by Frank, S. W.
“Jess, silencio!”
“I’m not scared of you. Shit, I’ll tell tia how you acting. She’s having fun and you blocking, porqué, jealous?”
Alfonzo seethed, his eyes flicked to his cousin, “Jess, you pushing the wrong buttons, niña. Cállate la boca!”
His murderous glare officially silenced her. She sucked her teeth then crossed her arms, the high heels dangling from her hand. Alfonzo was a bully. He knows he still loves Selange, why else would he get pissed because she was enjoying herself? If he wasn’t such a hard-ass, they could’ve kissed and made-up, but no, he wanted to flaunt women around to hurt her. Hell, Selange was not a bad person because she had an affair. Hornier, than Jessica thought, but not mean-spirited. Besides, what woman hadn’t thought about fucking Nico? Shit, she had at one point. It just so happens, Selange fell victim to temptation. Had her cousin been around instead of traveling and spending long hours at work, maybe she wouldn’t have.
Crazy Nicky and Lou stayed close to the couple. Lou recognized the potential for this to get ugly and inched even closer. They were out in public and anything his boss did was certain to find its way on the internet or the news. His boss hardly lost his cool out in public, but this tempest with his ex-wife had reached a boiling point and Lou was afraid somebody might get hurt.
“Don’t tell her to shut-up, you’re not her father. Talk if you want Jess. He’s accustomed to bossing people around and getting what he wants and if he doesn’t…” Selange poked out her breasts and pouted, “baby has a temper-tantrum…isn’t that right?”
Alfonzo might’ve laughed under different circumstances, but tonight wasn’t one of them. Alfonzo took a deep breath, “You’re making a fool out of yourself, go home to the kids and don’t drink anymore it’s unattractive on you.”
“But when you do it, it’s what, attractive? Go to hell!”
His eyes narrowed. His body straightened into a sharp vertical line. She talked reckless. His mandible clicked at the sound of Jessica laughing like a hyena, egging her on. “Hell is where you sent me or have you forgotten?” This wasn’t Selange. “Go home, get some coffee, you need it!”
“Home?” Her eyes were shining. She’d turned from an angry drunk to a whimpering one. “We had a home. You and me. We were a family and you left!”
His words were spoken in Spanish. The sentences were quick and explosive. “You cheated on me goddammit!” He took one step and stood directly in front of the intoxicated woman. “Yes, we sure did have a home but you screwed another man like a trick and broke it down. You have the audacity to stand here pointing the finger at me!” The words were coming between clenched teeth and he snarled, he was so goddamn pissed. “You fucking killed me and sent me to hell, do you understand that mujer, when will you ever understand what you did to me?”
Liquor releases inhibitions and uncensored thoughts, Selange’s came out with a fury. She faced Alfonzo down Brooklyn style outside the upscale restaurant. It didn’t matter she stood an entire foot shorter or lacked large fists. Her weapon was truth and it often annihilated the hardest of men. “I cheated. You’ve screamed it to the world. My wife committed adultery and I’m a victim, boo-hoo-hoo! But how many times did you cheat on me you sonovabitch? Oh, is that shock and indignation I see on your face? Good! You knew I was a good wife. I held down our home and you fucked around on me, but you can’t admit it. Yes, I know about the after party at the club. I heard it got wild, you were a stud with the ladies. Puerto Rico is a small island, word gets around. People talk. Oh, and what about the trips? The guys talk, too. Women aren’t the only ones who gossip. Let me fill you in Mr. Macho, men gossip, too. Oh yeah, then, there’s Kiki, who knows how many times you might’ve hit that, then the woman you stayed the night with, but, oh hey, it’s cool because Alfonzo loves his wife. You said you loved me but you lied every time you kissed a woman. I never lied. I loved you and respected you and would never hurt you. But, then I got tired of being lonely and wondering if I were enough to keep you faithful!” She held one finger in the air, “Once, I admit I screwed-up. Not with random people, not like some dog in a back alley, I had an affair with Nico! My friend and someone who’s been there for me when I cried over you, when I thought you were my life and without you I’d die. Nico was there when you weren’t. I didn’t lie when I made love to him. I cared about him and he cared about me. I didn’t cheat; I played your game, except I wasn’t a master player like you. You can screw around without discretion and not even justify it. You’re a man, it’s expected. A woman makes a choice and does it once…yes…even once, she’s a trick, an adulterer, ostracized and her whore husband in his righteous indignation can’t forgive her. I got pregnant and you threw me away like garbage and moved on to the next soft hole.” She took a step toward him unafraid and tilt her chin like a sergeant eye-balling a private, “Admit it. What irks you love of my life is, it wasn’t a one-night jump-off like the whores you’ve banged, you’re upset because Nico and I made love and we cared about each other and I got pregnant and kept his kids. Isn’t that the truth and what you can’t swallow, you fucking hypocrite?”
Alfonzo’s hand twitched forward, but big ass Lou instantly seized it, and put him in a tight bear hug. Crazy Nicky snatched Selange off her feet and swung her around behind him out of harm’s way. The damn woman went too far. His body was a barrier between the irate man and the woman with the sword of a mouth. Didn’t she know she’d slain him already?
Alfonzo was furious and pulling Lou forward, advancing with such rage, Crazy Nicky feared he’d kill the woman where she stood. His hand went out in front of Alfonzo’s chest to halt his progression. Lou had Alfonzo’s arm but the kid was still coming and that wasn’t good. Crazy Nicky’s voice was calm, trying to diffuse the situation. He was an animal trainer confronting a deadly lion. “Alfonzo, hey…simmer down. This is the mother of your kids. You guys loved each other once and it’s obvious you’re both hurtin’ but you can’t start hurtin’ each other. Think about Allie and Sal. Stop before it escalates. Don’t let the words cause you to harm their mother. You gotta’ walk away…cool down…y’hear me kid?”
Alfonzo thought about Domingo and what one strike in anger cost him in dignity. He wouldn’t strike his ex-wife. Damn, he wanted to slap the shit out of her for the trash pouring out of her loose mouth, but Nicky wasn’t crazy after-all. The man made a helluva lot of sense. If he touched Selange, he’d kill her. His anger was too great. His eyes bore into his ex-wife, wondering how the hell they got here and saddened by the fact she believed she wasn’t enough, when she’d been that and more. “Get her the hell out of here Nicky!” He thrust the glittery purse with the gun inside at the man, “Take her and my trouble-making cousin home!” He hissed, then shouldered out of Lou’s hold and hurried inside the restaurant. He had to get far away from Selange right now, she was nothing but poison disguised as an innocent drink.
CHAPTER FOUR
Three hours in a toy store. How the hell can you do that? Nico glanced at his watch then over to his tall son’s jockeying for another chance at sampling the latest video game. Whatever, the heck they were nowadays. There were other boys around the console, probably the same age, but his boys hovered over them like beanstalks. Their dark complexions and even darker hair caused them to stand out amongst the pale, light hair boys. Their Sicilian blood ran deep. Nico smiled when a pair of much older girls sashayed to the group, whispering and giggling to each other, their eyes on the twins. Of course, his boys didn’t see it, they were engrossed in a make-believe killing game and from the looks of it, Aaron ruled.
Nico hung back with the bags, betting one of the girl’s would make a move. Girls were bolder at that age. They were less inhibited and he wondered why this changed when they reached maturity. There were other parents on the outskirts; some even disappeared to finish shopping. Nico took the opportunity to make a long distance call.
“Hello?”
“Hey, it’s me.”
“Wow, I thought the p
lanet absorbed you. How’s the world?”
“Still spinning on its axis and yours?”
“Being struck by meteorites.”
“Everything okay, Selange?”
“Yeah, just have a nasty hang-over.”
He laughed at her, “Hang-over…you…that’s a first.”
“I know. Jessica and I went out last night. I’m paying for it.”
“Did you have fun?”
“I did, until a guy decided to crash our girl hour.”
“What happened?” Nico’s eyes were on the girl in the blue sweater. She was moving in. She was close to Aaron, smiling, then she said something and he turned in annoyance.
“It’s no biggie. The drama’s squashed. Hey, enough about me. When are you coming for an official visit, the babies are growing and you’re missing it?”
“I’m missing a lot of things,” he answered. “I can’t give an exact date but I hope to see you guys soon. Do you need anything?”
“A dad’s presence is all a child really needs from time to time.”
Nico smirked. Boy, did Aaron look pissed. The girl made him lose the game. Another kid slid in the seat and Aaron walked away followed by Darren. They were talking, making faces as they headed in their father’s direction. “Listen, I gotta’ go but I’ll call when I’m on my way. Take care sweetheart and kiss the twins.”
“Alright, bye.”
Nico shoved the cell in his pocket and waited for the boy’s. They stopped in front of him. They were already at his chin. Aaron spoke first, “Stupid girl messed me up.”
“She was only trying to be nice. What’s the matter, you don’t like girls?” Darren teased.
Aaron took offense, “You asshole, I got a girlfriend. You’re the one who hasn’t dipped your stick in honey yet!” Then they were wrestling, right there in the crowded toy store. Nico let them go at it. Fuck it, they had to learn to solve their own problems, some time.
“No horsing around in the store!” Security shouted.
“Yeah, no horsing around in the store,” Nico chuckled. “Come on guys, let’s get the hell out of here before you break something.” He said grabbing Aaron by the collar and shoving him forward. “And what’s this about you having a girlfriend big-guy?”
“Come on dad, I’m in high school.”
His brother volunteered the information, “They’ve been going out for three months.”
The trio walked down Fifth Avenue toward Fifty-Ninth Street and the subway station. There were ‘oh they’re so cute’ smiles from women as they passed, which Nico ignored. He was accustomed to the superficial attention. “How long you been putting your stick in honey, son?”
“Dad, stop with the questions.”
“When you’re a grown man and not relying on your parents for financial support then I’ll stop, how about that? Now answer the fucking question.”
“Not long.”
“How long is not long, a week, a month, what?”
“Two months.”
Nico frowned. “Does your mom know about this girlfriend?”
They were jogging down the steps to the R train. “She knows I have a girlfriend.”
“Are you using protection, boy?”
The noise of trains rumbling in and out of the station muffled the boy’s answer, but Nico’s mouth clenched tightly when he heard, “Of course, I am dad. Do you think I’m like you?”
****
Alfonzo climbed out of the car, briefcase in hand, phone in the other as he talked to Sal. He received a call from his son and the boy didn’t sound right. He hadn’t gone by the house in two days after the argument with Selange. He spoke to the kids every day, though. Whatever, was troubling Sal must be something big. “So, how was school today?”
“Ah, not so fun.”
Lou opened the door to the house and Alfonzo nodded his thanks then slipped in, “School’s not all about fun. It’s to learn remember, the fun is what you have when you’re out of school, got that?” He sat his briefcase atop the coffee table and flopped on the sofa, listening intently.
“Yeah, I got it.”
He loosened the silk tie and kicked off his shoes, wiggling his toes. “Hijo, come on, straight talk with the old man. What’s wrong?”
"Alright. Promise you won’t get mad.”
Alfonzo sat forward, put his feet flat on the floor and gave the boy his rapt attention, “Salvatore, nah I won’t get mad.”
“Promise.”
“Promise, now shoot.”
“Okay, this boy at school said you're a bad man, is that true?"
Whoa, that kind of took him by surprise. “Have you seen me do bad things?"
"No,” the boy paused as he thought then said, “wait -yes when you cheated at chess."
Alfonzo chuckled, yeah, that’s bad, but he didn’t cheat anymore. "Do I do good things, though?"
"Yes, all the time."
"Then, Sal in your eyes do you think your dad’s a bad man?"
"No!” The boy said forcefully. “That kid at school doesn't know what he's talking about!"
"That’s right, he doesn’t. Don’t ever concern yourself with what people who don't know me say. What you think and how you feel about your old man is all that matters, comprende, hijo?"
"Si, papi. I love you."
"I love you back, hijo. Tell you what, how about you come with me to the gym and you get to box your old man in the face and pretend I’m that kid, huh?”
“Word?”
“Cómo no!”
“After that can we go to McDonald’s?”
“Sí!”
“Yes!”
He could picture the boy balling up his fist and yanking his arm back in victory. “Okay give me half an hour, make sure you tell your mom I’m coming. Wear sweats, está bien!”
“Whoo-hoo, okay, bye!”
Maybe, this is what Selange wanted to avoid by home-schooling their son. He hadn’t thought kids that young were concerned with adult nonsense. Apparently, he was wrong. It seemed whoever the boy’s parents were had a strong opinion about him and weren’t afraid to voice it around the boy. Usually, children mimic adults, so it wasn’t the kids fault. “Damn,” Alfonzo scoffed. He hadn’t planned on doing anything except relaxing this evening. The drama with Selange was still on his mind and now Sal. Trouble pound at him from every direction, didn’t it? Yes, and more trouble lay on the horizon. Alfonzo stood, elongated his spine and exhaled before reaching for his briefcase. Once it came to his children, he delved into his energy reserves. No energy drink was needed; a father’s love provided enough adrenalin. There’d never come a time when he was too tired for his children. He saw this situation with Sal as a perfect opportunity to intercede in what could become the beginning of many life challenges the boy would encounter. Bullying, mean kids, peer pressure and all that shit, Alfonzo endured without his old man to talk to. What a difference it might’ve made if he had. Instead, he became a cold-ass thug in the process and every now and then the anger flared. Lately, he’d beat out his frustration on punching bags, but sometimes he wanted to feel the impact of his knuckled on another man’s face. He pictured Nico every goddamn time. He’d be home if it wasn’t for that sonovabitch. But, hey, it’s done and there’s a kid who needing a dad. There’s no way he’d allow Sal to navigate life crap alone. Nope!
CHAPTER FIVE
The poker game ended. Roberto owed the house ten thousand euros. He put on his jacket and shrugged. “Nobody’s lucky all the time Giuseppe, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re cheating.”
Giuseppe dismissed the comment, “Where are you going, have another drink?”
“Ah, it’s late. I’ve drank enough.”
Giuseppe rolled his shoulders. The stinging to his upper torso grew irritating. How Alfonzo suffered through the annoyance, he’d never know. The tattoo on Giuseppe went from shoulder to shoulder. They were words, a phrase he found poignant. His father had it inked in the same area. He decided to pay homage to the
man. Forever, this mark will follow him, straight to the grave. He wanted to feel pain tonight, because it would pain him immensely to say good-bye to his friend. “Good-night. Next week I will take more of your money.”
“I will have my own cards next time.”
“Eh, but it will suggest you do not trust me. We’re friends and trust is all we have, no?”
A strange expression crossed Roberto’s face. It faded as he waved and exited. Giuseppe stood, removed his jacket from the back of his chair and walked leisurely out the back door to the club. People will witness Roberto leaving alone as planned. Giuseppe on the other-hand if anyone questioned remained in the club.
At the back stairs he met-up with three of his henchmen and they entered the car waiting behind the building. The night darkened to a thick blackness thanks to the absence of the moon. The men did not speak, Giuseppe preferred silence tonight. He watched the black alley and soon a set of headlights passed. Their vehicle moved forward and onto the desolate street. They remained far behind Roberto’s vehicle, pursuit was not part of the plan, besides the route the car traveled was a familiar one. Roberto had to take one street. This street ran between an industrial building and a market, which was closed at this hour.
They were not far from it and in five minutes would reach the assigned spot for the ambush. The quiet made it easier to discern the sounds ahead.
What he listened for echoed aloud. Squealing tires alert the driver to speed forward. They reached the area and Giuseppe pushed open the back door and rushed to Roberto’s sports car boxed between a pair of waste removal trucks. His father’s waste management business made getting rid of garbage a pleasant breeze. There were guns pointed from every angle at the man sitting inside. Roberto was yanked out the vehicle and his mouth clamped shut by the hand of one of the men. Another quickly searched him for chest to foot for weapons and wires. The watch was snatched off Roberto’s wrist and held up for Giuseppe to see. Giuseppe made his presence known and walked around one of the trucks into view of Roberto. He stopped inches from his friend and in Roberto’s eyes he saw regret.
