When they finished, Tony lay beside Kate. For the whole time he and Kate had been together, the thought of making love to her had made him nervous. After all, he had never had sex with a girl, and that thought had always given him anxiety. He’d been worried that he wouldn’t be able to perform—that he wouldn’t be capable of allowing the images of the prison guards to leave his mind.
Now, after having sex with the girl he loved, he hoped he was free of the chains that kept his mind bound to his tragic past.
Chapter Seventy-Two
Kate moved into the cramped quarters above the bakery with Donata and Ruth. Tony helped move her few belongings into the small space. There were two bedrooms, and Kate slept on the floor next to Ruth’s single bed.
“I know there ain’t much room here for ya. But Donata and Ruth are good people. As soon as I can save some money, you and me can get our own apartment,” Tony said, trying to lift her spirits.
“I’ll be fine here. I’d be better if you were staying here with me.” Kate looked around the tiny living room. “I know that’s not realistic, and I’m real grateful to Donata, but I wanna be with you.”
“I know ya do, and I wanna be wit’ you too. But we gotta take one small step at a time. That’s the way life is sometimes—we want things right now, and when we can’t have ’em it makes us feel bad. But you’ll see, in a couple of days this will feel like home. Then, one day, me and you will be together for real. When things ain’t goin’ the way ya want them to, that’s when ya gotta fight harder and go after what cha really want. That’s all I know how to do, Kate, so believe me, your life ain’t gonna be like this forever.”
Tony was giving Kate a passionate kiss when Ruth walked into the living room.
“Ewww,” Ruth bellowed.
Tony chuckled. “Ya say ewww ’cause you’re twelve. When you’re sixteen, almost seventeen,” he added, “ya ain’t gonna think there’s anything ewww about kissin’ your boyfriend.”
Ruth smirked at the couple. “When I’m almost seventeen, I won’t have a boyfriend. I don’t want one. Boys smell, and they act like idiots.”
Tony creeped over to Ruth and lifted her off the ground. “Are ya callin’ me smelly?”
Ruth giggled. “You’re the smelliest.”
Tony put her back down and kissed the top of her head. “Tell Donata I’ll check in tomorra.”
Ruth’s face brightened; she loved being around Tony. “OK. We’re making cinnamon buns in the morning. Maybe if you’re nice to me, I’ll save you one.”
“Oh, ain’t ya sweet. If ya don’t save me one, I’m gonna roll around in your bed and make it smell bad.”
Ruth put her arms around Tony’s waist and squeezed. Then she turned and hobbled into her bedroom.
“Ya gonna be OK?” Tony whispered to Kate before he left.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine.”
***
As Tony rode the bus back to the Slayers’ house that night, he fantasized about what it would be like to live with Kate. He had never felt needed until he met her. He’d never felt loved the way she loved him. He had never felt good enough until she made him realize he was a good person. Kate was becoming the center of his world.
Tony lay on the mattress in his room that night, remembering the love he’d shared with Kate that afternoon.
“Hey, Tony,” someone called from downstairs.
Tony got up and walked down the stairs. In the middle of the living room was a girl no older than fourteen. “What’s up?”
“Krista here,” Blast said, nodding toward the girl, “needs our help. Her older sister, Arlene, got beat up today by some drunk assholes.”
“From another gang?” Tony asked.
“No. Just some ass hats from around the neighborhood. A couple of us are gonna go teach ’em a lesson.”
Tony cocked his head to the side. “Since when did we start fightin’ battles that don’t belong to the Slayers?”
“Tony makes a good point,” Smoke said.
Blast gave Tony a disparaging look.
Tony watched him. Blast’s mouth was twitching, and he was blinking rapidly. “What gives?” he asked Blast.
“I used to date Arlene when we was younger. Ya know, before I became a Slayer. Arlene’s a real nice girl. That’s why Krista came here. To see if I’d help them out. Rotten assholes threatened to kill her the next time they saw her.”
Tony turned to the girl. “Your sister do anythin’ to piss ’em off?”
Krista’s face crunched up, and her head jerked backward. “No, my sister is real nice to everybody. She don’t have no enemies. When she grows up, she’s gonna be a teacher so she can help other kids that are poor like us.”
Tony turned back to Blast. “Ya clear it wit’ Razor?”
Blast’s eyes grew wide, and he walked Tony outside to the curb. “I ain’t askin’ Razor’s permission. We can take care of this, and as long as we don’t bring any bad shit back to the Slayers, then he ain’t gotta know. Besides, I don’t care what Razor thinks. This is somethin’ I gotta do. I was young when me and Arlene dated, but I still love her. Ya see, the thing is, when I joined the Slayers, I broke it off ’cause ya know what bitches gotta do to belong. I wasn’t havin’ her raped-in. She was a good girl, and I couldn’t do that to her.”
“I understand that. Count me in,” Tony said, thinking about Kate.
Tony’s respect for Blast skyrocketed. They had something more in common than being decent guys who were violent. They had a protective place for girls they loved.
Tony, Blast, and Smoke walked the mile with Krista back to her home. When they arrived, Arlene was at the door.
“What have you done, Krista?” Arlene said.
“It’s all cool,” Blast said. “She’s just worried about ya.”
“I don’t need any more trouble than I already got, Blast. Just go home and leave us alone.”
Blast moved closer to get a better look at Arlene. “From those bruises on your face, looks like you’re making a bad decision tellin’ us to go home.”
Arlene pulled Krista inside, but before she shut the door, Tony put his foot in the doorjamb. He bent down to Krista. “What cha did by walkin’ to our place by yourself was real stupid. Ya coulda got yourself hurt.”
Krista’s lower lip quivered.
Tony gave her a warm smile. “What I’m sayin’ is don’t do that again. I’m also tellin’ ya that ya got some real balls doin’ what ya did. It’s good to protect your family. Next time ya got a problem, ya come find me in the Italian Market—I’m there all the time—but don’t come walkin’ to our place. Got it?”
Tears slid down Krista’s cheeks and her head hung in shame.
“OK,” Tony said, looking at Krista and up at Arlene, “we’re gonna go take care of this. Ya know where to find me if ya need us to come back.”
Tony watched the tension drain from Arlene’s stiff limbs. He gave her a nod, and Arlene gently shut the front door. Once Tony heard the bolt on the door click, he turned back to his friends.
“Now you’re prince fuckin’ charming?” Blast mocked.
“Hey, I got a way wit’ women,” Tony said, shoving Blast from behind.
“Since when? Ya ain’t been wit’ any of our bitches since ya dumped Digger.”
Digger was one of the girls in the gang. She had wanted Tony to kill her brother in-law, whom she hated with a passion, to show her he wanted to be her boyfriend. When Tony had refused, Digger had stopped showing interest in him, which was fine with him. They had only made out a few times, and she was a rough kisser with a tongue that felt like sandpaper.
“Digger wasn’t worthy of my Italian greatness. Who cares about her anyway? Let’s go take care of these assholes and make sure they never fuck wit’ Arlene again.”
Blast knew which boys had beat up Arlene. He explained to Tony and Smoke that the boys they were looking for were losers who hung in an alley next to a local pawnshop. They got their kicks off of smoking pot, drinking beer,
and bullying people.
They found the boys where Blast had expected. Blast approached first, walking quickly toward the boys with his hands clenched into fists. He stood in front of the largest guy.
“I hear ya beat up on Arlene,” Blast said.
The boy guzzled the rest of his beer and burped in Blast’s face. “What’s it to ya? She your little hoe?”
Blast pulled back his arm and clocked the boy in the face. He fell to the ground, momentarily stunned.
Tony and Smoke went after the other two teens, and within seconds there was a good old-fashioned street brawl in the alley.
The boy Tony was fighting suddenly pulled out a knife and waved it at him. “Come on, motherfucker, show me what cha got,” he snarled.
Tony reached into the back of his pants and pulled out his gun. He pointed it at the boy’s head and rushed him until the gun was touching his skull.
“This is what I got. Now what cha have to say?”
The teen dropped the knife and put his hands up over his head. Tony took the butt of his handgun and whacked the boy in the head. He collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
Tony then turned to the others, who were still punching away at each other. He waved his gun around. “Who wants to die?” he growled.
The boys halted; even Blast and Smoke stopped to look. Tony’s face was red, and the muscles on his arms were rock hard. Tony walked over to the larger teen, the one Blast had been fighting. He placed the gun against the boy’s head.
“Here’s how it’s gonna work. Ya ever fuck wit’ Arlene or her sister, and we’ll hunt ya down and kill all of ya. Tonight, ya got a break, just a beatin’; next time ya won’t live to tell about it. Do you get me?”
The teen nodded; his right eye was swollen, and blood ran down his cheek.
Tony looked at Blast and then at Smoke. “Let’s get outta here.”
As the three of them walked back to the Slayers’ house, they were quiet. Smoke left them and went to a bar to have a beer. Tony and Blast continued to walk back to the house.
“Ya love Arlene, so you oughta be wit’ her,” Tony said.
“I told ya; she’s a good girl. I’d rather not have her then share her wit’ all our gang at the house. She’s too good to be a Slayers’ bitch.”
“I didn’t say nothin’ about her being a Slayer. Ya know, ya can see her, and nobody’s gotta know about it,” Tony hinted.
“You’re outta your mind. You have any idea what they’d do to me and Arlene if Razor found out I was seeing someone who doesn’t belong? When I first joined the gang, I was with Arlene, and they told me straight up, either lose her or she becomes one with the whole gang.”
Tony stared into Blast’s eyes. “Razor ain’t gotta know it.”
Blast laughed, hard. “Let me tell ya somethin’, brother. There ain’t nothin’ that Razor don’t find out about. He’s got people all over the city who tell him shit. People will do anything for a bag of dope. Dooley, his cousin you shared a cell wit’ in juvie, he set that up long before he went away.”
Tony’s belly flopped, and the veins in his temple hammered against his skull. He hadn’t known about the informants. Tony’s forehead tightened, his skin forming into lines of worry. Now he had a real reason to be concerned.
Chapter Seventy-Three
The next day, Tony kept looking over his shoulder as he made his way to the bakery. His paranoia of Razor having him watched was overbearing. Unlike Blast, giving up Arlene for the Slayers, Tony couldn’t give up Kate for anything. He’d fight to the death before letting someone stand between him and the woman he loved. However, he was realistic too, and he fought an ongoing internal battle between loving Kate and protecting her.
When he walked into the bakery, Kate ran up to him and put her arms around his neck. “Tony, I’m happy you’re here,” she said.
Tony unwrapped her arms from his neck and took a step backward.
“What’s wrong?” Kate said, shocked.
“People can see us through all these windows.”
“So?” Kate’s heart was racing. Short, choppy breaths took over. She felt faint. The last thing she could bear was losing Tony.
“Go into the back. I’ll meet ya there,” Tony ordered.
Kate’s head hung as she shuffled across the floor and entered the back room where the ovens were located.
“What’s goin’ on?” Donata asked, having witnessed the encounter.
“Nothin’. I just need to talk to Kate in private.”
Tony wouldn’t dare tell Donata about the Slayers; she would surely want Kate to leave if she thought that Ruth was in danger.
When Tony entered the back room, Kate was leaning against the large stainless steel sink. Her head was dipped low, and she was wiping her tears away. Tony approached slowly and stood before her. She glanced up at him, her heavy eyelids appeared to melt into her downturned mouth. Tony wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her to him.
“Listen. I found out the Slayers have a shit ton of druggies all over the city that will dime us out for a bag of dope. We just gotta be careful. This don’t mean we ain’t together, but we can’t let anyone see us. Donata can’t know nothin’ about it; she’ll put ya out if she knows I’m in a gang.”
Kate lifted her head. “But we’ve been together all this time, and nothing ever happened.”
“Yeah, well, we just got lucky. A while ago Razor was questioning where I was all the time. I told him my mother had cancer. Razor’s the head of the Slayers, and the guy can’t stand me. He’d like nothin’ more than to hurt me. We just gotta lay low.”
“Are you saying I’m not going to see you?”
“No, I ain’t sayin’ that. I’m sayin’ we gotta be more careful now that I got this information. That means we can be together, but only when I know it’s safe.”
“Well, that sounds like never.”
“It ain’t gonna be never. In fact, I’m gonna go talk to Salvatore, see if maybe he can help us out.”
“How is he gonna help us?”
“I’m gonna have ’im pick ya up, and I’ll meet ya places. That way, it’ll look like you’re wit’ him.”
Kate rested her head on Tony’s chest and let out a long sigh. Tony held Kate for a long time, gently rubbing the small of her back. When he released her, they kissed passionately.
“I’ll see if Salvatore can pick ya up around eight tonight. Make sure you’re ready.”
Tony turned to leave, and Kate grabbed his hand. He turned back to her.
“Till the end, Tony,” she said in a ragged voice.
“Till the end. Don’t worry. It’ll all be fine.”
Tony left Kate in the kitchen, said good-bye to Ruth and Donata, and set off to find Salvatore. He found him at a luncheonette not too far from the Morano house. Salvatore was sitting alone, eating a burger.
“Hey,” Tony said as he pulled back a chair and sat down. He reached over to Salvatore’s plate and plucked off one of the French fries, doused it in ketchup, and shoved it into his mouth.
Salvatore lifted his hand for the waitress, and she rushed over to them. “Can you bring another burger and fries for my friend?”
After the waitress left to place the order, Salvatore turned his attention to Tony.
“My father doesn’t want me hanging around with you. He said because you’re part of a gang that you’re off limits.”
“Oh yeah, what did you say to that?”
“I told him that you’re a good friend and I don’t give a shit what gang you belong to.”
Tony raised his eyebrows. “Kinda risky to disobey Johnny Morano.”
“Yeah, well, he’s my father. What’s he going to do? Kill me? I don’t think so. Anyway, I told him that I’m almost eighteen and can make my own decisions.”
“Ha! How’d that go?”
“He slapped me in the face,” Salvatore said, turning his face so Tony could see the light bruise on his cheek. “Anyway, I reminded him that the mob is all a
bout brotherhood. I also reminded him of what happened to you in juvenile detention when you were protecting me. He knew I was right and gave me this death glare for a while; then he smashed a glass he was holding into the wall. That’s when Big Paulie stood up and whispered something to my father. His shoulders relaxed, and he came back over to me. I thought he was going to kick my ass, but he just patted me on the shoulder and left his office. After he left, I looked at Big Paulie and asked him what he had told my father.
“Big Paulie said, ‘I just reminded him that when we was young, me and him was in a gang. That’s how we got started workin’ wit’ the Bonanni family. We was havin’ a war wit’ a rival gang. Now, your pop had his gun kicked outta his hand early in the fight, but that didn’t stop ’im. Made ’im even more crazy. Anyway, this guy snuck up on me from behind; he was holdin’ a gun to my head, and the asshole told me to say my prayers. The next thing I know, your father tackles the guy to the ground and beats ’im to death wit’ a big rock. One of Bonannis’ men saw ’im do it and took a liking to your father, thought he had balls for a young guy.’”
“I asked Big Paulie, ‘Then why is my father judging Tony for being in a gang?’”
Salvatore took a bite of his burger before continuing. “Big Paulie smiled at me and explained, ‘Because when we joined a gang in New York, we was badass teenagers. We ate, drank, and slept violence. That’s the way it was in those days on the streets of New York. We were wild and got ourselves into a lotta trouble. He’s afraid that Tony is gonna get ya into trouble like we did. Anyway, he got taken in by the mob when he was real young. The mob didn’t like street gangs, but your pop, he was a real schmoozer, and once that mobster told the godfather ’bout how your father beat that guy in the middle of a gang war, they wanted him bad. Once he got accepted, your pop took me to see the captain of the New York crime family, and the guy liked me, said I had potential. After that, I left the gang and worked wit’ your pop. I think he needed to be reminded of where he came from, no different than Tony.’”
Mean Little People Page 27