LVIII *NOT EDITED*
Karma
"So are you going to tell me the other surprise yet?" I ask Vincenzo as he pulls into the garage, "Nope, you'll find out soon enough" He smiles turning off the car, Iggy and Gio get out and call Hades to follow them, "Come on big boy, you need a bath" Iggy laughs looking at all the sand over his body, we did wash him at the public showers but while everyone else was washing the sand and saltwater off of them and getting changed he ran to the beach, rolled around in the sand again and then went straight into the car. "Oh, I should tell you that everyone's coming over for dinner tonight, but that's not the surprise" Vin winks before opening his door and getting out of the car. I watch as he walks around to my side of the car and opens my door "Why are they coming?" I ask with a stomach full of nerves, don't get me wrong I love and miss everyone but I haven't seen any of them since I took off on a drug-fueled binge.
"For you" He smirks, I stare at him for a few seconds before my face deadpans "Who told you?" I question, he holds out his hand and I take it as he helps me out of the car "I have no idea what you're talking about" He tries to play off but I know what he's crapping on about, "Who told you Vin?" I ask again this time with a more serious face. I watch him as he tries to come up with an answer "Someone, but on another note. Happy birthday mi amore" He leans down and gently kisses me before turning around and dragging me into the house, "I hate my birthday" I mumble under my breath, "I know, that's why I had to find out when it actually was. I knew you'd never tell me" He laughs.
As soon as I step foot into the house my nose is met with a sweet smell, a smell I know all too well "Is that?.." I begin and he just nods his head. Without a second thought, I start running, trying to find my final surprise. I turn the corner and go into the kitchen and that's when I see her, "Emmy moo" I cry out. Her beautiful smile lights up the room, I run and jump onto her clinging to her like it's the last time I'll ever be with her again, overwhelmed with emotions I start crying "Happy birthday my gorgeous girl" She hums burying her face into my neck and squeezing me tightly. I pull my head back and cup her face "It's really you" I sob. I let go and climb off of her still trying to process that she's here, in my house, right in front of me, for real life! I turn and look behind me to see Vincenzo standing there with a proud look on his face, he should be proud this was honestly the last thing I expected. I go over to him and give him a giant hug squeezing his body as hard as I can "Thank you Vin, this is the best surprise".
For the next two hours we caught up on everything, I told her about my little field trip, how I was brought back here but in order for her to understand, I had to explain our lifestyle. "So he's the leader?" She asks looking between all of us "Yes and no, more like they both are" Iggy smiles "I'll be honest, Karma's the real one in charge". Emily laughs "I wouldn't expect any less. And you two work for him?" She asks Gio and Iggy, they nod their heads yes "And Lukas and Stefano". "How did you even get out here?" I ask trying to change the subject away from my brother, "Stefano actually" She replies and I can feel my heart drop, "He's-he's here?" I ask quietly. "Yeah he went upstairs for a shower when we got here and I haven't seen him since" I nod my head and stand up from my seat, "I'll be back".
I head straight upstairs and try to listen to see if I can pinpoint what bathroom he's in, I check the first one and gently knock but there's no response so I go to the second one, I knock a little harder this time and the door opens as I do my last knock, must not have been closed properly. The first thing I see is Stefano sitting on the edge of the bath with a Tourniquet around his upper arm and a needle hanging out of the inside of his elbow. My stomach drops before it turns to rage, rage because he can go off on me calling me a junkie but it's okay for him to do it. "Karma.." He begins but I cut him off instantly "Oh, but I'm the fucking junkie huh?" I scoff, "just listen" He tries again but I'm not having it. "How fucking dare you" I hiss through my teeth, he opens his mouth to speak again but I can't look at him, I want to strangle him with my bare hands.
So I do what's right, I close the door and go back downstairs. I don't want to ruin all of Vincenzo's planning for today, he's obviously worked hard on it, so I'll put on a fake smile and I'll deal with it tomorrow or something. I go back into the kitchen and I know that everyone knows something's wrong but no one asks, thank god. No less than a minute later Stefano walks in and I want to throw up at the sight of him, "Come on Em, let's go talk in private" I say grabbing her hand and dragging her out of the kitchen and into the lounge room. "What's wrong?" She whispers as we go farther away from everyone, I hear snoring so I look to where it's coming from and see Hades passed out on the couch, I return my attention to Emily "I just walked into Stefano shooting up" I almost gag saying the sentence, her face looks just as shocked as mine "I don't want to talk about it today, Vin's gone to all this trouble it can wait".
She sits there in silence before smiling like a maniac, "What?" I ask trying to figure out what's going on in her pretty little brain "Do you remember what we used to do when we were sad?". "Drugs?" I reply instantly, her smile disappears "No Karma, we used to put on performances. Shall we?" I think back to the days that we would blast music and dance and sing for whoever was there, I nod my head in agreement "Our song?" I ask and she laughs "Of course our song, and it will be even funnier now since you're actually married".
We hook my phone up to the speakers in the house and get ready, "You sure you want to do this?" I ask just making sure, "Of fucking course I want to. Now, let's give them a show sugar" She laughs as she presses play. We run into the kitchen as the song begins to play, the boys look confused as to what's going on but something is telling me that Iggy is going to love every fucking second of this, Emily grabs a banana to use as a microphone and I grab a wooden spoon. Emily starts off first climbing onto the kitchen table and looking Vincenzo dead straight in the eyes "I ain't got no motherfuckin friends, That's why I fucked yo' bitch, you fat motherfucker" she raps the first line with her full fucking chest and I swear to god my soul has been snatched from my body.
Vincenzo's face drops but Iggy and Gio burst out laughing, Iggy might even pee his pants his laughing so hard, Emily climbs off the table still keeping eye contact with Vincenzo, she grabs me and pulls me into her while running her hand over my body "First off, fuck your bitch and the click you claim, Westside when we ride come equipped with game, You claim to be a player but I fucked your wife, We bust on Bad Boy bitches fucked for life". Obviously, we had to change words since were both as white as a snowman. I start the next part "Plus Puffy tryin' ta see me weak hearts I rip, Biggie Smalls and Junior M. A. F. I. A. Some mark-ass bitches, We keep on comin' while we runnin' for yo' jewels, Steady gunnin, keep on bustin at them fools, you know the rules. Lil' Ceaser, go ask ya homie how I leave ya, Cut your young ass up, leave you in pieces now be deceased" Iggy and Gio stand up and begin to join us in our perfomance.
The four of us jump and dance around the kitchen while Vincenzo tries to process what the fucks going on and I imagine Stefanos fucking tripping right now, towards the end of the song someone standing in the kitchen doorway makes me stop in my tracks. The music cuts and I stare as my Nonna and Nonno stare at all of us, I don't know what to do so I bow like I've just performed for millions of fans, Nonno stands there with a look on his face but Nonna claps her hands. "Can you boys go and get all the food out of the cars?" My Nonno asks acting like the past 30 seconds never happened.
Once everyone's left the room Nonno cracks a smile, "I love seeing you happy bella angelo" 'beautiful angel'. He walks over and hugs me, tighter than he's ever hugged me before "Happy birthday princess, here's to many many more" He hums before pulling back, cupping my face and kissing my cheeks before moving his attention to Emily. Next, my Nonna comes over, she softly caresses my face before smacking the back of my head "Ow" I whisper while rubbing it, she pulls me in for a hug and takes a deep breath "Non mi interessa quanto sia dura la vita, non scappare mai più su di noi" 'i don't care how hard life gets, never run off on us again'. She pulls out of the hug and looks me in the eyes "I won't nonna, I'm sorry" I whisper, "Promise me Karma" She sternly replies "I promise". She smiles softly before reaching into her purse and pulling out a small box wrapped in white silk with a silver bow, "Open it later, Happy birthday darling", I take the present out of her hand before kissing her cheeks "Thank you Nonna".
The boys come back in carrying large plates covered in tin foil, Nonna starts telling them how she wants them placed and arranged as Emily and I sit back and watch. Catching me off guard something slams into my lower legs knocking me to the ground "Karmaaaaaaaaaaa" A small squeaky voice squeals and I know exactly who it is "My gorgeous princess" I smile watching as Arabella climbs on top of me and hugs me "I've missed you, where did you go?" She asks with puppy dog eyes, not the damn puppy dog eyes "Uhhhh..." I begin trying to think of an excuse, her parents stand behind her and answer it for me thankfully "Remember, we told you she went on a spa holiday", I give them a silent thank you before returning my attention to Arabella "Exactly what you parents said, I went on a spa holiday, I needed to relax a little".
She climbs off of me and impatiently waits until I pick myself up off of the ground, once I'm standing upright again I pick her up and give her a proper hug, "Promise you'll tell me if you go on another spa holiday, I was worried when you weren't at the house". My heart breaks hearing how worried everyone was, I feel like such a piece of shit for doing that to everyone "I promise" I croak out while a small amount of tears begin to fall. I put her back down and my eyes land on Vincenzo's mum next... I mean my mum I guess? She smiles and walks over to me giving me a hug "I thought we would never see you again" She whispers so Arabella doesn't hear "I thought that too". She lets go and stares at me, "You're a warrior karma, but sometimes even warriors need help. Remember that, we're all here to help, we're family, and most importantly we love you", The last part catches me off guard, my throat feels like it's closed up as I try and hold back the rest of the tears that want to come out "I love you's too" Is all I can manage to get out, she gives me a knowing nod before walking off to greet Emily.
Next, his dad comes over to me, grabs my hand and walks me out of the kitchen. I look over my shoulder to Vincenzo who looks confused as I am. Now this man makes me nervous, I don't know if he's going to yell at me, beat my ass or disown me and throw me to the wolves. We walk into the lounge room and he sits on the couch gesturing me to sit on the couch next to me, I hesitate for a second and he laughs "Come on, I don't bite". I basically shuffle my feet until I get to the couch and sit down next to him waiting for the lecture I'm about to receive. "There's a lot I could say" He begins, I bite down on my bottom lip waiting for it "But today's not the day to say it. first of all, happy birthday Karma. Secondly I wanted to give you this" He smiles passing me a black and gold box "Open it".
I slowly open it and pull out what's inside, it looks like a vase but the longer I look the more it looks like an urn, "Is this a subtle way of telling me you'll kill me if I pull that type of shit again?" He bursts out laughing which honestly scares me a little, "No, no, no, well... Yes but also no" He begins, my hands begin to sweat like crazy and I'm planning an exit strategy if need be. "Read the writing on it," He says pointing to the back of it. I turn it around and my eyes go to the picture engraved on it above the words for I think the first time in my life I'm somewhat speechless, "Papa" I whisper softly running my thumb over it, "I've held onto this since the day he died. I knew your mother would have thrown it in the bin or not taken it home with her at all, and I knew he would be safe with me. But now, I know he will be safe with you".
I softly kiss the engraved picture and pull it into my chest hugging it, "Thank you" I reply with tears now freely flowing down my cheeks, "No need to thank me, he deserves to be home. With his child, it's what he would have wanted".