The story of how I moved to Europe - Part 4

I saw two police officers at the hotels reception. My heart was beating very fast, I was shaking from top to bottom, I was sweating like never before. Just the thought of that moment brings back the most uncomfortable feeling I have ever felt. I walked quickly to the elevator, ran to my room and hid all the money that I had in the bathroom's sink, I lied in my bed and hoped to fall asleep. I heard someone knocking on my door, I pretended to be asleep. It was the police, they kept knocking. I decided to open up and I acted as if I just woke up, I was scare shitless. They had found my social security card and they had been looking for me this whole time. It felt like a big stone was just remove from my back. Those were the most scary moments of my life. I hardly fell asleep that night, I kept struggling with the sense of guilt and fear that kept harassing me for the last couple of days. The next morning I woke up later in the afternoon and I decided to go look for a job. I didn't find a job but what I found was a croupier school. Considered my love for casino games and gambling I decided to enroll. On my way back to the hotel I noticed that a bar near the Colosseum was hiring a waiter so I went for that too. See, in Italy you don't have to apply for the job first and then wait for the response, if you ask for the job and the owner of the bar decides that you are able to do the job, you get the job at the moment. I was finally starting to feel like my life was becoming balanced. The owner of the bar offered me a bed at his place in return for some English lessons. His name was Marco and that man is as dear to me as my father is. To be continued

The story of how I moved to Europe - Part 3

After waking up I felt better, my knees weren't shaking anymore, my mind was more relaxed, and I was slowly coming back to normality. I hit the hotel's gym for a half hour and had a good shower: I was ready to begin my "new life" if so we can call it. I had about € 450 in my pocket and I headed out searching for something to do, I wasn't sure as to what I was searching for but I knew that staying closed in my hotel room wouldn't do me any good. My Italian was poor but I managed to order a coffee and a croissant in this very crowded bar. I had never seen one like it before, people coming in and out like ants and the barman shouting across the bar to his assistant. I starting to feel strange since I wasn't use to having my personal space invaded so many times in such a short period of time, but I had to adapt, after all this is what I wanted right? I finished my breakfast quickly I headed out where a couple of old men where playing cards. They were playing 5 card draw poker. That's it I sat down and started playing, hand, after hand, after hand, I was on a winning streak. The luck must have been on my side that day since every time I play poker I seem to not get a hand right. Anyway, being around € 200 up I decided to say goodbye to my friends. I had managed to earn some money that day but obviously this couldn't go on much longer. From there I decided to get back to my hotel room and order some food in my room, when the inevitable happened. To be continued...