Francesco was throwing his basketball around the front yard of his uncle’s mansion trying to kill time before he had to leave to attend the feast at the town hall with Costanzo. His uncle had no basketball hoop installed anywhere but he didn’t mind.

Costanzo was leaning against the wall stiffly looking at his brother. He knew something was bothering Francesco. The only reason he had come out to play was to distance himself from the house. He had tried so hard to get him to admit to what was bothering him to no avail.

Costanzo was getting bored with his brother’s refusal to talk. He sighed “Come on Francesco. Talk to me. What is the matter? Its not so bad here. It’s not so different to New York if you come to think of it. Our stay here is only temporary either way.”

Francesco threw his ball to the ground and faced his brother ” Will you give it a rest. I want some peace. That’s all. Leave me be. Do you mind? ”

Costanzo insisted ” Speak to uncle. Tell him what’s bothering you. We have everything here that we had back in New York. What’s different now?”

Francesco spoke ” As if you don’t know. We had freedom back in New York. We were treated like one of our father’s associates. But here we will be living under uncle Piero’s dictatorship. He wouldn’t let us do anything we were allowed to do when we were living with father. I feel like we are serving a prison sentence in this damn place.”

" A prison? A dictatorship? Very Interesting.” A voice said

Both Costanzo and Francesco paled as they turned and saw their uncle standing only a few meters away from them on the porch. It seemed like he had heard what they had just discussed. None of them dared say anything back. They were saving their breaths waiting for their uncle to reprimand them.

Their uncle walked slowly to where they were standing and stared at them in silence with raised eyebrows. He then spoke ” Go on. I am wishing to hear more. You were saying Francesco.”

Francesco managed to find his voice “You heard it all. There is nothing much left to say. As you must have noticed, I hate staying at this mansion since there is nothing for me and my brother to do here except being obedient nephews to you. You can’t blame me for hating this place. Now show me the way to the cellar uncle. You said if I displease you again, then you would ask your men to beat me up down there.”

Costanzo covered his mouth as he heard his brother addressing his uncle. His brother was sounding sarcastic. He was surely going to go down. Their uncle was an unforgiving man.

To the surprise of Costanzo and Francesco, their uncle Piero spoke calmly ” Francesco. I made the cellar threat for extreme offences. You can talk to me as long as you don’t raise your voice and you don’t bang your fist on my furniture. I am willing to listen. Now lets lay down the rules here. Damn right this is a dictatorship. You will do as I ask when I ask. You will never question me. Is that understood?”

Francesco and Costanzo whispered ” Yes uncle.”

Piero spoke ” But this is not a prison. You are free. Your father asked me to let you do everything you were allowed to do by your father in New York.”

Francesco sounded hopeful ” So while we are living with you, can we fight, sabotage, use guns like your guards and do killings?”

Piero sounded surprised ” Is that what you did back in New York? Did your father let you do killings even?

Costanzo whispered ” Not me. Its Francesco who gets a kick out of such illegal activities . I kept out of illegal stuff most of the time unless Francesco dragged me with him. He forced me many times to take part in beating people up and setting fire to people’s homes and doing some other despicable things that I would rather not recall. But I always refused to commit murder. That’s where I drew the line.”

Piero was shocked. He had no idea about how far his brother had pushed Francesco and Costanzo Into life of crime. He cleared his throat “As I said. I keep out of your upbringing. You are not my sons. Your father told me to give you the same resources and freedom you had back in New York. He told me to put my guards at your disposal to do what you wish within the borders of this town. I don’t really care what you do but .... That priest, father Rwan is off limits.”

Francesco protested ” What? I hate that guy. The first thing I was going to do was set his car on fire and smash the windows of his church for embarrassing us.”

Uncle Piero stared silently at Francesco and kept his stare until Francesco looked away and murmured ” I understand he is off limits. I won’t do anything to him.”

Piero nodded ” Now that we have cleared up the boundaries, get ready. You are leaving in 5 minutes to join the feasts at town hall. Whatever you do, don’t embarrass me?”

Costanzo and Francesco nodded ” Yes uncle.”

The ride to the town hall didn’t take long. When Costanzo and Francesco got off the car with tinted windows they noticed their uncle had sent three cars full of his men to watch the town hall surrendering the place. But they were used to guards watching their steps. What they weren’t used to were the local people staring at them and getting out of their path. They could see their fear clearly.

Francesco laughed and turned to Costanzo ” We haven’t even done anything and they look so petrified of us. Wait till I show them what Rosarios are capable of.”

Costanzo glanced at his brother worriedly and kept quiet.

The two Rosarios followed by guards entered the town hall and were greeted by non other than the priest at the door.

Costanzo knew of his brother’s dislike of father Rwan and was sure Francesco was going to be rude to him so he spoke before his brother ” Greetings father Rwan. My uncle sends you his regards. Please instruct us where we need to sit?”

Father Rwan smiled warmly at Costanzo ” Hello my child. I am glad you and your brother graced us with your presence. But tell me is all well with you and your brother? Is your stay at your uncle’s mansion comfortable? We have very good social service facilities at the town’s community building. If there is anything you need to ... discuss or any help you need please don’t hesitate to contact them.”

Costanzo gasped. The priest actually was concerned that him and Francesco were mistreated at his uncle’s home. He shook his head and spoke ” We are well. Thank you. My uncle treats us well. You don’t need to worry father Rwan.”

Father Rwan seemed genuinely happy to hear his response. Costanzo couldn’t understand why his brother hated this poor priest who seemed descent enough to check up on them as new comers. Only if the priest knew it was the town that needed protection and concern rather than them. He sighed ” So father Rwan, where do we sit? This town hall is full of adults. Where are the kids? Or are we the only kids here?”

Father Rwan spoke ” Oh. Sorry. I drifted off for a second. All children are in a marquee at the back yard. Please make your way through that door in the corner. These men who are .... accompanying you can either stay in the town hall or wait for you outside the marquee in the yard. It’s their choice.”

Costanzo turned to Francesco who was distracted looking at something in the distance ” Lets go.” His words seemed to startle Francesco but he followed without question.

Costanzo was wondering what had caught Francesco’s attention so badly that he had bypassed the chance to be rude and sarcastic towards father Rwan. What was he staring at that had his attention for so long. So he looked in the direction that Francesco was staring at. His eyes widened as he noticed Francesco had been staring at a girl the whole time. The girl was around their age and looked quite beautiful. She was in an empty corner unwrapping plates stuffed with apple pies and setting up a table. It seemed that she had baked the pies for this occasion and was just unloading them from her large basket. He hoped with all his heart that the girl wasn’t going to come to the marquee. From the looks of it the girl had made Francesco deep in thought since he kept glancing at her and even he saw his older brother smile in her direction at some point. He thought to himself ” Heavens help this poor girl who had crossed paths with his brother.”

As the youngsters entered the tent marquee they told their guards to wait outside and not to enter. It was a good excuse to get rid of them. They could take care of themselves.

There were tables and chairs everywhere and children were playing cards and eating pies and chips and drinking juice. But they all stopped as they spotted the two Rosarios. Fear was almost on every single face. However there was one boy who didn’t stop what he was doing and was talking to the boy sitting next to him even though the boy he was talking to was frozen in his spot as though he had seen a ghost like every other kid in the room. Francesco spotted the kid instantly and turned to Costanzo ” Lets go sit at that table. Costanzo followed without saying a word. He didn’t like seeing the look of fear on the faces of these kids. He just turned to the whole marquee and spoke sounding annoyed ” Why don’t you carry on like before my brother and I entered. No one likes people staring at them.”

Costanzo regretted how harsh he sounded but his words did the trick. The kids all nodded quickly and put their head down.

Francesco and Costanzo took their seats next to the boy who seemed not to notice their danger. All other boys sitting at the table quickly got up quickly and left like their life depended on it and moved to the furthest corner of the marquee that they could find. The boy gasped ” What is wrong with this place?” He then turned to Costanzo and Francesco and smiled ” Hi I am Angelo. I am new in town. My parents and I moved into town yesterday. They work at the hospital. Are you guys new too? Nice meeting you guys.”

Francesco spoke ” So it explains why you don’t look at us with fear. You haven’t heard about our family and uncle yet.”

Costanzo nodded ” Oh yeah. Father Rwan said all new comers have arrived here in the past fortnight. So you must be really new.”

Angelo nodded ” Well yeah. We had some difficulties selling our house to come here. My parents were the last doctors to arrive. But tell me your names and what do you mean by I haven’t heard about your family?”

Costanzo spoke ” Never mind that. I am Costanzo and this is my brother Francesco. How old are you?”

Angelo spoke ” I am 14. And you guys?”

Costanzo smiled brightly ” So am I. I am 14 too. It means we are in the same year in school. I am glad I now have a friend. My brother is in a year above us of course. He is 15.”

Angelo nodded ” Great. Actually you will have two friends. I have a twin sister too. She is just coming through the door. Her name is Adele.” He then waved at someone in a distance.

Francesco and Costanzo turned around. Costanzo closed his eyes shut and shook his head. It was the same girl. It was her luck that they were forming friendships with her brother and now of course her.

The girl walked enthusiastically to the table and sat down next to her brother and patted him on his shoulder ” I leave you alone for a few minutes and you make friends. Why couldn’t you wait for me?”

Angelo turned to Adele ” I just know their names and their age. That’s it. I swear. This one is Costanzo. He is the same age as us. But his brother Francesco is a year older. We would see them in school.

Francesco spoke ” Delighted to meet you Adele.” He then turned to Costanzo ” I have a feeling we would form a long lasting friendship with these two siblings? Don’t you agree Costanzo?”