Eye on the Prize
Page 11
“Going to leave him? Isn’t that what she told you before?”
Mikai felt his temper flair.
“Listen, having Caitlyn around is a good thing. With her in my life I only want to be with her and box.” Joe’s mouth was paper thin and Mikai could tell he was resisting the urge to argue further.
“I hope so. And I hope she doesn’t break your heart again.”
“She won’t,” Mikai assured him but even as he said it, he wasn’t so sure.
The following day, Mikai brought Caitlyn to SkyTrain. In spite of his resolve to hate her, Joe found himself completely enamored with the fairy-tale like blonde and he understood why Mikai was so smitten with her. She had an unassuming, unpretentious air about her and her down to earth nature made him feel instantly at ease. Joe and Caitlyn hit it off like they had known each other for centuries, discussing boxing statistics and regaling each other with fights they had watched. Mikai had been sparring with a college kid but he could sense the rapport between the two. Happiness is seeing the two people you love the most getting along, he told himself.
“Mickey! Your phone is going off!” Caitlyn called to him. Mikai’s feeling of elation was short lived. He had been expecting a text from Miles. He bowed out of the fight and jumped down to grab the phone from Caitlyn before Joe could see who was ringing.
“Thanks,” he told her, placing a kiss on her cheek. She giggled gently and Mikai peered down at the text. All of the blood in his body drained to his feet. He looked up at Joe and then to his lover.
“Is something wrong?” Caitlyn asked, noticing his expression. Mikai shook his head and forced a smile onto his face.
“No. But I have to go.”
Joe’s eyed Mikai sharply, suspecting something amiss.
“Where?”
“What are you, my keeper now? I have a life outside of here,” Mikai said jokingly but his stomach was flipping nervously. “You ready, Catey?”
She nodded and smiled at Joe.
“It was lovely meeting you, Joe,” she told him, extending a smooth hand. “I hope I get to spend more time with you.”
“Oh, don’t be so formal. Unless you’re too beautiful to give an old man a hug,” Joe joked, opening his arms. Caitlyn laughed and embraced the trainer.
“Okay, you pervert, that’s enough,” Mikai cackled, snaking an arm around Caitlyn’s slender waist. “I can take you if I have to.”
“You haven’t beaten me yet, son,” Joe jested back, throwing his protégé into a headlock. The two wrestled around for a minute like kids on a playground before they released one another and the couple left. Joe watched them walk out the door and then opened his hand. Glancing up to ensure they did not return, Joe looked back down at his palm where he held Mikai’s cell phone. He felt a smidgen of guilt having taken it without Mikai knowing but he needed to know what was going on. He guessed Mikai’s password on the first try. The kid had been using his mother’s birthday as a code forever, Joe thought wryly. He scrolled through the texts and when he saw Miles’ name, his blood ran cold. Joe clicked the icon and read the text.
“3656 Randal Court. Manhattan.” Slowly, Joe turned off the phone and hung his head in defeat, almost physically sick to his stomach. Miles!That son of a bitch has claimed another victim.
13
Chapter Thirteen
“You’re gonna be a boxing champ! And I’m gonna be your agent!”
Miles punched Joe in the arm three times, jumping up and down with glee.
“I’ve never seen anyone fight like you, Joey!”
Joe laughed and punched his best friend back.
“How are you gonna be my agent? You don’t know anything about boxing. You don’t know anything about anything except how to be a loud mouth,” Joe joked. Miles looked hurt.
“I could be your agent! You need to have a loud mouth to get the word out there.” Joe smiled to soften his jab and nodded.
“That’s true. Hey, maybe you can get a fight going between me and Tony Gallo. That jerk keeps asking Trixie out even though he knows she’s my girl.”
“Nah. Too easy. You need to fight someone good, like Andy Bellini. He’s an ape. If you beat him, I bet you Mr. Carlucci will notice you!”
“I don’t want anything to do with Mr. Carlucci, Miles. That man is mob and bad news. My dad says that he looks for young kids like us to work for him because we don’t know any better.”
“Nah,” Miles snorted. “Your dad is just nuts. Mr. Carlucci ain’t bad. He likes kids and he wants us to have a future. He didn’t have nothing growing up in Italy. He’s a businessman trying to spread the wealth.”
“Miles, you gotta be careful. You shouldn’t be doin’ favors for him or his boys,” Joe warned. Miles laughed and punched him again playfully.
“You just worry about fighting, Joey. Let me worry about everything else.”
“Joey! What the hell are you doing here?”
Joe pushed his way into the hotel room and stood facing Miles.
Joe reached out and whacked the martini glass in Miles’ hand so it spilled all over his tie. Miles lost the faux friendly smile and glared at Joe.
“What the hell?”
“Cut the horseshit, Miles. What are you doing with my boy?” Joe snarled, advancing angrily.
“What did the little shit tell you?” he demanded, setting down the glass and folding his arms defensively. “It isn’t true.”
“That little shit is like my son and I swear to God Miles…” Joe balled his hands into a fist and took a menacing step toward the taller man. Miles paled at the nonverbal threat and stepped backward.
“He got into trouble all by himself. He came to me!” Miles squealed. “I was only trying to help!”
“The way you helped me?” Joe snarled, advancing further. Miles was up against the window now and looking furtively around as if seeking help from the furniture.
“It’s not my fault!” Miles whined.
“It’s never your fault, is it? You just do the right thing all the fucking time and everyone else gets into their own trouble. Is that it? What happened? How the fuck did you get Mikai running for Carlucci?”
“He owed him money…”
“Oh for fuck’s sake, Miles. How did you manage that?”
“He did it to himself! I swear! I had nothing to do with it!”
“Then why didn’t you just clear the debt, Miles?”
Miles looked at his alligator shoes, unspeaking, and Joe clenched his jaw furiously.
“You are and always have been a maggot, Miles. I don’t know why I thought you had changed. You are a snivelling, no good, opportunistic nobody. You have no talents but pimping. I can’t believe I trusted you with my boy.”
“He’s not your boy, Joe. You don’t have a boy. You don’t have anybody!” Miles shot back. Joe punched him squarely in the jaw.
“That’s because you screwed up my life! You screwed up my boxing career and you ruined my family! You fuck up everything you touch!” Joe hit him again and Miles began to cry. The sound of his sobs stopped Joe from throwing yet another blow to his face and instead he let his fist drop to his side.
“Call off the debt, you piece of shit. And stay the fuck away from me and Mikai. I will murder you with my bare hands if you come anywhere near him again.” Joe slammed out of the room, the walls reverberating from the force of his departure.
Mikai had walked around the block six times. He was on the seventh lap when a police car pulled up beside him.
“Are you lost?” the officer asked from the passenger side window. Mikai paled and blinked, startled by the interruption to his thoughts.
“No, sir,” he responded, glancing innocently at the Asian officer. He tried to smile disarmingly.
“Do you want to explain to us why you’ve been pacing this neighborhood for two hours?” the cop questioned suspiciously, not falling for the grin.
Mikai stared, trying to come up with a story. He smiled sheepishly as inspiration struck.
“You’re better than me, buddy. I’d be on my sixth shot of tequila by now if it were a fight with my wife. Then again, my wife is a bitch. Your girl is probably much nicer. Anyway, move along. You’re making the neighbors nervous. I had three calls about you already. You kind of stick out like a sore thumb around here. Maybe you should hit the bar.” Mikai nodded and thanked him, watching as the car drove off. He paused in front of the blue shuttered house and took a deep breath. I can’t go in there. I can’t do this. Just turn around and go home. Call Miles and tell him why you can’t do this. No! Fuck Miles. I don’t owe him any explanations. I will find a way to contact Carlucci directly. He stood, one leg ready to run, the other poised to walk up the steps. The temptation to leave was just as great as the one to stay. There was no car in the driveway. Maybe no one is home. Surely, they have two cars. Maybe not. Maybe he gambled the other car away. Go home. Mikai, go home.
He shifted his weight from one foot to another, willing his brain to decide. He started toward the house, swallowing the now familiar bile in his throat except this time he was sure he would vomit prior to committing the act. He was on the porch now, looking for signs of life in the house. He could see movement in the front window. Mikai pressed himself against the side of the house as to not attract the person’s attention. He peered inside and saw a man. It was him. A rush of distress washed over Mikai and before he could stop himself, he pulled open the screen door, ready to smash open the front entrance when a set of headlights shone upon his frame. A white car pulled into the driveway and a petite woman jumped out of the driver’s seat, her face whiter than the cocaine Mikai was desperately craving at that moment.
“Mikai!” she hissed. “What the hell are you doing here?”
All of the motivation that had overwhelmed him seconds before dissolved into a puddle of trembling fear as Caitlyn scurried up the steps. Suddenly another car pulled up to the curb and began honking its horn. Joe rolled down the window.
“Get in!” he yelled. “Right now!”
Without a word to Caitlyn, Mikai raced toward Joe’s ancient Impala and hopped in the passenger’s seat. Joe tore away from the curb as the front door opened, revealing Patrick’s confused face. Joe’s knuckles were raw and white against the steering wheel. The tension in the car could have been cut with a knife. Neither one wanted to speak but Joe finally asked the question he needed to know.
“Were you going to do it?”
Mikai did not answer. He wasn’t sure he had the answer.
“Well? Were you?”
“It’s not what you think,” Mikai answered quietly. “It was a job.”
“I know what it was. That wasn’t what I asked.”
Mikai blinked and looked at his mentor.
“Yeah.”
“You probably would have killed him.”
“Probably.”
The rest of the drive was made in silence.
“Did I see that wannabe cop outside?” Patrick stepped away from the threshold and allowed his wife to enter. Caitlyn walked into the house, her heart hammering. She didn’t understand what she had witnessed. What was he doing here? Why would he come here? Is he trying to ruin my life? I thought he loved me! Oh God, what have I done to Mikai? He is going crazy without me. I should have never let him leave Entrance. I should have never married Patrick. It isn’t too late. I can divorce Patrick, I can - “Caitlyn?” Patrick said sharply.
“What? Who?” Caitlyn asked innocently, putting her purse down on the table.
“That security guard from your work.”
“Evan?”
“Are you purposely playing dumb with me, Caitlyn? It was that guy, Mike? The one that worked at Entrance about a year ago?”
Caitlyn furrowed her brow. Oh God. Mikai why did you come here?
“No, I don’t think that was him, hon. Oh, I guess it kind of looked like him.” Patrick stared at her intently.
“Who was it then?”
“No idea? I thought you were talking to him. He jumped in a car when I got here. I thought maybe he was selling something.” Patrick looked unconvinced and he examined Caitlyn’s face carefully. He knew his wife well enough to know when she was being deceitful.
“It was him, wasn’t it, Caitlyn?”
“No, Pat. At least I don’t think it was. I can’t imagine why he would be here.”
“No?” Patrick drawled. “You can’t?”
He began to slowly close the space between them, wheels turning in his head. Patrick was not an unintelligent man and suddenly it all clicked as he considered the evidence.
“Now that I think about it, you two seemed to be together an awful lot whenever I stopped by your office,” Patrick said slowly and Caitlyn felt her heart quicken. There was something about her husband’s tone and demeanor which was familiar. Something she couldn’t quite place.
“Oh, don’t be silly. He was a security guard. Of course, he had to stop by my office. He had to stop by all the offices. That was his job.”
“Hmmm…was it his job to grope you at the corporate party also?”
Caitlyn’s head whipped up and she stared at him aghast.
“Who told you that?”
“Just because I’m not there, Caitlyn, doesn’t mean I don’t know what’s going on,” Patrick snarled. His face was very close to hers now.
“You’ve been fucking that rent a cop this whole time, haven’t you? And now he’s coming to our house? For what? To bang you in my bed?”
Caitlyn was both terrified and furious. Her anger won out.
“Your bed? When was the last time you slept in your bed, Patrick?” His dark eyes narrowed dangerously as he realized something else.
“The baby. It isn’t even mine, is it?”
Caitlyn paled at the mention of the fake child but she defiantly said nothing, jutting out her perfectly sculpted chin as if confirming his suspicions.
“It isn’t, is it?” he demanded again. Caitlyn smirked and shrugged. She should have known better but she didn’t see it coming. Patrick’s face contorted into a horrifying mask of fury and then the world went black.
14
Chapter Fourteen
“We were like brothers,” Joe began, handing Mikai a steaming cup of coffee. “We grew up in the same apartment building. Our parents were middle class, hard working. We didn’t have everything but we didn’t need anything either. Miles always wanted to become something big. I was happy boxing and being with my sweetheart but Miles, Miles had huge dreams. He pushed me, really. If it wasn’t for him, I probably wouldn’t have gotten as far as I did with my boxing.”
Mikai accepted the cup and listened to Joe’s tale, still feeling dazed by what had almost happened.
“Carlucci was a fixture in our neighborhood. Everyone knew he was mobbed up. He ran everything and everyone but we managed to stay out of his way. Our parents warned us to stay away and some of us weren’t drawn in by his promises of money but Miles, well, like I said, Miles wanted big things. He always liked expensive toys and Carlucci indulged all of his fantasies. But the truth was, Carlucci really wanted me. He tried to lure me in the usual way with cash and toys and candy. My family was from the right part of Italy and Italians, we are supposed to stick together but like I said, I had no interest in that life. I only cared about boxing. Miles was functional to Carlucci but he was an outsider, something Carlucci never let him forget. Miles took it very personally even though he would never admit it to anyone but you could just see it in his face.” Joe paused to take a sip of his own coffee and look around the dark gym. Mikai sat perfectly still, his back a straight line of tension. He had always wanted to hear the story about his agent and trainer but suddenly he wasn’t so sure anymore.
“I got big. Really big. I had a title fight coming. I had sp
onsors and promoters knocking at my door. I was seconds away from becoming the next Ali. Miles was a huge help. He promoted me with that mouth of his, recruiting people from all over the city to come watch me fight even in the shittiest little places.”
For a moment, Joe’s eyes glazed over as if he could hear the roar of the crowd in his ears. Mikai thought tears were misting the gentle but fierce eyes of his trainer.
“What happened?” Mikai prompted when Joe did not continue. Joe put the mug down and rose to his feet. He started to pace.
“Miles happened,” he replied quietly. “One night at three a.m. someone came pounding on my door. It was Carlucci’s second lieutenant, Angelo. He told me Miles was in deep shit and I needed to go with him right away. Of course, I went with Angelo and found Miles in a warehouse, hanging from a meat hook by his neck. He still has the scar.” Mikai’s mouth dropped open in disbelief.
“Our boy Miles was skimming from Carlucci. Hundreds of thousands of dollars. Well, let’s say, that’s not a really good idea but from what I hear, you already know something about that. Carlucci would have already killed him under normal circumstances but Miles, our opportunistic, self-serving friend had a better idea. If Carlucci would forgive him and allow him to pay off his debt, he could recruit me to Carlucci’s family.”
Mikai swallowed deeply, already understanding where the story was going. “Long story short, I became Carlucci’s boy overnight. My career was done. I couldn’t be a mob wife and a title champ. I ran drugs for a decade, killed people, pimped out some women, the usual. It wasn’t until several years later that I found out that Miles hadn’t really skimmed money and that the entire production had been staged to draw me into the family. When I learned about that, I told Carlucci I was done. By now he had a younger, more ambitious model of me at his side so he let me go but he still calls when he needs something. He has lots of leverage on me now. Miles is forever at his beck and call. I think Miles always saw you as his ticket with Carlucci. I thought he was trying to make amends with me when he offered to be your agent but I see now that I was just being naïve. I’m sorry I put you in harm’s way, Mikai. I hope you know that I have always only wanted to protect you.”