Layla's Score

by Andy Rausch

  “Try not to get upset and don't talk unless he asks me a question.”

  “Good girl,” said Abelli. “You do that and we'll get out of there a whole lot faster. It'll all be finished in no time. Then—”

  “Ice Cream Dream!” she interjected.

  “Pineapple ice cream with gummy bears and Fruity Pebbles.” The elevator door opened on the 22nd floor. Abelli braced himself for the impending interaction. Perhaps Bruno would take it easy on him since there was a child present. Maybe it would all be fine.

  “Come on,” Abelli said, leading Jess to Bruno's door. He knocked. He could hear no movement inside and was momentarily excited by the prospect of no one being home. But Pino answered the door, waving them inside.

  Bruno was walking around in silk boxer shorts, wearing a silky purple robe that was open in front. “Come on in,” he welcomed. “I see you brought your daughter. Lovely child. What's her name again?”

  “My name is Jess,” said the girl happily.

  Bruno grinned. “Nice to meet you, Jess.”

  “Likewise,” she said.

  “How's school going?” asked Bruno.

  Jess looked at her father, and then back at Bruno. “School is good.”

  “You like school?”

  “I love school.”

  “Not me,” said Bruno. “I hated school when I was a kid. But good for you, Jess.” He turned and looked at Dom. “Bring me one of the stools from the bar.” Dom nodded and went to fetch the stool, bringing it to Bruno.

  Bruno took the stool in one hand and placed it in the center of the room. He looked at Jess. “Come here,” he said. “I'd like you to sit here.”

  Jess looked at her father, who was visibly terrified. The smile still on her face, Jess moved slowly towards the stool. She sat down, facing her father. Bruno motioned towards the ottoman. “Have a seat, Joe.” Abelli did this reluctantly. Bruno looked at Dom and nodded. Dom disappeared for a moment, reemerging with a pump shotgun. He walked around in front of Abelli, standing over him. He racked the thing, letting Abelli know he meant business. Abelli squirmed uneasily but said nothing.

  Bruno stroked Jess' long black hair, looking up at Joe as he did this. “You're a real pretty girl, Jess,” he said, sounding every bit as creepy as he'd intended. Bruno leaned in towards the girl and kissed her ear. “You remind me of a girlfriend I had when I was a kid,” Bruno said. Abelli didn't like this one bit. “Her name was Lisa,” Bruno continued. “I lost my virginity when I was twelve. My father took me to a whore house on my birthday. But it was different for Lisa. She hadn't lost her virginity yet.” Bruno looked at Joe, trying to tempt him to attack. “She didn't lose her virginity until she met me.”

  Bruno, behind Jess, moved her hair aside, kissing her neck. Jess was terribly uncomfortable. She looked at her father, but he couldn't help her. Both of them squirmed.

  “You doing alright over there, Joe?” asked Bruno. “You look uncomfortable. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were afraid I was going to rape your little girl.” He and Joe looked at one another, the expression on Joe's face conveying both terror and a pleading with Bruno not to hurt her.

  “Do you honestly think I would hurt your little girl, Joe?” asked Bruno. “Is that what you think?”

  Abelli said nothing.

  “Let me set your mind at ease, Joe. I'm not gonna rape your daughter. I'm not that kind of man. I don't do that kind of shit.” He looked at Pino. “But Pino here is that kind of man. Isn't that right, Pino?” Pino said nothing. “Pino, I'd like you to rape Joe's daughter. Could you do that for me?”

  Abelli tried to climb to his feet, but Dom struck him down with the butt of the shotgun, splitting his forehead and knocking him back onto to the ottoman.

  Pino came forward, not wanting to rape the girl, but prepared to do as his boss had instructed. “Kiss the girl, Pino.” Pino shrugged and kissed her, starting with her forehead. Abelli wept, unable to move without being struck. Bruno stared mostly at Abelli, but occasionally looked over to see the depravity taking place only a few feet away from him. Abelli tried to shield his eyes, but Bruno instructed Dom to strike him with the shotgun anytime he looked away.

  “You're not getting off that easy, Joe,” said Bruno. “You're gonna watch that shit. Every bit of it.” Bruno was smiling a sick, twisted smile, obviously getting great pleasure from this. “You see that, Joe? What do you think of that? Daddy's little girl is gonna become a woman today. Daddy's girl could be Pino's slut. One man's treasure is another man's trash.” Bruno laughed a grating, sadistic laugh.

  Abelli glared at him through his tears. “I'll make you pay for this, Bruno. If it's the last thing I ever do, you'll pay, you sonofabitch!”

  Bruno chuckled. “You think that's how it works, Joe? Life doesn't work like that. Life never works like that. That will never happen. I'm in control here, not you, and certainly not God. Bad things happen to good people, Joe. You remember that? There was a book called Why Bad Things Happen to Good People. You know why that is, Joe? You know why those things happen? It's because good people are also weak people who get what they've got coming to them. That's how life works. But bad people? They never really pay. They just don't. Your girl Jess here, she did nothing to deserve any of this. You did this, Joe. Make no mistake, she's going to pay for your sins.” Bruno looked over at Jess, whose ear was being kissed by Pino. “You hear that, Jess? This is happening because of your no good piece of shit father. He's the one that did all of this. Please remember, he brought you here.”

  Abelli wailed.

  Pino didn't get beyond kissing the girl's neck before Bruno thankfully put an end to it. “Go ahead and stop, Pino,” he said. “I don't want you to rape her.” Bruno walked out of the room. Abelli wondered what was happening. Pino was still standing over the weeping girl, attempting to console her, despite having just kissed her. He had his arms wrapped around her, and she was sobbing hard, her head against his shoulder. A moment later Bruno reemerged, carrying a hunting bow and some arrows. Abelli was unsure what was happening, but he knew it wasn't good.

  “I've taken up archery,” said Bruno. “It's my new hobby. I hadn't really had any hobbies since I was a kid, other than chasing skirt and lifting weights. Jerking off, maybe. Is that considered a hobby?” Bruno chuckled. “But this, archery, gives me perspective. I really enjoy it. How about you? You like archery, Joe? You ever shoot a bow before?”

  Exhausted, Abelli said nothing. He wiped away his tears, sitting there in silence.

  Bruno stood beside him. “Get back, Pino. Leave Jess alone.” Pino looked at his boss and moved away from Jess, leaving her sitting on the bar stool, sobbing.

  “I'm not very good at this archery thing yet,” said Bruno. “I went to the range, but I couldn't shoot shit. It looks so easy, but man, it's pretty fucking hard. Did you know that, Joe? Were you aware that archery was actually pretty difficult?”

  Abelli said nothing.

  “I would pull back the bowstring and aim at that target ever so carefully,” said Bruno. “But then I'd release the thing and that arrow would fly off somewhere, nowhere close to the intended target. I'm good at lots of things. I always have been. I got natural talents, but I don't think archery is gonna be one of them. But maybe one day. And you know, practice makes perfect.” Bruno looked at Joe. “You wanna watch me practice, Joe?”

  “Please don't hurt her,” Abelli said. “I'll give you anything you want.”

  This touched a nerve. “Will you now?!” Bruno stared at him. “Like the money you owe me? Like the money you fucking owe me? I'm not a bad man, Joe. I mean, well, I guess I am a bad man, but I'm not asking for anything out of line here. You owe me. That's a thing, that's the way it is. Objectively speaking, you owe me money. That's all I want—what I'm owed.”

  Bruno raised the bow, an arrow carefully placed against it. “This bow has a draw weight of fifty pounds,” he said. “Do you know what that means, Joe? That means it's strong enough to take down an elk or a moo
se. But there ain't no elk or moose around here, Joe. None that I've seen anyway. I've seen a few niggers and some homeless people, but that's about it.” He paused, adding, “How much damage do you think this son of a bitch would do to a human being? What do you think it would do to an eleven-year-old girl's face?” Bruno drew back on the bowstring, carefully aiming the arrow at Jess, who was sitting there teary-eyed and motionless. “They say the key is being steady and careful,” said Bruno. “And you gotta breathe real slow.” He released the bowstring, and the arrow zipped past Jess' head, breaking a window in the dining room.

  “Dammit,” Bruno said, chuckling. He looked at the crying girl, squirming uncomfortably, and then at her father. “Looks like a win for you, little girl,” he said. “Jess one, Bruno zero. But that can change at any minute.”

  “Please, Bruno,” Abelli begged. “Please don't hurt her.”

  Bruno was busy replacing the arrow with a second. “Don't be such a crybaby, Joe. It's unbecoming. It makes you look weak. You are weak, but try not to look it so much. It's really embarrassing.” He looked at Jess, sitting there crying. “Do you think it's embarrassing, Jess? Are you embarrassed by how weak a man your father is? I would be if I was you. I really would. He's fuckin' pathetic. How could a man like that ever protect you?”

  Bruno raised the bow again, steadying the arrow. “He can't protect you. He's a shitty father, Jess. He's as bad a father as he is a gambler.” Bruno stopped to look over at Abelli. “You really are worthless, Joe. You know that, right? There is absolutely no reason for you to exist.” When Abelli said nothing, Bruno pushed. “Go ahead and say it, Joe. Tell your little girl what a worthless fuck you are.”

  Abelli was shaking. He looked at Jess, who was staring at him in search of the savior he could never be. “It's true, Jess. I'm worthless.”

  “You're a worthless fuck,” said Bruno.

  “Yeah,” said Abelli. “I'm worthless and…I'm…a fuck.”

  Bruno grinned. “At least he's honest about it, Jess. That's half the battle right there. It's always good when a person can acknowledge his faults, and for him, being a fuck is certainly one of them.” Bruno pulled back the bowstring. He released it, and the second arrow zipped through the room, grazing the side of Jess' face. She cried out, startled as much as anything, but she was alright save for an ever-reddening slice across her cheek.

  “Would you look at that?” asked Bruno, becoming more animated now. “That was pretty damned amazing. Maybe there is a God, Joe.” He looked up at the ceiling. “You think there's a God?”

  “Yes,” said Abelli. “I believe in God.”

  “Great,” said Bruno. “I want you to do something for me. I want you to pray, right here and now, in front of me. Pray out loud. Ask God to come down and save your little girl, Joe. Would you do that for me?”

  Abelli was shaking badly. He pressed his hands together and closed his eyes. His voice trembled. “Dear God in heaven, please, I ask you, please help my Jess. Please. If you do this one thing for me, I'll do anything. I'll stop gambling. I'll go to church. I'll do anything.”

  Bruno was staring at him, a big sick smile on his face. “Tell him 'please,' Joe.”

  “Please,” said Abelli. “Please save my Jess.”

  “Now say amen.”

  “Amen.”

  “Maybe this was all just part of God's divine plan,” said Bruno. “I'll tell you what. I'll shoot one more arrow. Just one. And if it misses her again, the game is over, you two go home and we never talk about any of this again. How does that sound? You'll still owe me the money, but you'll pay it from now on. How does that sound, Joe?”

  Abelli managed, “Please…Bruno…”

  Bruno looked at Jess, crying hard now. “We're almost done here, kiddo. It's okay. God's coming to save you now. He'll be here in a minute. I'm sure he's just stuck in traffic or something.”

  He raised the bow once more, steadying the arrow. He drew back the bowstring, and let it rip. The arrow zipped across the room, burying itself in the girl's throat. She made a loud gurgling sound and fell to the floor, writhing there.

  “No!” screamed Abelli. He tried to stand, but Dom knocked him back onto the ottoman.

  Bruno put down the bow, leaning it against the wall, and picked up his glass, nonchalantly taking a drink. He walked towards the dying girl. He stood over her. “It looks like you crapped out. Sorry, kid, I guess God was busy today. I don't think he's coming. But hey, Jess, I need you to remember one thing, just one little thing. Your father did this to you. He's the reason you're dying now. So if you see St. Peter up there, which I very much doubt is gonna happen—probably you'll just be gone—I want you to tell him what a piece of garbage Joe Abelli was. You tell him that, okay?”

  Abelli wailed, whimpered, and sobbed, unable to touch his little girl, alive, for the last time, let alone save her.

  Bruno looked at him. “Dom, Pino, I want you to bury Joe here alive. You guys get a casket and put him in there. Not some rinky dink wooden box, but an actual factual casket. Then what I want you to do is put some bottles of water in there for him. Maybe five or six, so he'll stay alive for a while. He'll want to die, but he'll end up drinking that water.”

  “Please, Bruno,” said Abelli.

  Bruno ignored his pleas. “Then you take his daughter's body and put it in there on top of him. That way, when he fights death and tries to stay alive, he'll have to eat her flesh. He'll still die, but he'll fight it for as long as he can. And whatever you do, don't let him have anything sharp in there that he can use to try to kill himself. No keys, no nothing. Just water and his dead kid. That's it.” He looked at Joe, grinning. “Sorry, buddy, you gotta suffer this one out.”

  “I'll get you, you son of a bitch!” Joe spat. “You haven't heard the last of me!”

  Bruno sneered. “Unless someone brings a Ouija board to the party, I'm pretty sure I've heard all I'm gonna hear from you. Take care, Joe. Bon apetite!”

  Five

  Partners In Crime

  Brooks stared at Lefty, hanging on his every word. After Lefty had concluded the story by telling him about Bruno burying Abelli with his eleven-year-old daughter, he asked, “Is that true?”

  “As far as I know it is.”

  “How do you know?”

  “I don't really, but there are lots of those stories. Really bad, really dark, sadistic stories about the guy torturing and hurting people with a big fat stupid grin plastered across his mug. Those stories are as common as liars in the White House. I've been hearing them for years, and I don't even fuck around in Detroit. The guy is infamous for that shit. So yeah, I believe it. Can I prove it, or do I know it to one-hundred-percent be a fact? No, but obviously the guy is terrible. He's got a two million dollar contract on his head. You don't get a contract that big unless you've done something to really piss somebody off.”

  “I'm sure you're right,” said Brooks, taking another sip of his coffee. “But it sounds ridiculous. It's one of those stories that's so perfect that it almost has to be made up.”

  “I don't think it is, though.”

  “I don't either,” said Brooks. “He sounds like a swell guy.”

  “I'm glad I don't work in Detroit.”

  Brooks looked at him. “But you wanna start now?”

  “I wouldn't mind tangling with him as much when he's staring down the barrel of my Glock,” said Lefty. “I think that's the only way you can deal with a snake like that. Anything other than that, you're setting yourself up to be buried in a hole and eating your dead kid.”

  “Christ,” said Brooks. “That story, it's really something.”

  “It's impressively gruesome.”

  “A guy like that, he's got it coming. Killing someone like him is just doing the world a service. That's a humanitarian effort, done for the good of the universe.”

  Lefty nodded. “I think you're right.”

  “I've decided.”

  Lefty perked up.

  “I'll do it,” said Broo
ks. “I'll do it just for the pleasure of taking out a piece of shit like that.” He looked at the younger hitman. “But that doesn't mean I don't want my share of the money, so don't go making plans on what you're gonna do with it.”

  Lefty grinned. “I figured as much.”

  “I'll do it,” said Brooks, “but only on one condition.”

  “There's a condition?”

  “There's a condition.”

  “Okay, what is it?”

  “I wanna bring someone else in on this.”

  This caught Lefty offguard. He stiffened. “Who?”

  “My old partner. I owe her, and I figure this would repay her. Also, she's the second best hitter I ever worked with. Your old man was the first, but she's a close second.”

  Lefty's eyes narrowed. “Who is this person, Brooks?”

  “My ex-wife, Dixie.”

  “Let me get this straight,” said Lefty. “You wanna bring your ex-wife?”

  Brooks nodded. “We could use the help.”

  Lefty mulled it over. “You sure about this?”

  “It's the only way I'll do it.” Brooks looked at him, his expression a serious one. “I'm sure you can handle it without me, but if you want me on this, she comes with us.”

  “I wasn't prepared for a third person.”

  “Well, I wasn't prepared for you to show up on my doorstep asking me to go to Detroit to kill the son of a mob boss, but here you are. Not wanting a thing, or not being prepared for it, that doesn't change it from happening.”

  “That's how it is?”

  Brooks nodded solemnly. “That's how it is.”

  “And she's good?”

  “She's better than good,” said Brooks. “Dixie's the best there is now that Spook is gone.”

  “Is she better than you?”

  Brooks grinned. “Let's not get carried away. She's good, but…”

  “But not as good as you?”

  “I don't brag. I'm a pretty humble guy, but sometimes when you're good at a thing it's okay to acknowledge it. It's not being cocky if it's true.”