by David Nees
Frank stared at Joey’s tear-stained face, now covered with dirt, and his forehead, burned and bleeding from the wadding of the blank round fired at such close range. Finally he said, “You just witnessed what will happen if you fuck up one more time. No questions, no discussions, you get shot in your own grave and disappear. We cut off your hands and head; you’ll never be found. No coffin or funeral. Got it?”
Joey nodded, unable to say anything.
“Now get out of there.”
He climbed out of his grave and quietly walked back to the car with Frank and Roy.
Chapter 8
Two weeks after the funeral, Dan had settled the insurance claims. The money came to two hundred thousand dollars. At that point he was rudderless, without direction, ambition or energy. Tommy came to see him with a six pack of beer, a strong, amber ale. Tommy would not buy fancy beer for himself: Miller or Bud worked just fine, but he knew his friend. Dan always had good taste in beer. He opened two bottles and sat down in the kitchen across the table from Dan.
“So the insurance payments are settled?”
“Yeah.”
“What’re you going to do? Open another restaurant?”
“No. No appetite for that anymore. Don’t know what I’ll do. I can’t think straight since that night.” He took a long pull at his beer and got up to open two more.
“Don’t start drinking heavily on me.”
“Nah, don’t worry about that. Rita’d be pissed if I became a drunk.”
“It’s going to be hard for some time, but you need to rebuild your life and get on with things at some point.”
Dan stared at the floor and spoke as if not hearing Tommy. “I talk to her a lot. Don’t hear her talking back to me. Maybe when I do they’ll have to put me away.” He tried to smile, but it was not convincing.
Tommy tried to smile as well. They drank in silence for a while.
“You find anything more about who set the fire?”
“Just rumors. Seems like things got fucked up. It was supposed to just be a small fire to teach you a lesson; get you on board.”
“So who did it?”
“The word is Joey was involved…and someone named Angelo. He’s a big guy, an enforcer. Works with Joey a lot. The whole thing came out worse than expected. I don’t think anyone knew Rita was there. That’s the rumor, but you know how it goes, no one will ever know for sure.”
Dan looked at Tommy long and hard. “I know.” Tommy looked at his friend. Dan’s body was all tensed up. “It all fits as I said before.” There was a hard tone in his voice that Tommy had not heard before. His eyes were dark, his face grim.
“Dan, I think you should go away for a while, get away from this place. There’s too many open wounds here now. Don’t you have a sister out west?”
“Yeah.” Dan visibly relaxed. “Maybe I could go out to see her. We keep in touch a couple of times a year. I’m thinking of selling the house.” Suddenly he got up and paced the kitchen. “Were you sent to get me out of town? Vincent send you?”
Tommy looked at Dan with a hurt expression on his face. “What do you think? I’m not their messenger boy, but if I hear things I‘ll tell you. You’re my friend.”
“I’m not going to let them get away with this.”
Tommy gave Dan a cautious look. “What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know, but this can’t go unanswered.”
“That doesn’t sound like a good idea. If Vincent thinks you’re a threat to him, he’ll come after you and you don’t want that. Not if he sends Frank Varsa.”
“So who’s Frank Varsa?”
“No one you want to mess with. I hear he’s a dangerous guy.”
“I’m a dangerous guy,” Dan responded.
“Dan, this is the mob. We can co-exist with them, but you don’t want to cross them. They can get to anyone. Don’t think they can’t get to you…and will, if they think you’re a threat.”
“So I should just go away?”
“Going away will be good for you; give you time to grieve, and if anyone here is worried about you, they’ll relax. It’s a good thing to do for a lot of reasons.”
“Ever think about going into psychology? You could set up a neighborhood counseling service.” Tommy smiled, and then Dan added, “You could help everyone feel better about the mob screwing them, and get paid from both sides.”
Tommy’s smile disappeared. He turned his head away.
“Sorry, Tommy, that was a low blow. I know you’re trying to help.”
He looked back at Dan, “You got too big a burden right now. Let your sister help.”
Chapter 9
Dan’s sister, Lisa Jackson, lived with her husband, Rob, in Montana. She was not someone that would be called pretty or considered glamorous, but a handsome woman, with a medium build. Her plain, strong looks seemed to fit with the life they lived in this big country. She and Rob had met in college at Iowa State. She was drawn to his practical sensibilities. He had studied agriculture and had wanted to start a ranch in Montana after college. After a year of dating, Lisa had decided to give up being an east coast girl and stake her future with Rob and the west. The open spaces of Iowa had gotten in her blood, and she no longer had a taste for what she thought of as the crowded east.
Their ranch was located north of Big Timber, Montana, up towards Lower Glaston Lake. It was northern prairie country with long views framed by mountains to the north, west, and south. To the east the view stretched out to the horizon in grassland. From their house they could see for miles in every direction and follow the dirt road to the horizon. All the local vehicles were painted with the same dusty, tan patina from those roads.
Lisa and Rob worked hard to keep a screen of evergreens alive on the northwest side of the house. They’d planted the trees to break the fearsome winds that swept through in the winter. This was a hard country, empty, with a spare beauty. Lisa and Rob liked it that way. She worked in the courthouse in Big Timber while Rob concentrated on the ranching. They had a hundred head of cattle and were steadily growing their herd.
A few days before he arrived, Dan called Lisa to let her know he was coming. This was the first she had heard from him since the fire. She hadn’t been able to attend the funeral. In fact, Dan had insisted she not try to come. Now, Lisa was overjoyed to find her brother was near and coming to visit. While they had grown apart since she married Rob and moved out to this remote ranch in Montana, she loved Dan, and they both realized they were the only family left.
Dan had spent two weeks on the road, wandering aimlessly, but inexorably towards his sister in Montana. Finally he pulled in to the ranch, road-worn and weary from the miles he had driven. Lisa came out on her porch as Dan exited the car. Her two dogs scurried around him barking and wagging their tails, bumping his legs in their eagerness to greet him. Lisa had watched his dust trail coming from three miles out. Now, seeing her brother so beaten and worn, tore at her heart. She stepped off the porch and grabbed him as he closed his car door, wrapping her arms around him.
“Oh, Dan, Dan,” she said softly, holding him tight.
Neither spoke for some time. Dan just soaked up his sister’s hugs. They were fresh water to a drought stricken man.
“Come in, you look terrible.”
Dan started to go back to his car for his bag.
“Leave it for now. Come inside and sit.” Lisa wanted to soothe away the layers of fatigue that seemed to envelop her brother. The dogs cavorted around, almost tripping them in their eagerness to be a part of the welcoming.
“I’ve been driving for two weeks straight,” Dan said.
“It shows. And you smell like it as well.” Lisa was always blunt with her brother. She sat Dan down on a couch in the kitchen. The house had a large, country kitchen with a long table and chairs. Along one wall, across from the sink and counter was a couch. It was odd piece of furniture to put in a kitchen, but it somehow looked right in this setting. A window over the sink framed the far
m yard with the barn to the right. Across the yard the view stretched out for miles ending in distant mountains to the south. Dan sank back and stretched out his legs as if unwinding from a cell after months of confinement. Lisa wet a large wash cloth and gave it to Dan to wipe his face and head. Then setting a large glass of lemonade in front of him, she sat down on a chair at the table and looked him over.
“I’m glad I came.”
“I’m glad you did. I hope you will stay as long as you like. There’s no time limit on family. Guests, yes, but family, no.”
Dan smiled for the first time in a long time. “I don’t think I’ll stay when the snow starts. Your winters are too much for me.”
“You’re just a soft city boy,” she replied with a gentle smile.
“Maybe I got too used to the heat in Iraq. That heat would bake you from the inside as well as the outside.”
They talked, brother and sister, for some time with no mention of the tragedy. Dan gulped down his lemonade and Lisa got out two beers for them. Half way through his beer, Dan started to nod off, so Lisa sent him to the guest room.
“Take a long, hot shower and stretch out. You need to wash the road off of you before you get into my guest bed. I’ll bring in your bag and wake you for dinner later. Rob will be back in about three hours.”
Dan just smiled, too weary to reply. He went upstairs to the guest room and stripped off his clothes. Once in the shower, he sighed as his body began to relax for the first time in two weeks. After, he barely made it to the bed before falling asleep.
Three hours later, Lisa gently nudged him. “Time to wake up, if you want to eat. You can sleep later. Come on downstairs and join Rob and me.”
Dinner was quiet. Dan still didn’t seem to want to talk about Rita’s death and neither Lisa nor Rob pursued the subject. After dinner Dan went back to bed and slept soundly through the night for the first time since the fire.
Lisa and Rob cleaned up the kitchen and then sat in the living room with a couple of beers.
“So how long do you think Dan will be staying with us?” Rob asked quietly.
“As long as he wants.”
Rob was silent for a while. “I guess he has a lot of hurt to heal and you’re his only family to help.”
“We’re his only family. Dan looks up to you as well as me. With his in-laws rejecting him, we’re all he has left.”
“But what can we do? I mean besides just letting him stay here?”
“I don’t know right now. We just give him love and support. Time will show us what we need to do.”
“I hope you’re right,” Rob said. “It’s kind of intimidating thinking we might be his only chance to get his life back on track.”
“Since when were you intimidated, Mr. Jackson? I didn’t think you backed away from anything.” Lisa grinned.
“Maybe not physical challenges, but psychology is a new area for me. After all you came pretty well packaged from a psychological point of view.”
“I’m glad you approved. But how would you have known? I might have been hiding my neurotic past until I got you hooked.” She winked at her husband.
“Well, it worked. The rest of your packaging was so enticing I never checked further.”
“Just like a man.” She punched him on the arm, “only interested in looks.”
“Well you had them, so how could I not appreciate them? Plus, I got the bonus of a tough, smart woman to go with the looks, beats an airhead any day.”
“Thank you, dear. Now tell me all about the airheads in your life. Did you have many?”
“You got me. I was speaking theoretically.”
“Thought so.” She took his hand and leaned close to him, “Let’s go to bed. Seeing Dan makes me realize how lucky we are, how special it is to have someone who loves and understands you.”
“I’m with you, babe.” Rob stood and grabbed her by the waist.
Chapter 10
It was a month after Dan had left town. Tommy was in his shop under a car, positioning the supports for the lift, when he saw a nice looking pair of legs come into view.
“Anyone here?” came a voice that sounded familiar.
“Be right there.” He slid out from under the car and wiped his hands. A well dressed, good looking woman stared at him with a smile on her face. She had light red hair down to her shoulders, full lips and sparkling eyes with a hint of green.
“Are you going to say hello, Tommy, or are you just going to stare?”
Suddenly recognition flashed in Tommy’s brain. “Doreen. Wow. What the hell are you doing here?”
“Is that a ‘wow’ of surprise or admiration, Tommy Battaglia?” Doreen’s smile grew larger.
“I don’t know…maybe both?” Tommy said. “What brings you back to this old neighborhood?”
“So are you displeased to see me back?”
“No, but, this is a surprise, you got to admit. I thought you vowed never to come back to Brooklyn.”
“I did. But I just landed a great job with a Manhattan law firm so I moved back from Boston. And you’re right, without that job offer, I probably never would have come back. It’s good to see you, too, Tommy.”
Tommy blushed. “It’s good to see you Doreen. Didn’t mean to be rude.”
Tommy had always been nice to Doreen in high school and they became friends. He had defended her against the male bullies. She had been the ugly duckling all through school: shy and awkward, not good at sports or flirting. It had made her the brunt of cruel jokes from both boys and girls when she was not being shunned or ignored. Her reaction to the bullying had been to withdraw, and Tommy was one of the few people she had opened up to. After high school she went off to college with a vow never to set foot again in Brooklyn. Now she was back and had turned into quite the swan.
“Wow, you really made it.”
“Who would have thought it, eh?”
“I didn’t mean it like that.”
“I know. I shouldn’t tease you. You were nearly my only friend. I grew quite fond of you over those years, but I was too shy to let you know.”
Tommy shook his head. “I was sad when you left and said you weren’t coming back. I thought you were writing me off along with all the other jerks in high school.”
There was an awkward pause, and then Doreen said, “If you’re not doing anything tonight…if you don’t have a girlfriend or something like that, I’d like to take you to dinner to celebrate my new job.”
Tommy smiled at her. “I’m not doing anything special. But are you sure you want to hang out with me? I’m just a mechanic.” He took the opportunity to tease her back.
Doreen’s smile brightened. “Well, you’re a pretty good looking mechanic. And I bet you clean up pretty well.” She took a deep breath. “When do you close the shop? I’ll come by to pick you up.”
“For you, I’ll close early. Come by at six. How fancy do you want me to dress?”
“Just slacks and shirt. I assume you have a shirt without your name on it.” She winked. “I’ll see you at six.” She turned and sauntered out.
Since Doreen’s return, things had started getting interesting in Tommy’s life. For some reason she seemed to like him and wanted to spend time with him. Why, he couldn’t say. She was smart and good looking enough to attract more eligible men who worked at her law firm—lawyers and accountants who wore suits and had larger incomes than Tommy ever expected to have. Their time together was filled with outings, restaurants, museums, and visits to the little towns along Long Island Sound. Tommy enjoyed it all, even the museums, because he was with Doreen. They talked a lot about their lives since high school—Doreen’s adventures in the world of law and Tommy’s adventures trying to start and run a business in Brooklyn. While their relationship had grown more romantic, Doreen still held back from a deeper involvement. Tommy didn’t mind, but sometimes he wondered what Doreen wanted and where she stood on that issue; it had never come up in high school.
After going to dinner one
night, they were walking back to Doreen’s apartment in Queens. She lived in a complex called Astoria, medium rise apartment buildings set on well-treed grounds. It was a short walk to the 31st and Broadway subway station from where she could get into her Manhattan office. The apartments were well above Tommy’s budget, but Doreen didn’t seem to be bothered by the cost. It was nice and a hell of a lot less expensive than living in Manhattan.
“So Doreen, I gotta ask, why do you want to hang out with me?”
“Why not? Don’t you enjoy my company?”
“Cut the crap, you know I do, but you’re in another league. I’m just a mechanic from Brooklyn.”
“Maybe, but you own your own repair shop. That sets you apart. Not many are smart or brave enough to do that. Plus you’re a no-bullshit kind of guy. I like that.”
“So are you…and I like that too.”
“Tommy, I get enough bullshit every day at work. Those suits you think I should be hanging out with, the ones you think are above your station, well, they’re pretty full of themselves and not all that interesting when you get below the surface.”
They stopped at the entrance to her apartment building.
“You stood up for me in high school. I don’t think you know how much that meant to me. I think I kind of fell in love with you then—high school love. But I was too shy to do anything and too scared that you would run away. I needed you as a friend.”
“Then you ran away,” Tommy replied. “You headed out after school and never looked back. Actually I was fond of you. I knew you’d be someone special. Not sure how, but I sensed it.”
“And now I’m back.” She leaned in close and gave Tommy a long and tender kiss.
“Can I come up?” he asked.
“No.” She pushed him back just a little, “You think I’m that easy? I’m supposed to buy you dinner, and then take you up to my apartment and screw you? What’s up with you Tommy?” Doreen jabbed him in the chest as she smiled at him.