Resist Me

by Samantha Lee

  “Ms. Bradford,” she heard the doctor say as he helped her up. When she was able to stand she waved him off, “I am fine, I forgot that my body is in a state of chaos.” She gave the doctor a small smile and rolled her eyes. Her self sabotaging love record was still firmly in place.

  “You should have stayed sitting, the nurse will come in with aftercare instructions, but if you have a high fever, any of the cuts start oozing pus, or you are feeling dizzy and having shortness of breath, I want you to come in right away.” He looked at her, “Okay,” he asked.

  Yvette nodded, “Okay, I will watch for those things.”

  “Good, you may want to soak in warm water for at least thirty minutes for a few days to help with the aches and pains and cleanse your small cuts. You will itch as you heal, that is to be expected.”

  “Okay, thank you doctor.” He held his hand out and they shook. They shook hands, and to her dismay, there were no lingering touches, it was a brisk professional shake.

  “Your welcome.” He said then turned and left. Yvette watched him leave writing hallmarks about his beautiful backside.

  Yvette eyed the table, she wasn’t about to climb back on that thing so she took a seat on one of the chairs. She winced as she sat down from the pain of the tetanus shot they gave her on her ass. A few minutes later someone knocked on her door. “Come in,” she said.

  A middle-aged overweight woman with a disgruntled look came in next, the complete contrast of her doctor. “You are all set to go miss.” She handed Yvette her discharge papers but didn’t wait for her to read them before asking, “Do you have any questions?” Yvette took the time to read through the discharge papers to the nurses’ obvious annoyance.

  “It said I could take both Tylenol and Ibuprofen for the pain? I thought that was dangerous.”

  “No, it’s not, take two extra strength Tylenol and one 500mg ibuprofen at the same time every six to eight hours.”

  “Okay, what are my chances of infection?”

  “Miss. I don’t know. Didn’t the doctor explain the signs of infection to you?”

  “Yes, but I wanted to know how many people end up with an infection from cuts like these in your professional opinion.”

  The nurse looked at her for a while then said, “Miss. I don’t know that answer, but if you feel sick you should come in.”

  It really was that simple, Yvette thought to herself. “Okay thanks.”

  The nurse nodded, “Can you sign here and here?” The nurse pointed to a two places on the piece of paper she held out on a clipboard. Yvette took the clipboard and signed.

  “You can leave when you’re ready,” the nurse said and left. Yvette sat there for a moment and thought about what she should do next. She needed to call the insurance company and find out what could be done about her car. She needed—the door slammed opened and two men walked in one wearing a black suit one wearing a dark blue suit.

  “Are you Yvette Bradford?” Blue suit asked.

  “Why do you want to know?” she answered.

  “It’s her, she looks just like Sal described, grab her.” Black suit said.

  “Get your fucking hands off of me or I will scream!” Yvette yelled.

  “Scream all you want bitch, we own this place.” She didn’t know who said that because they had grabbed her by the arms and dragged her up. She was throwing her body weight from one side to the other trying to get away from them. The adrenaline boost from the fear that permeated the depths of her soul helped buoy her strength. She hit her hip on the corner of the desk that was pushed against the wall, then she screamed. She didn’t know her eyes were closed until she felt something nudge the side of her face. Yvette opened her eyes and stared down the barrel of a gun. She closed her mouth tight, and without her permission, her body began shaking, and tears ran down her face caught on her chin, then dripped onto her shirt.

  “Now, shut the fuck up and come with us.” Blue suit said and put the gun away inside his blazer.

  Yvette wanted to ask where was she going and what did they want with her, but they pushed her out of the room and down the corridor to the elevator. Once they were at the elevator, they pushed the up button and waited. They fucking waited in a hallway full of doctors and nurses who had to have heard her scream for a fucking elevator. Yvette looked around trying to find a way out, but she couldn’t run. She was sure the moment she tried, she would be shot in the back, so she stood still and waited for the elevator to arrive. She waited for the men to abduct her from the hospital to god knows where, she waited.

  The elevator came. Blue suit stepped onto the elevator first, then Black suit pushed Yvette on, and walked in behind her. Black suit pushed floor fourteen they were on floor three, this would be a long ride. The elevator doors opened a few times but only to let people off. Every time someone tried to get on Black suit would shake his head then the doors would close, each person that got off the elevator was another person who could have helped her, but did not.

  They reached floor fourteen and walked up another corridor then turned left, they walked a few more steps and stopped at the third closed door on the left. There were three men on each side of the door, one man at the end of the corridor and one in the middle. They all wore suits, some were basic and some were polyester, a throwback to the sixties but they all looked lethal. The men at the door moved aside and let them into the room. The man in the blue suit opened the door and the man in the black suit pushed her into the room. She fell on her knees. She turned back and glared at the man. He smiled at her. When she turned her head back, Sal was walking toward her.

  “Get up.” He said and held his hand out. She slapped his hand away from her. She was done, if they were going to kill her, they could do so without laying another one of their fucking hands on her. Yvette struggled to stand.

  “Come on,” he said to her then turned to the other two goons, “you can wait outside.”

  Yvette followed him into the room where a man sat on a chair next to Antony’s bed. Antony had IV’s and machines attached to him that beeped every few seconds, monitoring his heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen, and temperature. He looked terrible, his once golden skin was pale, his commanding and sometimes overwhelming presence was absent. All that lay in the bed was the shell of the man that barged into her house, and kissed her like he wouldn’t make it another moment without tasting her. Yvette’s heart went out to him. She wanted to go to him and hold on to him, cry for him, and she knew she would cry and mourn him if he didn’t pull through this ordeal.

  “Is this her?” the man said from beside Antony. Yvette hadn’t paid much attention to him because she was focused on Antony.

  “Yes, this is her boss.” Sal answered.

  “She’s the one that talks to Donato?” the man asked.

  “Yes,” Sal said. There was a charged silence, this man’s presence was commanding. She could tell by the good looks he shared with Antony that this was Antony’s father. He looked at her for what felt like an hour assessing her, measuring her worth to him. Antony’s monitor beeped twice, and something vibrated into his IV. Yvette saw Antony’s father grimace before he turned to Sal.

  “Then kill her.”

  Sal pulled out his gun, unlocked the safety, and pointed at her head. Yvette saw the murderous intent in his eyes, her brain felt hot before everything went black and she fell to the ground.

  “Shit, Pio, she passed out.” Sal said casually.

  ***

  Sandra sat in her car and watched the fire department tame the small fire she started by blowing up Antony’s car, she was pleased to see Antony being rolled into an ambulance. She picked up her phone and tried to get into character before she called Donato.

  She pressed the seven numbers and waited. The phone rang twice. “Hello.”

  Sandra began breathing hard and tried to pull off panic. “I fucked up bro, I fucked up bad.”

  “What did you do?” Donato said.

  “I just wanted to get Antony out of the wa
y, so I could get to the accounts.” She paused and breathed into the phone, “Take them down from the inside like we talked about. I thought a small bomb to his car might keep him out of the office long enough for me to help you.”

  “A WHAT! You put a bomb in Antony Carbonaro’s car? Did he see you?” Donato asked.

  Sandra rolled her eyes. She jumped back into her frantic sister character, “I don’t know, I don’t know. Help me Donato, help me.”

  “Shut up Sandra and get control of yourself, it’s just like a woman to fuck things up like this. I didn’t fucking ask you to blow Antony up. I only asked you to get me the information I need on their clients, and sabotage the operation. That’s it, and I set you up to do it. Why did you fucking do this?”

  Every spiteful and hurtful word Donato said cemented her resolve to finish him. “I didn’t blow him up. I made sure he was near the car but not in it. He got hurt anyway. I don’t know why I did it, I just wanted to help you get what you want. I am so sorry, please help me. I will do anything.”

  “What the fuck do you want me to do?”

  Sandra let silence hang between them for a while before she whispered, “We have to kill him.”

  Sandra knew the Carbonaro Family would have the hospital locked down, but she just needed Donato to give the order not to succeed. She couldn’t let Donato think about it. “We have to, listen, he’s an ass, nobody is going to miss him if we take him out. And if we take him out that would leave the Carbonaro Family in chaos, then we can come in, takeover and get rid of the Carbonaro Family for good. Now, is the time to strike, while he is hurt. Say the word, give the order, and I will call the soldiers.” There was more silence, “Say the word brother.”

  Donato was quiet. Sandra thought she had lost him. “You’re right. Let’s get the motherfucker while he is down. Send the boys to the hospital, call me when it’s done.”

  “Okay, consider it done bro.” Sandra hung up the phone and shook her head. The idiot should have known that she would never be the woman who lost control. She was always the one in control. She was the one who everyone else called on for things like this. If Donato had used his brain, if he paid attention to her, he would have suspected something was strange. But because he didn’t see past himself, he couldn’t see that he was being set up. Sandra picked up her phone and dialed Mario.

  Mario answered the phone in two rings, “Hello.”

  “I need several soldiers you wouldn’t mind losing to go to Memorial to takeout Antony Carbonaro.”

  Mario laughed, “That’s a suicide mission.”

  “That’s why I said send soldiers we don’t need any more, and save me the trouble of doing it later. Let me know when it is done.” Sandra hung up the phone. She had an important appointment with Jim tonight. With one last look at the garage, she pulled off to go to the Family’s warehouse.

  ***

  Yvette woke up in a chair, her neck and head hurt. She looked around the room waiting for items to stop spinning and her vision to clear.

  “Good, you’re back with us.” Antony’s father’s voice was heavily accented, he dropped an O in good so it sounded like gud, and his h’s were none existent.

  “What do you want with me?” Yvette asked.

  “I want to know if you tried to kill my son.” He said.

  “What! Kill him?” Yvette asked.

  “Yes,” Pio said calmly.

  “Why would I? I haven’t known him long enough to want him dead, and even if I did, I am not a murderer. I am a law abiding woman who was caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, like Antony.”

  “So is that a yes or no, because I asked a yes or no question.” Pio said.

  “Yes, I mean no, that’s a no, I did not try to kill your son.” Yvette locked eyes with Pio, “And I want to know what this is all about. Why did you point a gun at me.” She pointed to Sal who sat on the windowsill observing the conversation between her and Antony’s father. She stared at Sal, “Do you know I could have died if it would have accidentally gone off?”

  Sal smiled but it was more teeth and menace, “I don’t accidentally kill people. I usually do it on purpose.” Yvette’s body trembled from fear. She was afraid of Sal but she wouldn’t show it. If they were going to kill her, they would kill her whether she was scared or brave, she chose to die bravely, she had nothing to lose. She sat back against the chair to try to hide the way her body trembled in fear.

  “You should be talking to me. I am asking the questions.” Pio looked at her closely. “Do you know who I am?”

  Yvette nodded, “Mr. Carbonaro, Antony’s father so the Chairman of the Carbonaro group…my boss.”

  “Yes and no. I am Pio Carbonaro, the boss of the Carbonaro Crime Family and my son is my heir and underboss. Now, if you aren’t involved in my son’s assassination attempt, then why have you been seeing Donato Belmonte?”

  Yvette didn’t understand any of what was happening. “What are you talking about and what does Donato have to do with this? What is a Crime Family? Is that like a Mafia or something?” Yvette laughed, “Because that only happens on television.”

  “I can assure you the Mafia is real and that you are talking to the boss of one of the biggest Crime Families on this coast. You also have connections to our rivals the Belmonte Crime Family, and the why behind that, is what I want to know.”

  Yvette shot daggers at Sal, who shrugged. It just clicked that the casual conversation in her office wasn’t at all casual, but Sal was interrogating her. What a piece of shit, Yvette thought. Then she realized what Pio had said about Donato’s family, “You mean Donato’s family is a Crime Family too?” Pio nodded. Yvette was starting to understand Pio’s line of questions a little more. “I didn’t know anything about the Belmonte’s or the Carbonaro’s involvement in the Mafia. I also don’t want to know anymore. I want to go home. Please let me go.”

  “I can’t do that. My son needs to wake up and tell me what to do with you. Until that time Sal will be your shadow.” Pio jerked his head toward Sal.

  “I don’t want a shadow.” Yvette said because she planned to run. She would run far and fast, and never look back.

  Pio laughed, “This isn’t my first time little girl. The minute I let you out of my sight you are going to run and I can’t have that.”

  What could she say? He was right, she would run.

  “When will he wake up?” she asked. Pio shrugged. Yvette’s entire life was in that shrug. She couldn’t protect herself, she couldn’t help herself, she was at the mercy of this man. Her life, her existence was at the mercy of a man who took her life lightly, she was worth no more than a shrug to this man. Tears began to fall freely from her eyes. She wasn’t tough enough to go against the Mafia, she’d never even been in a fight before. She was helpless, stuck doing whatever they asked. Nobody would look for her, if she didn’t come home tonight. Nobody would be worried about her, she could die here and nobody would even care.

  If she made it out of here alive, she vowed to do better. She would make connections with people, she would thrive and not merely survive. She wouldn’t take her days for granted, and she wouldn’t be so unwelcoming. Maybe she would even date. Hours passed and she sat on the thickly padded brown leather seat. She alternated between crying and desperation. She thought of the new life she would build for herself. She looked to Sal, could he be an ally, or at least help her escape? The look in his eyes said she wouldn’t find help with him.

  A doctor came into the room. He was followed by several men. “Mr. Carbonaro.” I am the anesthesiologist, we are going to wake Antony up now, he will be very drowsy so he may go back to sleep soon after he wakes. That is normal so don’t be alarmed—”

  Pio stood, “If you bring him out now will he be in pain? I want you to make sure his pain meds are strong enough to keep the worse of the pain at bay.”

  “Yes,” the doctor said. Pio gave him his assessing stare, then waved his hand.

  “Do it,” Pio said to the doctor.
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br />   The doctor turned a knob on the IV drip and waited a moment. He appeared satisfied when he turned to face Pio again, “Okay, give it fifteen minutes, and he should come around. I will be monitoring the situation from outside. If something seems off, please push the button, and I will come back. Another doctor will be in to change the bandages within the hour.” The doctor left.

  Ten minutes passed before Antony’s eyes began to flutter and his hands twitched. His father stood up slowly and went to his bedside. “Antony,” he put a hand on his shoulder, “don’t move you will hurt yourself.” Pio turned to Sal, “Ring the doctor.” The doctor arrived in less than a minute. It must be nice to have money, Yvette thought.

  “Yes, Mr. Carbonaro,” the doctor said.

  Pio waved the doctor over, “Make sure my son is comfortable.”

  The doctor came over and literally fluffed Antony’s pillow. He checked the drip a few times, nodded still satisfied with his work. The doctor bent down, “Mr. Carbonaro can you open your eyes?” he asked.

  Antony opened his eyes.

  “Good job son, good job.” Pio said as if Antony was a toddler that just took his first steps.

  The doctor shined light in his eyes. “Good,” he said to Antony then turned toward Pio. “Everything looks good and his pain is under control but if he gets uncomfortable make sure you push the button and I will return.” Pio waved him off and the doctor left. Sal was on one side of him and his father was on the other. Must be nice. When she was getting cleaned up nobody was there, nobody even called.

  Pio sat down and Antony turned his head and saw Yvette. “What is she doing here?” Antony’s voice slurred under the heavy medication.

  Pio looked at her, “She was with you when the explosion occurred and Sal said she has dealings with Donato. I thought she might have something to do with it.”