Giovanni

by Dominique Butler

  " What took you so long?" I ask him when he sat down next to me. Chris, stop texting look me up and down.

  " Your highness if you must know I was taking a shit," he said, then started texting again.

  This nigga, I thought.

  " Tammy! Chris over here texting a girl he met at the bar," I tell her.

  " What," she yells, turning around in her seat. Chris was so focused on his phone he didn't see the pillow thrown in his direction. Smacking him across the face.

  " Who fucking did that?" Chris yells, hopping out of his seat.

  " Me," Tammy said, standing with her hands on her hips, waiting for Chris to do something. He just looks at her then walks out of the living room, whispering to dad. I try to focus on the TV, but when I heard my dad say, " we need to leave tonight, we meeting with him in the morning,” I knew something was up. They’re involved in more stuff now than when I was home, I thought.

  Chris and dad walk back into the living room. " Mille, I'm sorry, but we need to leave tonight," Chris said.

  "What’s going on?" I ask him.

  Dad buts in, " we have to meet the new contractor to repair the restaurant,” he said.

  I looked at him nine months ago the contractor came so I know there's nothing wrong with the restaurant. " Oh well, it's nice to see you guys," I said.

  " Do you have people to help you?" Tammy ask.

  " Yes," I tell her.

  "The tickets will be waiting at the airport," dad said, and I shake my head.

  " Can I stay with Mille?" Brandi ask. For a moment, there was no response.

  " No, Brandi, Mille have things to do," dad said.

  " No, it's fine. She can stay and help me out," I said.

  " O-okay," dad stuttered.

  " Chris and I will go to the hotel and grab the bags," he says, walking to the front door with Chris behind him.

  After the door closed, Tammy turns to me with a worried look on her face. " Tammy let's go make some tea," I said. She shakes her head getting up and goes towards the kitchen. I grab my crutches, hobbling to the kitchen. By the time I get there, Tammy already put water in the coffee machine. I get as close to Tammy as I can and give her a hug. She leans into me, crying. “What’s going on, Tammy?" I ask.

  " Everything is out of control," she said, grabbing me harder.

  " Let’s sit," I tell her. She lets me go of me, taking a seat at the table. I sit across from her, " tell me what happened from the beginning," I tell her.

  She calms down but still sniffling. " After Dre accumulated all that debt from the Ricci's," she starts. "What? He took the money from Ricci?" I interrupt.

  " Yes," she whispers.

  This explains everything why Giovanni knows so much about my family and me.

  " Are you mad?" Tammy asked.

  " Yes, but why didn't anybody tell me," I ask.

  "I was, but Rico didn't want you to get involved," she said.

  That just sounds like him not admitting he needs help. " So what happened next," I ask.

  " Well, they gave us a deadline to return all the money, but we only had two-thirds of it. They wouldn't take it, so when Michael Ricci came over the house, he was looking at the pictures of you in your dad's office, and he said that if you marry Giovanni, then the debt will be clear. But your dad told him no, so he asks for another deadline, which is in the next couple of months," Tammy said.

  " So how much of the money from the businesses is being used?" I ask.

  " I don't know for sure, but I think more than fifty percent," Tammy said.

  " That's a lot of money what's going on with people checks," I ask. Tammy just shrugs her shoulders.

  Damn, what the fuck were they doing while I was gone, I thought.

  Tammy gets up from her chair, walking to the counter, and makes two cups of tea. " Here," she said, handing me a cup. I take a sip of tea then set the cup down.

  " So, what's the reason for me coming down?" I ask her.

  " From what I hear, they would like to see if you can reason with Ricci or can get some money out of the vault," said Tammy pouring two cups of tea.

  The vault is the family bank that each member has a fair share of the family money. You can only dip into your money only three times. I'm the only one that hasn't dipped into it, so I have the most money.

  " Tammy, I'll talk with Ricci," I told her.

  " Thank you, we have been stressing for a while," she said. I look at her, seeing the relief from the words I told her. She leans back into the chair and closes her eyes. I look at Tammy, regaining her composure. Tammy might not be my mother, but she treated me like a daughter and made sure I was always taken care of even when she and my dad weren't on good terms.

  If I could give her a little peace, then I'll do what needs to be done, but first I’m gonna have to deal with Dre and Amy, I thought.

  While Tammy relaxes in the chair, I drink my tea when a knock comes from the front door.

  "Brandon," I yell.

  A minute later, he walks to the door " its dad and Chris," he said before opening the door.

  I watch them walk into the kitchen, dad walking to Tammy, giving her a kiss on her forehead. Tammy opens her eyes, smiling when she sees dad making the room light up.

  " We need to talk," said Chris. I look over at Tammy to see that she's consumed with dad. I get up following Chris to my room.

  " What's up," I said after sitting on my bed.

  " When you come down, don't let Grandma G and Auntie Lynn give you some sob story about Uncle Dre," said Chris.

  " Why would they give me a sob story," I ask.

  Chris looks me in the eye, being the serious I ever saw him. " Uncle Dre is not just in debt with Ricci but with another mafia as well," said Chris.

  " Is that why his debt is damn near a million?" I said. Chris's eyes got big.

  " So Tammy told you," he asks.

  " Yes. How long were you not going to tell me?" I ask.

  " I was going to wait for us to be able to talk alone without dad interfering," he explained I shake my head. " Look, Mille, I won't intentionally hide things from you, but you know how dad is trying to fix the problem on his own," Chris said. He walks to me, giving me a bone-crushing hug picking me off the bed. " Do you forgive me?" he asks.

  " I will when you let me breathe," I tell him.

  He let me go dropping me on the bed, causing me to bounce and almost fall off the bed " hello, I just got out of the hospital," I said, sitting up.

  "Sorry, lil sis," Chris said.

  "Yeah yeah," I waved him off.

  I get off the bed, grabbing the crutches.

  " So what's going on between you and Ricci," Chris asked.

  I shrug my shoulders because I really don't know. I don't know if he's flirting with me to mess with my family or is he plotting something I thought. We make it back to the living room to see the twins still watching Wild n’ Out with Tammy and dad cuddled up on the couch. I take a seat across from them. " What time is the flight?" I ask.

  “We’ll be leaving in a couple of hours," dad said.

  I shake my head, leaning back in my chair, pulling out my phone getting on Facebook, seeing that I got a message from Aunt Stacie. She never really liked me for who my mother was when she was alive. I open the message seeing that she said she's praying for me and seeing if I'm coming for the reunion. I told her thanks for the prayers, and I'll see her this weekend then getting off Facebook before she tries to have a whole conversation with me. I look around the room, seeing that everyone is calm and relax like we were at home.

  " What are you thinking about?" Chris ask.

  " This is nice. No one’s arguing or fighting. We all should just stay here," I tell him.

  " Yea being away from the others and their problems are more peaceful," he said.

  After forty minutes of us just watching TV, " we have to go," dad said, waking Tammy up. Brandon got up off the floor, dragging his feet in my direction.

  " I'll see you
soon," he said before hugging me then ruffling Brandi's hair.

  " Stop loser," she said, swatting at Brandon's hand.

  "Yeah yeah," he said to her, walking to the front door. Chris gave me a hug and a kiss on the forehead.

  " Just keep your eyes open," he tells me. Then do the same with Brandi " don't work her nerves, or you won't be able to come back," Chris says her.

  ‘Dad and Tammy give us hugs and kisses " be safe," was all dad said before they left.

  I look over at Brandi " so what's been going on with you," I ask.

  " So much," she said, rubbing Star’s back. After talking to her for an hour, this girl is going through a whole teenage movie, I thought. I look at the time, seeing that it was 7 o'clock.

  " Brandi what's going on with you and the family," I ask her.

  " They treat me different," she said.

  " What do you mean?" I ask.

  " Like how they were treating you," she said. I was about to say something when someone knocks on the door. Brandi rushes to the door.

  “It’s the lady from earlier," she said.

  " Let her in," I tell her.

  "Hey, little plum," Mrs. Lilly said. I hear Brandi laughing at her, " where’s my baby," Mrs. Lilly said.

  I get up off the couch, meeting her in the kitchen. " Hey grandma, what you make us," I said.

  " Is that all you care about?" she said, all sassy.

  " No, but the food is important," I tell her giving her a hug.

  Chapter 10

  After all the bags were put on the table, " sit down," I tell Mrs. Lilly.

  “You’re the one that's hurt now. You sit down," she tells me. Brandi starts taking all the containers out of the bag, placing them on the kitchen table. "Where did everyone else go?" Mrs. Lilly asks.

  "There was an emergency, so they had to fly back," I say Mrs. Lilly put plates and forks on the table. " Brandi goes in the fridge and tells us what's in there to drink," I say she opens the refrigerator.

  "There's lemonade, water, wine, and root beer," she says.

  " I'll have lemonade," Mrs. Lilly said.

  " Me too," I say. Brandi brought the drinks to the table. " What did you make?" I ask.

  "Chicken alfredo with garlic bread and for dessert cheesecake," she said.

  I started rubbing my hands together, Mrs. Lilly make plates. " What did you do today?" I ask Mrs. Lilly.

  " I saw Gio before he left then went shopping," she said.

  " How is he doing," I ask.

  “He’s fine. He wanted to see you before he left," she tells me.

  I smile at her, but I don't know what to feel about Ricci since they all basically was acting like they didn't know who I was, I thought.

  The rest of the meal, Mrs. Lilly and Brandi talk to each other with me, giving my input every now and then. We clean the table and put the dishes in the dishwasher.

  " What are you gonna do next," Mrs. Lilly ask.

  " We can watch movies, play board games or play the Wii," I tell her.

  " What type of games do you have on the Wii?" she asks.

  " Bowling, boxing, dancing, tennis and Mario brothers," I tell her.

  " Let's dance," she said, walking to the living room.

  "Does she know how to work the Wii?" Brandi ask.

  " We'll see," I tell her while we follow behind Mrs. Lilly, " the system is at the bottom of the TV stand. I'll be right back. I need to grab my charger," I tell them. I hobble to my room, open the duffle bag, and throw everything on the bed, still not finding it. Then I grab my jacket that's in a chair across from the bed, checking the pockets finding the charger and the letter the nurse gave to me earlier. I sit on the bed, opening it, and start reading it.

  Dear Mrs. Smith,

  I hope you're in counter with Mike was as pleasant as it can be in that kind of situation. Sorry that you have to be a part of this, but until you and your family break free of the Ricci family, more things will happen to you and them. You may not know me, but I know you and your family very well from the time your mother Aubrey was pregnant with you to your time as a Correctional Officer at the jail. You see, even though your family may be protected and in some way bound to the Ricci's, I still can hurt you and them. The games start tonight at twelve at the meeting make sure you talk to Tammy tonight we'll keep in contact officer Camille Smith.

  Sincerely Ferrari Family and another family

  I re-read the letter again.

  "Sugar, what's taking you so long?" Mrs. Lilly asks, walking into my room, seeing the letter. "What's that in your hand?" She grabs it and starts reading. Her face turns red then she starts deep breaths in and out, calming her. She places the letter on the nightstand, turns to me, grabbing me by my shoulders, and says, "Sweetie, nothing is gonna happen. I'm gonna call my son.”

  I nod my head getting up off the bed, grabbing my charger going to the living room. I see Brandi had set everything up and was ready to go. She turns around to see me coming in. " What took you so long?" she asked.

  " Couldn't find my charger," I tell her taking a seat on the couch she looks at me for a few minutes.

  "What’s wrong?" she asked.

  " Nothing just a little tired," I tell her.

  " Ooh, you are getting old," she said, laughing.

  " What little girl I'll be 28 in a couple of months," I tell her. We laugh at each other when Mrs. Lilly walks in. " what are you ladies laughing at," she asks.

  " This little girl thinks that I'm old," I tell her.

  " Ladybug, you don't know what old is until your bones crack with every step, and you can't hold your bladder no more," said Mrs. Lilly. I started laughing at Mrs. Lilly.

  " Why you have to say that?" I asked, still laughing. Mrs. Lilly just shrugs her shoulders, laughing.

  " So how do you play this game," she asks. Brandi gives her the controller and shows her what to do. After five minutes of Brandi telling and showing Mrs. Lilly how to play, they start dancing their hearts out. There's a knock at the front door Brandi pause the game.

  "I'll get it," I told her, getting up from the couch halfway to the door the person knocks again. " I'm coming," I said. When I got to the door, I look through the peephole to see Tisha I open the door.

  " Hey girl," she said, coming in, giving me a hug.

  " What are you doing up," she asks.

  " Watching Mrs. Lilly and Brandi play the Wii," I tell her.

  " Where is everyone else?" she asks.

  " Dad and Chris had a meeting to go, so they left," I tell her

  . "Hey," Tisha said when we got to in the living room seeing Brandi and Mrs. Lilly. They pause the game giving Tisha a hug. After talking for a few minutes, Brandi and Mrs. Lilly went back to dancing " you go gram I see you still got the moves," Tisha said.

  " So how was work," I ask.

  " James is enforcing guards patrolling the halls and rooms," Tisha said. I shake my head. " But on another note, I bet you can guess who took your spot for Ricci," Tisha said.

  " Amy, the spawn of hell," I said. Tisha just shakes her head.

  I need for her to tell me who she's working for and who she has in her corner I don't need another Mike situation to happen again, I thought.

  " Whoever loses, I'm next, " Tisha said, cheering them on. Brandi ends up losing, giving the controller to Tisha. She plops down on the couch, " Mrs. Lilly can go," she said.

  " I can see you over there, sweat," I tell her, laughing. There was another knock at the front door I get up heading to the door when I get there I look through the peephole seeing Angel and Danny. I open the door. " What are you two doing here?" I said.

  " Well, we came to visit our favorite correctional officer," Angel said. I look at him as Danny closes and locks the door. " How are you?" he asks as we walk to the living room.

  " I'm fine," I tell him.

  “We’ll have to talk," he said I shake my head.

  " Hey," Angel said, staring Tisha up and down, watching her dancing.

 
" Hey," both Tisha and Mrs. Lilly said while still into the game.

  " Angel and Danny, this is my little sister Brandi," I tell them.

  " Nice meeting you," they all said to each other. We all sit down watching Tisha and Mrs. Lilly dance when it got to the part where they both had to start popping. Angel says, " Damn." We all turn to look at him. " What?" he said, seeing us staring at him.

  " You know you said that out loud," Danny said. Angel's face turned beet red, then he turns back, watching them dance.

  At the end of the song, Tisha won. " Girl, you giving me a run for my money," said Mrs. Lilly catching her breath.

  " Who's next," ask Tisha looks at us.

  " Me," said Angel getting off the couch, grabbing the controller from Mrs. Lilly.

  Mrs. Lilly sits down beside me, " you need some water or something," I ask her.

  " No, baby, I'm fine. I haven't danced like that in a while," Mrs. Lilly said.

  We played for hours, everyone gets a turn to dance. When it hit eleven, Tisha started grabbing her things. " I had fun, guys. We can do this again sometime soon,” she said, putting on her jacket then giving us each a hug.

  " I'll walk you to your car," Angel said, getting up off the couch, walking Tisha out the door.

  I look over at Brandi to see her texting on her phone. " B, can you go in my room while we talk," I ask.

  " Ok, night, everyone, " she said before she leaves the living room.

  I pull my phone out, calling Chris but no answer. I texted him to call me, then I call my dad; the same thing. " Shit," I said.

  Danny looks at me " where's the letter at, " he asks. I was about to tell him.

  " Here," Mrs. Lilly said, grabbing it out of her back pocket.

  Danny reads it then pulls out his phone, " I need for Rico and his family to be picked up at the airport and moved to the underground," then hangs up the phone. When Angel walks back into the living room, Danny hands him the letter.

  " So, what are we gonna do?" I ask.

  " For now, nothing. I need to talk to Gio," Danny said.

  " What’s he gonna be able to do?" I ask.