Chapter 1
Today is my 18 birthday, for most that are a big year. Moving out, going to school. it’s a big year for me too. But not because I need more education or independence. It’s the year my father will provide me with a spouse.
I hear fathers footsteps as he walks to my door. He knocks three times and I walk to the door to greet him. “Hello Father,” I say as he walks in. “Hello Justin, Today is a big day. It’s your 18 birthday.” He tells me and smiles. “Because you are my youngest child and your siblings are already settled in their jobs I have come to offer you when I pass the business.” I stand shocked. “The whole thing? Bodyguards, drugs, money, all of it!” He laughs. “Unlike your siblings today you will not get a wife. I want to show you the business. Tomorrow we can go looking for a wife, Today we celebrate and I teach you.” I agree and I can see the proud look on his face. He starts walking and motions for me to follow. “We have Six branches. Drugs, Weapons, Hitmen, Robbers, security, and main house.” He says to me. “Drugs are buying and selling. Distribution is key. Weapons are smuggling them to the people who sell them. Hitmen are your personal guns, they get their hands messy for you. You can send them out for other people for a price. Robbers are petty thefts who are at the bottom of our operation, they steal from banks, other mobs.” He points to his bodyguards. “Security, your most trusted men, the ones who protect you and your family. Very important. and then finally, the Main house.” He points to a picture of my twelve siblings, my mother, stepmom, and my other stepmom. “They are your family. They help with money, recruitment, they are important people to keep happy, and close.” He hands me a packet of paper, about fifty pages long. “It’s all in here, study and live by this guide.” He tells me patting the packet.
“Let’s go get food.” He tells me. “I am hungry and it’s your birthday, where should we go?” I pause to think about the best place to go and when I cant think he laughs. “We will get fresh Italian dish with some gelato.” I smile at him and nod. “You know me so well.” He gets in my car and we tell the driver where to go. We arrive in under twenty minutes and he smiles at me. We walk right in and seat ourselves. No one says we can’t, probably because of the three large men with guns and razors. We order. I get a simple pasta dish with ratatouille on the side, Father gets a shrimp dish with a white sauce. “What are we looking for in your wife?” He asks me. “Uh, black hair. Shorter than me, cute, maybe shyer, less talkative, obedient. and it would help if they are hard-working.” He nods and our food is brought over to us. “What was it like picking your wives?” I ask. “each one was different. Your mother was shy and quite scared. I would kiss her and she would jump away. She was like that for a while. She didn’t eat or sleep for the first few days, I had to train her.” I wince hearing that. “How do you train someone?” He thinks for a moment. “Find something that will work for you both, positive and negative reinforcement. Let them know whose house it is and who they are to you.” He puts down his fork and picks up his drink. “Whoever you marry will learn to respect you, if not we can rebuy and sell.” I pick up how he replaced wife with whoever and the pronoun with them. I know my father isn’t a stupid man.
We eat in silence. It’s peaceful. After we finish and get our ice cream we get back in the car and he hands me books. How to train I flip through the stack. BDSM for training My eyes fix on that one. I’ve heard of it but never tried it. How to train a wife I pretend to look at it. I can feel his eyes on me and I hear him let out a chuckle. “Keep going.” He says. How to train a husband My eyes stop at this book. “Whoever you pick, It’s your pick., not mine.” He tells me. I smile the whole ride home. Maybe I can find someone to be happy with.
