by J. J. McAvoy
“Shut up!” she screamed, rising to her feet. “You’re lying! Why would your grandfather help him over something so—”
“Your father was loyal to Melody. My grandfather didn’t like that. It was a win-win for everyone involved. Well, everyone but you and your family that is.”
She just shook her head. “No.”
“I can play the rest of it for you if you’d like to hear for yourself. My grandfather always keeps records,” I stated. “But all you have to do is think. Would you have ever given a second look at Flabby Frankie if he hadn’t been your savior? If he hadn’t stuck beside you when everyone else was gone.”
Her hands went up to her throat. Her whole body shook violently. “Oh…No…It’s not possible. No—”
I stood as well. “It’s fucked up, isn’t it? You’ve been fucking the man who fucked up your whole goddamn life. He basically broke your wings and kept you in his own personal cage. Men can be such damn bastards.”
She stumbled, and I turned back, hearing the voices as the door began to open. Turning to face them, I watched as the man of the hour came inside. He looked like he ate Santa Claus for breakfast and then went out for IHOP. His bald head shone from whatever grease that was most likely coming out of his pores. Behind him were the three men I had requested.
“Calli girl, what are you doing here?”
“Just came to tell Chloe about herself.” I took my pistol out of my purse and placed the gun in her hand.
“What the fuck are you doing? She can’t fucking see!” He took a step to her, but I spun her toward where he was now standing.
“Was it you?” she screamed, pointing to where the voice was.
“Chloe, put down the gun before you fucking hurt yourself.”
“Was it you? Did you poison us?”
“Chloe—”
“Can you just confess already? I have things to do,” I asked, tiredly flipping over the watch on my wrist.
He shook his head. “Chloe, I don’t know what she told you but—”
“I heard you!”
“Chloe, she is a fucking Callahan. They fucking lie! It’s what they do! I love you, baby, listen to me. Trust me.”
I looked at her, and she paused for a moment, trying to make sense of this.
“What the fuck are you all doing? Stop her!” Big Tillio yelled at the men behind him.
“What you want us to do, boss?” Dino asked, stepping up dressed in all black, his hair gelled back, and a toothpick hanging out of his mouth like always. He held his 43X 9MM sliver head Glock at the back of Big Tillio’s skull while Vinnie looked and leaned on the front door, stuffing his hands in the pockets.
“Italo, can you get my gun back from her before she scratches it?” I said.
“You always leave me to deal with the crazy ones,” he grumbled, causing the other two to snicker.
“It’s ‘cause you’re so good at it,” Vinnie told him.
“Stay back!” she screamed, waving back and forth.
“Relax, love, there’s no need to worry.” Italo’s accent was full-on now. Of the three of them, he was the only one who had learned English as a second language. He slowly crept to her.
Bang.
“God fucking damn it,” he yelled, jumping out of the way of the bullet before rushing her and grabbing on to her.
“Let go! Let me go! Let me….” Slowly her voice slurred as he applied pressure on her neck, and within a few seconds, she collapsed.
“So, they worked for you the whole time?” Big Tillio spat out pitifully.
“Surprise,” I said, waving my fingers.
“Then why the fuck did you bother even asking then?”
“Well, obviously, it was because I was hoping we’d work together like back in the old days. But you let me down,” I said, taking a step forward and standing directly in his face.
“You told her I was the one who poisoned her family?”
I tilted my head to the side. “Weren’t you?”
He gritted his teeth. “You were the one who pushed the button. You were the one that—”
“You asked for our help. We offered it, and you couldn’t follow through, so I did it fucking for you. Me. As a child, I had bigger motherfucking balls than you. But that doesn’t change the fact that you were responsible. That you broke her and kept her like a damn pet. I didn’t say anything then because I honestly didn’t give a fuck. I had a job, and I did it. You had one job, and you reneged on me.”
I slid my gloves onto my hands before holding one out. Dino handed me his gun, but I shook my head. So he reached around his back and pulled out a small machete, and I nodded, reaching for it.
“Wait!” Big Tillio yelled, seeing the blade and trying to back away, but Vinnie was already behind him, grabbing one of his arms as Dino grabbed the other. “No, wait! Calli, it wasn’t my fault your grandfather called and told me not to—”
“And why didn’t you explain that on the phone?”
“He said not to—Ah, fuck! My arm. My fucking arm!” He squealed like a pig as I brought the blade down on the soft bit between his forearm and bicep, right at the elbow. His blood gushed and sprayed all over their polyester rug.
“Do you think I give a single flying fuck about your goddamn twisted love story? Or your ugly bitch boy past? Or who the hell told you to do what? You spoke to me, not my goddamn grandfather, stupid fat motherfuck!” But I didn’t stop. Over and over again, I hacked away until I hit nothing but air and the damn arm was no longer attached to him.
Taking a deep breath, I stepped back, wiping off my face as they let him go. He slumped to his knees before me.
Inhaling again, I looked at the ceiling for a moment. “Sorry, I lost my cool there. I’m under a lot of pressure right now, and things aren’t going very well.”
Kneeling down in front of him, I used the end of the bloody knife to lift his chin. His round face was covered in blood and tears; it was so red he almost looked like a tomato.
“I get it. You were stuck in between a rock and a hard place. But now that I’ve taken an arm, maybe you’ll be able to wiggle yourself free and see where you are supposed to stand. If you still have problems understanding, I can take off more limbs. Because you are right, the Callahan family can’t kill you all, but I sure as hell can make every living day of the rest of your obese life a goddamn nightmare. There is nowhere on this earth you will be able to hide, and no fucking person will ever be able to save you. You know why I’m telling you this, Big Tillio?”
He didn’t reply, as he was breathing so hard, spit was coming out of his mouth.
“He might have a heart attack, boss?” Dino replied, kicking the now detached arm to the side.
“He’s not allowed to, who else is going to spread my message?” I said, slapping Big Tillio’s face a few times. “That’s right, big man. You are alive because you’re now my personal bitch. If I tell you I need an army, you will go door to fucking door for me. If I tell you to shit in a bowl, you get a bowl and shit. Because you work for who?” I tilted my head and lifted my fingers to ears, waiting.
“Y…you.”
“And who am I?”
“Calli…”
“No. You lost that privilege. You will refer to me as Boss. Let me hear it so I know we are on the same page.”
“B…Boss.”
“Good bitch.” I smiled, rising up. “However, I think I’ll keep some collateral, just in case you forget later. Italo.”
He gave me my pistol, which was now in a zip lock bag. I could only presume he had gotten it from the kitchen.
“I know how much you love Chloe, so I’ll tell her I lied. That you never had anything to do with what happened to her. That way, you both can go back to playing house. But she’ll never trust a word from me again and won’t allow me inside your house to take your other arm. If you forget what you are to me… I’ll leave this gun, covered in her fingerprints at some horrible scene of a crime. And by the time the police figure out how a b
lind woman could possibly have done it, what is left of her mental state might have fully shattered this time.”
“Big boy is fading,” Vinnie replied, grabbing his shoulders as he started to slump.
Rolling my eyes, I said, “Take care of him then. Can’t have my new bitch dying on me on his first day.”
Walking toward the door, I glanced out the window, looking around the block at all the families playing in their yards. Stepping back, I caught a glimpse of myself, and even worse, my new coat, and groaned. “I really liked this coat.” I frowned, looking back at them.
Dino looked up from Big Tillio to me. “Versace?
I shook my head. “Oscar de la Renta!”
“Expensive.” He nodded.
“I know, I got so angry that I forgot I had it on. I was hoping to start on a nicer goddamn foot, but apparently, everyone only speaks one language in this city. Violence.”
“Good thing you’re fluent in that language,” Vinnie muttered under his breath.
“I’m sorry, what was that?”
“Nothing. Just wondering what to do with the arm.”
“Wrap it up. I’m giving it as a gift.”
All of their eyes shot back to me, but I ignored them, heading up the stairs. I needed a shower.
14
“The past is always with us,
waiting to mess with the present.”
~ Cecily von Zieges
CALLIOPE
“I failed. There wasn’t enough time. I’m sorry,” I said into the phone, and Ethan didn’t say a word.
The only reply I got instead was a dead line as the phone disconnected.
I glanced up at the clear blue sky. It was not the weather I wanted for a day like this. Tearing my eyes away, I walked up to the Old Gentleman Bar & Lounge on the corner of Smith and Wesson. Yes, like the gun. No, it was no accident. The door was painted a deep green with amber-colored glass. When I pushed it open, there was a soft chime, and the smell of sandalwood and musk slapping me across the face.
“Sorry, sweetheart, men only today,” the tall man behind the bar said when I walked in.
There were only a few dozen men, all spread throughout the old-school dive bar. It even had one of those jukeboxes, which played Frank Sinatra’s “My Kind of Town” gently in the background. On the walls were models of women who were now most likely as old and wrinkled as the men, all pretending to watch a boxing match on the television.
Stepping down the stairs, I walked up to the bar completely aware everyone was now watching me.
“Sweetheart—”
“You know, if I were having a better day, I would have batted my eyelashes and spoken in a cute voice, begging you for just one drink,” I said. Lifting the vodka from behind the bar as well as a glass, I poured myself a shot before throwing it back. “And you would have given it to me, too.”
“This is a—”
“Please don’t interrupt me,” I said, pouring myself another shot. “I’m trying to get something off my chest here.”
Two men stood, walking to the bar and flanking me on each side.
I just threw back the shot and glanced at the bartender. “Well, straight off the bat, your customer service is shit.”
“How about I get you a cab, little lady?”
“Wow, you all really are going through the chauvinist dictionary, huh. What’s next? Little girl?” I snickered, taking another shot.
The bartender nodded his head to the others, then lifted the duffle bag I had on my arm. He dumped everything onto the countertop…and by everything, I meant just one thing.
“That is the arm of the last man who got on my nerves. Would anyone like to add to my collection?” I asked, raising my glass and looking behind me at all of them.
They were all just staring at the now burnt arm between me and my vodka. Taking another shot, I glanced back at the bartender. “Now that I’ve established I’m not a cop, do me a favor, sweetheart. Go through those doors, do your special secret handshake or knock or whatever the hell you all do in this pitiful place, and get my grandfather before you get hurt.”
“I don’t know who your grandfather is, but you got another thing coming if you think you can come into my place and order me around,” the bartender snapped, lifting a shotgun from under the table and pointing it at me, each of the other men following his lead.
“If this gets any more cliché, Robert De Niro will have to be wheeled out on his death bed,” I muttered, filling my glass before meeting the eyes of the black and white model on the screen. “Grandpa, would you prefer your friends to die of old age or by me this afternoon?”
“That’s it. I’ve had enough—”
“It’s okay, Garry,” my grandfather stated, coming in from the back, dressed in a gray suit and holding his damn silver, eagle-tipped cane…despite the fact that there was nothing wrong with his legs. “She’s family.”
“That’s right, Garry; I’m family. Which means that the gun should go down now.”
He looked between us and then back to my grandfather. “This is the grandkid you’re always going on about? The one you said was an angel?”
“Duh. Do you not see the halo?” I said, pointing to my head.
“Forgive her,” my grandfather said toward me. “She’s apparently out of sorts today.”
“That’s one way to put it,” I muttered, this time sipping my drink. “You’re forcing me to be out of sorts today, would be a much better way to put it, though. Because of that, I brought you a present. Sorry, I had to burn it or the blood would ruin my interior.”
“Gentlemen, I’m going to need the room,” he said, and all of them got up, walking toward the same back door he’d come out of. It was only when the doors stopped swinging back and forth did he step up beside me. “This is sloppy, Calliope, and unlike you. You took a loyal man’s arm off because—”
“If he were loyal, he’d still have the arm,” I stated, shifting my glare to him. “But then again, I guess it’s a question of loyalty to whom.”
“If we are all on the same team, does it matter?”
“You are a shitty teammate, Grandpa.”
“Calliope, I am hurt. After all these years I have spent raising you, now I am a bad teammate? You know this isn’t—”
“This isn’t about me?” I asked and then laughed. “Yes, I know. This is about your plans. Your revenge. I’m just the vehicle that gets you there. Let me guess, you denied me my people because you wanted to cut the Callahans down even further.”
“And since when has that been a problem?” he snapped.
“Since I got into the damn house!” I took a deep breath and pulled back.
“Grandpa…we have a plan. It’s gotten us this far. We are nearing the end of the road, and yet, you and Grandmother seem dead set on fucking all of us over. It’s not me who is being sloppy; it is you two! You don’t think Ethan won’t find it odd that on the same day he tried and failed to get more men, someone tipped off the FBI to one of his biggest stash houses just one day after he told me about them? Hell, not even a full day. Because of you, I am now a failure to him.”
“He will not suspect you.”
“How do you know that?”
“He’s in love with you. That whole family—whether it is a curse or a blessing—they are always blinded by the people they love. You’ve done well, now it’s time—”
“You are rushing!” I hollered.
“You are stalling!” he hollered back. “Not only that, you are cracking! The Calliope I raised has fooled presidents, drug lords, convicts, and on occasion, even me, with just how well you can act, just how well you can hide who you really are and what you really want. Yet not even two days of being in that damn house, and you are letting your mask slip. I can no longer tell where your head is! You aren’t acting like the girl we trained—the cold-blooded murderer you are. You are acting like…like you are Mrs. Callahan. You’ve done well getting this far but—”
“You no longer trust m
e,” I whispered, turning from him, trying to keep my composure. “You think I can’t finish this.”
“To be honest, if you could, you may not be human.” He placed his hand on my shoulder. “Your grandmother and I knew this might happen. When we told you to have a child, we figured it would make you closer to him. So, it’s only natural that you care about him. But you still need to remember, none of it was real. When your family slips, you help them back up and fill the gap.”
“If I am fucking slipping, it’s because you both will not give me fucking space. Everywhere I turn, I feel you both circling, hounding. I will get the job done, but I cannot do that while you both are pressing me.”
“Are we pushing, or are you pushing against us?” he questioned. “I am not a fool. I know you must have thought about how easy it could be to just ride off into the sunset with your prince charming. The temptation is there. It has to be. But do not give into it. You do not have to be his queen. You can rule on your own. When they fall, you and Gigi can survive it, just like we planned, and like always, we will be in your corner. You won’t have to pretend anymore. You won’t have to worry about what others think or want. The Callahan family…they only come with more pain, not less. It’s always fun, until it is not. I’m doing all of this because I do not want you to get sucked in.”
I flipped my glass over and placed it on the counter before meeting his eyes. “That’s the problem. You keep assuming I’m getting sucked in, when I am not. Be patient. I cannot just put a bullet in their brains while they sleep. I need to establish myself first in order to survive the fall, and again, I cannot do that while you all are forcing me to screw up. I gave you my life because I love you …but I can’t end up with nothing when this is over. I need time.”
His stare lasted a long time before he nodded. “Then, you will get your time.”
I knew him too well. “But?”
“Prove to me you are not wavering.”
“Are fucking serious?” I said through clenched teeth. “Today, I let Ethan suffer a huge blow. He’s lost millions if not billions.”