The Family Secret

How often is it that we fail ourselves financially? The answer: too often. There are some who actually pay attention to all things adult, including their finances, but a lot of us neglect our responsibilities and get ourselves into trouble with school loans, credit cards, and living expenses. Spending frugally without regard for the harm we're actually causing ourselves. AnnMarie was no different. She was taught the basics of finances during her years in school, keeping a checkbook and the like, but was never taught about keeping a healthy credit score.

Like countless others, she chose to attend college after high school but, given her average grades, she didn't qualify for any scholarships and had no choice but to settle for federal loans. Upon leaving college without finishing, she bounced around from one job to another in short succession in search for a higher paying position each time and, eventually, ending up unemployed by fault of her own poor decisions. Her guilt over the circumstances of her life grew by the day and she began to put more stock into the importance of maintaining a decent credit score by setting plans to start making the necessary payments to put her debts in good standing, and scaling back on her unnecessary spending habits. Despite her realizations, she still never made the necessary changes to improve. Instead, she continued to spend her money on luxuries, keeping just enough money to keep her rent and utilities paid. Things like her car insurance, keeping her car's license plate up to date, and her cell phone bill were put on the back burner every month as she preferred to eat fast food rather than grocery shopping, buying clothes and shoes, and more. It seemed to be a never ending downward spiral, and although she never changed her behavior, she felt enough shame to keep her finances a secret from her friends and family. It would have been mortifying for anyone to know the predicament of which she'd gotten herself into.

The possibility of her financial woes being found out was rapidly growing and she decided that filing for bankruptcy was her best option. A fresh start, so to speak. Unfortunately, it couldn't be done without telling at least one person, her dad.

Her parents divorced when she was very young and they never explained the reason why, simply stating "Sometimes, things just don't work out" any time that she asked. Eventually, she gave up asking because the answers never changed but as grew up, she began to notice the differences in her parents’ lives. While she and her mother lived in an average home in a respectable neighborhood, her father lived in a ratty, broken down trailer home that was nestled among various types of weeds and plants. While her mother made sure to furnish their home with modest yet clean and matching furniture, her father's home was broken down inside and out. No couch, no dinner table. Almost nothing to occupy the living and kitchen areas other than a television perched on top of dinner tray and an old recliner. She'd always been afraid to venture into the bedroom. Though he did have a steady job, he seemed to care very little about his unsavory living environment and almost always ran out of money. AnnMarie always suspected that was the reason for her parents' separation and now it seemed that she was heading down the same path as her father.

Filing for bankruptcy wasn’t easy. It had to be approached in a smart way, she couldn't just go with any attorney and her father happened to know just about every one due to his job that she knew nothing about. Yet another question she'd learned to no longer ask because of the annoyingly vague answer she was given.

"Daddy?" she asked meekly one day during a visit, "I have a question for you."

"What's that, baby girl?" His nickname for her cut through her like knives knowing that she was about to disappoint him. There had to be a way to keep her secret without making it known that she was in trouble. "Well, I, uh," she stuttered, trying to think quickly, "you remember my friend, Alicia, right? Well, she needs a good bankruptcy attorney."

"Attorneys are expensive. If she wants to file then she's going to need to be able to pay their fees." Thankfully, it seemed that she'd successfully kept her secret. Whew, I sure dodged that bullet she thought to herself. "It's tax season, Daddy. She told me that she's using her tax refund to pay for it. She just needs to find a good attorney to help settle her debts because they piled up and she can't pay them."

"It's sad but that happens, sometimes. That’s life but I'm relieved that you've always been smarter with your money." Sharp, serrated knives cut through her again. His ill-placed confidence weighed down in her.

He gave her a list of attorneys that he knew would really help but because of her lifelong habit of procrastinating, she never called a single one. She chose to keep her tax refund and spend it on other things that she really didn't need, telling herself that she would keep enough to pay the fees she would need for an attorney and before she knew it, all of her tax money was gone. So much for a new financial start.

By the time she finally pulled herself from her procrastination, however, her life was turned upside down when her father unexpectedly passed away one dreary afternoon. Instead of bankruptcy being at the forefront of her mind, it was tending to the details of his funeral. From what he would wear to the ceremony and burial. It all seemed like a blur but the funeral itself was not the end. Despite the sadness she felt over losing her father and not having the proper amount of time to mourn due to the amount of work needing to be done to honor his dying wishes, she still had to pack up his house and then attend a reading of his last will and testament that she had no idea he’d written. Just two weeks after his funeral, AnnMarie was gathered in the office of an attorney with only her mother and his one living sister. She couldn’t imagine why there was even a will to be read because he basically had nothing to leave to anyone other than his broken down trailer, which she was sure no one would want.

“Thank you all for coming,” the attorney greeted them. “I am very sorry for your loss. As you are aware, Mr. Barillo has left each of you things he deemed precious and wanted to pass on to those who mean the most to him.” Ok, just give me my broken couch chair so I can go on about my day she thought to herself as he took his time reading off the list of “precious” items he was leaving to her mother and aunt. Finally it was her turn, “...and to my daughter, AnnMarie Barillo, I leave the most precious thing of all, my black book. I know that I am placing it in the right hands.” he finished. A small black book. That's it. While her mother inherited the $412 left in his bank account and her aunt got the trailer, she got a small, tattered black book. Thanks a heap, Dad she thought sarcastically. When the book was handed to her, she immediately opened it up to find a short, hand-written letter from her father.

“Show this to no one. Your life depends on its secrecy.

Love, Dad.”

It was vague but luckily, no one asked about its contents. She honored his request with ease and showed no one what was in the book, which wasn’t difficult given that a brief glance showed that it was full of names and numbers that she couldn’t make sense of. Once she made it home, however, she decided to take a closer look at the contents within the pages and was immediately drawn in. It looked like a ledger. The pages were filled with names and numbers that she didn't understand but she had a feeling settling in the pit of her stomach that this small book was, indeed, far more important than it originally seemed.

For weeks, AnnMarie poured over the little book, doing as much research as she could to figure out what kind of book it was and why her life depended on her keeping it a secret. Finally, she realized that her father wasn’t a bookie and he had much more money than he let on. Another discovery was that the names within the book were those of well known people. High powered individuals who had dangerous connections. That’s where the danger came in but that wasn’t all. She was blown away to learn that he was owed a total of 20 thousand dollars from one of the most dangerous women in her city: Arielle Contanto. She was unsure of how deep Arielle’s connections went, but she knew enough about her from hearing of her crimes in the news to know that she was, in fact, a very dangerous woman. She was the head of a notorious gang who wrought hell in the depths of the city. Embezzlement, murder and robbery. There was nothing that this woman wouldn’t do.

For some unknown reason, AnnMarie decided to pay a visit to Arielle Constanto to see if she would be able to collect what her father was due. It seemed that her father was owed money for a hitman job. A hitman?! She thought to herself in shock. The more she read the little black book, the more she learned about her father. It looked like a bookie’s ledger when it was actually a record of the “jobs” her father was paid for: killings and interrogations, he was quite the criminal and a seemingly very dangerous man.

Upon her visit to Arielle Constanto, she was stopped by two armed men, it was obvious that they were security of some sort. “Who are you?” one asked in a deep voice.

“I just need to collect something from Miss Constanto.” she answered, trying her best to sound much more confident than she felt. “You have no business here. Go home, little girl.” the other man said rudely.

“Listen, I was sent by George Barillo. I'm here to collect. You’re gonna let me by. Now.” no more false bravado there, now. The book said it was 20 grand, if she could get her hands on it then her money troubles would be over.

“Geo sent you?” asked the first man before exchanging worried looks with the other. She nodded her head in confirmation. “Hold on a second.” he said. He walked through the door of the broken down building they were guarding then returned quickly with a package. “What's your name, kid?”

“AnnMarie Barillo.”

“No, your full name.”

“AnnMarie Isabella Valentina Lucia Barillo.” The two men exchanged looks again before handing the package over to her, “Hell of a password but, here you go.”

She took the package and walked away quickly. She sat in her car and ripped open the package she was given. Not only was the money there, but so was another note from her father,

“(505)555-6531. Call Aldo Salvatore. It’s your turn now.”

It didn’t take long before she knew immediately what the note meant. Along with 20G’s, she’d also just inherited the family business and Mr. Aldo Salvatore was going to teach her all that she needed to know to continue on with her father’s legacy. Never in her wildest dreams would she have guessed that she would have that much money, nor that she would become freelance muscle for the city’s underground crime syndicate. This family secret was a doozy. Rich and hired muscle for the mob. Who would have thought?