Francesco and Costanzo were at the lunch table listening to their uncle saying prayers before the meal could start. As they had entered the dining room, Francesco had reached for the bread and butter but his uncles intimidating silent stare had put him off totally and now he was sitting with his head bowed waiting silently like Costanzo for their uncle to finish.

Once their uncle finished he spoke “You may start now. I hope you try all the food on this table. All the vegetables like the fresh peppers and tomatoes in the meals in this house are from the green house in our garden. The fish is also from the lake on this property. The chef also goes into alot of trouble making the linguine from scratch. The wine is also from the winery I opened a few months ago in the wood shed at the far side of my private property. The wine from the winery is of course is not for sale. Its for home use only.”

Costanzo spoke as he was sipping from his soup “Uncle. Where do your.... business partners eat? how come we are alone in this dining room. But when we go outside they follow us everywhere.”

Uncle piero spoke “They eat in a separate dining room. As you can see this mansion is quite big. They are also not my business partners. They are my soldiers or guards if you like to call them. i refer to them as business partners in public only. I have no partners in business. I am not like your father who goes global with his business deals and makes enemies in every city he steps foot in. I only do local.”

Francesco started coughing and poured himself some water and after he drank a full glass he spoke ” You are mistaken uncle. Our father hardly ever makes enemies in any city he enters. Even when he does, he does not keep them alive,... not for long anyways. Also why are you hiding your main business uncle. We both know you are selling illegal weapons to your contacts in mexico and south America so you are a risk taker like my father. With all due respect, I wish to be forward here and tell you directly that I don’t undertand why you try to lie to us about your main source of income.”

Piero looked up from his plate and spoke “Careful Francesco. Just becuase you are my nephew, it doesn’t mean I wont backhand you for disrespecting me. I am not lying. My business is local. I sell illegal arms to my contacts in Texas. They are not foreigners. They are Americans. What they do with the weapons is their choice. So the next time you wish to confront me, think before you speak.”

Francesco spoke in a lower tone “Forgive me uncle.” He then carried on eating.

Piero knew Francesco wish to speak more so he spoke “I allow you to speak your mind. I know there is more you wish to speak to me about. But .. be respectful.”

Francesco wasn’t sure if he could be respectful. He was very outspoken and he had suffered so many beatings at his fathers hands because of it over the years. Not that it ever deterred him from further offences. He liked to be blunt and direct without caring much for the consequences. He spoke “I apologise in advance for what I am about to say. I don’t hold back, ever. i always speak my mind. And it seems to me right now that .... you are hiding in this small town instead of joining my father at the front line. What are you trying to gain by sticking to easy jobs. You are a Rosario like my father. We are risk takers. We take on our enemies head on unlike you who let your so called Texan contact to act on your behalf.” His chest was raising and falling with rage. He wanted so badly to call his uncle a coward but he didn’t dare. Even he knew there were going to be consequences if he addressed his uncle that way.

It was Costanzo who spoke next “I am sorry for my brothers forward talking uncle. He doesn’t even know what he is talking about......”

Piero nodded towards Costanzo “That is alright Costanzo. Your brother is allowed to let off some steam. He is new to my household. Today is an exception and i would tolerate his unacceptable conduct. But I wont be as patient with his outburts from this day onwards.”

Costanzo spoke “Francesco is just annoyed and frustrated right now since our father is refusing to get him involved in his negotiation meetings with foreign contacts. He likes to be involved and he begged him to not send us away last night but of course our father refused. Our father thinks him and I are too young to stick around him while he is busy with .... his business commitments.”

Piero nodded “Refusing to involve his children in his dealings is one of the only things your father and I agree on indeed. There is plenty of time. You two need time to learn first.”

Francesco spoke “Please uncle. Don’t call us children. We don’t feel that we are children. I am 15 and Costanzo is 14. We only have a few years left till we are adults. We can take care of ourselves even from now on. Both of us were trained by the best. We are experts in arts of combat and gun handling. There is no type of safe or lock that we can’t open. We can disable the highest security systems with no assistance so we can even break out of jail if we get arrested. We can run and swim at reasonable pace that can help us escape tough situations. We are ready to be involved in our fathers dangerous business. Our father is just being too protective.”

Piero smiled “You named all your qualities but one is missing. You need a degree in law or at least one of you does. You need to get to your final year in school and hopefully one of you or both of you can get into law school.”

Francesco raised an eyebrow “Our father does not think so. He said we will join when we turn eighteen and that is the end of it. He never gave us conditions about going to law school first. Neither one of us has to go to law school according to our father and we both will be joining up full time into our fathers business when we turn eighteen” He then turned to Costanzo and spoke sharply “isnt that right?”

Costanzo looked up at his brother nervously and didn’t respond. instead he poured himself some water and bought himself some time to think about his next words.

Francesco raised his voice “I asked you a question Costanzo. Don’t you dare ignore it.”

Piero spoke with a hard voice “Don’t shout at your brother Francesco. May I remind you that we are at the dining table. I am not used to hearing people shouting around this table. In fact I have never witnessed anyone raising their voice in front of me let alone at the meal table. But of course I should have known you will be the exception. Your father warned me you are impatient and have a short temper so I expected outburts but ... not at your brother. You two will be working together as a team. Your father has planned for you to work alongside each other in future in his businsess. he wants you two to do what him and I couldn’t do. Now it disturbs me that you are trying to intimidate your brother. You can be cold and detached from others and treat anyone else like how you want but you must be kinder to your brother. Its of course your choice to listen to my advice. As you said your father has set no boundries for you so I am keeping out of your upbringing as much as I can but take my advice. there are two things you must remember. Always value education and also value your family members.”

Francesco spoke dismissively “why? what is so special about them?”

Piero sighed “Because Francesco you only get one chance at each one of them in life. You only get one chance to go to law school in life and learn about how the legal world that you try to oppose really works. It gives you inside information about the law enforcers and how they operate. Why not learn about the enemy. They can’t learn about you so why not learn about them. Also as I said family is the other important thing in life since you only get once chance at having a family and cherish them. Objects can be bought. Friends can be made. Deals can be signed. Every day you can do many things and make up for the previous day that you may have missed out on. But family and having an education does not come around every day. Call me futuristic but it can save alot of trouble for you one day. Now I hope at least one of you chooses to continue their education. You are right. Your father hasnt put anything I tell you as condition. You are free to go on and choose your path but you shouldn’t confront your brother if he chooses a different path.”

Francesco spoke “Costanzo would do anything that I choose to do. Come on Costanzo. Tell uncle that you are no coward to hide yourself in a not good for anything college for 4 years of your life just to get a piece of lousy paper to say you are smart. Tell uncle that you are an action man like me.”

Costanzo looked at his uncle and then at Francesco. He spoke “We shouldn’t really be having heated arguments at the dining table Francesco. Uncle is making allowances today but lets discuss this later.”

Piero sighed “I wish to hear your response Costanzo. I need to know if one of my nephews is interested in taking my advice at least.”

Costanzo spoke reluctantly “Uncle .... to be honest I am not hundred percent sure about my plans but I ..... have ..... looked at some college policies for getting a scholarship. I might ..... just might .... apply for college in my final year in school but if I get into college I wont accept our fathers money. I would work hard to get a scholarship, otherwise I wont go to college. I even have plans for increasing my chances of winning a good scholarship. I am planning to join the baseball team at our new school.”

Francesco was looking at Costanzo with narrowed eyes “You what? You wouldn’t go to college. You don’t have to go to law school. Why bother? The day I turn eighteen I would grab a gun and get to negotiation meetings with our clients. When your time comes you would do the same. Don’t doubt it. Its in our blood to be fighters.”

Costanzo whispered “You are a fighter. Not me.”

Francesco made a fist and hit the table in front of him causing the dishes to shake. He roared “You are a coward Costanzo.” His eyes then widened and he swallowed hard as he looked at his uncles furious expression. He knew he had gone too far. He spoke carefully “Uncle ... I am so sorry for this... I didn’t mean...”

Piero sounded different now “Listen carefully Francesco. I don’t appreciate your lack of respect. It is your first day and I am trying to be tolerant and reasonable towards you and your outbursts. But I warn you that you may have inherited your short temper from me actually. I am not known to be patient and tell someone twice to do something. I warn you this minute that I wont put up with disrespect from you or anyone else in this house. If you conduct yourself in this manner that I just witnessed in front of me again I would get my guards to take you to my cellar and teach you a lesson. Is that understood?”

Francesco nodded quickly “Yes uncle.”