The Golden Goose of Los Angeles Extended Edition

by Travis Adams Irish

German Shepherds are housed, and Rory notices that Vincent and Dimitri are waiting there for them.

 

  Pezzloni turns to face Rory with a wicked sneer to demonstrate his dominance, causing the younger man to shudder. ‘The night couldn’t be any worse,’ Rory thinks as they move through the dark hallway. He immediately recognizes the greasy door handle that had saved him from the pack of dogs earlier, and recalls the foul sights and smells on the other side of the door.

 

  “I have another surprise for you, Rory.” Anthony states with caustic emphasis, gesturing for his men to open the door. “When I showed you our ‘found and lost,’ you probably thought that was the stain I was going to leave on your soul… but it was only a preview…”

 

  Vincent reaches out and opens the door as Dimitri stands with his arms folded, bearing a victorious smile. Rory notices that the back of Vincent’s white tank top has some blood stains lined up in a row of three, almost in the shape of small fingers. Pezzloni gestures with his pistol for Rory to step through the door as he smiles with anticipation.

 

  Rory stares at the door, not wanting to move, his body shaking all over, and his right side beginning to ache again from the emotional strain.

 

  “If you don’t step inside now,” Pezzloni threatens with an authoritative gaze, “then I’ll make this ten times worse. Trust me, as bad as it is, I can always make it ten times worse…”

 

  Rory inhales briskly, as though this one action will bring him strength and courage, but his nose is instantly penetrated by the odors of rotting flesh and dog feces. He winces with disgust and forces his legs to march forward robotically, comforted only by the knowledge that his life may soon be over.

 

  As he crosses the threshold into the familiar dog compound Rory notices a woman lying on the cement. She has been recently beaten, and her face is for the worse. Her left eye is swollen shut, and her skin is covered in lacerations and bruises. She has a broken nose that is surrounded by dried blood, and is laying on right her side, favoring her left arm. Rory’s eyes open wide with shock when he recognizes the dress that Tina was wearing in his bedroom earlier that evening.

 

  “Tina!” Rory exclaims with an expression of remorse and fear. “Oh my God! What the hell have they done to you!?” He asks he dashes across the concrete to join her on the floor.

 

  When Rory gets closer to Tina the sting of his heartbreak is finalized. He can hear that she’s having trouble breathing, and assumes that her ribs may be broken. With slow, gentle movements, he wraps his arms around her injured body, helping to support her as she struggles to breathe. This movement causes her to cry out somewhat as her left arm is shifted onto the cement.

 

  “I told you that we were gonna’ tune up the rat.” Pezzloni says with a satisfied expression as he enters the room. “Do you have a stain on your soul yet, Rory? Are you glad that you had the balls to challenge me upstairs?” The gangster kneels down next to Tina’s right leg as Dimitri and Vincent enter the room. “Well, this is going to be a very hard night for you, my friend. After tonight, you won’t deny me again; not unless you want to go through this repeatedly.”

 

  “No, I won’t...” Rory says with overflowing anguish, trying to steady Tina so that she can breathe in comfort. “I’ll do what you want. I’ll make more babies.”

 

  “Yeah, you will,” Pezzloni begins as he presses down on Tina’s bloody leg with his fist, “and you’ll prove it tonight… If she’s not pregnant by morning…” The gangster instructs, pointing at Tina’s head with two fingers. “Then she’s dead.”

 

  “Are you crazy!?” Rory half-shouts in disgust. “She can barely breathe! We need to get her to a doctor!” He adds with contempt, glancing at the pistol in Anthony’s right hand.

 

  “She’ll get a doctor… if she’s pregnant by morning.” Pezzloni declares with a grim smirk. “If she’s not pregnant by morning, then we’ll give her to the dogs… I warned you, Rory. When you kick at a shark in the water enough times, he’s eventually going to take your legs off.”

 

  “Look, I fucked up!” Rory pleads in desperation, looking Pezzloni directly in the eyes. “I broke the rules. I shouldn’t have come here. Please get her a doctor, and I’ll do anything you want.”

 

  “You’ll do anything I want?” Pezzloni challenges with satisfaction as he gets to his feet.

 

  “Yes, I’ll do anything.” Rory concedes with a humble gaze.

 

  “Good. Then stop talking and get her pregnant by morning. You’re going to have a stain on your soul; one way or another.” The gangster orders without flinching as he turns to walk toward the door. “Oh, and I wouldn’t worry so much about Tina here. If you screw me again, it will be the same scenario, but the half-dead girl in your arms… will be Kelly.”

 

  “Anthony-“ Rory calls out with a voice that cracks.

 

  “Not another fuckin’ word, or I make this all ten times worse.” The gangster promises with a fierce gaze. “If you want to save her, then get making that baby. The dog shit and dead body are compliments of the house. Don’t screw me again, Rory, or the next thing we’ll be doing is tossing babies in the pool to see how many you can catch.” Pezzloni lowers his eyebrows to show that he is serious, and steps out of the room with his men in tow.

 

  The door is slammed shut, sending the entire room into darkness. Rory holds Tina close to him, feeling her blood sticking to his skin as she fights for every breath.

 

  “I’m so sorry, girl. Oh my God! Oh my God!” Rory presses his forehead against Tina’s golden hair; both of them sprawled on the cold cement floor. “Breathe. Just breathe. We’ll get through this. I promise!” The young man proclaims, noticing that his own breathing has become elevated.

 

  Rory is infused with a sense of shame for all of the hedonistic sex and drinking he’s done over the past few months. He thinks about the body of the man he shot that was half-eaten by dogs, and is now wasting away just twenty feet from their position on the floor. The nauseating smell of dog feces and urine are a constant reminder of his surroundings, and the darkness completes the hell. He laughs and cries simultaneously, realizing that this would be the ideal time for self-pity, but the strained breathing of the woman in his arms makes it impossible. Never before in his life has Rory had so much to regret, and such a strong desire to escape from his own mind.

  X. Long Night

  ‘What if the dogs can get in here?’ Rory thinks to himself, trying not to reveal his fear to Tina through his body language. The young man remembers the tunnels leading into this room, and knows that the dogs are being held in the fenced area just behind the home. For the past few hours, he has been suspicious that Dimitri might unleash the shepherds, and allow them to tear Rory and Tina apart while his boss is sleeping.

  Rory feels slightly uncomfortable with Tina’s head resting on his stomach at an angle, and his arms are getting stiff from supporting her head. However, he is grateful that she has been able to get some sleep, and that her breathing has become less labored in this position. Throughout the night, his mind has been going over every inch of the home, trying to figure out a way to exploit a weakness that would free him and Tina from this nightmare. Rory has worked out a few points of weakness that had been apparent during more peaceful days, but all of them are useless without his freedom.

 

  He thinks back to the night that he refused to pay extra for armed security guards, realizing that in one selfish moment, he was able to set off the implosion of his life. Rory recalls his lovely brunette girlfriend, and is thankful that Kelly was able to exit his life before everything turned
to dust.

 

  The moonlight looks peaceful as it passes in through the security windows, each of them containing the same mesh of steel wire that is found in every window of the compound. Rory remembers the shelf in the security office upstairs, and all of the horrid souvenirs that Pezzloni has kept. After a few seconds, he endeavors to put this out of his mind, deciding instead to focus on their survival and potential escape. While he is certain that food and water are not a concern, Rory is worried about Tina having internal bleeding.

 

  He looks up at her mangled face in the moonlight, grateful that the room is too dark for him to see extensive details. Just the sight of her badly beaten face is enough to make Rory want to cry. His mind is suddenly awash with thoughts of vengeance, and violence against Dimitri and Vincent.

 

  As the night carries on, despite his passion, Rory notices that he is getting fatigued, feeling the weight of so many dark revelations pinning him down ten times harder than Tina’s sleeping body. It has been three hours since Pezzloni departed the room, and Rory is still no closer to figuring out a way to escape from this place and free the woman next to him.

 

  “I have to pee.” Tina says aloud in a weak voice that almost startles Rory.

 

  “Okay…” Rory answers back immediately, trying to figure out how to move her without causing further injury to her ribs. “One second…”

 

  Rory looks back to the pit in the floor where all of the tunnels converge, remembering that it is already filled with dog excrement.