I get out the car and run to the other side to get Christian. I pull out my phone and call 911, but my phone dies after the first ring. Shit! What the fuck!
“Chris where’s your phone?” I ask my brother, but he doesn’t respond. His eyes are half open. I look for his phone. I find it on the floor next to his feet. It’s completely cracked.
I have no choice. I have to get him home.
I pull him out throwing his arm over my shoulder, helping him stand. I look around at the houses surrounding us. Not one soul has stepped outside. What the hell kind of shit is this?!
I start walking, dragging him along with me. He grunts and winces the whole way. Its five more houses down, I think.
“Hold on” I tell him. “We’re almost home.”
“Donovan” Christian barely gets out my name.
It probably takes me about ten minutes before we finally get to the front gate of the house. The black gate with a gold Lion’s head on it and the letter “P” engraved under it.
Christian starts coughing and falling, bringing me down with him. I quickly get back up and run to the gate. I press the buzzer frantically on the intercom.
“Somebody help us!” I scream as I jump on the gate, yelling between the steel bars.
I run back to my brother’s side. I search him to see where he’s hurt. That’s when I see the blood spilling from his side.
I slowly lift up his shirt, to see two bullet wounds. I blink a couple of times. All I can think to myself is please let this be a dream.
But all I see are two small bullet wounds with so much blood spilling out of them. I can’t help but wonder why something so small can cause so much damage. He must have gotten hit when they shot at the car.
“Donovan” I glance back up. His green eyes meet mine.
“Hey, you’re going to be okay.” No, he’s not. I know it. I can tell in his eyes. That bright green color that girls love about him isn’t so green anymore. This is Christian though. He’s a good person. He was going to be a doctor. He’s my brother.
He smiles slightly at me. The blood stains on his teeth make the tears rush down my face. I clench my jaw, trying to hold them back.
“Chris, you’re gonna be okay. Okay, buddy? Come on, Christian”
He closes his eyes.
“Chris… Chris!” I scream at him trying to wake him up.
“Donovan?!” I hear my dad running behind me.
“Dad!” I tearfully scream still staring at my brother in my arms.
I can’t lose my brother. Not like this. I can’t lose him.
My father reaches us along with Benny and Rick.
“Christian!” he yells at the sight of his son dying in my arms.
He hovers over Christian as I sit back. Christian’s slowly opens his eyes to see our father over him.
“Come on son.” He chokes up. “Come on.” Tears come down his face. I’ve never seen my father cry before. “Hold on son. Rick go call Stabler and 911!”
“CHRISTIAN!!!” I look to see my mother and sister running towards us in shock. They try to reach us, but Benny stops them. My mother, in anger, frantically pushes Benny off. She finally reaches us and drops down to her knees beside Christian.
“Christian. Come on baby. Come on. Somebody do something!” My mother demands yet we all stay still. We know he isn’t going to make it.
“It’s okay.” My brother whispers. “It’s okay.”
His breathing continues to decrease. Suddenly it stops. He stops breathing.
My mother continues to scream, grabbing hold of him as my father releases him. I look down at my hands and see the blood, covering them. This is my brother’s blood. I raise my head up towards my father, sitting across from me with blood on his hands staring back at me. It really is like looking into a mirror, except I feel like I’m looking into the future, a future of pain and misery.
My brother is dead.
I hear Ella near me screaming. I can hear the screams and the cries, but at the same time I feel nothing. That’s all it is.
My brother is dead.
Claudia
I wonder when he’s going to call me. I can’t believe I did all that tonight. Like what was that? The no name game does work. I must tell Jade that. Tonight was amazing. It was different. That guy, he was different. I know he was. I could tell by the way he looked at me. I could tell by the way he talked to me. I could just tell. Maybe I’m being naive, but who cares.
I wish mom was here so I could tell her. I’ll tell Julia of course. My dad, probably not. Unless it’s Eric Anderson, he won’t care.
When I kissed him it was such a rush. He kissed me with so much… passion and determination. I felt it tonight, the spark. I can’t wait for my phone to ring and to hear his name. When I hear his name, it’s probably going to be the greatest name in the world. I know I’m being cheesy right now, but I don’t care. I think this kind of feeling is supposed to make me feel cheesy. It’s supposed to make me feel out of the ordinary, excited, and different. That’s what my mom always said. She said those feelings could always lead to love.
Wow Love? No way, I’m sixteen. What do I know? Although after tonight, I would definitely like to know.
Donovan
I step out of the shower and grab my towel to dry off and head over to the sink. There’s still blood in it so I turn on the faucet and wipe my hand over the remaining blood. This is the blood of my brother. He’s dead.
I stare at my reflection in the mirror. I notice there’s a cut above my eye from the accident. That’s all I got. A cut above my eye and cuts on my arm from the broken window, while my brother got more than that. He’s dead. It’s like I can’t stop saying that in my head. It won’t shut up.
After everything, my father had Benny call our new family doctor, Dr. Stabler. I hadn’t seen him since I was kidnapped. I remember that night when I came home, he did tests on me to make sure I was okay physically.
The family doctor is someone on my father’s payroll to make house calls for special reasons. We had one in the city, Dr. Woo. I remember once, entering into a room without knocking and saw Dr. Woo pulling a bullet out of my dad’s back. So, I guess once we moved back here it was easy to get Stabler back on the job.
Stabler bandaged my arm and checked to make sure I didn’t have a concussion. Although I knew I didn’t.
There isn’t any police, because Rick didn’t make the call. He knew it was too late so he just called Dr. Stabler. When he told my parents that my mother slapped him hard across his face.
She should slap me. My phone died because I didn’t charge it before we left. If it had been charged, Christian would have had a chance.
“Donovan? You okay in there?” I hear Benny outside the door.
“I’ll be out in a minute.” Am I okay? No, I’m not okay. I saw my brother die about thirty minutes ago. I’m not okay.
I open the door and see Benny in the hallway in his leather coat. He wears the same leather coat no matter what. He even wears it in the summer. My brother always laughed at that.
I walk pass Benny and head to my room. I throw on gray sweats and a white t shirt then head downstairs towards my father’s office.
I told Benny what all happened. I told him about the man in the mask. The car crash, the gun, the ring, and how I shot him. I wish I killed him. I wish I killed him the same way I killed that psycho when I was eight.
I see my sister outside my father’s office door. I can hear my mother yelling. My sister turns around and looks at me. Her eyes are red from crying. I walk towards her and we hug instantly. Ironically, my sister and I don’t hug much. Christian always told us we should stop fighting and get along more, but we never listened. We’re both stubborn like that.
I let go of her and walk closer to dad’s office door. The closer I get the clearer my parent’s heated conversation becomes.
“You’re out of your mind!” My mother yells.
“This is the only way, Vera.” My father says ca
lmly.
“How could you say that? It’s not the only way Roman. There is no way I’m going to let you ship my son off to another country!”
What?
“When the police get here, their already going to wonder why it took so long for us to call. If I know Stonem, he is going to use this! He is going to use Donovan. We have to protect him. There are no other shooters. There is just my sons and I don’t even know where that gun came from.”
I did wonder where Christian got the gun from. Christian was not big on guns at all. He must have known he would need it.
“We can tell them the truth, Roman”
“Vera, you and I both know they will switch it! They don’t care about us! They won’t do anything! They won’t search for the son of bitches that killed my son!”
“Oh and you will?!”
“Damn right! I will!”
There is a long pause between them.
“Christian” My mother chokes up. “He’s dead. Roman, Christian is dead. My son! Is dead!”
“I know.” I hear the pain in dad’s voice. “Vera, I know. For all we know the men out there will be after Donovan and I won’t lose him. I can’t lose him too.”
I can’t take this anymore. I quickly burst into my father’s office. “I’ll go.”
My mother turns to me in disbelief. Her eyes are red and puffy like Ella’s. I look at my father. He clenches his jaw trying to hold back the tears. I wonder what he thinks of me. Does he blame me? I know I do.
“Dad’s right. I’m seventeen, the legal adult age and his son. I’m not stupid, I know how the police will do anything to get who they want and Stonem wants dad. Mom, remember the Delaney family? Joe Delaney and his wife were attacked and shot at and his wife died. Than all of sudden the cops find out the gun on Delaney was the same one that shot his wife? They’ll do anything.”
“Donovan, you don’t have to do this. We will find a way.” My mom pleads to me.
I see the need in her eyes. She needs me to stay, but I have to go.
“Mom I have to. I can’t stay here. Not now.” I turn to my father. “Where do you want me to go?”
He sighs. “You can go stay with your aunt in London.” I figured that’s where he wanted me to go. My aunt Lana is my father’s older sister. London is where my grandfather was from. He was a big time gangster there before he came to the states to take over New York. “You’ll stay there until things settle down.”
“Okay. I’ll go pack a bag.”
I turn back and face my mother.
“I’m sorry I have to do this, but I can’t stay here anymore mom. I’m so sorry.”
Her eyes tear up. She grabs on to me tightly, pulling me into a hug. I feel the wet tears on my shoulder. I quickly release her grip and leave out of my dad’s office. My mother’s crying gets louder and louder the farther I walk away.
Claudia
I love watching the night sky. It’s something beautiful about the dark, blue surface hovering over me. There’s a half moon tonight, well this morning. It’s almost 3 am. Why am I even up? Well because I can’t stop thinking about the boy of my dreams. I wonder what he’s doing right now. Is he up like me? Is he thinking about me? Are his feelings the same as mine because if not…I’m a fool.
“Where the hell are you?” I look down under my balcony to see my dad. He is on the phone in the back yard.
“No one gave you that order! You answer to me, not him… What do you mean you can’t? Well when did they report it?... He’s stalling, I’m telling you. I know Roman Pierce he will do anything to protect them.”
Roman Pierce. Since I was born, my father has been after this guy. I’ve heard on the news how he’s a gangster and a mob boss. Although I heard things, I’ve never invested myself into my father’s work.
Now it might change because the children of Roman Pierce are going to be attending my school. Just great. I’m going to be in school with the kids of the man who hates my father. I mean he wants to put him in prison, the hatred is inevitable. Hopefully it won’t start any drama for me.
“I want you to bring him in. You hear me?” I guess my dad has something on him again. Either way, as long as my dad takes down the bad guys, I’m happy.
Donovan
I stare at the long white aircraft as my father’s workers move around. All I’m feeling right now is numbness. Is this the feeling you get when people you love die? For a son of a mobster you would think I would be use to it, but see that’s the difference between my father and all the other criminals. My father made sure to protect everyone. Unfortunately, he couldn’t tonight. His choice of life finally caught up to him.
I should’ve been there for my brother. Whatever he found out tonight, I should have been right there when he did. I heard Benny asking my father if he thought it could be the Russians or the Irish. My father said no, but to still investigate it. Really it could be anyone of my father’s former enemies. I say former because he made peace. He even gave New York back to the Irish, but who knows. Maybe someone got greedy or didn’t want to take the chance that Roman Pierce would return. Or maybe someone finally got their revenge on my father, for whatever he did. Either way, I’m still to blame.
“Now you said no one really noticed you at the party, and seeing you hadn’t started school yet, no one should know your face. If anyone questions, you’ve been staying with your aunt all summer, okay?” My father says.
“Okay” I answer still staring out the window at the private jet.
I know I’m lying about talking to anyone at the party, but I don’t care. All I care about is getting out of here.
“Roman we have to go; the police are at your house.” Benny says from the passenger’s seat of the limo.
“Okay”
I start to get out the car until my dad grabs my arm. I turn to see his face in pure pain from holding back his emotions. His anger, sadness, and guilt are all the things he is keeping bottled up inside right now. I know this because I do the same thing. I learned from him.
“I love you” He rarely says that. He’s always about showing his love rather than saying it.
“Love you too.” I know this is hard for him. Most people wouldn’t understand, but I do.
I step out of the limo and head to the jet without even looking back.
Once I enter, I sit all the way in the back in the last seat. I see the mini bar has been restocked since our last ride. I definitely plan to take advantage of it. Alcohol will take all the problems away.
“Donovan?” I turn to see Reggie, one of my father’s men, looking like he just woke up. He probably did, after all it is pretty late. He’s about ten years older than me. He was 20 when he first started working for my father. Ella use to have a crush on him when we were younger. Probably still does. “The pilot said he’s lifting off now. You have to put your seatbelt on.”
I take off my jacket and throw it against the seat across from me and buckle up my seat belt. I grab my IPOD out of my duffel bag and sit back against the soft leather seat.
All I can think about is Christian. I knew something bad was going to happen. I knew it. The only good thing that happened was…. the girl. My phone, where is it?
I search through my duffel bag to find it, but I know it’s not here. I left it. I left it in the bathroom with all my bloody clothes. I remember giving those clothes to Benny. I remember Benny throwing all the evidence in a giant garbage bag and handing it to Ricky to take away. Probably out in the middle of nowhere to set on fire. When Ella and I were younger, we watched our father destroy evidence by burning it. It’s the best way to get rid of it, I guess. So yeah, my phone is probably somewhere getting destroyed. Well, it doesn’t matter now because while my phone is gone and that girl’s number is lost, my brother is gone…. forever.
Love and Hate (The Pierce Family Trilogy) Page 5