Mean streets

I bought the newspaper today. Now, this might not be anything out of the ordinary for most people, but it is for me. See, I rarely buy the newspaper. To be honest, never. I'd rather watch the news on the telly or read about it on the net, too lazy to read in Croatian really. But yesterday's events compelled me to go out and buy a newspaper. The events that happened yesterday belong more on the streets of Palermo or in a Scorcese film, not in Zagreb.

To cut a long story short, the daughter of a "mob" lawyer was slain down execution style, three bullets to the head, neck and shoulder. The young lady in question was 26 years old and a lawyer, just like her pop. Pop is in the process of defending an ex-General who is said to have stolen about $5 million worth of diamonds from the government during the Croatian war (he was meant to buy arms with it but bought fur coats for his wife instead). The ex-General has strong underground connections and, at one point, his children were kidnapped by a major mob boss 'cause he knew too much. Seems that the same mob boss is suspected of ordering this hit. The irony in the whole story? The girl was seeing the mob boss' lawyer. Sounds like the plot of a Scorsese film...

I don't know why, but this murder really shook me up. Big time. Besides the fact that she was young, beautiful, successful, in the prime of life, there was something else. I've seen and heard of many murders and attrocities in my time - from stories of WWII from my folks to the war in Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina that I witnessed myself to the stuff going on around us everyday worldwide - but this was something different from your average murder or attrocity, especially for post-war Zagreb. It's an unwritten rule in the Balkan mafia that you don't touch la famiglia. Even in Belgrade, where the mobsters are as loathesome and ruthless as they get, they never touch la famiglia. If you've done them wrong, they'll hit you off, simple as that. This murder has set a precedent and the Croatian mafia is sending a new message, the message being - nothing is sacred anymore, nothing is untouchable.

And that's the thing that really shook me. Even if a person doesn't have kids, everyone has a family - mum, dad, bro, sis, niece, nephew. So what happens now that the age of innocence has come to an end and you do someone wrong - is it you who takes the bullet or does a member of your family? Just the thought of anyone touching a hair on my family's or friend's head is enough to make me scream. 'Cause nothing means more to me than my family and friends, as I've already said on numerous occasions in this blog. I've always let the kids roam around our suburb to their hearts delight 'cause I've always felt that they were safe, that this wasn't like Sydney where my mum had to come and pick me up at the station after Uni 'cause I was too chicken to walk home by myself when it got dark, this is Zagreb where I can walk home late at night after French lessons without having to look over my shoulder. I'm not so sure now. Hubby says I'm panicking for no reason, we're not in high places, don't have underground connections, who would want to touch us?

Whatever the case may be, underground connections or not, I think that Zagreb has come to a major turning point. Which turn we take is up to the authorities - they can turn a blind eye, as they have up to now, or they can send a new message to the mob, the message being basta! I hope that it's the latter, 'cause I don't wanna live on the Mean Streets...

R.I.P. Ivana Hodak