A line forms behind me. People waiting to place bets, run numbers, or whatever new fuckin’ gambling thing Baby’s got going on.
“Move, you’re up in thirty.”
Heat sears my brain and anger fills me. Baby’s enforcer is bringing Jacko over so Baby can talk to him about tonight. I lose it.
I reach out and grab Jacko by the shirt. I cock my fist back and punch. He is dazed. I rip my arm back again and punch him in the jaw. He tries to get his fists up, but he’s too slow.
My body is moving because my emotions are telling it to. I reach down, grab a hold of his pant leg and shirt and lift him off the ground. Once he’s in the air, I throw him as far as I can. My adrenaline surges with fury. He lands in a crowd of men, knocking some of them off balance. He didn’t go very far, but he lands with a thud. Crowds of onlookers cheer while the ones who got hit scowl. Money changes hands rapidly in an incensed frenzy. These fuckers never change. They just want a good show. If I can’t fight Jacko in the ring, then he’s getting his ass kicked outside of it. I wasn’t letting that chooch off the hook.
I turn to Baby. “Sure, I’ll fight who ever you want me to.” I smile smugly.
Baby’s face is clear… Fuckin’ pissed!
Chapter 4
Erin
I didn’t tell them what happened. Joey and Clarissa hounded me to find out, but I didn’t give in. I’ll never forget the look on their faces when they opened the apartment door: Shock. My dress was ripped, dirt and bruises covered me, and my face was a bright pink from walking so many miles in the middle of the night. I thought I saw Joey’s eyes well up at the sight of me. Clarissa threw her arms around me in practically a chokehold, sobbing. I appreciated their love, support, and caring--but it was my story to tell. Or in this case, not to tell.
Brice didn’t come back to school for the rest of the week, and I didn’t tell a soul about what took place in the limo. It’s mine. The whole experience. Brice gave me something. And it was something I was looking for. Strength.
The strength not to be a victim.
I’ve learned something from everyone around me. Joey taught me to defend myself. Vito taught me what to look for and to be cautious. Antonio taught me the code of the Mafia lifestyle. My sister taught me how to endure, even in the most horrible situations: how to pick up the pieces and move on.
*****
Joey is driving me to the hairdresser. We worked out this morning. The ride is quiet, like the entire week has been. I’m curious if Joey is giving me the silent treatment or if he’s still in shock over the episode at Club Ruin.
“What’s going on, Joey?” I ask.
“Nothing.”
“Nothing is something. What is it? You’ve been very quiet.”
He shrugs his shoulders in a whatever gesture. His face is not my Joey. It’s creased and sad.
“I failed.”
“What?”
“I failed you… and Clarissa. I’m supposed to protect you. Keep you safe.” He smashes the steering wheel with his hand in anger. The sound of the horn startles me.
“You’re beating yourself up over something you couldn’t have controlled. Trust me, I know.”
“Your parents, Antonio, Megan, Clarissa’s father, Ennio: they’re all counting on me. I failed.”
Joey stops to look at me, his face is contorted in the misery of his self-induced shame and grief.
“Look at it this way. We’re both fine. You couldn’t have predicted or stopped what happened. What’s done is done.”
“Are you ever going to tell me what happened?” he asks, softly.
“No.”
He pulls the car into a parking spot and I get out.
“Thanks.” I say as I lean down and peer at Joey in the car. “Thanks for everything.”
I shut the door and head into the salon. I’m revitalized and ready for some changes. I’ve been coming to the same stylist since I moved here over the winter. Tiffany does a great job of cutting my thick hair. I hope she can color it just as well.
“Hi Erin. Have a seat in my chair. I’ll be right over.”
I sit and peer at myself in the enormous mirror. My whole face is looking back at me. It’s not half covered. It’s whole. I smile.
Tiffany comes up behind me, and her reflection joins mine. Her hair is always smooth and red carpet ready. It must be good for business when the hairdresser’s hair is always fabulous.
“What are we doing today? Cut?”
“I think I want a change. I want to color it.”
“How about some highlights? She lifts a few sections of my hair. We can scatter them,” she suggests.
“No. I was thinking of coloring my hair… Black.”
Tiffany’s reflection shows her wide eyes.
“This beautiful hair!” Her voice elevates. “Black?” she questions. She stares down at my red hair, horrified.
I nod in assurance.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. It’ll dry it out. You’ll be so pale,” Tiffany says in a whining tone. “Let’s do something else,” she pleads.
“No. Black.” I confirm.
Tiffany shakes her head in dismay. “Could I add some copper for texture?”
“No. Black.”
She sighs and walks to the back room to mix the color. A few minutes pass and she comes back carrying a container of inky black liquid.
“Are you sure?” she asks solemnly, snapping on some rubber gloves.
“Yes,” I say with confidence.
*****
I stare at the new me in Tiffany’s mirror as I call Joey to come and pick me up.
“Hey.”
“I’m all done.”
“That took forever. How about going out for dinner?” he proposes.
“Sounds good.”
The car pulls up outside the salon. I come out and see Joey and Clarissa sitting in the front seat. They see me and instantly form the same horrified faces they had last week after I was kidnapped.
Clarissa rolls down her window, “Oh my God! What did you do?!” she yells.
“I needed a change,” I tell her. I get in the backseat. “Where’re we going? I’m starving.”
Joey and Clarissa have their mouths clamped shut. Faintly, Joey is shaking his head. He pulls away from the curb.
“Marchetti’s,” he says, deadpan.
“Good. I’d love some pasta.”
Chapter 5
June
Vito
I meet Antonio at the docks. The night is warm and the smell of summer is in the air. Ronnie and Louie are here, too. Louie brought a case of beer that we’re all working on. We haven’t all met here since before Tonio and I left for South Bend last fall. It feels kind of strange and nostalgic. We’ve been meeting here since we were kids, but so much has happened now. I guess the biggest thing is Antonio getting married.
“How are the wedding plans coming?” Ronnie mocks in a high-pitched voice, pretending to be a woman.
Tonio frowns at him. “Fine.”
Louie laughs at his reaction. “He’s just fuckin’ with you dude. It’s cool. First one to get married.”
Ronnie tosses an empty beer can in a dumpster and pops the top off a new one. “Better you than me. I don’t plan on getting married until I’m thirty.”
“Who’d fucking marry you?” Louie shouts.
“Fuck you!” Ronnie yells back.
The usual relaxation I find by coming here and hanging with my friends is slowly leaving me. The fuckin’ shit they say is so immature.
“I was at the food mart the other day. Mary Catallone is cashier there now. I’d love to stick my package in her. She’s fuckin’ fine. She’s got the biggest tits I’ve ever seen. They look like someone took a tire pump and filled them up with air,” Ronnie shares, cracking a smile.
I really don’t give a shit who he wants to fuck. I might have thought this was cool and interesting before, but now I just think he’s a crass dickhead. I’m going fuckin’ soft.
Did I say that? When? I shrug my shoulders. Who knows what I’ve fucking said.
Erin
Instead of just calling me, my mother sends me more emails about the High School plus program. She doesn’t give up easily. It’s enticing because of the jump-start on college and because if I go home I wouldn’t have to go back to Palmetto High School, but living back at home doesn’t interest me. I like my freedom. I haven’t been inside the walls of my house since that fateful night. The night that everything changed.
I can still remember the grotesque anger on the man’s face, the cold steel of the gun by my ear. The fear. It dances across my skin sometimes when I remember what happened. Less now, since my training with Joey and the incident with Brice, but I don’t think the fear will ever fully disappear.
I skim over my mom’s latest email, grab my books, and meet Clarissa in the living room. It’s the last day of school. I enjoy school, so part of me is a little sad. School work keeps my mind busy and off other things. This has been a great semester aside from the Brice incident.
“You ready?” she asks.
“Yup.” I pick up my purse off the kitchen table and we head out.
*****
The day passes all too quickly. I am happy because I know that I aced my exam in science. Clarissa is fairly quiet, and I can tell something is on her mind. Classic Clarissa, not wanting to tell me. I spend the bulk of our last day trying to figure her out. Probably best – I needed something to focus on besides all the end of the year goodbyes. I don’t want to leave my classes. Not just yet.
But the end of the day is unavoidable. In the blink of an eye, we’re walking out into the California sunshine and onto the pathway that directs us away from our last class.
“I’m going home for the summer,” she finally blurts out.
“Okay,” I say, digesting her declaration.
“I know we said we were staying, but my dad really wants me home. I’ll be back at the end of August.” She pauses. “You can come home with me… back to the casino.” Clarissa looks at me eagerly. She really wants me to go with her. Joey could go home too if I didn’t stay. Maybe I should face my demons.
“No. I appreciate the offer but, you know, I think I’ll go home too.” Clarissa stops and turns to me.
“Really, now?” She’s surprised. Almost shocked.
“Yeah. I think it’ll be good for me. I think I’m ready for it.”
She nods, and then smiles. “I’ll miss you. You can always change your mind and spend the summer with me.”
“It’s barely two months. We’ll survive.” I smile.
*****
The slowing of the plane and the rumble of the wheels on the runway are reality checks for me. I miss Clarissa and Joey already. They have been constants for me over the past six months.
I disembark and head to baggage claim. People are lined up three deep to watch for their bags as they travel by on the carousel. I see mine. A large black hardtop bag I bought at a shop in the casino the day before I left for California.
“Excuse me,” I say to a couple of men standing in my way. I reach out and grab the handle of the bag and lift it. I place it on the floor to roll it away from the crowd. I see my father looking around. I wave, but he looks right past me.
“Dad,” I call out as I walk towards him.
He registers me approaching, and his face is full of recognition and shock. He’s staring at my hair.
“I needed a change,” I say, grinning and running a hand down the black strands.
He nods in slow acceptance. Suddenly, in an uncharacteristic movement, he steps forward and squeezes me into a hug. He holds me for several seconds, and then eventually lets me go. Quietly, he takes my bag from me and we walk to the exit together. When I look over at him, he’s smiling.
He missed me.
*****
My father pulls our family mini-van into the driveway. Antonio’s red Camaro is parked out front. A small twinge inside me wonders if Vito will be inside to greet me.
Dad gets my luggage out of the van and I climb the steps to the house. I get a weird sensation ascending these stairs for the first time in so long, but the bizarre hope that Vito is inside pushes me forward.
I lift my hand to turn the doorknob, but the door flies open before I even have to push. My sister throws her arms around me.
“Oh my God! I missed you so much.”
I hug her back and bury my face in her strawberry hair. Antonio opens his arms for me and I go to him. He hugs me tightly.
My mother comes out from the kitchen. I see her over Antonio’s shoulder, and I watch as her eyes bug out of her head.
“What did you do to your hair?!” she yells.
The smile on my face only gets bigger…
*****
I spend the majority of the hot summer days inside. I read a couple of novels I’ve had on a very long list of To Be Read. I use my room as my escape from my mother. Antonio and Megan take me out a couple of times to dinner and the mall. I also go shopping with my mother on a few occasions. I ignore about a million texts from Connor. I refused to go to the O’Connell’s house when my family was invited and I asked my dad not to let them come here. Dad even took me for ice cream one night after dinner. That shocked me. We never did stuff like that.
Any time I actual venture out into the Palmetto world, though, I never run into Vito. Which really isn’t that odd. He is probably away or doing stuff for Antonio’s dad. I asked Antonio once about him but he just shrugged off my question with a “he’s fine.”
My phone buzzes with a text, and I pick it up off my dresser.
I miss u
It’s from Clarissa. A lump forms in my throat. I text back.
I miss u 2
Chapter 6
September
Vito’s Freshman Year in College, New Jersey University (NJU)
School still sucks. Now, I just get to pick which sucky classes I want to take. At least the classes aren’t held in a high school that smells like someone’s ratty unwashed gym shorts. I always wondered why the school didn’t buy a whole shit load of that Febreze stuff my mother is always spraying on the couch and spray it on every kid who entered the building.
I was lucky to get into college. I didn’t give a shit in high school. My friends and I did whatever the hell we wanted, partly because the teachers were scared shitless of Antonio. I did my share of scaring too, I guess. We never got in trouble when we were hanging with Tonio… not Ronnie, Louie, or me. Being the best friend of Palmetto, New Jersey’s mob boss’s son has its perks.
Ronnie and I are both here at NJU. I think my Pop pulled some strings to get me in here because my GPA and don’t give a fuck attitude didn’t win me any scholarships. Ronnie and I signed up for the same general education courses this semester. Not that cheating off him would do me any good. He’s just as bad as I am.
Our parents rented us an apartment right outside of campus: two bedrooms, two baths, a big kitchen and a living room. My mom went crazy with the decorating. The apartment looks like IKEA threw up in there. It’s cool though. It’s better than living in the scummy dorms.
“English fucking Composition! I barely made it through senior English.” Ronnie moans as we park my car in the student parking lot.
“Shut up. We haven’t had a class yet.”
“At least we didn’t have to roll out of bed ‘til eleven.”
I shrug at Ronnie’s lame attempt to look at the bright side.
We grab our shiny new textbooks and start walking across campus.
“Wow, there are a lot of hot girls here!” Ronnie ogles some walking to class.
Grassy areas line the parking lots. Benches and walkways zig and zag to all the different buildings. Scampering students go to and fro, some rushing along, some talking. Ronnie and I take our time, as usual, not giving a shit. We jog
up the steps to the English department. Our class is right at the end of the hall. Ronnie stops me.
“Dude, we’ve got ten minutes. Do we have to go in there and sit down now?”
“Come on, lazy ass.”
I pull him by his t-shirt to the door. We scan the room of people who have already come in. Everyone is sitting sporadically around the room. No two seats together are filled. Every single person in there has their book open and is reading.
Well shit. I can already tell the type of people who have signed up for this class.
Ronnie and I take our seats in the back together. Ronnie mocks the others in the room by opening his book exaggeratedly and pretending to read. He is such a stunad.
I swipe my eyes across the room again as more people file in. In a matter of seconds, my heart thumps wildly, and my focus zooms in on a pretty petite girl with black hair. She keeps her head down as she reads, but I’m positive that it’s her. I elbow Ronnie.
“Look over there.” I discreetly point, my voice low.
“Where?”
“Second row, third seat back.”
He shrugs, “Yeah, she’s cute for a goth.”
“No, jackass. Look at her. That’s Megan’s sister.”
“Huh?” He looks over at her again. “Where’s her fuckin’ red hair?
“Are you stupid? She must have dyed it.”
“Why would she do that?”
“Bigger question is what’s she doing here? She’s a sophomore in high school.” My heart rate spikes, and I nervously check the time on my cell phone.
“She should be in lunch right now, hundreds of miles away at that fancy school her parents sent her too.”
Erin’s hair hangs in a wavy curtain pulled to the side of her neck - black instead of red. Her profile shows her eyes are darkened with make-up. Her clothes are solid black. She is still petite and small… fragile like a doll. But she has a very serious look on her face while she reads her book.
A knot twists in my gut when I remember her pale and fragile lying in my arms.
Mobster's Angel (Mobster Series) Page 5