by Sherie Keys
When she finally made it home, she went straight upstairs. Her grandmother wasn’t even home yet. She looked out her bedroom window to see if there was any sign of why Angelo hadn’t made it to the dance. She looked out the window, not seeing any activity at Angelo’s house. She changed as quick as she could and headed out the front door. As soon as she stepped onto the porch, she came face to face with Angelo’s brothers.
“Angelo’s been hurt, bad,” Sebastian said very convincingly.
“You need to see him right away,” Francesco said. It all made sense. There must have been an accident that caused Angelo to miss the ballet! Charlotte felt relieved, so relieved, in fact, that she didn’t see the cloth Sebastian was holding. As she stepped down the porch to head to the car, he reached around and covered her mouth, causing her to pass out.
****
Angelo had sped all the way to the ballet but didn’t make it in time. He arrived just as people started to flee the theater. His stomach was wrecked with guilt, feeling awful he had missed the ballet Charlotte was working hard towards all summer. He pushed through swarms of people to find Charlotte. Eventually, he spotted April. She was talking to Mr. Lisa.
“Have you seen Charlotte?” Angelo asked.
“Angelo, my boy! How are you? You seemed sick the other day!” Mr. Lisa stated.
“Yeah, I’m fine, where’s Charlotte?” he asked again, urgently wanting to know where to find her. Mr. Lisa was a bit startled that Angelo was being so pushy with his questions.
“I haven’t seen her, Angelo, I’m sorry,” April told him.
Angelo knew he had to get to her quick but didn’t know where she could be. He was angry and frazzled. He decided to drive their normal walk back to her place, going as fast as he could but stopping to inspect every pedestrian with bouncy, curly hair on the way home to make sure it wasn’t Charlotte. He didn’t know how his brothers might react and started to get worried what they might do to her. Angelo’s mind raced thinking about what he would do if he lost her. He didn’t think he would survive.
He pulled up to her house and ran out of the car, double parking and leaving the keys in the ignition. “Charlotte!” he started to shout right away. He was getting incredibly nervous. He pounded on the front door but there wasn’t an answer. All the lights were off, but he still needed to make sure she wasn’t home. He kicked in the front door and ran upstairs. He looked around and didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. He ran back downstairs, not knowing where to go next. He stood on the front porch and looked around.
He tried to rack his brain and think of all the places she might be. He looked down and saw her house keys on the floor of her porch. He knew that Charlotte would have never been careless enough to just leave her keys on the porch for anyone to see. His brothers had gotten to her first, and Angelo had an idea of where they might have taken her.
Angelo remembered going to the spot in the woods one time as a child. When he first learned his father was in the mob, he took his young son to this spot in the woods. It was a spot right on the border of the city and there were plenty of trees. It was a nice spot to sit by the river an enjoy the sights of nature right within the city. It was an even better spot to pick up the current of the Hudson river, making it the perfect place to dump a body. If it didn’t sink, it would usually wash up on the shores of N.Y.P.D. territory, leaving Jersey City suspects off the radar.
Angelo’s father had shown him many things that fathers shouldn’t show their young sons, this spot being one of them. His father had wanted to remind his young son that if he wanted to get rid of a person, he could do it fairly easily. He also wanted to let his kid know that if he ever found himself wanting to get rid of a person, this was the place to do it.
Angelo would never forget this spot, though he never found himself having to use it. His brothers had killed before, but they weren’t very skilled, so they would likely head to this place. If they weren’t there, Angelo didn’t know where else to go. He couldn’t think of other options at the moment. He had to find Charlotte before it was too late.
****
When Charlotte finally woke up, she realized she was in the trunk of a car. She hadn’t been in the trunk of a car before, but the pitch blackness and bumpy movement made her assume that was the case. She could hear the sound of air passing by a moving vehicle. Her head was pounding, and her eyes were sore. She couldn’t see anything but a small crack of light above her.
It was a strange sensation to wake up somewhere completely foreign. She had experienced disorientation when waking up before, but nothing that even remotely compared to this. The car was moving fast, and Charlotte didn’t see anything that would help her open up the trunk. Even if she did, she was sure the men would be armed. Where were they taking her and what did they want?
She tried to move her arms and legs but realized too quickly that her mouth was covered, and her limbs were tied up. Her hands were tied behind her back, but with her flexible body, that wasn’t going to be a problem for long. She managed to squeeze her body through her arms while lying flat in the trunk of a car, giving her use of her hands again, though they were still tied up.
Her body was still sore from the ballet, but no amount of pain was going to stop her from getting loose. She figured that whatever compelled them to rid Jersey City of Charlotte was the same thing that caused Angelo to miss her ballet. She would cut her own hands off if it meant getting back to Angelo. She pulled her knees to her chest, putting her hands around them. She could now feel the ropes tied around her feet. They weren’t tied very tight, and Charlotte found a loose part. She managed to loop it around her foot, squeezing them through a small hole in the rope. The rope loosened even more, allowing her to unravel it and free her legs. She was shocked at how easy that would be. Her arms were likely going to be much more difficult.
Charlotte could tell that the car had stopped and prepared her legs to kick. Her hands were still tied together but at least they were in front of her body. She reached up and pulled odd the cloth around her mouth. She stayed as still as possible, knowing that she wasn’t going to wait for Angelo to save her like she had the first night they met. She couldn’t depend on that. She had to take care of herself.
The trunk popped up and she saw the two brothers standing there looking shocked. Sebastian reached down to grab her, giving her a great chance to kick his head, causing him to fall back. Francesco lunged towards her arms next, trying to avoid her feet, but she was able to grab his ear. She pulled it as hard as she could, getting him closer to her legs and allowing her to kick him as hard as possible.
He went flying back and landed right next to Sebastian. Neither of them was holding guns, but Charlotte could see once they had fallen that they started to reach for them. She needed to get out of there quick but didn’t know what to do. It was clear they were on a path, though it was small and not meant for cars. Still, she figured wherever this path led from is probably where she needed to go.
She pushed herself out of the car and started running straight. She ran in a zig zag pattern, so they couldn’t see her if they did try to shoot. She was running fast and hard and not looking back even once. Her feet were pounding on the dirt road and she was scared she would fall. She just kept pounding forward, unable to hear the brothers anymore.
When she was in high school, running was her least favorite activity. She had a dancer’s body and there was no doubt she had amazing athletic ability. Still, she loathed running and wasn’t very good at even jogging on a treadmill. If only her gym teacher could see her now. She certainly beat some sort of record, especially having her hands tied together.
Just when she thought the coast was clear, she saw headlights approaching. At first, she was relieved, but then she remembered how powerful these brothers were. They could have had anyone come down that road in a flash. Even if she had seen police lights, she wouldn’t be so sure that she could trust them. The car stopped as soon as it saw Charlotte, but she kept running. She was
n’t going to risk talking to anyone until she was out of the wooded area. She decided to look back just once and saw him standing there.
It was him. Angelo got out of the car and ran towards Charlotte.
“They’re coming! They’re coming! We have to get out of here!” Charlotte cried to Angelo. She didn’t realize she was crying until she started to talk. She didn’t have time to think about much.
“No one’s going to touch you, I promise you that,” Angelo told her, pulling out a pocket knife. He cut the ropes off Charlotte’s wrists, revealing bloody blisters already forming where they had been tied. Charlotte ran towards the passenger car door but heard a gunshot.
“Where do you think you’re going!” Sebastian yelled, firing several shots towards the two. None of them hit and Angelo was able to just as quickly fire a few back.
“Don’t make me do this!” he shouted towards his brothers. Francesco ran towards them, gun pointed as well. Angelo fired a shot right at his leg and it hit, causing Francesco to fall to the floor and drop his gun.
Sebastian fired a few times at them again, Charlotte ducking behind the car. He wasn’t even hitting the vehicle but kept unloading his gun. Eventually, the bullets ran out. He darted towards Francesco’s fallen gun, but Angelo made it there first, kicking it into the trees. Sebastian dropped his gun and held his hands up, laughing.
“So, you’re going to shoot me, little brother?” Sebastian asked.
“If I have to,” Angelo told him.
“I don’t believe you,” Sebastian said, teeth bloody from where Charlotte had kicked him.
“He shot me!” Francesco said.
“You’ll be fine. You’ll both be fine. I don’t want to have to hurt either of you!” Angelo shouted.
“Too late!” Francesco yelled.
“Now listen, just listen to me! There’s nothing you can ever do that will make me be one of you. You both can have everything. My house, my boat, my sales, everything. Just let me leave. That’s all I’m asking of you,” Angelo begged. “Is that really worse than killing me? Than killing your own brother?”
Sebastian looked down at his other brother, bleeding on the ground.
“You asked me what dad might think if he saw me now. Well what do you think he would say of you? Of the both of you? Is this what he would have wanted?” Angelo asked.
Sebastian knelt down, grabbing the hand of his bleeding brother. “Take me to the hospital, please,” Francesco said.
“I need your word. Both of your words, that you won’t ever hurt us. We just want to be together. I just want to go,” Angelo begged.
“Then, go. Leave. But don’t ever come back. If I see your face in this city again, it will certainly be the last time, and I promise you that,” Sebastian said.
“Wait, you’re just going to let him go that easy?” Francesco asked.
“He’s not one of us,” Sebastian explained.
“He shot me!” Francesco cried.
“You deserved it!” Sebastian said. He grabbed Francesco’s arm, pulling him to his feet. He looked at Charlotte and then at Angelo. Neither him nor Francesco said another word before they walked back to their car.
Angelo looked at Charlotte and they both quietly slid into the car. Angelo was devastated that it took shooting one of his brothers for them to realize that it was best if they just let each other go. He loved New Jersey and this life was all he knew. He didn’t need the mansion or the yacht, however. He could get all of that new in the city with his girl. That’s all he needed. He reached over and grabbed her thigh, feeling her warm skin again, reminding him what he had to fight for.
Charlotte ran her hand across his, sore from being tied up but relieved that she had managed to get out. Were they really going to kill her, or was it just a manipulation tactic to lure Angelo to that spot? Charlotte didn’t know and realized she probably never would. Angelo had saved her once again, and that’s all that mattered to her at that point. She felt scared thinking that Sebastian and Francesco still weren’t to be trusted. She knew he wouldn’t be able to ever really cut ties, but now she knew she didn’t have to worry about her life being threatened. Angelo had saved her twice before and she knew he could do it again.
“I’m so incredibly sorry I missed it,” Angelo said, defeated. After everything they went through that night, it was for missing her ballet that he was the sorry about.
“Don’t worry, I’ll give you your own private performance later,” she told him. It was hard that he hadn’t made it to the ballet, but Charlotte didn’t need him there. He had been at most of her practices and proved time and time again he was hers and she was his.
“You better. Every single part though!” he teased. They laughed and looked at each other, Angelo almost forgetting to look at the road. She leaned across the middle and planted a kiss on his cheek, lingering for a moment before sitting back down. He kept his hand on her leg the entire ride home, her arm wrapped around his.
Summer was officially over. That statement burned itself right into Charlotte’s heart. She wasn’t sure what to expect when she moved to Jersey City. She hadn’t thought she would almost be murdered twice, but in a weird way, she was glad that happened. If not the first time, she might not have ever met Angelo. Instead of going on fancy dinner dates and relaxing in his Jersey City mansion, she might have had to work for Pablo for three months!
She was excited to start her future with Angelo. He had made it very clear that he wasn’t going anywhere. Any doubt she had about their relationship or his dedication had been washed away after seeing him pull a gun on his own brothers for her protection.
Everything had seemed to fall together so effortlessly. Charlotte was confident leaving her grandmother with a new companion and knew that her mother and father would be proud of her back home. She had so many exciting new opportunities waiting for her in New York City and couldn’t wait to start making memories with Angelo. They had their entire lives together and Charlotte got lost in a moment of bliss every time she remembered that.
It wasn’t easy, but everything worked out exactly perfect. That was the hardest summer of Charlotte’s life, but it also ended up being the most amazing one. She wouldn’t change anything, even the bad stuff. Even getting her hands tied and having multiple guns pointing in her face. If even one second of her summer changed, she might not have ended up where she was, right next to Angelo.
THANKS FOR READING!
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