Associates

by S. W. Frank

  He started the car, cranked up the volume and rolled out. This was his joint playing. The damn song by T.I was a classic. Rihanna’s intro wafted through his head and he smiled. He loved some island girls. Rihanna was from Barbados. Yeah, island girls are hot!

  ‘You're gonna be a shining star,

  with fancy clothes, fancy car-ars…

  So live your life, ay ay ay.

  You steady chasing that paper…

  Aint got no time for no haters…Cause I'm a paper chaser…’

  Sergio leaned back as he drove. When T.I’s verse started, Sergio leaned forward over the steering wheel invisibly pulled into the lyrical flow.

  “Never mind what haters say, ignore them 'til they fade away.

  Amazing they ungrateful for after all the games I gave away…

  Consider them my protégé, homage I think they should pay.

  Instead of being gracious, they violate in a major way.

  I never been a hater still I love them, in a crazy way.

  Some say they sold the yay and no they couldn't even work on Labor Day.

  It aint that black and white, it has an area that's shaded grey…

  Some move away to make a way not move awaycause they afraid.

  I brought back to the hood and all you ever did was take away.

  I pray for patience but they make me wannamelt their face away.”

  Sergio drummed the steering wheel with his hands, totally pumped. Excited, he voiced aloud, “That’s right boy-e –go after the paper and live your life. That’s right. To hell with motherfucking haters who want to stop a brother from getting ahead. They aren’t giving shit to a brother except a headache!”

            

  ~

   

  Nico exited the Long Island Expressway, monitoring the rear view mirror like a hawk. There wasn’t anybody following, but he always checked to make sure. He and Ari’s song played. It’s a tune they danced to before their lives completely changed. It’s also the last time Ari saw her parents.

  He drove through the familiar suburbs of the Long Island community, eyeing the occasional jogger, dog walkers and gardeners with dispassion. These were their routines, something he never had. He didn’t feel envy or interest in their lives; in fact, he was an empty void of emotion unless it was family.

  Family is what he lived for. They were the people he cared for and protected; it’s also why he was there unannounced on a Friday afternoon.

  Ari’s parents lived in a community of healthy trees and manicured gardens. It’s a quiet suburb with clean streets and homes separated by natures’ demarcations. Here, there weren’t large fences or painted wooden gates. Residents knew their neighbors and the police by name.

  Nico signaled left on Harrington Road, slowed when he neared a broken yellow line and rolled across the lane onto a residential street lined with cute little homes. The Mattheson’s house was at the far end of the street, one of the bigger Colonial style structures. He pulled straight into the driveway facing the two car garage, shut down the engine and stepped out clutching the key.

  His long legs encased in dark cotton slacks reached the landing to the house and the door was opened before his finger touched the bell.

  “Nico, I can’t believe it. I was wondering who was pulling into my driveway. Oh goodness, you’ve surprised me again. Come here and give me a hug!”  Ari’s mother exclaimed.

  She didn’t need to ask. He’d always loved Ari’s mother. He embraced the small lady tightly and smiled as her husband appeared at her back. “Good afternoon Mr. Mattheson,” Nico said.

  “How are you Nico, how’s my little girl doing and them boys?”

  “They’re fine.”

  Mrs. Mattheson shut the door and Nico was shooed into the living room. “Come on, sit down. I’ll get you something to eat.”

  Nico never declined a good woman’s food. He accepted the hospitality and followed Mr. Mattheson into the nicely furnished sitting area.

  Peppered with gray around the edges of his hair and skin the color of Victorian mahogany, Mr. Mattheson was as formidable in his senior years as the day they first met. Ari had brought Nico home to meet her parents nearly seventeen years ago and he remembered the man’s probing questions as he tried to ascertain Nico’s romantic intentions. The shock on her father’s face when Ari said they were married was imprinted on Nico’s brain.

  Nico sat opposite his former father-in-law and they made eye contact. It’s Mr. Mattheson who initiated further communication. “Are you taking care of my little girl, son?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “It’s a sad time for me and the wife.  Not seeing our daughter or the grandkids isn’t easy.”

  “I understand.”

  “The morning the cops gave us the news we grieved. It was real; we weren’t acting. Letting go of our child is a pain close to death, you understand what I’m saying?”

  Nico’s eyes remained on the older man’s face. “Yes.”

  “This trouble or whatever it is my daughter got mixed up in doesn’t change how we feel. We love her Nico, she’s our baby girl!” the man said forcefully.

  Nico remained impassive. The ice thinned in his veins. “I know.”

  “We want to see our daughter and grandchildren. We’ve done everything you said, now do this for an old man, son.”

  Nico reached in his pocket and pulled out a brochure, with plane tickets tucked inside. “Your anniversary is coming around if I recall. “

  Mrs. Mattheson joined the pair and sat a plate of Caribbean food on the coffee table and handed Nico a knife and fork in a napkin. “Eat up and then we want to hear what we’re missing.”

  Nico nodded, taking the utensils and placing the travel documents in her hand. “I was just telling your husband, this is a gift for your anniversary.”

  The woman opened the brochure and examined the tickets. They were first class seats out of JFK next week to Paris and another scheduled flight after a three day lay over to Rome. The hotel brochure had an itinerary of events and something she had to read twice to believe. “Nico,” she said looking at him in awe, “is this what I think it is?”

  “Yes, we want you present for the birth. Everything’s arranged. Someone will contact you in Rome when it’s time and bring you to Ari.”

  Tears formed in the petite woman’s eyes. Ari in the seasoned days of life was Nico’s observation. A beautiful sight to behold and a picture of what his woman would later become.

  The woman looked at her husband and he rose to his feet to hug her. She was beside herself with joy. “Damn straight we’re coming son,” he answered for them both. “Now eat the food ‘because unless you’re in a hurry, we’re holding you here for a while, hopefully you’ll spend the night.”

  Nico chuckled. He dug in. No, he wasn’t in a hurry to go. Sure, he could stay longer. Why not? He missed these folks. These were the people who raised the awesome woman he loved.

  The first bite tasted so damn good, he ate with a grin. Goddamn take-out food could never contend with a home cooked meal prepared with patience and loving hands. That’s the secret in a recipe which is always missing in fast food chains.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

  CHAPTER SIX

   

   

   

  “I thought you quit?”

  “In life I did.” Alberti stood in the garden with a cigar clenched between his teeth. The twinkle of mirth in his eyes was a result of his nephews’ shocked expression. “Surprised, to see me Alfonzo?”

  “Hell yeah!”

  The elder man dipped his head,
trying to hide the grin. “You never liked when I visited, did you nephew?”

  “Your timing always sucked.”

  “I came when I was needed.”

  “Not always.”

  “Always.”

  “Am I to assume, you’re here because you’re needed?”

  “Logic is a wise man’s investigative tool.”

  “Your riddles are annoying.”

  “Riddles exercise the brain. They’re designed to spark the mind.”

  “Science and wordplay has never been my forté.”

  “Dually important.”

  The younger man shifted his weight to the other foot, crushing the black grass in the dream garden. “I miss you Uncle. I’ve become a pawn and you mastered chess.”

  A laugh escaped the man’s partially occupied mouth and the cigar twirled a bit as he took control of it with the corners of his teeth. “Why does death foster a confession and not life?”

  “That’s an unsolved riddle. I guess we aren’t as wise as we believe.”

  “When the mind is peaceful, enlightenment comes.”

  The grass became dirt beneath their feet. Other subtle changes to the landscape went ignored during the repartee. The healthy trees turned decrepit and skittering noises of insects gathered upon the earth, yet Alberti puffed as if they were not there. Then, a figure moved with the fog and took a place with the men. The familiar face received a lopsided grin from Alfonzo. “Vin, shit, it’s been too long…too long.”

  “It sure has young Luzo. How’s Sal doing?”

  “He misses you. We all do.”

  “And my brother, how’s he coping? I’m sure he blames himself.”

  Alfonzo frowned. “He’s holding it together.”

  “He didn’t pull the trigger.” Vincent’s shadowy essence turned to Alberti. “Babbo, have you told him?”

  “Told me what Uncle?”

  The smoke thickened. A multitude of shiny vermin the color of oily black filled the landscape, ascending from the legs of Alberti and his son. They scampered in earnest, over their necks, yet Alfonzo remained untouched.

  “Tell me what!” Alfonzo shouted louder as he reached to knock the creatures away. But, there were too many; they moved in haste to consume Vincent and scampered into the distance.

  Alberti’s cigar vanished and in its place black ooze flowed from his mouth. The timbre of his voice shook Alfonzo’s bones. “Death to the enemies of our family…Semira…love’s blood!”

  He too, was taken, devoured by pests a fraction of a human, yet in large numbers they reached thesky. In the blackness Alfonzo stood with ahollowness death leaves the living. It barreled him out to an emotionless cask.

  He stood alone in the dark, unfeeling and unaware blood pooled around his feet. The pestilence returned and took Alfonzo down.

  “Alfonzo, primo…..Alfonzo…oh my goodness…wake-up!”

  Grogginess held Alfonzo’s face to the pillow. Sleep was determined to stick around. The dream rattled him to the core and he experienced a strange wakefulness which bordered on relief. One eye opened and he grumbled when he saw the face attached to the grating voice. “Hell no, not you.”

  “Humph, buenos tarde, tambien, primo.”

  Jessica hovered over the bed with an irritable expression and he wondered what the hell she was pissed about. The right side of his mouth talked to the pillow. “Coño, why you waking me chica, I had a hard night?” The swirling mist of fatigue retreated; cognitive functions returned and he sat forward to massage the heaviness from his eyeballs. “Why are you in here with your loud mouth, prima?”

  “Selange and I have a spa appointment. Are you going to help Emilio with the kids ‘cause Anita went grocery shopping and I’m not leaving Emilio downstairs alone with no help –and that bitchy housekeeper whatever her name is better not say shit to my daughter. You guys can take care of the kids for a couple of hours for us. We do the shit every day, your turn!”

  Oh, he was wide awake now!

  Alfonzo didn’t like her tone. Hell, he never did. His cousin’s acerbic comment rubbed him the wrong way. Maybe, she thought he was Emilio; chica had the shit completely wrong. “¿Quién carajo hablas, prima?”

  She immediately piped down. “I’ve been looking forward to this day for weeks. They give these mineral treatments and whatnot. Plus, it’s a long waiting list and if we miss our appointment or we’re late we’ll have to reschedule and wait another month. C’mon primo, hurry, por favore. Selange’s trying to back out because she said you’re tired and she’s not waking you. Do this for me Alfonzo, por favore!”

  He kicked his legs down to the floor. “I don’t need to hear the whole damn textbook. Desaparecenconlabocagrande and let me put clothes on.”

  She whooped. “I love you primo. Mwah!” And planted a kiss on his cheek. “You’re the shit!”

  The second she was gone, Alfonzo rolled his neck and then dropped to the floor to do push-up claps until his arms burned. What did the dream mean, he questioned the entire time during his routine, even when he showered and dressed. It wasn’t until he joined Emilio downstairs the nightmarish vision without answers got pushed aside to survey the utter mess.

  The women were gone. Emilio was outnumbered by the little ones and they scampered around unchecked. Sal emerged from the kitchen with a sandwich and sat at the table. Allie bossed around her cousin and younger siblings, exercising control which Emilio, the adult –lacked. Alfonzo surveyed the chaos and loved every goddamn minute of it, because he saw the future in their innocent faces. Life, love and hope are what they symbolized. Frankly, he needed more of it.

  “What’s up Alfonzo?” Emilio asked with the look of a man overwhelmed.

  “Nada," he answered. “Too much for you, eh?”

  “No, not really.”

  Alfonzo strolled past the sofa where Emilio planted his ass and took the head of an action figure out of Vincent’s mouth. “No this isn’t food. That’s why your rump had a tummy ache last night, nino.”

  “Mommy fed us already, he’s not hungry, he’s greedy like Sal!” Allie volunteered.

  Alfonzo’s eyebrow ascended into a sharp vertical line. He hadn’t asked if they ate. Damn girl liked to hear the sound of her voice, which isn’t a trait inherited from her parents; Aunt Carmen or Jessica perhaps, but damn sure not from her grandmother. “Bueno, Allie but I didn’t ask you any of that, did I?” he replied as he strolled past. He placed the bitten plastic action figure on the table along the way to the kitchen, and took a second to rustle Sal’s curly mop. “Hey, hijo.”

  “What’s up dad?”

  “Somebody needs a cut. Me –you –barber –manana.”

  “El domingo?”

  “Sí, on Sunday,” Alfonzo said over his shoulder from the kitchen where he scanned the note attached to the stainless steel fridge. It had a lipstick kiss and the words:I KNOW YOU’RE HUNGRY. I HAVE YOU COVERED. CHECK THE FRIDGE. LOVE YOU & THANKS HONEY. 

  Alfonzo smirked, thanks for what, isn’t this what fathers do? Shit, his wife never had to thank him for watching their children. There’s nothing laudable in doing what father’s should.

  He found a sealed container with another post-it with his name on it and lifted the lid.  Inside he found carne frita con cebolla y plantains.

  ‘Damn right I’m hungry and thank –you babe for hooking me up!’

  Once he plopped the food in the microwave he removed a bottle of water from the top shelf and guzzled it down before the timer beeped.

  With utensils in hand he took a seat at the opposite end of the sofa from Emilio and started to eat. He observed Allie reading her favorite book to the captive child audience and snickered quietly at the bossy niña. He chewed the beefsteak and onions, swallowed and suspended his fork over his unfinished meal to ask Emilio a question, “I could use a driver on Monday. Do you think your precious business can spare you a day or two?”

  Emilio’s face lit up and his posture impr
oved. “Heck yeah.”

  “Bueno. Be ready tomorrow around midnight and I’ll pick you.”

  “Alright.”

  Alfonzo nodded and resumed eating. The poor dude needed a break. Alfonzo scoffed, he had sympathy for any man who lived with Jessica. The girl possessed a mouth which could wake the dead. Frankly, with so much stress on her mandible he’s surprised the chica didn’t suffer from TMJ.

   

   

   

   

   

   

  CHAPTER SEVEN

   

   

   

  Giuseppe waited in the dark facing the door. Gee sat obediently at his feet with his head on his front paws. The bambino was with his Nonna for the night and he had not asked Shanda’s permission because she refused to answer her cell. This was the second time she disappeared. Somehow she managed to elude his guards and traipse about without security and tonight he sought to bring this reckless behavior to an end.

  His cell rung and he answered. “Sí.”

  “Lei è qui capo.” The bodyguard informed him via phone.

  “Buona.”

  He waited. The rise and fall of his massive chest were the only movement in the stillness. The games of seduction were a separate matter than those of the family business. The daughter of the polizei did not understand her actions had become a matter of concern for the entire clan. If allowed to roam freely she may become abducted or worse. Enemies walked among friends and he trusted no one outside his family. The ambitions of Timpico were making men speak boldly of dissent. Just today, he sent a Tenente to remind Timpico to soften his rhetoric or his political career would end. This message was covertly delivered in a simple visit and a campaign donation of black roses which symbolized death.