I Owe My Mafia Brothers Money

2

I woke up excited for a new beginning but also nervous.

The uniform was cute. I was wearing a bottle green blazer that compliments my eye color. Underneath the blazer, I had a plain white shirt. The tartan skirt that fell on the knee was matched with black tights and shoes of the same color.

The private school I was admitted to was pretty special. The Santel brothers were students there. Santels were popular in the city, not for good reasons.

This is a family from which my brother borrowed money. They were dangerous, scary people and they only cared about themselves and profits of course.

On the first day, I met Zachary. He was an unusual person, colorful for sure, which got him in trouble on the first day because teachers instantly asked him why is he wearing an orange tie instead of the blue and green one the school was required.

Well, Zachary just felt like wearing something different today, what can you do right?

"Don't look at them for so long" Zach said into my ear quietly with an amused voice as we walked into the cafeteria.

Ah yes, Santel brothers. Don't look, don't breath, don't stare in their direction. I didn't want to reveal that I'm already aware of their horrible reputation.

"They're the Santels brothers" he whispered in a conspiratorial whisper as the surname alone was illegal "Stay away from them. They're dangerous"

I knew what this family was capable of. Definitely not all of it but I didn't want to find out on my skin. It was better to ignore them.

"How do you know they're dangerous?" I asked.

"Because of their reputation at school besides my dad works for them," Zach said as it explained everything and in a way, it did. "It's a new thing but they provide him with a good cash so he's not really complaining. Every time he comes back from the meeting with Gideon Santel he looks like he saw a ghost. And who can blame him all of them feel kinda shady? Anyway, I don't get why girls swarm to them like moths to the flame. I hope you're not one of them"

"Oh. No, no worries sweetie. My goal is to stay out of their sight. After all, you just said to me to not look at them, I have no choice but to listen" I said playfully.

"They're hard to ignore though" Zachary admitted and took a glance at the table in the center of the cafeteria that was swarmed by many different people who were greeting Santels as if they were celebrities who visited school premises and not a normal student.

I took a moment to look at them as well.

"So which one is who?"

"The one with a Barbie girl giggling on his lap is Julien. He's senior like Blake. Technically he's not their biological brother but a cousin who got adopted. He dates a lot doesn't do commitments that's why half of the female school population hates him, I don't know where does he gets this girl from" Zach sounded jealous when he mentioned girls. "Tobias is a junior like us. At least once a month someone ends beaten to the pulp by him, he really doesn't need much that one. But he always ends up getting away with this I'm sure it has something to do with his family donating hefty sums to the school fund.

"What about the last ones?"

"Blake is the one calling the shots. He's a dick"

"Seems like you've made some profound observations"

"Santels are the core element of every school gossip so everyone has their own theory what's their deal"

I suppressed an eye roll. Of course, they do. People smell power and money. And not only that. Who wouldn't want a loyal family? The one which members are ready to go into the fire for you?  Being in their sphere of influence must have been thrilling to people until they fucked up and were disposed of like trash. Chris told me once they turn your back on you you're done, forever. They don't take apologies. They're ruthless, cruel. And people find it impressive? Well. I don't.

After lessons ended Zach went to the school's library with me.

"The first day of school and you already intend to study?"

I looked at him and took a minute to decide if I want him to know, finally, I decided there's no reason to hide it.

"I've got a scholarship here. If I won't keep up good grades I won't be able to stay for the second semester so yeah I think the first day is a good day to start but I'm not really planning to study right now. I need to check something and I can't do it on the computer in my house"

"Now I'm intrigued. I'm staying too, if you don't mind"

"Oh not at all. You can actually help me"

"You must be really smart if you managed to get in through scholarship. I think our school gives like three scholarships a year?"

I blushed. I never knew how to take a compliment.

"I'm not really smart, I just had good motivation to work for it. Anyone can get scholarship if they really want" I shrugged my arms feeling like I need to downplay my achievement.

🌹🌸🌹

"How to find my biological parents?" Zach read out loud the sentence I typed out on Google search.

"I'm adopted"

"Wait?! Oh I mean, wow. That's interesting. I mean-"

"Zach, relax. It's not something that's difficult for me to talk about. When I was adopted I was old enough to realize someone started missing from from my life"

I kept surprising him, right? It's not like I ever tried to keep it a secret from anyone. I did not consider it to be a sensitive topic.

When my biological mother died I was old enough to understand what happened so no one ever had to explain to me why the person who raised me is not the same person who gave birth to me.

"I would like to find my biological father. I'm trying to find info here and not at home because I'm not sure if I want my mom would be happy if she knew I'm doing this"

"You know, Lena, with every second you're just getting more and more interesting"

"Thank you, I'm trying" I grinned at him.

I had nothing to search for at my adoption agency until I'm 18. They wouldn't give me access to a birth certificate or any information related to my mother right now.

Thankfully, I had some memory, even if cloudy. When mom died I was old enough to know what her name is, what our home address it, when are my birthday, etc.

What I had no idea about was my father. When I was a kid I didn't understand why I didn't have one and after I was adopted and once I got one I could enjoy his presence in my life for a very small amount of time.

I checked several public databases but so far I found nothing relevant. I was thankful to Zach who instead of abandoning me started helping with my search. He was sitting next to me and I noticed by the speed of his typing that he would be a really good gamer. I was slowly giving up on my search after an hour of uneventful work.

"I think I've found something," Zach said.

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