Little Lila

eight | they know me

We drove right to the Clemente's estate upon arrival in Spain. The Rhodes and the Bertellis are already there. Everyone is waiting for us. 

Mother said they're waiting for me. "The Rhodes girl, Evelyn, my, my. She loved you when you both were small. She thought of you as her sister." 

"Oh," I whisper. I don't remember Evelyn at all. Mother explains Evelyn was only five when I was kidnapped, so she hopefully doesn't remember me very much, either. 

The car pulls up to the guarded gates, and we're driven inside. Pierre is giddy with excitement. "I can't wait to see Evelyn... and Warren, I guess." 

I look at him weirdly. "What's wrong with Warren?" Warren is the back-up heir to the Italian Mafia, but he is still trained like a real heir. Death isn't taken lightly in the mafia. 

Alexandre helps me out of the car and sets me softly onto the ground. "Nothing's wrong with him, flower. Pierre has a crush on Evelyn, and Warren does, too. They're both immature. Evelyn can do better." 

I giggle at Alexandre's stoic words and Pierre's gob-smacked expression. "My own brother! You're supposed to be on my side!" 

The door opens, and a maid greets us with a smile and ushers us into the house. The foyer is bustling with servants and guards and mafia families. 

A maid takes my baby pink coat before I can object, leaving me in a white, lace, long-sleeved dress. It stops at my knees, but I have white stockings on, too. 

Mother suddenly greets a woman with a great big smile and an air-kiss on her cheek. The woman turns to me. "Lila, I am Mrs. Monet. You are so grown now!" 

I smile politely, but I don't like this. She's acting as if we haven't seen each other for just a few months, when, in reality, I have led a horrible life up until this point. 

I'm ushered into a dining room and seated between my parents. A pretty, brunette girl with soft features sits across from me. I'm awestruck by her beauty. She smiles at me. 

Evelyn. 

"Friends! That's what we are," The girl smiles at me. 

I don't know her, but Mama stands next to her with a smile. So, I smile and nod at the strange older girl. 

Dinner is dull. 

I feel all stiff. The room is stuffy with stuffy mafia people. The adults talk about business and the younger ones have their own groups and conversations. 

Evelyn and I look like lost ducks. 

I see Pierre glance and smile at Evelyn from time-to-time, but she always blushes and looks away, and Warren glares at my brother sharply. 

Evelyn sneaks out when dinner begins to be cleared, even though one of her brothers tries to say dessert hasn't been brought out yet, but she's already left. 

"Why don't you go with her, Lila?" Mother suggests. I don't really want to, but I know not to disagree, so I nod and follow her. 

Evelyn is in the garden. I sit next to her on the bench. The moon illuminates us. The air is thick with humidity. I'm already sweating.

Evelyn seems startled by my presence. She mumbles something incoherent. With nerves bundled in me, I sputter out, "We were friends." 

"Yes... we are friends, I suppose. We were both kidnapped." What does being kidnapped have to do with being friends? 

"Mhm. Weren't you in England?" What was her kidnapping like? Did she have a normal life there, or a controlled one like mine? 

"Yes. You?"