A Deadly Summer Day

by K T Rose

  “He was looking for a man named Joe, said something about a vortex, and left a card.”

  Uncle Pauly snickered. “Tony has a bigger imagination than the fucking kids around here. What’d you tell him?”

  “I told him I didn’t see 'em, and if he wanted to check the alley for an inter-dimensional portal, he could go right on ahead.” I pulled the sign loose and carried it over to the counter. I grabbed the damp rag and wiped the dust off.

  “A dimensional what?” Uncle Pauly scratched his head. “You watch too much TV.”

  “Ah. Like I say, if it ain’t sci fi, then it’s a no go.”

  “Really? I prefer romance. But what can I say? I’mma lush.” He smirked before furrowing his brow. “You said he gave you a card?”

  “Yeah it’s over there.” I pointed to it.

  Uncle Pauly picked it up from the counter and glowered. “It’s so funny how dollars can extinguish loyalty.” He flipped it around and studied it. The long, thin font on the front read Joe Bessie, Real-estate Investor. “This neighborhood made Tony rich and well-known. Protected. Imagine how the people would feel when they find out he made a deal with the devil.”

  “He said you were okay with it.”

  “Nephew, I’m okay with a lot of shit. Still doesn’t make sense though. But I’ll call him and his friend. See what the fuss is about. “

  I wanted to ask why he seemed nonplus about the whole thing, but I knew better. Pauly was a walking mystery and, according to Ma, the less you knew about her brother, the better. She’d shit if she knew I worked the parlor while she did her afternoon shift at the hospital. As far as she knew, I was at home playing games through the afternoon. Nothing more.

  Danny rushed in and strolled up to Uncle Pauly. He leaned in and whispered with hands in his track suit pockets. Stern and stiff, the big man leaned back and watched Uncle Pauly’s unmoved face.

  “What’s up, Danny,” I said.

  He nodded without moving his gaze from Uncle Pauly’s glare on the freezer. Danny’s own face was blank as he turned his big chin up. He reminded me of those guys on the football field. Not the quarterback, but the dude that went after the quarterback before he could get the ball out of his hands. Thanks to his burliness, he was the bouncer at parties and security at family events. He put one of Ma’s boyfriends, Mr. Leech, though a window once. The toss carried him down four flights before he laid there on the sidewalk, screaming about his legs. We never saw him again after that.

  Uncle Pauly nodded. “Take the trash with you, will you, Danny?”

  “All right, boss,” Danny said. He snatched the trash bag from the steel can near the door and went out, headed for the alley everyone was so fond of today. If I cared, I would’ve joined to see what the fuss was about. But I was more excited about the one thing I didn’t have to do before heading home for the night.

  Uncle Pauly reached over the counter and put a hand on my shoulder. “Look, you did good not telling Tony about what happened the last time Joe was here.”

  “I don—” And then it hit me. The guy had come by the day before. I had been pulling the gate down when he nodded at me.

  “Joe!” Danny called out from across the street.

  This stark white guy I’d never seen before hopped out of a nice car and into Danny’s Escalade. Honestly, I was happier Danny sat over there waiting for Joe and not watching me for whatever reason. I’d never pretended to be so busy in the parlor in my life. I swept the same spot, wiped down the counters and the arcade games. That way, Danny couldn’t report that I’d been lazing around on my shift. I don’t think Uncle Pauly would care but, Danny was scary. The next morning, Joe’s car had gone. That was the last I saw of him. Why would I think any more of it? He was a nobody, just like the customers that came by who weren’t locals.

  “Oh yeah, right. What was I going to tell Tony? That Joe left shortly after he showed up? I didn’t see how it was relevant.”

  “Right. It’s not. Anyway, when does school start?”

  I sighed. “January.”

  “You can’t start sooner?”

  “Not unless I come up with eleven thousand dollars by Monday.”

  “And that’s for the entire four years or—”

  “No. Just for this school year. Next year, I figure I’d get a scholarship or something.”

  “And if that doesn’t happen?”

  “Well—I’d…uh, I’d get a factory job and use that to cover next year’s bill.”

  “Jeez, Jackie. You got everything figured out, huh?”

  I shrugged. “I like to think I do.”

  “How’s about this: I can give you the one hundred thirty thousand dollars tomorrow.”

  My heart sped as I cocked my head. Tomorrow? It would be that easy and I had never had something so vast fall into my lap. Nothing. Let alone one hundred thirty thousand dollars. I thought about Ma and how much money she turned down. I used to think she was stupid for it but what can I say, she liked doing things her way and preached to me about doing the same. Everything comes with a price, she’d say. At least put your own number on it. But it’d be so easy. I could be on a flight tomorrow. I’d be happy, but she’d think otherwise. I could see her scowl of discontent. I shook my head. “I don’t know, Unc. Ma doesn’t want me—”

  “I know. I know. Independence and yadda, yadda…” he waved off Ma’s future rants about working for your own needs and not taking the easy way to do things. The fluttering in my gut agreed with him. Why not take the faster route to success when my uncle owned the West End? If she had, we’d be living in a house and not a run-down piece of shit apartment. Whatever it was he needed, it couldn’t be too daunting or exhausting. It was probably easier than sitting in the parlor all day. “You let me deal with Shelia while you’re flying first class to Boston in the morning. What do you say?”

  I hesitated. Ma wouldn’t be mad forever. She’d be proud of the straight As and the degree I’d bring her to sit on the fireplace. A job well done for both of us. I lit up and smiled hard. “All right. What is it?”

  “Just moving some furniture.”

  I raised my brow. “You pay movers that much?”

  “Nah. Just you. I want to help you succeed. Look, I know how badly you need the money and I know your Ma would have a problem if you took it without working for it. She has her morals and I get that.” He shrugged. “But this way, she can sleep easy knowing you earned it.”

  “Fair enough.”

  He smiled. “Be here at midnight.”

  ***

  As I walked up the street with my fists balled in my jacket pockets, I couldn’t help but dream. The city around me melted away, the tall brick apartments and storefronts morphing into contemporary academic libraries and research facilities. I imagined passing Einstein’s statue with clusters of students sitting at his feet on plushy green grass, flipping through books and arguing over physical space versus quantum theory.

  One day soon, I’d be one of them. I’d get out of here and start living for Jackie. No more Little Jay from around the way. No more Pauly’s nephew. More like Jackie, the genius. Dr. Costello. I’d be Dr. Jackie Costello, the NASA genius. The man that sent humans to another galaxy in record time by bending time and space.

  And there was only one job standing between me and my dream.

  A taxi belted its horn, pulling me back to the city. I’d been standing at the stop sign, forgetting to cross.

  “Go, asshole!” The driver griped.

  I flipped him off and hustled across the street.

  I stood out in front of the parlor and searched the lit street. Ms. Bordachelli yelled at her kids from her apartment across the way. Jazz boomed from Dotty’s bar next door where people stood around outside smoking cigarettes and laughing.

  But there was no sign of Danny’s truck or Uncle Pauly’s Ferrari.

  My phone buzzed in my pocket. A text from Uncle Pauly:

  Come around back.


  I walked through the cluster of smokers on the corner out front of Dotty’s.

  “Hey, Jackie! What’s going on, little man?”

  “Jackie, how’s it going?”

  “It’s the little Good Fella! How’s it hanging, kid?”

  I nodded back at Benny, Jason, and Frankie as they pulled on cigars—the Old Boys is what we called them—and rounded Dotty’s for the alley. They were good guys, the backbone and blood of this community. For a second, I wondered if they were as annoyed about the changes as Uncle Pauly was. But there was no time to ask. The job of all jobs waited for me and I didn't want to stick around long enough to find out how anyone felt about anything.

  The alley blended with the night: dark and desolate. Not even a rat skittered by as I walked in deep, looking over my shoulder, hoping not to find something lurking behind me. My skin erupted in goosebumps.

  As I drew near the end of the alley, a burning red speck floated, waiting for me.

  “Hey Kid,” Danny said. I swear that guy’s neck was so thick that his words came up in grunts.

  “What’s up, Danny?” A crisp wind rolled in, chilly from the lake up the street. I hunched my shoulders, burying my chin and nose in my upturned jacket collar.

  Danny flicked the cigarette, sprinkling cherry ashes on the ground. “Ready to work?”

  “Yeah.” My heart raced, shooting jitters through my body. I had to admit, I downed a pot of coffee before stepping out for the night. First of all for warmth because Ma refused to crank up the heat until she saw snowflakes. And secondly because, let’s be honest, there was no point in sleeping after I closed for the night. I couldn’t even if I wanted.

  My right palm itched as I clenched my fists. One job, and school was in my palms. I could smell the fresh pages of a quantum physics textbook, feel the burning paper cuts of the page-long physics equations, hear the buttons collapse under my fingers as I crunched numbers in my graphic calculator. Warmth filled my gut. All night, I’d looked over dorms and the aerospace engineering curriculum. If I’d gone with the cheaper dorm and meal plan, there might’ve been enough money to pick up a minor. Electrical engineering, or math.

  Danny waved me over and I followed him around his SUV. I almost had to squint to see it in the blackened alley.

  “Hold on.” He put his hand out to me.

  I sniggered. “What?”

  “Your phone.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I said so. Give it to me.”

  “I don’t understand why—”

  “You can ask Pauly when you see him. But for my and your sake, give me the fucking phone.”

  “All right, damn, calm down.” I pulled my phone from my pocket. The screen glowed, illuminating Danny’s taut face.

  “Turn it off first,” he said.

  “A bit bossy, huh?” I turned it off and handed it to Danny. He slid it in his pocket and continued to his SUV.

  Once we got behind it, he popped the trunk. “Let’s get this over with.”

  “All right.” There was no way I could mess this up. Loading and unloading. It was as easy as singing the ABCs. I’d make this quick, get back home, and order my plane ticket. First thing in the morning, I’d kiss Ma goodbye and be on my way.

  I peered at the cargo and froze. Tony lay there with duct tape tight against his mouth. His purple eyes were swelled shut and bruises covered his olive cheeks. He droned a desperate plea. It sounded like he was calling for help, but I couldn’t tell for sure. His words stopped in his chunky cheeks. He had no choice but to eat them.

  “Let’s get him out,” Danny said.

  “Wait, wait, uh—” I stepped back on shaky knees.

  “Don’t make me ask you again.”

  “This ain’t the job for me. I uh—”

  He slammed the trunk closed. “Look here, you little fucker, you don’t have a choice. You’re here. I have a problem with it, but Pauly wanted this to happen. You need the money, don’t you?”

  “I—I—”

  “You’ve already seen him, so you’re already on the payroll. Whatever you’re feeling isn’t my problem. All I know is that we have a job to do and we’re doing it. So help me get him out.”

  His words shoved like ice picks into my gut. I gripped the inner lining of my jacket. “Dude, this ain’t me. I can’t—”

  “Yes, you can and yes, you will, because Pauly said so.”

  “No! Fuck this!” I yelled. Uncle Pauly might be pissed, but he had to understand. I wasn't a killer and never could be. I quivered. He’d understand. Right? I turned to walk back up the alley. My collar tightened around my neck and I gagged. He lifted me off the ground, turning me around to glare at me nose to nose.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doin'?” he asked, the hot smell of cigarette still on his breath.

  I hacked up an answer, not sure what I wanted to say to the man. Just one of his hands was bigger than my damn face. There wasn’t much I could say as I grabbed at his wrists and swung at his shoulders.

  “I said…” My collar tightened and my head lightened on my shoulders. My cheeks scorched and my eyes bulged. I willed my lungs to pump air past my neck. A dark haze blinded me, but I kept swinging at his face, his shoulder, anything.

  “I can’t hear you, Jackie. What was that shit you said you weren’t going to do?”

  My blows weakened to fingers sliding down his scarred face.

  He put his ear to my wheezing mouth. “I’m sorry, I still can’t hear that well. Try using those little balls you had a minute ago and speak like a man.”

  I squealed.

  He tossed me to the ground like a bag of trash. I laid on my side and gasped, sucking down moist air.

  “Listen here, you little shit. You’re doing this or I’ll put you in the fucking trunk next. Pauly would never know what happened to you, neither will your mommy. I will make sure you disappear just like that asshole in the trunk. Only difference is you’d be buried under the lake with bricks in your jeans. I’d take a drag off my Winston Blue’s as you slap the surface, watching your short life pass as you drown.”

  I held my neck and coughed again. I could run. I could scream. But it would only be a matter of time before Danny found me.

  “We’re doing this. Now get the fuck up and help me get Tony out of the trunk.”

  I coughed. Just furniture, my ass. Either Uncle Pauly lied or Tony got his agendas mixed up. And I doubted the latter. Either way, Tony was a dead man whether I stayed or went. That much was true. I was deep in the pit and according to Danny, there were only two ways out: death or participation. I couldn't get out of West End if I was dead. Someday I'd get out of here, and I'd never look back. I’d be states away, pushing this night into the deepest parts of my memory for as long as I could while I concentrated on what’s best for Jackie. That’s who this was for. Me. I couldn’t do that if I drowned in the lake. I wasn’t that guy, but maybe it was time to change if I ever hoped to get what I needed. “Yeah! Yeah…let’s get this over with.”

  “I knew you’d come around. Now get off your ass. This ain’t the parlor. This is real work.”

  I picked myself up. The ground swayed beneath my feet as I walked past him for the trunk.

  “That’s the spirit,” Danny said as the trunk unlatched and rose.

  I tried looking away from Tony’s desperate eyes. I could almost make out what he might’ve been thinking: Why? I wanted to explain that I didn’t have choice. But if he knew Danny as much as anyone else did, there was no need in explaining.

  Danny grabbed Tony by the collar and rolled his body onto the ground. He let out a harsh umph when he landed on his back.

  “Grab his legs,” Danny said.

  He hoisted Tony up by the shoulders and I went for his legs. Each leg had to weigh more than me, a guy who could barely do pushups. Ant was the gym rat. I was more into figuring how the machines worked. The mere mention of Ant’s name in the bac
k of my mind made me fumble Tony’s legs. His feet hit the ground, but he didn’t go anywhere. Danny wrapped a thick forearm around his neck.

  “Hey! What the fuck are you doing?” Danny barked.

  “My bad, I just—”

  “Shut up. Try again. Grab his legs and head for the door.” I looked over my shoulder. A door, that I hadn’t seen before or cared to notice in the past, set in the shadows off the building across the alley from the parlor.

  “It’s open,” Danny said.

  I looked over at him and caught Tony’s eye. I hoped he didn’t blame me for this. If I could get him out of this, I would. But me and him weren’t enough to take down Danny.

  “Go ahead, kid,” Danny said.

  I nudged the door in and stepped inside.

  The bare walls looked gray in the night shadows. A cold breeze riddled the space on the platform. A flight of stairs led up. Another led down.

  I looked to Danny, still wrestling with Tony’s thick limbs between my arms and waists.

  “Go down,” he said.

  I stepped backwards, looking down and over my shoulder. The light gleamed just enough to catch the silver on the edges of each step. Still, Tony’s weight threatened to push me off balance. Danny must’ve sensed it because he tightened his arms around Tony’s chest and lifted him a bit.

  Gooseflesh riddled my body with each step. The shaking in my joints did nothing to help. I wasn’t sure if it were from the cold or the betrayal itching underneath my skin, but my nerves beat me down, bad. I mean, here I was, escorting my best friend’s dad to what I hoped to be a late-night surprise party in a building I hadn’t noticed over the last eighteen years.

  A silver door met us at the bottom of the steps. It looked like the walk-in freezer entrance in the parlor. After dropping Tony to the floor, Danny pulled a set of keys from his waist.

  “Move,” he said as he pushed past me. Tony’s legs slid from my grip as I stumbled over, shoulder knocking against the wall.

  Danny unlocked the thick door. It opened slowly and a freezing wind rushed out. I shivered. Danny went back to Tony and grabbed his collar. He dragged the man across the floor and past the threshold. Tony moaned and coughed.