My uncles come to the serial killer table smiling and looking like it's the most normal thing in the world. The bullies get up with a smile to greet them. I realized that a blue”eyed boy was watching me. That being is scarier than the rest. If it wasn't because he looked awful, I wouldn't have even paid attention to it. I started to feel uncomfortable and a bit intimidated, so I decided to turn around to go with Jay, our cook. I gave him some food orders that I had taken minutes before this get together, and I waited for him to prepare the orders and they were ready.

As I happily rambled on in my cerebral monologues judging tough”looking people, my dear aunt had the idea of ​​calling me to introduce myself to those guys.

"Perfect, take me to the rat slaughterhouse, dear Francesca," I whispered, ignoring her friendly look.

Are they crazy or not watching the news? The danger that we human beings run due to the existence of gang members is horrible.

I think I'll leave them alone for a long time. How do you feel about befriending gang members? I just hope they're not stealing or threatening who knows what. Honestly, the four of them seem too rough and scary for my taste.

I sigh and close my eyes trying to calm my nerves. This is not going to get me out of control, much less put my damaged nerves to the limit of insanity.

God, this is amazing!

Just thinking that those guys are gang members terrifies me. So many bloody scenarios come to mind! Don't you watch Discovery Investigation? There even the shadow is a murderer. Your twin brother, your family, your dog, your cat, your neighbor, your friend... they all kill to keep your insurance money, or because they want to.

I decide to open my eyes and with a determined step, ignore any alarm that tells me that this is a terrible mistake and I approach them.

My aunt Francesca, upon seeing me arrive, with a smile introduced me to the gang members. 

Yes, gang members! 

And until the contrary is proven, I will happily judge life.

"Sebastian, Dylan, Logan, and Nathan." She points to the guys at the table. "I present to you my amata nipote, Natasha." with pride, she introduces me.

»My dear niece, Natasha«

They smile at me and I extend my hand to each to say hello. If I run away or fake a faint, would it be apparent that I don't want to go near these kinds of guys?

"You're beautiful, I haven't seen you before. Are you new here at work?" Asks, amicably, the one I suppose to be Sebastian.

The boy is muscular, tall, dark and looks quite scary. Worth being a bully.

"Thank you, but I'm not new and every time I can I come to take care of my family," I answer, with a very feigned calm.

My uncle Stefano interrupts the conversation, they were trying to start, and I decided to finish. He raised his eyebrow and with some malice says:

"Come on, Sebas, you must get sick more often. She's the best doctor in town and she could heal you in the blink of an eye." Their giggle makes me uncomfortable.

Oh no, what a shame! 

I hope I never see you in the hospital in my life.

"Oh!" The four individuals mutter in amazement.

"Aside from the fact that you're beautiful, you like to save lives. You're amazing, pretty," Dylan adds? With a flirtatious voice and winking at me.

This boy is a man with a fair complexion and brown hair. He's quite muscular and tall enough to pass the 5'6 girls. Probably next to that guy, all the girls, we are descendants of minions or smurfs.

I can see how the blue-eyed boy is bothered by what his friend's bully, who I confirm is named Dylan, said. 

What fun!

If looks could kill him, he would already be well dead, buried and without the right to an autopsy. 

"Guys, stop it. Leave her alone. Don't you see that it's bothering you with your quirks?" A tattooed man reprimands them, trying to calm the hormones of his friends, I give him a small smile of thanks. "I'm Logan, nice to meet you."

Learn their names, you'll need them later, I thought, making a mental note.

"What do you guys do? I don't remember seeing them around here either," I ask, eyeing them one by one suspiciously.

The aforementioned hesitate a bit confused by the question I just asked them. After a few seconds of silence, three of them look at me.

"These guys are weird, how I want to hit them." my conscience speaks, I smile sideways at her desire. 

At that the pair of blue eyes look at me. It is as if he has read my thoughts!

Oh no, what a horror with this man.

Don't be nervous, it was just a question. Breathe and don't show that they intimidate you. I look back at him as adorable as possible, waiting for my answer. I swear I wouldn't have asked if they were going to take that long to confess that they were gang members.

"Sometimes we work here like on the outskirts of the city. We are not very often in one place. But whenever we come, we can't stop visiting the Rinaldi family." the owner with the blue eyes explains.

This one who answered is called Nathan, he uses a slow, calm tone of voice, very calm I would say. He also changed his face to one of; don't ask again. I nod slowly, not very convinced. Later I will see how I will get that information from my uncles. In the distance I hear Jay's voice calling me back to the kitchen.

Perfect excuse to get out of here.

"Nice meeting you guys, I hope to see you soon." I say goodbye with a smile and walk away quickly.

Weird.

I hope I will never see you again in my life, much less near my family.

***

After a day quite moved by the exaggerated number of people that came today, we were finally closing. This time my uncles stayed with me at the restaurant, Jay had to leave earlier. I do not forget the topic of the afternoon, I will not ignore talking about these men. Although they only ate and left, there is something that does not give me a good feeling.

Who has a job this busy? In addition, the appearance that they have of: »I'm a rough and idiot type«, does not convince me.

"Stefano and Francesca Rinaldi, can you explain to me, why are they friends with some gang members?" I ask them quite worried.

"Oh, my God! I did not imagine that my principessa would say that." adds my uncle Stefano, they both look into each other's eyes with amusement and laugh out loud.

"I don't see any fun, I mean it!". I lecture them in exasperation. "I really care about the two of them. I don't want anything to happen to them, I'm really worried." I confess quietly.

"Daughter, calm down, we are fine with them. Nathan is the son of the friend who reached out to us when we had nothing. Do you remember our history? Well, we've been friends with her parents for many years. Those guys are good guys even if they don't seem like it. Logan and Nathan always came home while you were little, but when you entered high school they had already gone somewhere else. That's why you don't remember them, my life."

My aunt Francesca finishes speaking. Always with that sweet voice he tries to calm me down, he almost succeeds, but this time something tells me that problems will come very soon.

They both come over to give me a kiss on the cheek. They grab the things on the table so we can go home.

"I think I understand, but this is not going to stay that way.” He didn't trust any of them. “I'm going to be watching them, I won't rest until I find out what they're up to." I look at them in a bad way, and we go out to the parking lot.

We got in the car and started off. When we got home, it was not more than ten thirty at night. The restaurant is relatively close. My uncle Stefano is very meticulous about the places where we have lived. Very few people know the exact address of the house. While growing up, my uncle never let me go places alone, according to him, men are cow dung.

It is strange that he talks like that because he is also a man. I guess he is equal to or worse than those cow dung he says he is, or, he may be a lovable old curmudgeon in his seventies.

***

While I was growing up we moved many, many times, after I left high school my uncles stopped changing homes and for the first time, they told friends who helped them come to California, our home address. I will move too, first because I am old enough to live with them and second, I need a place closer to the hospital.

"Sometimes I would like to call my parents and tell them so many things, but they have been so absent from my life, that I feel that if I do I am going to bother them." I sigh, due to the wanderings of my thoughts, as I get out of the car.

After we arrived from the family trip to Belgium, they have acted weirder than they are used to. Nor have I been able to tell you about the man who told me about Sasha.

Since I was little I was forbidden to say his name and I began to miss him in silence. 

The bad thing is that that name and a scene haunts my dreams repeatedly like in a movie. They are those nights where sleep is scarce.

Let's go back to my current reality. The explanation they gave me about the gang members was quite credible, but I need to know more about these people to try to confide in my uncles. The journey home was uneventful. Today was a busy day, I admit, we were very tired. They gave me a good night kiss and then disappeared down the hall that leads to their room.

Our house is three stories tall and we only use two. On the first floor, there is the kitchen, living room, dining room, a family room where on Sunday afternoons, we sit on the sofas to watch movies of whatever. On the second floor are the bedrooms, the bathrooms, a corridor with a small library and a staircase in the middle that leads to the third floor. There I don't know what there is, I asked my aunt several times, but her answers remained the same.

"Nothing important, just the old things we don't use," she finishes speaking, giving me a kiss on the cheek.

Many times I tried to go up to see what was there, but my uncle's scolding was not normal when he discovered me. After a while, stop trying and stop looking. Living with them I learned to guard my emotions. I learned to draw my conclusions before asking, I learned to just observe and shut up.

There are few times that they are loving with me, I practically have to force them to give me affection. The only way they can do it without my asking is when I don't come home because I'm on call at the hospital, for a congress, or simply because of making me shut up because of a topic that they don't want to touch on.

My parents abandoned me and I live with people where affection is scarce. Now do you understand why I can't tell the difference between displays of affection and love?

I care about my family, but I don't feel strongly emotionally attached to my uncles. I love them, but I feel a kind of grudge, I just don't love them. What's more, I felt nostalgia and a horrible pain in my chest when the Russian spoke to me in Iceland and worse was when he spoke to me about Sasha's death.

"How I would like to remember my childhood a bit and know what it was that I forgot," deep in my thoughts, I walk like a zombie to my humble room.

Writing to my best friend is the perfect option when I want to clear myself from the world. I need a dose of madness. Who better than her to finish forgetting what is weighing me down? I went to the bathroom, took a really cold shower to finish relaxing, put on a big white blouse, brushed my teeth, and went to bed.

»*We have a red gang code. They are the new friends of my uncles. I'm worried and all they do is laugh like it's a game. I need to see you, to help me with this little inconvenience.

I settle into my tasty bed after turning on the air conditioner and sending the message.

»*Gang members? Oh, my God. Tell me that they are at least good? Masha, remember that the hospital does not leave us alive, but I will help you anyway. See you tomorrow afternoon. Count on me for whatever, or we'll cut our right tit if we can't.

I laugh at his follies. I really needed to talk to her.

»*In this life everything is not based on the physical, Danielle. But yes, they are good. Why do we have to cut our breasts? Be in moderation in how you speak. It's not a tit, Dani. Please leave my lemons alone and don't think about raping those people. See you tomorrow.

It wasn't long before Dani's answer came.

»*If I am going to rape them, not all of them, but at least one falls before my psychological charms. We must not say; I will not drink this water, because on the way it can make us thirsty. Rest, I love you.

I read your message and shook my head with a smile. I ended the conversation, as I was dying of sleep. He knew he could count on her. I was very tired, my eyes were closing, and all I could think about was that tomorrow would be a normal day and not have to deal with gang members again.

I just hope that nothing gets complicated and I pray to heaven that one day I will be able to remember what torments me so much.