by Sherie Keys
Charlotte looked into his eyes. “Ugh, fine,” she said, picking up the stuff she had tossed out of the bag. They filled their car as quickly as possible and watched as the man with the baseball cap pulled his car out of the parking lot.
They closely followed, Charlotte feeling thrilled but annoyed at the situation. She hadn’t chased someone before, but it still felt wrong. This could be an innocent person.
They followed him to a hotel and watched him park. They stayed a little behind and parked on the street. They watched as he looked around, crossing the street and entering a different hotel.
“Okay, so you know where he’s staying. Can we go now?” Charlotte asked.
“Yeah, yeah, we’ll go back to the beach,” Angelo told her.
“No, I want to go home,” she responded.
“Come on, Charlie. Don’t be ridiculous,” he told her.
“Just take me home,” she said.
Angelo looked at her angrily, sighed heavily, and headed back to her grandmother’s place. Charlotte didn’t talk the entire time, crossing her arms to let him know that she was mad. The first time she tried to do something nice, he had to ruin it.
“Charlotte, I’m so sorry. I just needed to find that out, okay? This guy might have had something to do with my dad, and if I’m the only one who cares, then I’m going to be the only one who does something about that,” he told Charlotte.
“That scares me though. I care about your dad too, not in the same way you did obviously, but killing this man wouldn’t bring your dad back,” she told him.
“I never said I was going to do that, Charlotte,” he reassured her. There wasn’t any way for her to know what to believe, however.
“I just need to think. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, before the ballet?” she said, getting out of the car.
He looked down, defeated and guilty.
“I love you,” he told Charlotte.
“You too,” she said back, shutting the door. Of course, she loved him, but it hurt to say during times that they fought. That never meant it wasn’t true. It would always be true.
The Final Chapter
“You’ll never believe who I saw,” Angelo told his brothers, bursting into the coffee shop he had called them to. The man’s name was Roberto Esposito. He had been a close friend of the brother’s father, but that only got him so far. Roberto had taken out millions in loans from Angelo’s father, always promising to repay them one business risk at a time. Angelo’s father wouldn’t have normally allowed the debt owed to get so out of hand, but being a close friend of Roberto’s, the debt started slipping. He was most likely to be responsible for the death of their father, though there wasn’t much linking him besides the debt. Still, Angelo trusted his gut.
“Who?” Francesco asked.
“Richard fucking Esposito,” Angelo responded. “He’s staying downtown.”
“You gotta take him out,” Sebastian said.
“Who, me?” Angelo asked.
“Yeah, you saw him, you take him out. It’s a good way to prove you’re still one of us,” Francesco told his little brother.
“I can’t. No way. I’m not,” Angelo said, getting nervous.
“Why, you think you’re better than us?” Francesco asked.
“Yeah, you ain’t never killed no one so you supposed to be some sort of saint or something?” Sebastian was starting to drill him.
Angelo could feel his muscles tighten, remembering how easy it had been for his brothers to attack him.
“You know where he’s staying, you take him out. If you don’t, we’ll know that you’re no longer one of us, and you will have to be taken care of. If you do it, we won’t have to worry about you anymore,” Sebastian explained to his little brother. Angelo knew there weren’t many other options.
He didn’t say anything else and left the coffee shop. He drove home, wanting so badly to stop back at Charlotte’s. He should have ignored Roberto, but it was too hard. Thinking that he might just let the killer walk away completely innocent terrified him. Losing his mother was hard, and his father even harder, having known him longer and been closer with him. He knew his father wasn’t perfect, but still, losing him wasn’t easy at all.
Angelo looked out his back window now. He could see Charlotte’s light was on, but she wasn’t looking back. Had he ruined things between the two of them? He just wanted to hold her more than anything. There’s nothing else he wanted to do with his time. He was willing to give up everything for Charlotte and knew that she would do the same.
What was he supposed to do? He was torn between sticking with his brothers or risking it all for Charlotte. She was certainly worth everything, but would he even be able to get away with leaving Jersey City and heading to New York City? His brothers claimed that they would take him out, and he knew exactly what that meant.
He saw Charlotte in everything. A sunset reminded him of her warmth, a cold day of her icy hands as they fell asleep together. Angelo had the greatest summer of his life with Charlotte by his side, and he was willing to do anything to make sure that’s where she would stay. He knew that killing Roberto might be his only option. It was two on one and Angelo wouldn’t be able to take both of his brothers down, even if that was something he wanted to do and believed he could execute.
Angelo hadn’t asked to be born into the family he was. He was grateful for the opportunities that he was given, but this was part of it all that he didn’t agree to. He was recruited at such a young age and he wasn’t ever really presented with many other options. Joining the mob seemed like the only thing that made sense for his future.
He also saw the mob in everything. Just like it was hard to stop thinking about Charlotte, it was just as difficult to try and picture life without the mob. He had enough money to never have to work a day in his life, but then what would he do? He tried to tell himself that he only stayed in the mob because that’s what he needed to do for his safety, but he had to admit that it was partly because he didn’t know anything else. How would he spend his days if not collecting money from associates or setting things right with an unruly brother? Could he function in an environment without crime? Without his brothers?
Charlotte changed the way he felt. Charlotte made him believe that he was capable of anything. He hadn’t finished high school, but she reminded him that he had so much more to learn. Meeting Charlotte felt like a blessing. The first time he saw her he was looking out his very window, seeing her with her attacker.
He thought he might die himself if anything had happened to her then, and he hadn’t even known her. It was clear taking care of Charlotte was the first priority, but how exactly was he supposed to know what that would entail? How could he be sure he was making the right decision?
His brothers were family, how could he let them down? Charlotte meant the world to him, but at the same time, they hadn’t known each other for as long as he knew his brothers. He worried that after the summer came and they moved away, she might grow into a different person that didn’t want to be with him.
She was young. They were both in love, but that didn’t mean for one second that they had any surefire answers. Angelo thought long and hard about what he needed to do. He wanted to ask Charlotte for advice, but that was the last place that would have made sense to go.
****
Charlotte would never forgive him if she knew the truth about everything. If she knew that he still had doubts about leaving his brothers and his past behind.
It was Saturday afternoon, and Charlotte was headed to get ready for the show. There was one place she had to stop first.
She knocked hard on Angelo’s door and he opened, wearing only a pair of pajama pants. He looked sleepy and stressed. Charlotte just wanted to grab him and squeeze him tight, but she wasn’t sure if that would have been uncomfortable given their departure the night before. Instead, Angelo held her hands hard and just looked into her eyes. She hadn’t seen him so serious before. Had she overreacted the night befor
e?
“I would walk you to the theater, but I gotta do something first,” he said. “Do you want money for a cab?”
“No, I’m fine. I don’t mind walking. It’s a good warm-up. You’ll be there though, right?” she asked, squeezing his hands back. She figured whatever he had to do was nothing too big, but she was still worried he was up to no good.
“Of course. I wouldn’t miss it if my life depended on it,” he replied, knowing that was the honest truth.
“I love you,” she said, leaning in for a kiss. It was a soft one, different than the kisses they had shared in the past.
“You too,” he responded, watching her walk away.
She started to feel lonely again on the walk but knew that she should accept this quiet time before the big show. She had left much earlier than she needed to because it was too difficult to sit in the house alone. She wasn’t as nervous as she thought she might be, but her nerves were still all over the place. Part of her also felt nervous about not feeling nervous enough. It was an emotional rollercoaster that Charlotte was excited to end. Part of her was also terrified. What if it had all just been one long fantasy and once the ballet ended, her and Angelo would end too?
What would she do if he backed out on their plan? If he did, she wouldn’t have any other option than to continue living with her grandmother. She’d have to get a job again as well, possibly a place like the diner. Charlotte started to get anxious thinking about this unforeseen possibility. She had gotten so comfortable with her and Angelo’s future that she was sick thinking that it might not be that way anymore. She couldn’t let herself think about that right now. She had to focus on the ballet. It was an important opportunity and she only had one chance to make it perfect.
She could feel her stomach tighten. The last time she had felt that nervous was the day of the audition. It had been such a nightmare before but having Angelo by her side made it so much easier. He wasn’t there now. He was very distracted, and Charlotte could tell. This worried her. She started to get sad thinking that he might not show up after all. She would certainly be devastated if that were the case. Now was not the time to overthink. She had to get out of her head. Could she be self-destructing? She had done this in the past.
She arrived at the theater, and it was already getting crowded with the cast members. There were about two hours before she was set to go on, and she didn’t know if she was going to make it. She had done it all perfectly during the dress rehearsal, but now that there was a full audience, she was starting to feel sick.
After about an hour of getting her makeup done and another hour of nervous pacing and stretching, it was almost time for the show to start. She peeked through the curtains to try to get a glimpse of the crowd.
She saw her grandmother, who was chatting to Mr. Lisa in the crowd. They had bonded over Charlotte’s strange encounter with him at the mall and ended up forming a closer relationship. They were both older and past their young dating phase, but that didn’t mean that they still couldn’t be romantic companions. Charlotte had driven them to various restaurants and taken them on different dates throughout the summer, watching their friendship blossom into something a little more. It was nice to see that you could never be too old for a summer romance. Charlotte was happy that her grandmother would have someone once she moved away, if that was still going to be happening with Angelo.
Charlotte snapped out of her daydream as Kelly walked towards her.
“You ready?” Kelly asked.
“As I’ll ever be,” Charlotte said jokingly. She wasn’t sure she would ever not be nervous. She just had to get it all done. Kelly walked through the curtains and out to the stage. Charlotte couldn’t see her, but she could tell the crowd did as they quieted down.
“Hello, everyone! Thank you so much for coming out tonight!” Kelly announced. Charlotte’s stomach dropped. It was about to happen. Just as easily as it had twisted itself up, her stomach also managed to regain itself, her body knowing now that it wasn’t time to be nervous any more.
“This group has worked so incredibly hard. I can’t even begin to describe the amount of dedication this talented group of people has,” Kelly continued.
Charlotte had a few bad days, but she proved that those bad days didn’t compare to the best days, when she refused to give up. When she wanted to drop it all and run away, she pushed through and made it to the end. She thought so many times about faking an illness, so she didn’t have to go to early morning practice. She secretly hoped something bad would happen so that she wouldn’t have to go through with it all. Charlotte was just so afraid of failure that she was afraid to actually go through with the play. There was no going back now, however. It was her time to shine. If she completely bombed it all, at least it would be over within a couple of hours.
Of course, she wanted Angelo there, but she knew now that she didn’t need him there. She just wanted him to be in the crowd. Charlotte wouldn’t be the same person had she not met Angelo, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t still be a person. Of course, he had helped her grow and aided her when she needed financial assistance. Still, all of this wouldn’t have ruined Charlotte’s summer.
She realized that she didn’t need Angelo. She just wanted him. She wanted to be the person that he made her. She could survive without him. All she needed was herself and her ambition. She was capable of anything. When she was with Angelo, however, her potential was so much greater. That is what kept them together and that’s what Charlotte believed would keep them together. At least she had hoped.
Seats were quickly filling, and she still hadn’t seen his beaming face. There were hundreds of people filling the theater seats, and of course she wouldn’t have been able to see everyone’s face there. Still, Angelo’s face would have stood out to her. She had seen it from across the alley so many times that she could recognize it from long distances. She could see her grandmother and Mr. Lisa still, patiently waiting. If Angelo were there, he would have likely chosen to sit next to the two. Charlotte decided to stop peeking through the curtain and to just wait for the show to start. She was the star, after all.
****
Angelo looked down at the gun in his hands. He was parked right outside Roberto’s hotel. He had watched him walk into the hotel earlier that day and was just waiting for him to leave. He had a silencer on and figured he would follow him to a quiet spot and shoot him drive-by style. Angelo hadn’t killed anyone himself, but he had shot a gun plenty of times.
He knew he would be able to take Roberto down with one shot. He looked at the clock in his car. It was getting close to starting time for Charlotte’s ballet. He only had about ten more minutes until it would be too late to leave. He would already show up late if he left right that second.
Just when he was about to leave, he watched Roberto walk out of the hotel. Angelo’s body tightened. This didn’t mean that he would have to kill him right then. He decided to start driving, slowly following behind Roberto. He watched him walk down one block, but it was too busy a place to commit an execution. Angelo still followed closely as he walked down block after block, the minutes passing by. Every time Angelo saw an opportunity to do the shooting, something would get in his way that he’d use as an excuse to not shoot Roberto. Finally, Roberto stopped walking. He met a young girl and hugged her close. Angelo realized it was likely his daughter.
He put the gun down. He broke down in his car. This wasn’t him. The only thing he could see was Charlotte’s face. He wanted to get rid of Roberto, so his brothers wouldn’t come after him. There had to be another way, however. It just didn’t feel right. He couldn’t kill someone. He started crying, feeling guilty he wasn’t sitting right next to April waiting for Charlotte to go on. He had been following Roberto for too long and lost track of time. If he sped there, he might be able to catch the last act. First, he had to make an important phone call.
“I can’t do it man,” Angelo told his brother. “I’m not a killer, and nothing you do will make me one
.”
Angelo hung up the phone without giving Sebastian a chance to respond. “He didn’t do it,” Sebastian told Francesco, who was sitting right next to him.
“Well, you know what we need to do,” Francesco said. Sebastian started the car and followed Angelo. He hadn’t realized, but his older brothers had been tailing him the entire time Angelo was following Roberto. “Turn here,” Francesco told his brother.
“But he’s going that way,” Sebastian responded.
“I have a different idea. We got to do something that’ll teach him he’ll always be one of us,” Francesco said devilishly.
****
Charlotte finished out the ballet so much better than anyone would have ever expected. As soon as she finished, she didn’t spend any time waiting around in the dressing room. She wanted to run to the audience to see who was in the crowd. She didn’t see Angelo anywhere. Her heart sunk into her chest as she frantically looked through the crowd. The entire ballet had passed her by so fast, it didn’t feel like it was really over. She was so nervous about it, but now, she felt nothing but relief. She landed every stunt and remembered every move. She had only hoped Angelo was there to see it all, but she was quickly discovering that might not be the case.
So many people were congratulating her and trying to get her to celebrate, but the only thing she wanted to do was to find Angelo. She pushed through crowds. Strangers were handing her roses, but she didn’t even care. When it became clear he wasn’t there, she was crushed. She went to the dressing room to take off all her makeup and strip out of her clothes. The room was an absolute disaster, cast members’ costumes strewn everywhere. Most people had left, going to the audience to interact as well. Charlotte didn’t want to do any celebrating.
A cast member had come back to ask her to go out, but she didn’t even feel like going to the wrap party. She knew it would be wrong to skip the ballet’s biggest celebration, so she decided to forget about Angelo and just go. When she went to get her outfit to wear to the party from her bag, she realized she left it at home. She rushed out of the theater and hailed a cab to take her home. She felt bad taking cabs short distances, but she didn’t want to miss the party. She didn’t want Angelo’s absence to ruin her night, although it was extremely hard to forget about.