Chapter 1. Emma

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As I walked home from work, I stopped at my favorite park. It has been 3 months since I first arrived at this small town, and that's the longest I've been at any place in my travels.

They call me Emma, that's how I introduce myself all the time, however my birth name is Fiona. My mother gave it to me; she said it was my father's mother's name. I never met my father, neither anyone from his family. Mom had always told me he was left estranged by his family when he married her.

Dad died few days after I was born. Mom always told us (that is myself and my elder brother) that he died of an accident. But as I grew up I heard rumors about him. How he was a drug dealer and his accident wasn't really an accident. When I confronted mom, she didn't deny it, neither did she agreed. She just said, "No matter what he did for living, you only have to know that he was a good man at heart and he loved us very dearly."

Ramon, my brother, was seven when dad died. He knew very little about dad's job or the truth about the accident. But it never bothered him. He never craved for answers; he just let it be.

Ramon studied medicine. He is a surgeon now. He has always been the smart one. Me on the other hand; I hated school. All I wanted was to earn money, to have enough money to travel. I wanted to see the world, to live at the moment. Not to be chained by duties and circumstances.

At the age of 14, I was in my freshmen year; I was selling drugs I sneaked from Ramon to my fellow classmates and my seniors. Ramon was in his third year of medical school. As a proud elder brother, he sometimes let me come and see him in the university or hospital. After a couple of tours to that place, it was easy for me to get the drugs unnoticed. Of course, to know which drugs sold more, I had to read Ramon's pharmacy book, and it was worth it. I did not only sell them drugs, I told them which drugs gave which effects, what happens when you mix them and what drugs counteracts the other. They came to me not only for the drugs but also for detoxification.

A year later, I was kicked out of school after getting caught selling drugs. I even went to juvenile center for 6 months. My principal told my mother and me that if I wanted, if I had studied and been like the other students, I could had been the valedictorian. He claimed he was sad to lose a brain like me. But I thought he was just being an ass.

Mom did not take the news well. First she was mad that she threw me out of the house. But when she learnt that I was being sent to juvie, she became hysterical and did everything in her power to get me out. She spent all her savings on my lawyer; that's how I just got 6 months.

Coming out of juvie, I worked with mom at her diner. It was the only thing she had left and she was about to lose it for the money she loaned for me. I felt guilty towards mom, after all she did for Ramon and me, I gave her pain. I wanted to make her happy. And for that I needed money.

At the age 16, I worked for a mafia named Rico. People had always complimented me as a beautiful girl, and as much as I thought it was degrading, I used my attraction to get Rico's attention. At that time, Rico was 31 years old who had the whole town in his palm. He ran the nightlife in our town. He was married to two women, both of whom had influential fathers. He was feared. And he was RICH.

I went to meet him that day to work for him. I knew working with Rico would be dangerous, not to mention illegal, but I knew the money was good. I needed money; I needed em much, I needed em fast!

My profile preceded me to Rico. He knew me, he knew about my drug scandal at school and he instantly liked me. "You are the girl I need! Beautiful and dangerous, I need your guts." He said. He trained me with guns and battles then he sent me out to deal.

One day he called me in and spoke about my mother and her diner. He knew how the diner was hanging by a thread and he knew I had come to work for him in favor to save it. With his evil smile he said he had a proposal to save the diner.

I knew it; I knew that instant it was his dick talking. He came close to me and breathed on my neck, and said he wanted to sleep with me. I moved back with disgust and left the room.

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