Chapter 240 Leah's Story
Leah Abend is currently a member of the Piazza gang from Italy, and is mainly responsible for the family's bar business.
If we look at the tortuous beginning of Leah Abend's life, it is actually a very ironic thing, because when she was beaten and couldn't get out of bed, her mother was beaten to death by her alcoholic father, and her drunken and murderous father suffocated to death because vomit blocked his throat.
This is undoubtedly a tragedy, but Leah's tragedy began when her father committed domestic violence and her mother stood by and watched. So when she was eleven years old and both her parents died, the shadow of her loved ones' death put an end to the tragedy of her life, and she gained a kind of relief in disguise.
Anyway, she had to rely on herself to make a living since she lived in the slums and her parents were completely unreliable. After shedding a few uncontrollable tears, she found that she was more suited to living alone without having to suffer beatings anymore.
No, it’s not life, it’s survival. It has always been survival, but it has changed from survival in darkness to survival with a little light.
There is no doubt that Leah's life started in darkness, but in the story she told Della, her experience began with a heroic rescue with a hint of pink.
"Llunna, it's a good place, but it's not a place suitable for people who have nothing to venture out. When I first came here, I couldn't even afford to rent the cheapest house, so I could only sleep in a church," Leah said, taking a sip of wine. "It's not bad to sleep in a church, but most of the time I spend the night lying in the subway."
Leah said it lightly, but the days of homelessness were actually turbulent and dangerous, especially since she was a woman. Fortunately, Leah was strong and good at fighting, so she was able to beat away many homeless people with evil intentions. When she was wandering, she also helped other homeless people beat away bad guys. But she was only one person after all, and she could not take care of all the situations. The police hardly cared about these people who fell to the bottom of society for various reasons, and most of the time it was too late.
But many people have become numb.
It's also quite sad. Leah came here for the reputation of prosperity, but all she encountered was deeper chaos and poverty.
"I don't have a stable place to live, and it's not easy to find a job. What's more, I really don't have any education, which makes it even harder to find a job," Leah curled her lips, not very satisfied with herself, "So after hanging around here for a month, I want to leave and live in a stable town."
"And then?" Della couldn't help asking.
"When I packed my luggage and was walking on the road, maybe it was God's will, a gust of wind blew away my only hat and blew it into an alley," Leah glanced at the coarse linen hat in the window, "Inside the alley was the daughter of my current big boss, and she was dragged in by five or six men."
In fact, no matter what the identity of the woman is, Leah will not ignore it. Perhaps because of her hard life in the past, Leah does not want to see a good child become as miserable as she was because of bad people.
"Are you so good at fighting?" Della looked Leah up and down, somewhat confused as to why she had given in to Crich and the others in the past.
"The fight in Spider Alley was just a minor one. Crich had bad intentions, but he wouldn't kill anyone, so I just don't get hurt," Leah saw Della's doubts and began to explain. Her throat couldn't help but feel a little itchy as she spoke. She wanted to smoke a cigarette, but considering Della, she barely suppressed it and took a big gulp of wine. "If we get here, we'll really die. My survival instinct won't let me stop."
"......" Della was speechless.
"After we beat up the group of men, I saw that the young lady's clothes were of a good brand, so I planned to help her go to the nearby police station. But she was still quite calm despite almost getting into trouble." Thinking of Polona trembling all over but pretending to be calm, Leah laughed softly, "She gave me her wallet and asked me to stay here for a while, and then she made a phone call."
"The young boss came with a group of people a few minutes later, and I was invited into their manor. Although I was invited to be their savior, there were still a lot of tests and investigations. Tsk," Leah smacked her lips and took another sip of wine. "The men who were beaten had broken bones. Since they saw that I was a talent they needed, I got the opportunity to join the Piazza family."
To be precise, Leah had another choice at the time - a large sum of money, but she was unwilling to give up. Leah was also a competitive person, so she finally chose to seize the opportunity that might allow her to make a name for herself in L Town.
Della listened and was filled with emotion about Leah's tortuous experience. Her first reaction was that Leah had made the wrong choice. The path she was taking now was really dangerous, and it was possible that she would die without a complete body one day. But on second thought, she strongly refuted her previous idea.
That was the path Leah had already taken. Instead of expressing worry over and over again, which would only add to her regrets, she should express her support firmly.
"It seems that the Piazza family got a great bargain," Della showed her social manner and barely responded to Leah's words, "What's the matter with the motorcycle, my invincible knight?"
"There are a lot of things going on behind the scenes. Alas, it's just a matter of fighting with each other. Piazza is from Italy, and even if he has established himself, many people have come to cause trouble. We have fought and negotiated several times." Even though the matter involved her, Leah didn't care. "In the end, it was decided to play a game."
"Game?" Della frowned, feeling that it wouldn't be a good game.
"Let two motorcycles drive towards each other, and whoever turns first loses." Leah replied.
"What if no one turns?" Della asked again.
"Then let's start the next round." Leah replied again.
Della stopped talking, and Leah smiled and comforted her, "Don't worry, we just played one round. Although we were very close, in the end it was the other side that tilted the handlebars. The winner is me and the Piazza family."
"This also allowed me to take a step forward in the family. In the past, even if we fought hard, there were always people who looked down on me because I was a woman. After winning the game, no one dared to look down on me anymore, whether in the family or outside." After saying that, Leah raised her head and drank the wine in the glass.
Della still couldn't speak. She stared at the steam rising from the teacup in her hand, her vision a little blurry.
"The rest is a family matter, so I can't tell you. Anyway, my status is getting higher and higher. Now I have taken over a business, and the big boss rewarded me with a house to show off." Leah had finished her story so far. She stood up and opened a few more bottles of wine. "Do you have any stories about that world that you would like to share with me?"
"Obviously, I know magic and I'm a witch." Della put down the teacup, her palms facing up, and a ball of flame emerged. Before Leah, who had opened her eyes wide, could exclaim in amazement, the cup in front of Della also floated up. The ceramic cup seemed to be alive and kept twisting. The hot tea in the cup became its tongue, and it spit out tea at Leah, and then tentatively approached the flame on Della's palm.
Z-la—
Finally, the tea hit the flame, and after a few sharp sounds, the tea disappeared. Della clenched her fist, the flame disappeared, and the cup fell back on the table.
Leah clapped her hands. The well-behaved little white snake on her shoulder saw her master getting excited and started to stick out its tongue and move its body.
"The magic world is independent of mah-er, human society. In theory, I am violating magic regulations by telling you this and performing magic in front of you," Della said slowly, without a trace of strangeness on her face. "But I am a person who can take advantage of loopholes. Now the tricks of the magic world in Country Y don't work on me at all."
"It doesn't sound like a good situation," Leah, who was drinking, looked at Della's face, "but it seems very exciting."
"It's very exciting," Della said. "The magic world is also very complicated. I can't explain my current situation to you clearly for a while, but by analogy with human society, I am the most notorious child left in the world after the Nazi war, and then I was driven out of the country by the victims."
Leah spat out a mouthful of wine and opened her eyes wide in disbelief. She had always thought that Della was just a child from a middle-class family in the magical world.
"But unlike human society, the concept of bloodline is very popular in the magical world, so now," Della smiled self-deprecatingly, "maybe I am still considered a young lady."
Leah looked at Della with a calm face and was speechless, but her heart suddenly started beating faster.
To be honest, when she and Della separated at Spider Alley, Leah never thought that they would meet again. After all, the gap between them was really huge. At that time, she thought that Della was a well-educated, promising, and kind-hearted girl, while she was just a gangster who might be like this for the rest of her life.
The gap is too big, and forcing them together would be bad for both parties.
When little Riddle turned from a tag into a snake to protect her, Leah even raised the image of Della to a higher level in her mind. What kind of girl could be better than Della, with a good education, good temperament, a kind heart, and who could do magic?
If Leah Abend was still that gangster, the gap between them would be inconceivable, and Leah would not contact Della.
But Leah Abend was doing well now, and if she had the chance, she still wanted to present the best to her miracle and savior, so Leah invited Della according to the contact information in the snake's belly.
Then, her bright and kind-hearted friend came over, listened to her story of how she came to be without any prejudice, and was able to fearlessly confess her shady origins.
Leah's heart beat faster and she was very excited. She realized that Della's life probably also started in darkness.
It was a pitiful realization that made people feel sympathetic, but Leah was more concerned about the fact that they were the same kind of people who were experiencing the darkness.
Friendship among the same kind need not be short-lived.
This means that Leah Abend may be able to throw away her last bit of scruples and become good friends with Della Riddle.
Leah has always wanted Della to be her good friend for a long time.