There will be a few Italian words used in this story.
I will start every chapter with the words and their translation.
But I bet you won't need them later on.

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ciao = hello / bye
bella = beautiful 
mamma = mother 
sorellina = little sister 

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𝓟 — – -

She smiles, places the mandarins in a bowl, and sits down at her desk. She has five more minutes of peace left and enjoys her tea with her eyes closed. She hears the happy laughter of kids come from outside and listens to it with a warm feeling in her heart. She gets up, brushes the wrinkles from her red dress, and walks over to the door of her classroom. She opens the door and stands on the threshold.

As soon as the front door opens, the running of little feet can be heard. She smiles at her 'own' kids when they come to her for a hug one by one. As instructed, they all form a line and wait patiently, until she walks into the classroom. 

"Good morning lovely children. It's good to see you all again. Are you ready for a new week?" 

The kids cheer and follow her into the classroom to find a chair in the circle to sit on.

She leans against the front of her desk and waits for all the kids to be seated. She looks at the happy faces belonging to her kindergartners through her red-rimmed glasses and starts this Monday morning by telling them how her weekend was. 

She tells them about the Disney movie she watched and that she went to the market on Saturday morning to buy the mandarins for them. After that, the kids start to share their adventures of the weekend one by one.

When it's time for recess, they all take a mandarin from the bowl and run out to the schoolyard. She grabs two mandarins herself and steps outside, on her way to the bench at the edge of the yard. She sits down on it and starts to peel the mandarin. 

"Good morning Pia. Have you been to the market this weekend?" 

She looks up to her colleague and says: "Good morning. Yes, I have been to the market. Would you like a mandarin too, Thomas?" 

He sits down next to her and says: "Yes, please. I brought you a cup of tea in return." 

He looks the woman next to him over. She is the perfect teacher, always recognizable by her 'costume'. She always wears red dresses, in various styles and sometimes with a fun pattern, but always red. Red nails, red glasses, red shoes. 

On top of that, she radiates pure love. Always calm and attentive to everyone. Someone you tell all your secrets to, whether your four or forty. She's pretty, sweet, and good at her job. 

But other than that, he knows nothing about her. The times that he has asked her to go out with him can't be counted on one hand anymore, but she always rejects him in the nicest way possible.

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𝓢 — – -

She walks into the gym and nods at the owner. She changes into a black sports legging, black sports bra, and black high tops. She puts her earbuds in and starts the playlist on her phone. LL Cool J  brings her in the right state of mind with his 'Mama said knock you out ' as she walks over to the jump ropes in the corner.

She starts jumping with a thousand-yard stare. And puts the rope away as soon as she's warmed up. She walks over to the boxing ring, where Bruno's already waiting for her with a grin on his face. 

"Ciao bella!" He hugs her,  hands her a mouthguard, and helps her into her boxing gloves. They start the training and she gives it all she has, keeping Bruno on his toes with her speed.

After an hour of intensive training, she lets herself drop to the floor and leans against the ropes. Bruno helps her with her gloves and she takes her mouth guard out. Bruno grabs two towels and two bottles of water and gives her one of each. She wipes the sweat off her face and drinks half of the water in one go.

"You get faster by the day sorellina. I really have to stay focused, to make sure I don't go home with a gashed eyebrow." Her eyes glimmer as she looks at him and the corner of her mouth curls up a little. "Are you coming to mamma's on Sunday? You would make her really happy if you did." The shine leaves her eyes and Bruno sighs. "Sorellina, mamma misses you. And so does everybody else." 

She looks up at him and he sees the anger flash in her eyes. "I'll go over there on my own bike. But I have to be seated between you and mamma. Or I'm out the door."

Bruno runs his fingers through his hair and asks: "Are you ever going to tell me what happened? You know I will always take your side. I will gladly break all of their bones, even if they are my brothers."

She shakes her head and gets up quickly. "I have to go. See you tomorrow Bruno." She walks over to the dressing room and disappears behind the door.

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𝕭𝖗𝖚𝖓𝖔 — – –

He sighs and knows she's not much of a talker, never has been. But something happened between her and his brothers and no one is talking about it. And he really tried getting his brothers to talk. He tried so well that they had to visit the hospital after their 'talk'. He sees the anger and pain in her eyes every time she's in the same room with them. And mamma feels it too. But even mamma can't get them to talk about it.

Every Sunday mamma prepares a feast for everyone that has a place in her heart. And every Sunday he watches her heart break, when his little sister doesn't join them. The only girl at a table full of loud, Italian men. 

She became part of the family at five years old, when mamma found her cold, dirty, and wet in a car wreck in front of the house.

The car was totaled and covered in bullet holes. And the little girl was curled up in a ball, between the back and the front seat. It was pouring with rain and no one knows how long she'd been lying there on the floor of the car. Mamma lifted her from the vehicle and told her she loved her every day from that moment on. It took ages for the little girl to make eye contact with mom, but the first word they ever heard her say was 'mamma'.

He was a wild teenager when she came into their lives. He used his fists to solve all of his problems and came home wounded all the time. But when his sister became part of the family, mamma was done with it. 

She pulled him by the ear and dragged him over to the gym around the corner. She said: "Get in there and learn how to fight properly. I don't want to see you come home wounded anymore. That's not something your sister needs to see."

He is the only one of his brothers who has really left the underworld. Thanks to his mom, he became a world-renowned boxer and made a good living with it. And based on that career he manages to earn a living these days by training others. His brothers earn their money a bit less legal, but they never discuss the details at home. Mamma doesn't want to hear about it and no one dares to defy her. 

She is the most loving woman in the world until you cross her. She possesses a stare that can turn the blood in your veins to ice.

He gets up to shower and sees his little sister walk out of the dressing room in her leather attire. She looks at him for a minute and nods, before walking out.

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𝓛 — – -

He watches her come in, sets the glass down on the bar and pours the Scorpion Vodka. She takes her gloves off and places them in her helmet. She grabs the glass and makes the alcohol swirl around in it. 

He stares at her hand in fascination, wondering why she's not drinking the vodka. He looks at her face and she makes eye contact with him. He sees something that looks like sadness in her eyes, but it doesn't last long. 

She shakes it off and downs the drink.

She puts her gloves back on and grabs her helmet from the bar. She looks him straight in the eye and asks: "What's your name?" 

He's a bit startled when he hears her voice after all those years and stays silent for a few seconds, before answering her. "Logan." 

She nods and says: "Thank you, Logan." She walks out and he stares at the door dumbfounded.

She spoke to him and even asked him for his name. And somehow it felt really intimate. He has a small smile on his lips for the rest of the night and feels like he won the lottery. Even the female name appearing on his phone can't pull him from his good mood.

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There you go. Chapter Two. Or  Capitolo Due.

What do you think about the somewhat slow reveal of the names of the characters?

Anything else to add? Feel free. :)

❥ XO Hankie