Okay, so, I feel like starting this now but keep in mind that I am a college student who is now off of winter break so updates might not be too often, although this semester my course load is a little lighter

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Movies always have a certain way of portraying the mafia. There were tough Italian men in suits who got their way, crooked cops and people being trained to murder with their bare hands. And then there was me, growing up in the midst of all that. It wasn't fun. Sure I got a lot of money, plus plenty of alcohol to drink and weed to smoke. But I lacked one thing and that was a normal life of a normal teenager.

"Paco, are you listening?" My dad asked.

I blinked, looking over at my dad.

"You are eighteen, you're gonna be taking over the business soon so you need to keep up," he said.

I realized the meeting had already ended and I frowned.

"You never listen, that's your problem," my dad said. "Always on your guitar singing love ballads."

"Paco!" My mom called. I hurried out to the kitchen while my dad followed. "I made your favorite, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the shape of stars with heart shaped watermelon."

"This is the problem, you coddle him too much," my dad said. "He's big enough to make his own food that isn't in shapes."

"It's better in shapes though," I said, taking a bite of the sandwich.

"No more of that," he said. "We need to cut him off, make him more serious."

"Come on, he's too young for the business, Cheech," my mom said.

My mom was basically my best friend. She was also a very stereotypical housewife. She cooked and cleaned, wore dresses and had her brown hair in curls. Sometimes she looked straight like a lady in a 50s advertisement.

"Paco, come on, I know a way to man you up," he said.

"Mm, I don't know, that doesn't sound reassuring to me," I said.

He grabbed my arm and pulled me out to the car, I made sure to grab my sandwich before we left. He drove us to a nearby place that I realized was a strip club.

"Ew, no, dad, I'm not going to a strip club with you," I said. "That's just weird."

"No, we're not going to look at the ladies," he said. "This is the business I own for money laundering."

"I thought you owned a casino," I said.

"That too," he said.

He took me by the arm and pulled me inside. We went down a flight of stairs to a place where it looked like they were making counterfeit money. We went to the back room when his phone rang.

"Give me a minute, let me take this," he said.

I left, walking around curiously. I went back upstairs where there were two different sections, a male and a female. My parents didn't know I was gay, I didn't know how to tell them. I went outside, sitting on a bench to eat my star shaped sandwich.

A boy came up to me, he had on a big fur coat. He was one of the dancers and I assumed he was on break. He pulled out a cigarette, putting it between his lips and lighting it.

"What's your name?" He asked.

"Frank," I said.

"Gerard," he stared. "Aren't you a little young to be at a strip club?"

"Aren't you a little young to be a dancer?" I asked. "And I'm eighteen."

"Nineteen," he said. "Why is your sandwich shaped like a star."

"Tastes better that way," I said.

Gerard smiled and I looked at his bright red hair.

"What are you doing hanging out here?" He asked.

"My dad owns the place and we were working stuff out when he got a call," I said.

"So you're the infamous Iero kid," he said. "People are right, you are cute."

"People around here know me?" I asked.

Gerard shrugged. "They know you'll take over so they want to stay on your good side. I'm new here, I don't really know."

"Why are you here?" I asked. "You're so young."

"Paying for college, it's expensive as fuck," he said.

"You're in college?" I asked. "That's really cool."

"Why?" He asked.

"Well, I never got to go to school, I was homeschooled. Not able to go to college either because I have to take care of the business," I said. "I just think it would be cool to live a completely normal teenager life doing teenager things like going to parties and to classes and applying for college."

"What do you usually do then?" Gerard asked.

"Well, my mom is overprotective so we like to do puzzles together, don't usually get to go out much," I said. "My dad brought me here to show me some of the business that I'm going to have to take over."

"Sounds like a pretty boring life," he said. "Hit me up sometime, maybe you can sneak out and we can go to a party together."

He pulled a dollar bill out of his pocket and I handed him a pen. He wrote his number down before giving me the dollar.

"My break is about to end but I'll see you around, Frank," he said.

I nodded, watching him walk back into the building. I went in after, going to the basement and into my dad's office.

"Ah, I was just about to send for someone to come and get you," he said. "Perfect timing."

I sat down in the chair across from his desk, waiting patiently for him to say something as he rifled through some papers. The walls were bare and painted dark grey with black wood floors. There were some shelves and file cabinets behind him. He sat there in his big, cushiony seat behind the big mahogany desk. It was rather similar to his office at home.

My dad was pretty much your typical mob leader. Big, intimidating and always wearing suits. He tries to get me to wear suits as often as possible but that usually ends up with me complaining about it a lot.

"You know why I own this business, correct?" He asked.

"To wash money," I said simply.

"Good, good," he said. "Same reason I own the casino, all for laundering. You understand how all that works, correct?"

"Somewhat," I said. "But can you explain it to me like I'm five."

My dad sighed. "So, basically, imagine I worked in retail."

"You would blow your brains out," I said.

"Yes, but that's besides the point," he said. "So, the bank would know how much money I would make on average, not a lot. So, if I have crazy expenses such as your new lambo then they would take notice of that. If you own a business like this strip club, for example, then you can tell them you're making more than you actually are, allowing you to launder money. And if you have more than one business you can wash even more at a time."

I blinked then noted the frustration on his face.

"You need to learn these things, Paco, I won't be around forever and you'll have to take over," he said.

"Why is this all being put on me?" I asked. "You could have had another child to take over."

"You would still take over because you're the oldest," he said. "And besides, you know your mother had a hard labor with you, it would be risky for her to try for another. You want your mom to die?"

"What? No, of course not I wasn't saying that," I said. "Just mild complaining about being an only child. Why can't one of my cousins take over? Marco is older than me."

"I had only sisters, the leader is given first to the oldest carrying the family name," he said.

"What is this, ancient China?" I mumbled.

My dad thankfully didn't hear as he started to look through pages again before sighing.

"I have some work to do, you can take the car home," he said, handing me the keys.

I nodded and went back upstairs. There was two doors next to the entrance, a ladies and a gentleman. They were not for bathrooms, however. I went into the ladies door where the male dancers stripped for the cheering women. With my head ducked down, I went near the back where the bar was, sitting at the stool.

"Can I have some whiskey on the rocks?" I asked.

"Can I have some ID, kid?" the man asked.

"I'm Frank's son, Frank Junior, Frank III, Paco," I listed.

The man nodded, getting me a drink. I pulled out my wallet and saw Gerard's number on one of the bills. I put the number into my phone before using my pen to scribble it out. I handed him the money and sat down in one of the armchairs.

I watched the man onstage for a little bit before someone came up behind me, rubbing my shoulders, I jumped, looking back at Gerard in his tight little underwear that made me gulp. He walked around me, sitting on my lap, moving his head down.

"Did someone miss me?" He whispered in my ear.

I sucked in a breath, not knowing what to say. My brain was getting all mixed up. Gerard hummed, a hand running through my black and red hair. My cheeks were burning hot with embarrassment, but that wasn't the only place my blood was rushing to.

"Let me give you a little dance," he said.

I looked at the door and saw a couple guards there who would definitely recognize me and tell my dad.

"Another time," I said. "And you used a dollar for me earlier, let me pay you back for that."

I tucked a hundred dollar bill into his waistband.

"Frankie, are you sure?" Gerard asked.

I nodded and he stood up when I did. I finished off my drink before ducking my way out the door with my hood up. I smiled as I drove home, hoping to start changing my life to a normal one while spending time with Gerard.