"Come on, you piece of crap!" 15 year old Gionna muttered, smacking the A/C unit in frustration. Liberty City was caught in the grip of a brutal summer heatwave and like every year before it, the summer heat was more than she could tolerate.
"Stop that, you'll hurt your hand!" 17 year old Dominic says, gently guiding the tiny teen away from it. Both were in warm weather clothes and Gionna's hair was pulled back into a ponytail but the heat was driving both teens crazy.
So crazy in fact that the two made an impulsive decision and pulled their tops off, leaving both half naked.
Gionna knew that it was a good thing Dominic's bedroom door was closed and locked because Carmela Forelli would've had a fit if she found a half naked girl in her son's room.
Despite Gionna and Dominic having been friends since childhood, Gionna noticed that as she got older, Carmela didn't like her too much.
"Hopefully, they're still cold." Dominic says before opening the mini fridge and grabbing two Logger beers, handing one to Gionna, who opened hers and drank it slowly, Dominic doing the same.
"Much better. Only way to stay sane in the summer is to cool off." Gionna says.
"Damn right. Every summer is hotter than the one before it and every winter is too damn cold." Dominic says as both finish the beer, some of the beer spilling onto Gionna's red lacy bra. "That's one way of cooling off!" He says jokingly, both laughing.
Dominic wasn't sure why his mom seemed to hate Gionna. He couldn't remember Gionna having offended Carmela in any way.
"Something on your mind?" Gionna asks, setting the empty bottle down.
"Just thinking about… why things changed." Dominic says, finishing his beer.
"I think… I kind of remind her of how crazy my aunt was as a teenager. But we all go through that time in our lives when we're a little crazy." Gionna says.
"We all take after different family members… I act like my Uncle Sonny used to." Dominic says. From what Gionna had heard, Sonny Forelli was a ruthless mob boss back in the 70s until his death in 1986, ironically at the hands of his former friend and the notorious Hardwood Butcher Tommy Vercetti.
'Damn, if Dominic takes over the Forelli family one day… he could end up being more ruthless than Sonny was.' Gionna thought.
But she also wondered if someone would follow in Tommy's footsteps and kill Dominic if the Forelli family became too out of control or too powerful.
For one of the few times in her fifteen years of life, Gionna found herself thinking of a future without mob wars between the Forelli and Leone mob families.
Could there really be a truce?
"What ya thinking?" Dominic says after they sit down on the carpet.
"That the only time there'd be a truce between the Forelli and Leone families is when hell freezes over." Gionna says, Dominic laughing a bit.
"When you put it like that, both families are like mafia versions of the Lost MC and the A.O.D. Violent fights break out, one of us retaliates and the other ends up in the hospital or dead at the bottom of the Humboldt river." Dominic says.
"No, I think it's the Petrovic family that drops the bodies in the Humboldt. They tend to be assholes when other mobsters try to dispose of corpses by putting them there." Gionna says, obviously a bit drunk. She was only 4'11 and 100 pounds so alcohol tends to hit her bloodstream faster.
"Yeah… you're kind of silly when you're drunk. In a cute way, though." Dominic says, Gionna looking at him.
Both were a few inches from each other when they heard Carmela shout "Dominic, get your ass down here! Now!"
"Damn. Stay up here." Dominic says, both putting their tops back on and Dominic walking downstairs after closing the door.
'Every damn time I'm near Dominic, she just has to act like that!' Gionna thought.
Although she knew better, she couldn't help but think that Carmela could be a hateful bitch towards her on purpose... and it was getting on Gionna's nerves.