Straightened Out (The Pastore Crime Family Book 1) by Janine Infante Bosco

Author:Janine Infante Bosco [Infante Bosco, Janine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-11-23T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

Violet Cabrera

“Heel forward, shoulders down. It’s very simple Violet,” my instructor, Ms. Beechers, chastises.

If it was up to her, she’d have me exiled from the academy. My scholarship would be revoked and instead of training for a one of the most prestigious productions to hit Lincoln Center's stage, I’d be dancing on a corner.

I swear some days I think she’s right, that I don’t belong here. It’s usually after a long day of classes, when I stay late to practice. I slip my ballet shoes off and stare at my bruised and bloody feet with tears in my eyes. The dream of one day holding the honor of prima ballerina feels so out of reach.

“That’s enough,” Ms. Beechers announces.

I square my shoulders and slowly bring my arms down to my sides, ending my routine fluidly and gracefully. However, judging by the look of disdain radiating from Ms. Beecher’s eyes, it safe to say she doesn’t agree. Feeling discouraged, I cross the room and grab my bag.

Today normally would be one of those days where I stay behind to work on all the things Ms. Beecher’s critiqued, but I don’t have it in me.

To be fair I’ve been off my game since Tuesday and it has little do with Ms. Beecher and everything to do with Rocco. Our relationship was off to a rocky start and that was putting it mildly.

He dropped me off a little while after we forced ourselves out of bed and promised to be in touch. I climbed up the fire escape wearing a shit-eating grin, one that was quickly smacked off my face when I crawled through my window and found my mother sitting on the foot of my bed.

Literally, she smacked me across the face. I don’t know how she knew I had spent the night with Rocco, but she did, and she called me every filthy disgusting name imaginable. The tears I held in my eyes were not a result of the slap, but rather a product of the words she spewed at me.

“He’s no good, mija,” she shouted. “How could you sell yourself so short?”

I wanted to believe that she had my best interest in heart, that she was playing the role of a concerned mother, but there was so much hatred in her eyes.

“His father was killed, and he will be too,” she continued to rant. Her English turned to Spanish and she started going on about my brother and how he was already dead to her.

When she was done with her tirade, she lifted her hand. I thought she was going to hit me again, so I braced for it, holding my hands in front of my face. That’s when she grabbed my wrist. Her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as she inspected the bracelet and in an instant, I felt bile rise to my throat. I let her get her jabs in and swallowed her slurs, but if she so much as a laid a finger on that bracelet, I was going to hurt my own mother and that sickened me.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.