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Along the mafia lines, my best friend was in the mafia and I was being actively recruited!
She owed me a bunch of money at the time, and the mafia ended up paying me back instead of her!
Fun times (not). Scared shitless actually.

Wow, what was that like? Did they like, hand you a wad of cash or something? Did they seem gangster-esque?

I used to meet at this bar in Alaska. Downtown Anchorage. I was 19. He poured out the cocaine in a big pile on the table and, being one of my early interactions, I was terrified because the bar was full of people. I looked around and it seemed like everyone knew better than to look back. He said "dont worry my friend, this is my place"

scary... but I was hooked. I was hooked on power, money and coke.

One day, as I held my chest out of fear of a cardiac arrest, I went to visit my baby sister (age 5) while she was sleeping and I decided I needed to change my life. I was on a plane in less than a week.

PS, oh SteemFamous @stellabelle if you are interested in my words enough to respond, it would be awesome to get a teensy weensy upvote.

Oh hell yeah. man, that's a crazy freaking story. Mine is only a close call with Sicilian mafia. Here's the bone chilling part:
I worked at a big Art Museum, in the cafe. I had recently shaved off all my hair (just to see what shape my head was, that was the only reason I did it). Anyway, I worked a day shift in the cafe. Later on, my friend came up to me and said, "Oh yeah, the boss thinks your new haircut is awesome. And he likes the way your right corner of your mouth curls up, too."
I asked her, "how the hell did he know about my appearance?"
she responded, 'Oh, he dressed up today in disguise and got in your line, so he could observe you up close. He's very good at disguises. He saw you but you never saw him because he wasn't a him today.'
It fucking freaked me out.
The money: So, one night my friend told me to meet her at an Italian restaurant. She explained that the boss would be paying for us since she owed me so much money. I was reluctant, but finally agreed. When we got to the table, she handed me an envelope full of Euros.
My friend was always broke, so I knew the Euros came from her mafia boss. Plus, we were in the USA, so obviously, the Euros came from them......But the creepiest thing, happened later:
One day my friend and I had an argument. I was tired of bailing her out of situations and my kindness was being abused. I had asked my friend to help me move and she didn't want to help me. I had driven her 2 states away, helped her move, loaned her money, etc. I was sick of it. She asked to use a computer printer of mine and I said NO. I said NO WAY. I refuse to help you any more when you don't lift a finger for me. She was mad.

Later on that evening I came home and checked my messages (this was before cell phones). We had recording machines. I had one message: a very angry Italian man was cussing me out. His voice was raised 3 bars, and even though I didn't understand his words, i was terrified. He sounded like he was going to destroy me. That message had the psychological weight and power to make me rethink my friendship. Also, my phone was being tapped. I was really scared.
I was afraid to tell my family about it because I didn't want their phones to be tapped as well.
I learned my lesson, and eventually, I was disconnected after all their attempts to recruit me failed. I distanced myself from that friend as well.