wall and grabs John by his arm, to yank him out of the chair.
“Leave John, you’re disgusting, we’re done working with you,” Riccardo says coldly.
“Take him outside,” he commands his cousin Luca, and he pulls John out of the office.
"Luca, you need to talk to him." Begs John when he is brought out.
"I don't need anything, old man. Shame on you, sell your daughter?" He shakes his head at John and he throws John out.
John sits with his hands in his hair. Every month, he gets a visit from the two men and they beat him completely.
Every time his daughter is happily at work, the best solution would be for her to be with the Ferrantes.
They have a strong bond with two other strong Italian families and no one dares to take them on, so his daughter would be safe there. He knows Jimmy and Bobby are afraid of the Italians, they don’t provoke them.
But John did not dare to beg Riccardo again. He thought selling his daughter to Riccardo would give him the money to pay his debts, and the safety of his daughter, and after that, they would start over.
But Riccardo Ferrante doesn't venture into that kind of practice.
None of the Italian families do.
There is a hard line when it comes to women, a line the Italians do not cross, ever!
Especially since the events of recent months, they promised each other to take back on the illegal sh*t. Not that it is working already, but they’re trying.
"Ricco," Luca walks back into the office.
"John is in debt to Jimmy Olson." He starts explaining and Ricco looks up.
"If he sells his daughter to you so easily." Luca doesn't finish his sentence and Riccardo sighs.
"When Jimmy gets impatient, John has lost his daughter to him." Riccardo answers and Luca nods.
"I don't want to interfere with this." He explains. “We don’t have any problems with Jimmy or Bobby for that matter, and I like to keep it that way.” He sighs.
But everyone knows how Jimmy treats his women and how terrible life is for them.
So, doing nothing is no longer an option. He doesn't know John's daughter, he also has no idea what to offer her and what to do with her, but he can't let her walk into the hands of Jimmy Olson.
He knows that his father Roberto would put him on the chopping block himself if he didn't help a woman in need.
"Luca, find out what the number is, let me call Enrico and Vince, we talk this through," Riccardo tells Luca, and Luca nods and goes to investigate.
Riccardo then calls his father. Roberto is officially retired and has left everything in the hands of his oldest son, Riccardo, so he could spend more time with his wife and his daughter, who just had twins herself.
After that call, he calls his companion, Vincenzo Bellucci, the husband of his sister Valentina and after that, he calls his newfound friend Enrico Lamberti, officially the brother of Valentina.
"Here," Luca puts a stack of documents on the table. Riccardo opens the documents, to scan them, and then he opens his phone to check the date.
"Get the car ready, we have to hurry." He tells Luca and he takes the papers with him.
Together with Luca, he quickly walks down the club to the car.
He gets in the back of the car and checks his weapon and Luca drives to the address.
When they are there, Riccardo gets out and knocks on the door of the house.
No one opens.
Riccardo tries again and shouts through the mailbox.
When they are about to leave, the door opens and Riccardo sees the crippled man.
Riccardo shakes his head and pushes the door further open and walks inside.
"From where do I have this honor, Mr. Ferrante," John asks, and Riccardo takes in the house.
It is small, but neat, and maintained.
"Jimmy is going to put you in tomorrow, you end up in jail and then there is no one left to protect your daughter." He starts and John looks up with big eyes.
"If you don't pay Jimmy, you'll be dead the day after tomorrow." He continues and John holds on to the table.
"Vivian can come and work for me and I'll pay off your debt so Vivian keeps a father she can visit in prison," Riccardo explains, and John looks at Riccardo.
"What is he setting me up for?" Asks John.
" Double homicide." Luca answers and John nods.
"I'll never be outside again." He sighs and Luca shakes his head.
"Our man inside told us that Jimmy bribed someone. If you get brought in tomorrow and you don't pay, he'll have you slaughtered in prison and they pick up your daughter at the yoga studio," Luca informs John.
"Tell me, John." Riccardo starts "Did you know Bobby Olson owns that studio and is her f**king boss!?"
John's eyes are still big. He shakes his head because he knows now that they already have access to his little girl.
John sheds a tear for the first time.
"My Vivian has already had so much to endure with her mother and with me," he says softly and shakes his head.
"I offer you a way out. I have the money with me. You can bring it to Jimmy. I'm not going to do that for you. Bring your daughter to me and I'll make sure she has a job, is protected and for as long as necessary, and when you're ready you can explain everything to her and discuss whether she stays here or leaves the country. If that is the case, I will facilitate everything for that." Riccardo tells him and John looks up.
"Why?" he asks, and Riccardo sighs,
"Because if I had a daughter of my own, I would also like someone to take good care of her, because I made a promise, before the eyes of God, that I would do everything I could to protect the innocent." He explains and John nods.
"I'll arrange it today with Jimmy and Vivian." John answers and Riccardo and Luca leave the money with John and then go back to their car.
“Oh and John, this is to help you. I’m not buying your girl!” Riccardo yells at him and John nods.
"Call Brian and let John follow. If he does something that has not been agreed upon, I want to be called," Riccardo commands, and Luca nods.
That night, Vivian comes home and her father calls her to him.
"Viv, listen." He starts.
"I've gotten myself into trouble, so much so, that tomorrow everything will change." He continues, and young Vivian looks up at her father.
"Tomorrow I will be arrested and they accuse me of double homicide." He tells her and his daughter is startled.
"I didn't do it, but the people who did it, I can never win from them." He sighs and he takes his daughter's hand and Vivian looks at her father's broken hands.
"You should know that I always love you and right now your life is in danger too." He tells her and Vivian looks up at her father.
"Tomorrow morning you will go to Riccardo Ferrante's office, he can offer you a job and protect you from the people who are trying to catch me."
His daughter bites her lip.
"But dad, I have a job here." She starts. She rather goes on a trip with Bobby.
Her father shakes his head.
"Not anymore, you have to quit. Riccardo can protect you. The people who want to get me are afraid of him. He has promised to help you and be good to you. He knows enough people who can help you find a job and a safe place. Please, Viv, do it for me. Riccardo always knows how to reach me, so this is not a farewell." He pleads with his daughter and after many tears and a lot of conviction, and arguing, the nineteen-year-old Vivian walks up the stairs to grab her clothes in a large sports bag.
She also packs her camera stuff and the laptop for the website, at least she can still do that.
She doesn't know the man, so she has no idea what to expect.
The next morning, Vivian says goodbye to her father and, with her three bags, she walks out the door. It is still dark outside.
She walks past the yoga studio to the taxi stand and when she sees a taxi coming in the distance, she waves her hand, but before the taxi can stop, a large black car with blinded windows stops and the door on the passenger side opens.
"Good morning, Miss Ward?" a man asks, and Vivian jumps back.
"I was sent by Mr. Ferrante to pick you up." He tells her.
When sirens sound in the distance, the man quickly grabs her things and throws them into the tailgate of the car.
"We have to hurry." He grabs her arm and pushes her into the back seat of the car.
- Writer
