Live, Love, Learn

         My life has been full of so many things, love, lust, and murders, lots of murders. When I was younger I never would have thought that the life of a girl who grew up on the street would turn into one of the most respected people in New York City. How just one man had saved my life and how he turned me from being just another piece of trash on the street, to becoming who I am today. I’m sure that you think, oh this is just another heroic story or something, but your wrong. This is the story of how I became the muscles of the mafia in New York.
         Let me start from my earliest memories of how I survived on the streets. I think I was five or six when I had my first’s true memories. I was going thru the trash of Italian restaurant when the owner chased me out threaten to kill me if he caught me in there again. Another fond one was when I would beg people for money, or help, and all they would do was either laugh, or kick me in the gut. Oh I wished to be in their shoes, to have all that power and treat others horribly. Another fun memory was when I had to pickpocket some people for cash and have the police chase me into an alley was, just for me to climb over the fence, or wall. But the memories that hurt the most were when I would stare into a house and watch the children hug their parents near a warm fire, while I sat outside in the dead of winter in New York. One night, I remember a big celebration went off and how people celebrated the year becoming 1900. Day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, I was living in the same pattern. Each day was just another day to survive.
The Murder’s Savor
         One day, I think I was fifteen, I found myself being chased by one of the local gangs. Just six guys, I’ve out ran more. I take the usual escape route, run to the alley way near the pier and jump over the wall. Once over I just have to get out of some man’s yard before he calls the cops. As I make the turn for my escape, another man was right there and caught me.
“Not so fast little girl,” the man holding me said. He was a large man; all I could tell was that this guy had large muscles.
“Good job Roger, you get first crack at her,” some man said, most likely the leader. I felt the man’s grip on me turn to one hand and he threw me to the back of the alley. I crashed into some trash cans at the end of the alley I screamed; I was in far too much pain to get up. “Hey we all want a turn with her! Don’t break her.”
         "Sorry, just wanted her to know her place,” I tried to get up, but I was too afraid to see what they would do if I did. All I could think as to curl up and hope I could blackout before they do anything. I felt the strong man’s grip start tare my pants and underwear off. I couldn’t hold in how scared I was. I kept crying and begging him to let me go, as he pinned me to the wall to the right of him. “Shut the he*Boom*” I fell to the ground. Looking up I saw that the man that tore off my clothing had a hole in his head; the former man fell to the ground as I was paralyzed with pure fear. I didn’t move to see who did what, but I still hear what they said.
         “Who the h*Boom*”
         “Get*Boom*” I didn’t hear anyone else say anything. All I heard was six shots were given, then a brawl next to me. I was starting to recover enough to look at the fight. It was one of the men that were trying to rape me, versus a tall man in a suit. I wasn’t able to get a good look because my rapist punched him square in the face, causing him to fall down at the entrance of the alley way. The rapist pulled out a gun and shot him in the leg. He yelled in pain, just like I did. I forced myself up on my feet, with a few groans of pain but I was still able to get up. I looked at the rapist to see him too busy kicking my savor to notice me. I charged him from behind and pushed him into the street, I heard the sound of a horn go off so I closed my eyes and heard the man get run over.
         “Thanks kid,” my savor said as he crawled up next to me. “Thank god he has horrible aim; he skimmed the skin on my leg.” The smiled a little, and then looked at me. “Do you know who I am?” I shuck my head. “I’m an important guy that is part of the mafia. I kill people for a living.”
A New Life and a New Purpose
         After that day, my life changed. The man that saved me was Aero Tamer, the muscles of the mafia in New York. He faked my adoption papers so I could live with him. He even bought me a pistol, and told me to keep it with me at all times. He walked with a limp for about a week but once he could walk normal again, he took me on my first mission with the some of the other guys. Though they had most of their plans worked out to just go in and kill everyone there, I was able to show them a back door where we could slip in kill our target, and leave a sign saying that we will get you, any way we please. This got our names remembered because no matter where anyone hide, or hired to keep them safe, no one got away from us.
         That was until we got word of a man who had learned who our boss was. If he told anyone then we would be ruined. He left America and went to Great Britain. Aero and I were sent to go and kill this man. It was 3/15/1912. We learned that our target was going to be on the titanic. Aero never told his name, I guess it was because I still didn’t like the idea of killing someone. April tenth we were on the titanic searching for our target, or better said Aero was looking for our target, I was told to just enjoy the life on deck.
I was sitting in our cabin thinking about what I could do. “This is so boring, *sigh* what is there to do on this giant ship?” I asked myself. I’m now eighteen years old. Too young to drink, says Aero, I don’t know anyone on the ship to talk to. I’m by myself until Aero kills our target. “I wish he would just tell me, I could at least I could help out.” I pouted. Life with Aero was so exciting, never one moment went by without some sort of thrill to it, and well then again Aero wasn’t here, so this is my life without him. “Am I boring?” Sure Aero is always looking for the next challenge and won’t stop until it’s done, but what about me? All I do is follow Aero and throw in my two cents every here and there. Sure, life before Aero had some thrill, life with Aero is full of thrill, but now life without him, even for the moment, is boring. “I guess I should go outside and enjoy the weather. Maybe try and talk to some people.”
         I left the cabin, in a nice Sunday like dress that was as red as my hair, and tried to find someone to talk to on the deck. All the women were worried about looking well for so and so, the older women talked about their love of their beloved, or how his cheating on them. They were all just so boring. So I went to talk to the men, or I just got close to them and they seemed to be trying to look good as I approached them. When I saw this I groaned in disgust, most of these men just wanted to fall in love, or just find some woman then leave them. I turned around and started to walk away, when a hand fell on my shoulder.”Hello miss, I couldn’t help but notice you staring at me,” one of the guys said to me.
         “Yes I did, until I realized that you just want a one night lover.”I still haven’t turned around to face this man, but I was getting ready to hit him if he didn’t let go. Aero had taught me how to fight while I lived with him, so if anyone wanted a piece of me, I would have taken off a piece of them.
“What’s so wrong with that?” He asked me, “In fact I’m sure my friends would like to join into, right?” All of a sudden all there were a bunch of yes behind us. “So would you like to do this peacefully or *Ugh*!” I pumped my elbow into his stomach making him fall over. If anything I wasn’t going to let some jerks take advantage of me, and now that I know what to do, it wasn’t going to happen. I turned my head to see the other guys were backing off; they seemed to get the same idea. I started to walk away, not even going to look at the trash I had put to the ground. Seems like most men are the same, rich and poor men all want the same things.
         Then I heard some guy’s voice ask me, “You okay?” I looked over to see a guy less built then most of the guys I’m used to dealing with. He looked kind of scrawny, but dressed in what seemed to be a nice suit. He looked like Aero; but he was weaker, not as built and/or experienced.
         “I’m fine, just going back to my cabin,” I said coolly this was no big deal and I was fine. No need to worry, except for this guy.
         “Are you sure? I mean he was twice your size!” This kid seemed worried about me.
         “I’m fine, my dad taught me how to protect myself. He said ‘A girl a beautiful as you still need to take good care of yourself, and that means to stop those that want to hurt you.’” I chuckled, Aero did tell me that, and he was like my dad, only difference is that he brought me into the mafia, a business that most people wouldn’t bring their loved ones in.
         “Wow, I didn’t think of it like that,” he said sounding a little offended. “Nice, to…”
         I interrupted him with a pat on his shoulder; the more he talked the more he seemed like a weaker Aero. He is kind and caring, but unsure of what to do in certain situations. “If my welfare is what you care so much about, then why don’t you invite me to your cabin?” I know I caught him off guard. But he smiled and then asked me; to be honest it was cute. “Sure, I’m Rose.”
         “Nice to meet you,” he bowed as he said this and came back up to say, “I’m Tony, Tony Rogers that is.” He walked me to his cabin to see his mom sitting in the living room section reading some book.
         “Tony, your back so early, and who’s this?” her voice sounded so sweet and caring like a true mother’s voice should sound.
Tony was going to answer, but I beat him, grabbing the side of my dress and with a little bow I said, “I am Rose, mama and it is nice to meet you. Tony wanted to make sure I was okay, since some of the men on deck tried to get a little too close for my comfort.” To myself I thought, ‘Aero has taught me a lot.’ I looked at Tony to see he was confused, most likely trying to think of why I didn’t include me beating the man.
         “My dear, are you okay? I know some men are brutes, are you alright?” This made me chuckle, I could see Tony’s mom was a big influence on Tony’s life. As we talked I was able to keep my secret about my life as I learned more about Tony’s. Tony had an older brother on board named Rick, that didn’t stay in the cabin until night. As for Tony, he grew up without a dad, his mom was raped but she kept the child. She raised Tony like he was a part of the family. Rick’s dad left, saying he wouldn’t help raise someone else kid. Life for them was hard, much more emotional than me or Aero’s. Aero’s father beat him to become strong while his mother took no part in his life. The more I learned about Tony, the more I started to like him. I learned that his grandparents were rich and took care of them. Rick heard about the titanic and thought it would be a good idea to ride so they moved from America to Great Britain, when I heard this; I shook this off thinking nothing of it.
The Start of the Nightmares
         When I returned to my cabin it was late, Tony’s mom made me lunch and dinner and I couldn’t say no, well more like she wouldn’t take it. When I got back to the cabin I found Aero waiting there in a chair in front of the door; the look said it all. ‘Where were you, you should have been here sooner,’ etc.
         “Sorry about that, when you left I went on deck and some men think they could rape me. I decked one and the rest got the messaged. Then a guy named Tony asked if I was alright and I was with him and his mom for the rest of the day,” as much as I would love to lie to Aero, I can’t. He can see thru them far too easily, and I have too much respect for him. His looked eased a bit, but still looked serious.
         “Good to know,” he broke eye contact with me; I could tell he was upset that he didn’t find our target. “He seems to be on the constant move, not even the head captain or the workers knew where his cabin was or who he looked like. I think he knows that we are on his tail.”
         “What do we do?”
         “We keep looking. He maybe on the constant move, but sooner or later he’ll slip. Too little rest, too much worry, all that will get to a man, sooner or later he’ll slip up. I’ve already talked to all the higher ups, telling them that there’s a stowaway on board. The workers will keep an open eye for anyone that looks like he’s looking for someone.”
         “Did you tell them why?”
         “No, that leaves everyone look harder. Makes them think he is dangerous, I gave them the room we’re staying at so if they do find him, they can keep a watch on him. When he gets to a room, they’ll have one person watch the room and tell someone else to alter me.”
         “The crew seems smart, have they done this before?”
         “Nope, I had to walk the captain thru on what to do and everything *Ugh*. By the time I got done this, I it was twilight. I got to the room and saw you gone. So I sat down and waited for something.” He kept his eyes on the window of the boat.
         “What’s wrong, don’t like being on a boat?”
         “No, it’s not that. I hate doing a job with so many witnesses. We have to make him look like a threat, and I hate putting a gun on a guy, because then that’s just too much money.” I nodded and we went to bed. The next few days Tony and I started to become good friends. He may look the average guy, but the way he thought seemed so interesting. I thought things were looking up, until 4/14/12.
         Tony and I were on deck watching the sea, and its beauty. Aero found out where our target was but he still wouldn’t tell me who he was, or even where he stayed. Though the more time I spent with Tony, the better I felt about not going on this mission. We were staring out into the deep sea, when I heard Aero’s voice, “Get to the life boats, now!” I turned to see find Aero grabbing both Tony’s arm and mine.
“Hey let go!” Tony said trying to break free of Areo’s grip.
         “It’s okay Tony this is Aero; Aero this is Tony. Now what’s going on?” I asked.
         “The target killed the captain; we’re heading for an iceberg. He smashed the controls so there’s no way to save the ship.” This wasn’t too big of a shock for me, most targets get scared and will do anything to escape, even kill a few people.  But to Tony this was devastating, trying to take control of Tony I had to think of something.
         “Aero can we go and get Tony’s mom, she’s not too far from here, and we can make it to the life boats easily.” Tony was into too much shock to do anything but follow me. I saw Aero walk towards the cabins; I could tell he was still going to look for the target, but now I started to worry, will he come back? Tony saw some people coming and I knew what he was going to do; so I grabbed him and whispered into his ear, “We can’t tell anyone. This will cause too much chaos, and we both know that when chaos happens it’s everyone for themselves. Let’s first get your mom to safety and then worry about everyone else.” He nodded and we ran to his mom’s cabin. When we got in I saw someone else there, before I could take notice to any of his character, Tony said to his mom, “We have to get going mom! Someone has killed the captain and smashed the controls; we have to get to the life boats!” This got the man’s attention as he looked up at Tony.
         Again, before I could take note of this guy, Tony’s mom rushed us out of the cabin and to the lifeboats, “What about th…” Tony was cut off by the yelling and screaming of everyone on the ship. It seems the iceberg has finally come into view. The next few minutes were just pure chaos, as everyone tried to get to the life boats. As everyone was running to the boats, I tried to look for Aero, trying to see if he was here or not. I found him trying to get to us, but he had his pistol out. Before he could reach us our life boat dropped into the water and started to float away. I keep my eyes on Aero as he went to the railing of the sinking ship, and one by one each life boat fell into the water, leaving Aero standing there looking at me. He turned and walked away from the railing, the last time I would ever see his face without it coming back to haunt me.
         As for the man that was with us in Tony’s cabin, he started to laugh once Aero left my sight. I looked over to see Tony’s mom and Tony sitting next to him asking what’s so funny, “I finally got rid of the man that was hunting me down,” he laughed.
The end of one, the Anew of Another
         We spent a few hours on sea before a ship came and picked some of us up. The captain told us it would take awhile before the other ships came to save the rest of us. But that wasn’t my worry or my problem, the man that has been Aero’s target, was sitting right there in front of me, still laughing about his death. If Tony wasn’t there I would have shot him with every bullet in my gun. I felt so angry that I took no notice to anyone but him and me. Tony would phase in once and awhile, when I was thinking about killing him and that would stop me, but that was it.
         Six days later my rage keeps building, with the nightmares of Aero, and how Rick would get away. Each day my rage just doubled and doubled, I was about to kill him with my bare hands. We finally get to land and are surrounded by hundreds of news interviewers. I was walking next to Tony, when Rick said, “Can you talk to me in the alley?” I looked over at him and nodded, my anger must have been showing and he caught on. We slipped away from the news crew and walked into the alley. Right as we entered Rick pushed me to the floor and pulled a gun to my head, “Don’t think I’m stupid. I know that anger on your face. It’s the anger of losing a loved one to someone. If anyone should know this feeling it’s me, and if you think you can take revenge and kill me, you have another thing coming.” I saw him pull the trigger, but nothing happened.
         “Looking for your clip?” Tony said behind us. “I knew Rose was anger at you, once you started to laugh, but with her dad telling me, how the captain and crew were killed by a target and how you said the man hunting you was dead… Well all I needed to do was look thru your bag and find your gun, and remove the clip.” To me all I thought was what happened to Tony? He seems so much… stronger? What happened to him? Before I could get an answer Rick got off me and charged Tony tackling him to the ground next to me. I got up and took out my gun, pointed it to the side of Rick’s head, and pulled the trigger. I looked arounded, and realized this was the same alley way Aero saved me years before, and now Tony saved me.
         From there on Tony and I have been together. We’ve been married and had a kid. As for the mafia, I told them what happened and after a funeral at sea, they showed me Aero’s will. Everything he ever owned went to me, and the godfather of the mafia told me if I wanted I could leave. I told him no, “This is what made Aero the man he was. I want to keep his memory going and follow in his footsteps. Maybe be better than him.”