Trapped by the Don

Chapter 1 - My family

Myra Shah

"Papa, I won't go if you don't want me to go. I will just call Sofia and tell her to cancel my tickets." I can never make my parents sad.

"Beti, go and enjoy with your friends. You have always been a good girl and never crossed your line. It's your day to celebrate before you take on your new responsibilities. I don't have any problem my dear. Why do you think that I don't want you to go with your friends?" Papa asked.

"Papa, I know you are struggling to make ends meet. I don't want to make any extra burden on you." I said in a low voice.

"Oh my dear, we are really lucky to get a daughter like you. You always think about your family before anything." My mamma came and hugged me.

"A small trip with your friends is not going to affect my income expenditure balance. Just go and enjoy it with your friends and don't dare think about the expenditure. It's your day to enjoy. You have already made us proud with your results." Dad said and went to his room.

He came back soon with an envelope. He exchanged looks with mamma and she winked at him back.

"This is a small gift from your mamma and me for your success." He gave me the envelope.

With trembling hands I took it and opened it to find about a thousand euros and a bracelet. I looked at my parents and back again to my hands.

"It's true that after the pandemic our economic condition is not good. But your parents are still alive and we know what's best for our kids." Mamma said,

"Your mamma is right. We have been saving all through our life to make your life secure. Your mother always supported me and helped me to save more. She never asked for a fancy life. She lived and also taught you and your brother how to live a simple life. We have been saving for your studies and our future. This is not our homeland. One day we will have to return back to our country and that's why we used all our savings to buy some properties and a house in India. But we weren't aware of the unforeseen pandemic. It changed everything. I lost my well paying job. But we couldn't go back because you were in the middle of your graduation year. That's when your mother came forward with her business ideas." Papa said,

"Cooking was always my passion but I never thought that it could change my life. The small business we started with baking cakes is now a full fledged business. We didn't want to bother you or Sunny with our problems and that's why we sent you to your uncle in France. In the six months when you were away from us, we tried our best to make our small venture successful. Today we have two pieces of good news for you. First one your father got his job back and secondly, I am opening a new restaurant next week." Mamma's words just blew my mind.

I couldn't believe my ears. My father got his job back and moreover my mother is now a businesswoman. I couldn't hold my happiness. With a shriek I hugged them both. Sunny came running down hearing my shriek.

"What happened?" He asked.

I showed him the envelope and told him what I just got to know. He joined me and we all ended up dancing. Now let me tell you all my story.

Hello, I am Myra Shah. I am 20 and I have just graduated. I have a lovely family consisting of my father Mahesh Shah, my mother Sushma Shah and my little brother Sunil Shah and we call him Sunny. My parents shifted to Milan in Italy when I was 12 and my brother was nine. We have visited India just about four times in the last 9 years. So you can call me an Italian with an Indian heart. Well it's not going to change my identity. I will always be an Indian wherever I live or die. That's how my parents have brought me up.

Italy is my home now and I love every aspect of this country. My father came here when his business in India was broken. He was actually cheated by his own friend. His elder brother helped him to pay off his debt. At that time my maternal uncle who had business here in Italy helped him to find a job. Now my maternal uncle is in France with his family. Both my father and mother were reluctant in the beginning to shift here just because of me and Sunny. They were actually afraid that we might be influenced by Italian culture which is entirely different from the traditional Indian culture they have been following.

But they didn't have any other choice than to shift here. Mamma always took care to keep both me and Sunny close to our culture. I was in my 7th grade when we shifted here. I had struggled a lot to learn the language as well as to accept the new environment. Sofia was the first to become my friend. We met on the school bus. She was actually in 8th grade then. We used to sit together while going to school and coming back. She actually helped me to learn Italian. That year during the vacations her family met with an accident. She was bed ridden for the next 10 months. She had also lost her brother and father. Only family she had left was her mother. Her mother struggled hard during those days between the hospital and her work. My mother came forward and offered to look after Sofia during the daytime. Sofia's mother was struggling to make the ends meet. They became homeless. My parents brought them to our house and allowed them to stay with us until they got a new place. They stayed with us for about 2 months until her mother was able to afford a place to rent. During those two months we became really close. Next year she joined back in my class and since then we have been inseparable. We both graduated last week and she wants to celebrate. Both of us even got direct selection through campus recruitment in one of the prestigious companies. I have never gone so far without my family and this time my father has allowed me to go and explore with Sofia. I am really excited. Finally I will be able to go and celebrate with my friends for all those hard working years.

"By the way di, where are you going?" Sunny asked, grabbing a bottle of water from the refrigerator.

"Sofia said we can go and visit Rome." I said.

"Are you guys going by train?" Sunny asked.

"Yes, Cindy is with us. She knows every nook and corner of Rome." I replied.

"Enjoy di and don't forget to get my present." Sunny said,

"A present! For what?" I asked.

"Well you can buy it in advance for my birthday." He said,

"Your birthday is next month. I will get my first paycheck by then." I said with a smile.

"It's going to be my special birthday. Finally, I will be a man officially. No one is going to boy me anymore."

Sunny is going to be 18 next month. On his every birthday he refuses to take any presents from papa or mamma and that's because he has been away from us but not physically. Since the day he returned to us as our old Sunny, he has been waiting for his 18th birthday and also has demanded 18 presents. I am sure that papa would have already bought them. I'm actually really excited that I would be able to give him a present from my first paycheck.

"Yes, it's really special and I don't want to give you anything ordinary. Just wait for my surprise. Just be patient until your birthday." I said caressing his head.

He gave me a hug before going back to his room. I will be moving out in a week to a new place. The company that had hired me as their new trainee is 2 hours away. I was reluctant to accept the offer but papa insisted on taking the offer. The pay is good as well as they are offering free accommodation. Moreover it is one of the reputed companies of the country and papa didn't want me to lose such an opportunity. Sofia also got the offer and she was adamant that she would accept it only if I did. Mamma didn't have any objection if Sofia was with me. After the two day outing to Rome, I will be joining the company on the first of next month which is just 5 days away.

Sunny and I have been really close since we were kids. After we shifted here from India, he slowly began to change. He made new friends and was deeply attracted to their lifestyle. He just wanted to be like them. Mamma was always worried but papa always took his side. Papa always supported him saying that he is a boy and let him enjoy it with his friends. But that made us apart. We became poles apart that he didn't even recognise me as his sister in front of his friends. By the time he became 15, he had made a huge friends circle which even included boys who were much older than him. Slowly papa also began to get worried about him. Mamma and papa even thought about moving back to India just because of Sunny. But as it says, whatever happens, happens for the best, an incident changed everything.

It was a Friday and I was alone at home as my parents had to go for an official party. As usual Sunny went out as soon as papa and mamma left. So I locked the door and went to my room. Even though our house was small, we had three rooms. Half an hour later when I was about to go to take a shower, the bell rang. I quickly went out and checked who was outside through the peephole. When I saw Sunny's face I quickly opened the door. But that was a terrible mistake. He was not alone. He had brought his friends with him. I could smell alcohol from him and he was not able to stand straight on his feet. He pushed me aside, and entered the house with his friends. Some of his friends brushed my body parts while they entered. I didn't know what to do. So I went back to my room to call my parents.

I took my phone from the bed and was about to dial my father when someone from behind grabbed me by the waist and threw me on the bed. I was terrified and quickly turned around to see 4 of Sunny's so-called friends looking at me with lust. Sunny wasn't with them. I called out his name but he never came.

"Don't worry about your little brother. He has been taken care of. Now let us take care of you sweetheart."

The red haired tall boy who probably would be older than me, climbed up on the bed and was about to launch himself on me. Somehow I slipped to the side and got down from the bed but was caught by another one and I screamed again at the top of my voice. I could just call Sunny for help.

"Why would we waste our money on a dumbass like your brother? It's just for you. Do you remember me? I used to be your senior in school. You never gave a dime to look at me. Now it's time that you know your real place. You filthy scumbags, you should be grateful that we allowed you to stay in our land. Now it's time to pay for our generosity."

Suddenly he got hold of my oversized t-shirt and tore apart showing off my bra. I didn't know what to do. My feminine instinct worked and kicked the one in front of me making him kneel down holding his crotch. As soon as I got a way I ran forward and got out of the room. I knew they were following me and so I ran straight to the dining table where I had left the kitchen knife after cutting the apple. Without wasting any second I grabbed it and turned around and pointed it to the boys approaching me. As soon as they saw the knife, they started to laugh.

"Do you think that will be enough for all of us?"

One of them said and came towards me. I was really scared and didn't know what to do when suddenly the boy was thrown away to the side. When I looked up there stood my brother and his best friend Dani all set to attack. But how could they stand all these grownups? Sunny said as if he read my mind.

"Di, go and lock yourself in Papa's room. Call for help. We will stop them."

Before anyone else could reach me Sunny and Dani blocked them. I took the chance and ran to my parents room. It had the strongest door of our house. Once I locked the door, I searched for mamma's phone. She doesn't like to take her phone when she goes out with papa. I did know that papa and mamma won't be able to reach us on time. So I called Sofia instead. Her mother's friend is in the police and they could definitely help me in that situation. Within ten minutes I heard a knock at the door and Sofia's voice.

"We are here Myra, you are safe now."

I was about to open the door when I noticed my torn t-shirt. I quickly changed to one of mamma's dresses and opened the door. It was a dreadful night. All the boys were taken, including my brother. My parents were really scared and they even thought about sending Sunny to jail. I told them how he saved me and convinced them to forgive him for the last time. After that incident he changed. He had never touched alcohol or any other drugs after that day. He went to a rehab and came out just like our old Sunny. Dani was also saved from the bad gang. So now I have a wonderful loving family.