by Jolie Damman
Rage spread across his face suddenly, but he didn’t have even five seconds to react. My whole family opened fire on his, and they all dropped like flies. Tension was high from the very beginning, and the first one who opened fire here was always going to turn this into a mess.
It wasn’t a shootout. It was a massacre. Flashing lights illuminated the room, casting wild shadows as we continued to open holes in their bodies. Explosive sounds made me forget the shit I went through today because of Editta. What a bitch.
I shot one last time, and then silence fell upon the warehouse. My old man snapped his head back at me, and then gripped the collar of my shirt. We were about the same height and body size, but he, all of a sudden, made me frightened of him.
“What did I tell you before about obeying me?”
He wasn’t only shouting, he was spitting saliva right at my face.
He insisted, his eyes growing fiercer. He shook me wildly with his hand, trying to make me answer him.
I should have kept my eyes locked with his, but I actually… looked down. I noticed a smirk forming on his face. I really shouldn’t admit this again, but he was making me so frightened of him. I began to remember all the times he made me hate him, and those weren’t memories I wanted flashing in my mind right now.
“... That I need to obey every single thing you want of me, papa.”
His smirk widened. “That’s right, Basilio. I want to make you head of the family one day, but you can’t be the leader without knowing how to obey. I didn’t ask you to shoot them.”
“I hate Marzio. He was always going to die today.”
“Right, but that doesn’t give you the right to do anything without my permission.”
He shoved me off, but I didn’t stumble. His hand left my shirt wrinkled. Through the corner of my eye, I noticed Paolo as he smirked. Fucking bastard won again.
Everyone put their guns back in their waistbands, and then Paolo walked over to me. “You always let the old man down, Basilio.”
“Fuck off, asshole. I did what I had to.”
“Whatever you say,” he said before following the others out of the warehouse.
Nobody cared about the pile of bodies in front of me, and neither did I. But when I was going to turn to leave, in came rushing ahead none other than Editta. She finally came.
She was going to rush over to the pile of bodies, but I grabbed and held her to me. Her eyes locked with mine, and I said, “It was all your fault, sweetie. Don’t look at them.”
She began to punch my chest with the side of her fists, trying to let her leave. “Let me go! I need to see them! They are my family.”
“Were your family, sweetheart. Now, you only have me.”
My brother spoke all of a sudden from the entrance of the warehouse, “Damn, Basilio. You really are cold.”
I snapped my head to him and his annoying smirk. He turned and left.
I turned my attention back to Editta, who had now given up and was resting her head on my chest. I caressed the back of her head, feeling that soft hair and wishing she didn’t fuck everything up. For what other reason would I have gone there to drink?
“Shhhhh, Editta. It’s alright. I’m going to take care of you from now on.”
She began to cry and sob. It almost broke my heart, but then I remembered the pictures of her supposedly new boyfriend. Maybe she liked him, maybe she didn’t. Point was, I wasn’t going to believe her lies.
He was going to find out what I was like when people pissed me off.
Chapter 2
The Other Side
Basilio
Ipulled over the car and guided Editta to my home. I opened the front gate and stepped into the premises, taking in the smell of the night and feeling relieved. That was another issue I wouldn’t have to deal with. Her family was no more, but she was now calmer. Crying still, but better than before.
I was holding her hand when the front double door was opened all of a sudden. Out came running to me none other than the most precious kid of this world. He was just so cute and… innocent. Not innocent for very long, I corrected myself, but I was gonna keep him the way he was for as long as I could. I didn’t want my father’s influence rubbing off on him.
I picked him up, my hands on his armpits. I held him very close to me, allowing Editta to walk into the house and disappear. I would deal with her later. Just needed to make sure she knew her place.
“Hey, little one. How has it been?”
“Mom was reading a book to me, but I couldn’t sleep. I was waiting for you the whole night.”
He wasn’t my son, though I wished he was. His name was Duilio, and he was my sister’s son. He was such a precious thing to me. I was never going to let anything bad happen to him. He was my protected one.
“You know you need to sleep before midnight, Duilio. Your mom doesn’t like it when she has to stay up late.”
“I know.” He looked down in shame, but then snapped his back up with gleaming eyes. “But I’m gonna make it up for her, like you always do.”
I smirked. “That’s my boy.”
I put him back down on the ground, and he rushed back inside. His mom came out, and she had worried eyes on her face. Why was everyone looking so worried today? That was so annoying.
I walked over to her as she approached me. She held my hand in hers, and said, “I was worried about you the whole night. What happened?”
“Editta did. I’m gonna deal with her soon.”
She squeezed my hand more tightly. “Don’t do anything rash. Paolo told me that you killed her father.”
“Did he? I hope he didn’t forget the important bits.”
“Basilio, you need to think clearly about what is going on in your life. I am worried about you.”
“Worry about Duilio. I’m a grown man, Taziana.”
She let go of my hand and said, “Just think about what I said. Editta just lost everything today. I know what she did to you, but she is in pain right now.”
I settled my hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry. I love her still.”
Gloria
I couldn’t believe he bought me all these things! Just so many of them, and they were all mine. I was lucky to get my hands on these dresses and jewelry. My brother was such a nice man. I couldn’t be happier that I had him in my life. He made everything so much better.
“Hey, Gloria. Stop for a little bit. Let me catch my breath.”
I stopped and almost let my plastic bags slide off my fingers. His eyes shot wide. “You gotta be careful with them. If something happens to your clothes, you will walk out of here empty-handed.”
I smiled, and he smiled back. We could have our complicated moments, but he was still my big brother, and he protected me. Even now, in here, he was doing so.
He sat down on a bench inside the mall, and I sat down next to him. I breathed out, hard. “I got everything, but I still feel like getting more.”
“Gloria, you need to calm down. I know you like buying stuff, but I’m not your boyfriend.”
“Sometimes, I wished you were,” I said, giggling.
His eyes shot wide. “I know we are close, but not that close. Don’t say something like that again.”
I looked into his eyes. “How is she?”
“Who?”
“Editta. Your girlfriend. How is she doing?”
“Ohhhh…” he averted his gaze, looking elsewhere. The shopping mall was packed. “She is fine, I think. I haven’t heard from her since yesterday night.”
“Hmm, how strange. She is not sleeping with another boy, is she?”
“No, definitely not.” He gave me an incredulous face. “I believe her. I love her, and she loves me back.”
“You know, I know more about her than you do, and I’m not her boyfriend.”
He chuckled. “You are pulling my leg right now, and I’m not going to fall for it.”
“Well, if you say so.”
I looked inside another store, and some of
the items in it caught my attention. “Oh no, Gloria. You are not going to buy more dresses. You already have a wardrobe of them in your hands.”
I looked at my plastic bags, and I could see he wasn’t wrong, but I really, really needed that red dress. It was so beautiful. The stuff of dreams.
I smiled at him, and he facepalmed when I stood up and headed to the store. I left my bags on the bench I was sitting on, and I didn’t care one bit he now had to babysit them. I just had to get to that dress.
The attendant stopped in front of me and said, ‘Miss, you want to buy one of our dresses?”
Smiling and almost incapable of containing myself, I said, “Yes, that one.”
I pointed at it with my finger, and he took me to the dress. I picked it up and checked it. Up close, it looked even better. Its color was just so bright and intense. I had never worn something quite like this.
“Gloria, you could have at least taken some of the bags with you.”
Gino came into the store. The attendant’s eyes shot wide when he noticed how many bags Gino was taking with him. He gave him a half-smile, and I said, “I knew you could carry them all with you, Gino. You are a strong man.”
He gave me a funny look, like he knew I was joking. I turned my attention back to the attendant, who was still surprised by how many things I bought myself just today. I meant ‘just today’ because I was gonna buy more next week, and maybe even tomorrow too. I just loved buying stuff.
“I’m going to try this one now. Where is the changing room?”
“I’m going to take you to it, Miss,” he said and walked to another section of the store.
I winked at my big brother, and followed the attendant. He took me to a secluded area of the store and said, “You can change right in here.”
I smiled and before closing the curtain, I said, “Thanks. This won’t take long.”
I took off my shirt and pants, and then felt something strange. It was almost like a six sense or something like that was making me worried. I snapped my head back up and looked at the mirror in front of me. My heart skipped a beat when I found none other than... the same male attendant spying on me through a gap in the curtain!
I spun on my heels and screamed. I screamed as loud as I could.
The attendant’s eyes shot wide. “Oh shit!” He gasped before running away. I put my shirt and pants back on and jumped out of the cubicle, still feeling nervous.
When I got out of the changing cubicle, I found my big brother holding the man by the backside collar of his shirt. It was almost like a scene taken from a comic show, except that this was real life.
“You creepy son of a bitch. Is that something you’ve been doing your whole life here?”
“No, I swear I was only going to ask her if she liked the dress!”
The attendant still struggled, trying to free himself. But my brother wasn’t going to let him free unless he explained what he was doing, and his explanation needed to be a very convincing one.
I had my dress in my hand, and I wanted to try it on, but my attention was drawn to my brother and the creepy attendant who spies on women as they change their clothes in his store.
“You think I’m going to believe something like that? It’s bullshit.”
“I swear, man! I was only going to talk to her.”
Guards quickly showed up, dispersing the crowd that had gathered around them. My brother glanced at them and then let the attendant free, who stumbled and almost fell over.
One of the guards held him, much to his disappointment. “What are you doing? I work here. Put that man in a jail cell. He was assaulting me!”
“We saw what happened here, Mr. Palermo. You have a lot to explain to the boss.”
The guard began to take him elsewhere, and I was relieved. I almost thought he was going to walk free, as if nothing had happened. My brother breathed out and then walked to me.
“Are you okay?” He asked.
“Yes, I will be fine. I am never coming back here.”
“Well, that is your cue to end your shopping spree today and come back home with me.”
Chapter 3
A Brother Like No Other
Gloria
Gino parked the car in our garage, and we got out. He took my things to my bedroom, going to the doorway immediately after. I grabbed his hand and said, “Hey, thanks for helping me there today. I don’t know what my life would be like without you.”
He smirked. “It was nothing. I will protect you from anything and everyone.”
I smirked too, and let go of his hand. I watched as he walked down the stairs, and then began to try some of the things I bought. There were so many of them, and I barely had space for each item.
I had so many dresses now I would have to begin looking for excuses to wear them. I was just glad my dad didn’t bother spending this much money with me. “Everything to make my little princess happy,” he once said.
I smirked like an idiot speaking to herself as I continued to try on my new clothes. I had one I was looking for. A beautiful soft blue shirt, but that now I couldn’t find anywhere.
I searched and searched for it among the clothes I bought, but couldn’t find it. How weird. My brother wouldn’t have forgotten about it. Maybe I was the one who forgot it this time. I knew I was careless, but to the point of losing an item as precious as that one? Never.
But the more I searched for it among my clothes, the more I concluded that, indeed, it wasn’t here.
Oh Jesus, I had to talk to Gino.
I hurried out of my bedroom and shouted his name as loud as I could. He came rushing toward me from the kitchen, his eyes wide. “What is going on, Gloria? Did something happen?”
“Do you remember that soft blue shirt we bought from that big store?”
He looked up, thinking if he could remember which store I was talking about.
His eyes looked at me again, and he shook his head. “Sorry, I don’t remember what store you are talking about. I remember the shirt, but only because you made such a fuss about it.”
I smirked, despite the seriousness of the situation. “It’s not here with me.”
“Wait, are you saying you lost it?”
“.... I think I did. Or better yet, we did.”
“I didn’t forget anything. That shirt is yours. Look, I’m heading back there to see if I can find it, okay?”
I nodded my head frantically. “Thanks, Gino. I really want that shirt.”
He went to the door that led outside and said, “You really don’t remember which store you bought it from?”
“No, I don’t. I’m sorry.”
He shook his head in disapproval, and then got in the garage and drove out. I watched as he left in his car. In the meantime, I kept trying on my new clothes. I only lost that one shirt, but I really liked it.
Time passed, and Gino eventually got back. He parked the car back inside the garage, and then got out of it. I hurried to him and my heart leaped when I noticed his hand holding the shirt. It didn’t leap only because he found it, but also because it was dirty and looked as if people had been stepping on it for hours, which was probably what happened.
“I got the shirt. It was inside a store. I don’t remember if it was the one we bought it from. People were stepping on it this whole time without realizing what they were doing. I guess we should be thankful the shirt wasn’t robbed.”
He gave me the shirt, and I checked it for a couple of seconds before handing it back to him. “Put it in the washing machine. I am so sorry I made you go all the way back there for this.”
“It’s alright, Gloria. No need to feel bad about this.”
✽ ✽ ✽
Gloria
I grabbed my things and went to the swimming pool. I was so glad we had one inside our house. I didn’t have to go out in the backyard to swim and relax. Plus, the water was kept warm and it really was inviting. It looked so clear and ready for someone like me to spend a couple of minutes in it.
> The day was a stressful one, and I needed some much-needed minutes of relaxation.
I wore nothing more than a bikini, and I wished I could listen to some music here. But bringing a radio and a boom box would be such a pain in the ass I didn’t think it was worth it. I put my things down by the pool, and then slowly stepped into the water.
