by Amy Rachiele
“You are such a goof,” I say giggling. “I’m going.” I put my hands up in defeat. I go to pay for the ice cream. I ordered my favorite, mint chip.
We sit with Alessandra and her friends for a few minutes while we finish. Troy pulls my hair, tells Alessandra outrageous stories about us and is his usual dynamic self. Alessandra is acting odd. I have never spent more than five minutes with her, so I guess this could be her normal.
“Well, we should be getting back,” I say standing and Troy follows suit.
But Alessandra pipes up, “Did you tell Troy about my party Saturday night?”
Whoa! Where did that come from? “Ummm, no.”
She speaks to Troy. “I’m having a party this weekend. I would love for you to come-with Megan, of course,” she adds.
“As I would love to spend more time with my Besty,” Troy says with fake conviction, putting his arm around me. “I am heading to Notre Dame this weekend to join the world of collegiate academia.”
“So you’re college bound, huh?” Alessandra says smiling.
“As hard as it is to believe, yes,” he says, bowing like the weirdo he is.
“Well, maybe I’ll see you around when you’re home on break,” she states.
“I don’t think so.” He swivels his head, scanning the surrounding area. “I don’t believe I even live around here.”
It is truly a good thing that Troy is handsome, because with the way he acts, people tend to think he’s a nut-job.
“Megan!” He pats the top of my head and says in a fake panic. “Megan! He’s feeling my head all over like a dweeb. “Is that you?” He looks down at me, “Oh, sorry. I was temporarily blinded by your hair.” I elbow him hard in the ribs.
“Shut up.” I look at Alessandra. She’s smiling at me. “Bye.”
“Bye.”
The ice cream was delicious and just what I needed. We hit block two, and the kids have opened up the fire hydrant. A heavy stream of water is spraying all over the road. Barefoot kids are running, jumping, and kicking the cold water. We stop to watch.
Troy looks down at me, and an evil grin spreads across his face. It takes one second for me to register what he’s thinking, and I start running. I don’t even get a step away, and he tosses me over his shoulder heading straight for the hydrant.
I yell and fight. I even smack him in the butt, but he smacks me back. I try pleading with him. But to no avail. He plops me directly in front of the heavy, cold, stream of water. I let out an earth shattering screech. My clothes and hair are immediately soaked. He holds me so I can’t move. Troy’s getting wet too, but not like I am. I try to dodge out his reach, and he thrusts me back.
I lunge to get out of the stream, but he’s too fast. He grabs me and forces me back to the spot directly in front of the water. We’re struggling and laughing. I’m squirming and feeling like I’m in a wet t-shirt contest. The kids are egging Troy on. They think we’re hysterical. The commotion is enough to wake the dead.
Troy notices something over my shoulder, and I feel him stiffen. He doesn’t let me go, though. I am still held under the rushing water. I look over my shoulder when I hear two car doors slam. The doors belong to a black Cadillac. Uh oh!
Chapter 8
Marrone! (mar-own): Dammit!
*****
Antonio:
I was on the fence about going out with Vito tonight to throw a few beers back. I wanted to unwind after the ass-kicking but I’m tired too.
I get out of the car, after sitting with Vito watching Megan play dirty dancing in the water with some tool I’ve never seen before. I realize I am being punished or tested, or something.
She looks like a super model in a naughty photo shoot. Her pale skin glistening against her slick wet hair. All of her curves showing through the thin material of her clothes. I think I licked my lips like a fuckin’ stalker.
I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to get out of the car. To do what? I don’t know. Stop it? Talk to her; find out who this chooch is she’s with? Kidnap her and take her back to my house? Shit! I am a fuckin’ stalker.
There’s a creeping thought in my brain that this guy might possibly be her boyfriend. And that makes me want to hurl and punch him at the same time.
I lean against Vito’s car and light up. “What are we doing, Dude?” he asks me. “You’re acting oobatz! What the fuck is wrong?”
I shrug my shoulders and take a long drag off my cigarette just watching.
“Do we need to fuck this guy up or something?” I don’t answer him.
Vito goes quiet resting his hand against the door of his car. Without warning, Vito starts laughing uncontrollably. “I know what this is!” he says between fits of laughter. He slaps his hand on the roof of his car. “I got it! You fuckin’ like her! You don’t just want to screw Red! You… You like her like a girlfriend. Holy shit! I never thought I’d see this day.” He’s getting louder and really pissing me off.
“Keep your fuckin’ voice down.” I flick my cigarette butt and glare at him.
“So what do you want to do? Mess up this chooch?” he asks, getting serious.
I look over at Megan and her ‘whatever’ and they’re staring at us. Probably wondering what we’re doing. At least they stopped fooling around.
“Nah, I can’t do that. She’s already petrified of me,” I say disgusted. Yeah, I want to mess him up, but I can’t. It would hurt her. I reach for the door handle to Vito’s car and get in. I guess I achieved what I wanted. They stopped, and I realize the only person I want her doing that shit with is me.
Vito pulls away from the scene that contained any guy’s fucking nightmare involving a girl he likes. “Ugh!” I punch the dashboard. “I’m in fuckin’ trouble, dude!”
All Vito says while laughing is, “Yeah, you are.”
Vito drops me off at home, and I sit on my bed replaying beautiful Megan in the water. She was so carefree and breathtaking. I’m still hard from watching her. Who was that fuckin’ guy? He had his hands all over her. Jealousy sweeps through me, and I know that I’m losing the battle to stay away from Megan.
Buzzing sounds from my dresser. I pick it up. Text from Alessandra:
You home?
Antonio: Yup
Alessandra: I’m coming over.
Ten minutes later, I’m still lost in my boiling jealousy when my bedroom door opens, and Alessandra walks in.
“Hey, San,” I say too depressed to even get up off the bed.
“Hey,” she says, plopping down in my desk chair.
I sit up. “What were you talking to Megan about this morning?” My interest is totally piqued.
“Oh… I was doing you a favor,” she says, walking to the bed were I’m lying and starts poking me in the chest.
“Me?”
“Yeah you. I’m sick of you looking like a stunad whenever she’s around.”
“What?” I quickly sit up.
“How stupid do you think I am?” she asks sarcastically. “I have known you way too long for something like a crush on the Irish Princess to slip by me. It’s just gotten to the point that you’re getting pathetic.”
“Huh?!”
“Oh, puh-lease, Tonio!”
I hang my head. She knows. Everybody knows. Even my grandmother knows.
“So,” she says excitedly, “I invited her to my house on Saturday night.” What?! “And I got her phone number! I think you should call her.”
“My father will shove my feet into cement and throw me in the river!”
“What? Why?” San asks incredulously.
“Because my father gave me and everyone else the ‘don’t date her; don’t fuck her’ speech about five years ago.”
“Ohhh… that explains a lot.” she says thoughtfully, “She really is nice. No wonder you guys treat her like a leper. Well, anyway. She’s got this really cute friend. He’s tall and blond…”
“Whoa! Stop right there.” My heart halts in my chest. “What are you talking about?”
I was at DeMarra’s Ice Cream and Megan shows up with some guy. Well, they show up running, actually. They were racing or something…” she trails off. “Anyway, I went up to Megan to say hi, and we all started talking. Troy is very funny. He made me laugh so hard… He starts college next week….He can’t come to the party… I hope I see him again… I want to…” San was talking a mile a minute.
“Stop! You know the guy’s name? Is it her boyfriend?” I practically yell.
“You know, I was gonna ask her, but I got different vibes. I got the brother/sister vibe and the boyfriend vibe. I was planning on texting her to ask.”
“What? You besties with her now?” I ask feeling slighted. “Besides I get the boyfriend vibe.”
“What do you mean?” San looked disappointed.
“They were putting on a fuckin’ wet’n’wild show an hour ago at the fire hydrant near her house. It was fuckin’ disgusting.”
“How disgusting?”
“Wet, clingy clothes and hands all over. Laughing too. There was lots of damn laughing.”
“Hmmm.” she says, grabbing her phone. “I’m gonna text her.” San types on her phone and shows it to me:
Boyfriend or crazy friend? LOL
I look at the text. “Why LOL?”
“He was really crazy,” she says beaming.
Alessandra sends the text, and we sit in silence waiting. I feel sick to my stomach. My heart is pumping way too hard. The anxiety is killing me. Friend I can deal with. I think. Boyfriend? I think I will fuckin’ kill someone-starting with Troy. Troy? What kind of an asshole name is that? Wasn’t that a country like a thousand years ago? What if she doesn’t see the text? I don’t think I can stand the wait. I am just about to suggest that San call her when I hear my father call me.
“Tonio! Come down here!”
“I’ll be right back,” I say to Alessandra.
I jump down the stairs and see my dad standing with Donny in the living room.
“Yeah Pop?”
“I know school just started but I need you to go with Donny tomorrow. You need to help get a few things done for me.”
“Sure Pop, no problem.” My thoughts dip even lower because now I know I definitely won’t see her tomorrow. I open my bedroom door and San is right there holding her phone in my face. The screen says:
Friend
My heart spikes! I am relieved and know I don’t ever want to feel that way again. It’s time to do something about my feelings for Megan. I just hope my father doesn’t pound my fuckin’ face in.
I don’t just miss one day of school. It’s going on day three. Donny and I have collected over twenty thousand dollars and fucked up two people. Donny says the farther he has to travel and the more time he wastes tracking them the more he fucks them up. We take turns. Each time Donny tells me exactly what to do. ‘Hit him two times in the face, Tonio.’ Or ‘Pull the arm back till you hear a pop. That means the shoulder has been dislocated.’ Donny could have been a doctor in an emergency room. He really knows a lot about anatomy. I even got to count and organize the money. Donny shows me the way to count large sums of cash. He has taken money bands with him.
When I’m done, Donny checks it. Then he hands me ten one-hundred-dollar bills. “Here, your pop said to give you this. You’re doing a great job, Tonio.”
We’re still here in northern New Jersey because we got a runner.
We trapped him yesterday but he evaded us again. We’re in a hotel resting up to go after him in the morning. Donny gives me some ointment for my knuckles. They’re really sore. The ointment shit stinks, but feels good.
Alessandra had given me Megan’s number. I’m so tempted to text or call her. I have no fuckin’ clue what I would say, though-‘Hey, how’s it going? I think you’re beautiful. I wish I could see you tomorrow, but I have to beat the shit out of people. Bye.’
She doesn’t even know I have her number, besides the fact that she’s scared shitless of me. The haunting images of her with that chooch Troy invade my mind. I try and concentrate on last Sunday at church and the red dress.
I need to get out of the hotel room. I have a grand burning a hole in my pocket and pent up energy from the adrenaline rushes I’ve had over the past three days from beating the shit out of people. Donny’s lying on his bed watching the news.
“Don, I’m gonna go shopping.”
“Shopping? What the fuck for?”
“I don’t know. I gotta get outta here.”
“Okay, Tonio. Don’t be gone long.”
I take Donny’s keys off the bedside table and head out the door. I drive down the main drag until I come to a huge indoor mall. I park at Nordstrom’s. I decide that I’m going to pick up some of my mother’s favorite perfume.
I am immediately accosted by sales clerks, some holding bottles of spray cologne. A pretty petite girl with blonde streaked brown hair and perfect make-up comes up to me.
“May I help you?”
“Uh, yeah. I need a bottle of Chanel.”
“For men or women?” she asks.
“Women,” I say and follow her to a sales counter covered in jewelry, perfume bottles, and scarves for sale.
“I have the 5 oz or the 8 oz spray bottle.”
“I’ll take the biggest one,” I tell her. She slides the counter door shut and places the shiny box on the glass top.
“That’ll be eighty-five dollars, please.”
I grab a hundred out of my pants pocket and clerk is smiling a little differently at me, playfully. She takes the hundred from me and asks,
“Is this for your girlfriend?” I see the look in her eye. I know that look. I get it a lot.
“No, my mom,” I say then instantly feel despair. I would take every dime I have and spend it on Megan. I wouldn’t even flinch. In fact, I wish I could. It would make me happy. “What is the most popular perfume for a girl?”
“How old of a girl?”
“Your age, eighteen or so,” I say.
“Oh, that would be Juicy Couture or Coach Poppy.”
“Can I see those?” I ask, getting excited.
She sprays some stuff on a little piece of white paper and hands it to me. I bring it to my nose. It smells good, feminine. She hands me the next one. It smells even better. But I ask her, “Which one do you like?”
“Oh, I’m a Juicy girl,” she says, smiling provocatively.
“I’ll take that one then.”
“That will be another eighty-five dollars please.” She’s still smiling, and her mouth is getting wider and wider. I toss another hundred on the counter, and she hands me my change. The clerk starts to wrap the perfumes and puts them in the same bag.
“Can I have those in separate bags please?”
She laughs lightly and says, “Sure.” I’m not positive, but I think this girl believes I am buying her perfume. She puts them in pretty bags and ties each one with a ribbon that has the name Nordstrom running along it. “Will that be all?”
“Yes. Thank you.” And I snatch the bags off the counter. Her face falls, and I book it to the entrance of the mall.
I wander around for awhile and pass all sorts of stores selling clothing, make-up, and shoes. I pass Ralph Lauren. I pick up some pants for myself. Then I walk by a jewelry store. The display in the window has all sorts of silver necklaces. I decide to go in. I slowly peruse the necklaces and bracelets.
“Can I help you?” a tall woman in a business suit asks. She has a bracelet of keys dangling from her wrist.
“I’m just looking,” I say still peering down into the glass.
“Is it for someone special?” she asks.
What am I doing exactly? Why would I come into a jewelry store? I don’t want anything for myself.
“Do you have anything Irish or Celtic?” I ask.
“Come right over here.” She points to a tall cabinet made of glass. Inside are intricately made pieces. Some have green stones in them-emeralds I’m guessing.
“This one is a C
laddaugh…” she starts explaining what it means. “The heart means love, the hands mean friendship, and the crown means loyalty. It is white gold and encrusted with diamonds around the circle. All Celtic jewelry has some type of meaning.”
She hands the delicate necklace and pendant to me. It’s beautiful. It’s small, but I don’t think Megan is showy like my mom. I can just picture it resting on her neck against her buttery skin.
I look up at the clerk, “How much?”
“That one is five hundred and fifty dollars, Sir.”
“I’ll take it,” I say without hesitation. She smiles at me and goes to wrap it in a nice box with a bow.
When I get back to the room, Donny appears to be sleeping, but when he hears me come in, he jolts and grabs for his gun.
“It’s just me, Donny.”
“Eh, Tonio, what did ya get?”
“Some new clothes… perfume for Mom.” I leave out I got stuff for someone I wish was my girlfriend.
“You’re a good boy,” he says.
The next morning we get up early. The early bird catches the worm or the chooch who stiffed my father out of five G’s.
There is a text on my phone from Alessandra:
Where have u been?
Antonio: Running errands for Dad
Alessandra: Will u be at the party?
Antonio: YES!
Donny did some searching on this dude who ran. He has a sister on the other side of town. We arrive at her house at seven in the morning and park on the street a little ways down. One thing I’ve learned is that doing this kind of stuff can involve a lot of waiting. I text Vito and Ronnie and ask about school. I search the XBOX website for new games coming out. I play a game of Angry Birds and wait and wait.
Donny breaks the silence.
“Tonio, tomorrow night don’t forget you gotta collect from Johnny again?”
“Yeah, I know.”
“I’m gonna send you alone. Do you think you can handle it?”
“Sure, no problem.”
“If he gives you anything less than three G’s, you gotta break his leg.” I look up from web surfing. He continues. “You count the moola, then break his leg if it ain’t all there.”