Dàrk Desires

She sighed for the hundredth time in less than an hour, looking at her legs again she sighed, her legs are so dirty due to the long walk she's having, there was an heavy rain fall doing less justice and her legs are covered with muds. She gently opened the main door to her house, trying to sneak in without her parents or siblings catching her but luck wasn't on her side.

"Maria! Come here" her mom had said, not angrily like she expected but it was coated with sadness Maria's heart skipped a bit, forgetting about her dirty legs she vowed to wash as soon as she enters her home, she went closer to the rest of her family members and saw everyone is present, her two siblings and parents but their faces clouded with negativity

"What's wrong?"Maria asked looking around,her eyes fell on her mom "mamma!"

"Sit down"her mom said weakly and she obeyed,she look at her dad who is sitting on the floor and his head down, she can barely see his face and wondered what happened

"Talk to me please!"she said getting seriously scared, the silence was killing her and she doesn't like it

"Your papa is in debt"her mom said and she shot her dad a look before looking at her mother

"What?"she asked

"Your papa is in debt"Her mother repeated

"Not the first time and why the solemn mood, I thought something very bad have happened"Maria said feeling at ease slowly

"Something very bad have happened Maria!"her brother Angelo have said

"Your papa went ahead to lend money from Pietro without even telling me about it!"Her mom said and her heart stopped beating for a second

"What?! Wait... which Pietro?!"she asked her heart beating fast

"Which other Pietro!"her other brother Aldo said

"Papa!"Maria exclaimed and their father slightly lifted his head up, Maria wasn't aware he was busy crying throughout the time he's head is down

"Maria!!!"her father called in a crying tone "I wanted to right all my wrongs, I wasn't expecting this to go this way"

"Why will you collect money from Pietro of all people papa! You know the kind of person he is. How much did you collect?"

"Two hundred and forty thousand euro"her dad replied and her eyes went wide.

Maria and her family are barely surviving, they barely have two meals a day and now their father went ahead again to lend money and this time around, he collected such a huge amount

"Papa!! What.... What did you use the money for?!"Maria asked falling on the ground, she felt her body going weak immediately and tears clouding her eyes, this is the worst news she ever heard in her life

"I was robbed on my way back home after collecting the money"Her dad said with his hands visibly shaking, it's obvious how scared the old man is

"Why didn't you tell any of us, we will surely never let you borrow even one euro from Pietro!"Maria said placing her hands on her temple, she can't even start to think about the trouble she and her family just fell into, Pietro is a very dangerous man and everyone in the vicinity is afraid of him

"What do we do now?"Maria asked in a small voice

"I don't know"her mom had replied with same voice. The sitting room became quiet as each member of the family were busy thinking in their own world

***

Throughout the night, Maria wasn't able to sleep. She kept on tossing and tossing around the bed thinking about how they're going to sort this money issue, the worst of it all is her dad didn't tell them when it just happened, it's when it is due for him to pay he decided to let the rest member of the family to know about it.

Maria look at her legs and hissed, she didn't ended up washing her legs the previous night, the news have eaten her up so much that she forget about all she planned on doing. She sluggishly stood up from her bed heading to the kitchen, she saw her mom standing near to the kitchen island, lost in her own thoughts. She knows her mom is taking this very hard and it's not easy for her just the way it's not easy for the rest of the family

"Mamma!"Maria said bringing her mom back to the presence, her mom gave her a weak smile and went back to turning the sauce she put on fire "good morning, how are you doing?"

"I don't know"her mom replied dropping the spatula she's holding

"I don't know where to start from Maria, I couldn't sleep throughout the night. What will we do if Pietro visits us, I'm trying to save so that you can go to the university and now this? Your dad have done nothing but cause trouble in this family, he's always bringing one problem or the other and I'm tired of all this!"

"It's okay mamma"Maria said going closer to her mom

"It's not okay Maria!"her mom said and bursted into tears,Maria went closer to her mom immediately hugging her while she cried on her shoulder,awhile later her mom took a step away from her wiping her tears away.

Maria can see how fast her mom have aged, the family problems are really weighing her down.

She didn't see her dad before she left the house going to the tea shop she works in. She pushed the door open and saw her closest friend Elisa busy cleaning one of the tables

"You're late"Elisa said and Maria ignored her going straight to the changing room, Elisa noticed her mood and followed her inside the changing room

"what's wrong with you?" She asked

"I'm not in a good mood Elisa, let's talk later"Maria said and Elisa nodded leaving the changing room, Maria gently placed her head on the wall and bursted into tears, she couldn't hold it all in and wonders what's going to become her family.

Awhile later she stopped crying and wiped her eyes acting like nothing happened and went out of the changing room to start her work for the day.

Maria have closed for the day, she slowly walked to her house, on opening the door she slowly peeped in after hearing a gruesome voice, she saw how pale her mom have became and got scared immediately opening the door widely and went inside

"And here she is"she heard a thick voice of an unfamiliar person, she went closer to them and can see Pietro sitting comfortably like a king in their old sofa while her dad knelt down on the floor facing him looking very scared, her mom standing close to the wall, her little brother Angelo holding her tight while Aldo is at the other end of the room

"Not my daughter please"she heard her father say and wondered what they're talking about her

"Come here"Pietro said and Maria move closer to him

"well she lived up to what I have heard about her"Pietro said looking at Maria from head to toe "Andrea your daughter is really beautiful"Pietro added and Maria felt disgusted immediately, she have heard a lot of news about the gang leader and seen his pictures and she knows how everyone is scared of him but not for once have she ever thought of having anything to do with him, she hates him with all the veins in her body

"I can't give you my daughter Pietro"her father have said again stealing Pietro's attention from Maria to him

"What did you say?"Pietro asked chuckling

"I will find other means to pay you I promise, my daughter is too young to go through all these"Andrea said

"I have been giving you chances to pay over some months now but you haven't done a thing, and well your daughter will go well with me"Pietro said giving Maria a lustful look

"I will pay you back!"Maria suddenly said and all eyes fell on her

"Maria!!"her mother shouted, she clearly didn't want Maria getting involved. Pietro interest was picked with what Maria said, he wondered how Maria wants to pay and finds it interesting

"How?"he asked

"Give me two months! I swear I will pay you back within the two months,if I don't you can do whatever you want to do with me"Maria said and her mom's eyes widen while Pietro chuckles

"Maria!!"her mother shouted again

"I love your courage little girl, but two months is too much, I can only give you one month and if you say no then no deal, answer carefully"Pietro said tauntingly

"Okay, I agree"Maria replied after several minutes of silence and thinking about what's more beneficial to her at the moment