by Ws Greer
“Hey, we don’t have time for this shit,” Frankie interrupts. “We made the score, now it’s time to go. Wrap it up.”
Right on cue, everybody starts moving. Frankie shuts the door in the back, Stephano climbs into the driver seat of the truck, and the rest of us run towards the cars that are hidden in the darkness up the road. My father hits the driver in the back of the head with the gun, knocking him out, and we leave him there in the darkness.
Once we’re back in the car and driving away, my father can no longer hold in his excitement about how things just went down.
“Holy shit, this is huge!” he exclaims. “Did you see how much shit was in the back of that truck?”
“Fucking beautiful,” Frankie agrees. “You know what else was beautiful? Fucking Boy Wonder back there. Did you see him kick the shit out of that guy?”
“Oh my fucking god, I know! What did I tell you?” Dad yells.
“He’s a fucking natural, Donnie,” Frankie says, turning back in his seat to look at me. I smile, because I don’t know what else to do.
“You did real good back there, Dominic,” my father says, looking at me in the rearview mirror as he drives. “Real fucking good. I’m proud of you. You hear me?”
“I hear you,” I answer, still smiling. “Thanks, Dad.”
“Fucking Boy Wonder,” Frankie says again, still looking at me and shaking his head like he can’t believe it. “Congratulations on your first score, kid.”
Alannah
I get to the bench before Dominic does today. It’s not as beautiful outside as it normally is. Maybe that’s my subconscious making it seem worse than it actually is, I don’t know. I feel nervous. Anxious, even. On one hand I’m excited, on the other hand, I feel terrified and I don’t even know why. I have no reason to fear Dominic. Other people might, but not me. Yet, as I place my back pack on the ground in front of me, I feel like he’s about to be upset with me, and these days, nobody wants Dominic Collazo to be upset with them.
I hear the door to the school slam behind me, and I know it’s him. My heart quickens and I have to make myself breathe or I might not do it right. I hear his footsteps because he’s big and he walks heavy. Even his walk is intimidating. He sits down across from me and smiles, so I smile back to keep it light.
“Hey,” he says.
“Hi.”
“Why you looking so nervous?” he asks, so I know I already messed up the smiling part.
“I don’t know. I’m not nervous.” That’s a lie.
He chuckles a little. “Okay. So, you said you wanted to talk to me, and now I come out here and you look like you’re about to get the electric chair. You’re making me nervous. What’s up, Alannah?”
“Nothing’s up, really. How was your day?” I ask, stalling.
“My day was fine, but you ask me about my day all the time and you never look this nervous. Your note said you needed to talk to me, so just get to it, crazy.”
He’s being playful and smiling, so maybe this will go better than I thought.
“Okay, so I need to tell you something,” I begin. Dominic puts his big arms on the table and leans forward to listen. “Do you know Bobby Pistone?”
He twists his mouth and looks down, thinking.
“Bobby Pistone. Oh yeah, Bobby Pistone. Tall eighth grader on the basketball team, really skinny, blonde hair.”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t really associate myself with guys on the basketball team, so I don’t really know the guy, but I know who he is. What about him? Did he do something to you? He say some shit to you?”
“No, no, it’s nothing like that,” I reply, making sure I clarify. I don’t want Dominic to get the wrong impression or it could be a problem for Bobby.
“Okay, so what about him, then?”
“Well, I have, like, five classes with Bobby, so we see each other all the time.” He nods, and now that I’ve started, my heart is going crazy. “He’s always looking at me and stuff, and kind of flirting, and I guess I was kind of flirting back a little. He’s always making jokes. He’s really funny. I bet you’d like him if you guys got to know each other. Umm, anyway, so me and Bobby were talking in third period today, and he told me he really liked me. I was super nervous, but I told him I kind of liked him, too. And umm, he kind of asked me out this morning. I mean, I was beyond nervous because nobody has ever asked me out before. I’ve never had a boyfriend or anything like that. So, anyway, I said I’d go out with him. I told him yes. So, I guess Bobby is kind of, like, my boyfriend now. Or something.”
Dominic doesn’t respond, and his eyes drop down to the table between us. He’s completely silent and it’s making me feel bad, so I have to keep talking.
“I wanted you to be the first person to know,” I continue, but he doesn’t look up. “You’re my closest friend, and we tell each other everything, so I wanted you to know this.” He still doesn’t look up at me. “Dominic?”
He takes a minute and it looks like he’s trying to gather his thoughts. He stays silent, and the only sound is our breathing and the rush of the wind around us. Of course, today would be the day our parents are slow to arrive.
After two minutes of silence, Dominic finally moves. He reaches down and grabs his back pack off the ground and places it on the table. He starts reaching inside of it like he’s looking for something, until he finally pulls out a little white box and places it on the table in front of me. He slides the box over until it hits me in the chest, and then he stands up.
“I got this for you a couple of days ago,” he says, looking at the box instead of me. “I meant to give it to you and talk to you about some stuff, but I couldn’t quite bring myself to do it. Guess it’s too late.”
I look down at the box. “What’s this?”
“It’s an iPod. I got it from Best Buy a couple of days ago.”
“You got me an iPod? Wow, aren’t these expensive?”
“Yeah, I guess so. Just take it, it’s yours. I’ll talk to you later.” Dominic hoists his back pack over his shoulder and walks away, never making eye contact with me.
“Dominic, what are you doing? You have to wait for your ride,” I plead, but as soon as I finish, I see his mother’s car driving towards the parking lot.
Dominic walks to the road and waves her down. He climbs into the passenger seat, and they drive away without him ever looking back at me.
As I watch them go, I feel like I just messed something up—like an opportunity has been missed. Something about it feels wrong, but Dominic and I are strong, so no matter how wrong it feels, I know we’re strong enough to survive it.
Alannah
You ever get the feeling something bad is about to happen? It’s like a little warning inside of your heart that tells you to watch out, because everything is about to go wrong and you need to be prepared. Well, that’s how I feel waking up this morning. It’s in my stomach like a cancer waiting to be discovered—it hasn’t been officially diagnosed yet, but you can feel it eating away at you from the inside.
There are rumors about Dominic now. Over the past couple of years, the kids in school have been drawing their own conclusions about what he and his father do to make all the money they obviously have. Donnie Collazo has had a different car every year, and Dominic is one of the best dressed kids in school now. Not to mention the fact that he seems to have every electronic device known to man. Last year, he gave me a new iPod before that version was even available for purchase. Kids are nosy, so when a guy goes from being normal to being picked up and dropped off at school by Italian guys that look like they’d have no problem slitting someone’s throat, people talk, and since Dominic and I are best friends, they talk to me.
I spend a lot of my time trying to convince people that Dominic’s father is simply a casino business man. I say that because that’s what Dominic tells me to say. Apparently, a year or so ago, Donnie Collazo became part owner of River City Casino & Hotel and started making big bucks. Around the same time,
all these news reports and newspaper articles started popping up about potential organized crime going on in downtown St. Louis, and the FBI started looking into it, but they didn’t have anything solid yet. Even my father started complaining about Italians coming in downtown and running big businesses. The next thing I knew, there were rumors and stories about people going missing and being beaten up inside the casino by people who looked like they worked there. There was even one story about a young Italian kid helping to cut off some guy’s pinkie finger for trying to pocket chips at River City. Once that story started spreading, everyone thought it was Dominic. His level of respect went through the roof. Anyone who was brave enough—or dumb enough—to disrespect him when we were younger, wouldn’t dream of doing it now. Teachers respect Dominic Collazo. The principal talks to Dominic like he’s the president. Everyone believes that he’s somehow connected to this wave of Italians downtown, but they don’t know for sure.
I do.
The best thing about my relationship with Dominic is that we tell each other everything. It’s been four years since we met, and we get closer every single year. Even through the few boyfriends I’ve had—all of whom Dominic has despised—and the few girls he’s been interested in, he and I are still close. That closeness brings honesty.
And trust.
And secrets.
We’re best friends, so when Dominic told me he got the new iPod from Best Buy, I knew he didn’t mean he bought it. He didn’t come right out and say it, but I understood what he meant, and he knew I knew it. When he took me out to dinner after we graduated eighth grade and paid for it with a wad of cash that was nearly too thick to fit into his pocket, I didn’t think twice about it. When I asked him about the pinkie story and he grinned like The Grinch without saying a word, I knew it was true. When he bought me a watch for my fifteenth birthday that was nicer than anything my mother has ever owned, I just smiled and accepted it—and hid it from my parents, of course. Dominic has never said the words mafia or mob to me, but it’s been implied enough times for me to know, and I don’t care.
Our relationship is complicated. The truth is, the things I know about Dominic only make me like him more. I love that I know things about him that other people wish they knew. From the very beginning, Dominic has done nothing but make me feel safe and special. He’s the reason I’m the only popular girl in school who doesn’t have rumors being spread about her. Nobody talks about me behind my back, and guys wouldn’t dare disrespect me like they do other girls in the school. Like I’ve always said, nobody wants to be on Dominic Collazo’s bad side. Dominic goes out of his way to make sure I’m taken care of, and he’s been doing it since the day we met, so I would never break the bond we have. I’d never betray his trust, and he’d never break my heart.
A few guys have come and gone, but Dominic has always been there. Even though I think I’ve always known the way he feels about me, he’s always supported me when it has come to dating. He’d do his best to convince me he wasn’t upset about anything, but when I got a new boyfriend, I could always tell it was killing him inside. I just never thought of Dominic in that way.
Until this year.
The Dominic Collazo I met in fifth grade is not the same Dominic Collazo I know now. Dominic is five-nine, about a hundred-sixty pounds, and he doesn’t have an ounce of fat on his body. He has the most beautiful lips I’ve ever seen, and his incoming facial hair makes him the most gorgeous thing roaming the halls of East Belleville High School. Girls fall over each other trying to catch a glimpse of Dominic, and the rumors of his mafia ties make him the bad boy they all wish they had. But Dominic doesn’t pay any of them any mind. His way of thinking isn’t anything like other guys in high school. It’s like he’s already an adult. I mean, he basically is. He’s working with his dad, he’s making money, and from what he tells me, he even helps his mom with some of her bills—although their relationship has soured over the past couple of years. When he walks into the school, the other guys become little boys. He’s bigger, more confident, and more mature than all of them. To these high school girls, Dominic is like the big, sexy guy who graduated and went on to college, except he didn’t. He’s a freshman just like me, but it’s like he’s from another planet, and it takes everything in me to ignore how I feel about him now. We’ve always been friends, and even though I’ve always known how he feels about me, I’m worried that my feelings towards him will somehow ruin what we have, and I couldn’t handle it if that happened. I need Dominic in my life, and I can’t risk what we have by crossing that line. So, as I walk down the stairs for breakfast, I ignore thoughts about what it’d be like to go to homecoming with Dominic instead of the guy I’m actually going with.
“Good morning, sweetie,” my father says when I reach the kitchen. To my surprise, my mother is sitting at the table. Usually, she’s gone by now, but she’s wearing her scrubs, so I know she’ll be leaving soon.
I grab a box of cereal out of one cabinet and go to reach for a bowl in another.
“Good morning,” I reply. “Surprised you’re still here, Mom.”
“Yeah, I’m getting ready to go in a bit,” she replies. “I told them I’d be late this morning. There’s something me and your father need to talk to you about before I go, though.”
The look on her face worries me. She’s scrunching her forehead and glancing back and forth between my father and me.
“Okay, what’s up?” I ask as I pour my Froot Loops into the bowl.
“Umm, well I have some news,” my dad chimes in. “It’s about my job.” When I don’t reply, he’s just spits it out. “I got orders last night.”
I set the box of cereal on the counter and turn around so I can face them.
“You got orders?”
“Yeah.”
“So, we’re moving?” I ask, even though I already know. That’s what getting orders means in the Air Force. The military is making us move to another base.
“Yes,” my dad answers, looking at the floor. My parents know how much I love living here.
“When is this supposed to happen? And to where?” I press, feeling hot all over.
“We have a couple of months left,” Dad answers. “And it’s to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. In Anchorage.”
“Alaska?” I snap, making my mother jump. “We’re moving to Alaska? Are you freaking kidding me? A couple of months? That’s insane!” I feel tears already starting to sting my eyes.
“I know, sweetie. It’s a little short notice, but you’ll still be able to go to homecoming, at least,” my mother says, trying to show me the silver lining.
“So what!” I snip. “I’ve been here since the fifth grade. All my friends are here. Dominic is here!”
My parents glance at each other with that look they have when I mention Dominic. They’ve never liked him because of who his father is and the rumors that go around about them.
“I know, sweetheart, but you know this is how the military works,” my father reminds me. “We don’t stay in one place for too long. The good news is, we’ll be able to stay in Alaska long enough for you to graduate high school. You’ll be there your sophomore, junior, and senior year. So, you’ll have made plenty of friends by then. Graduation will still be awesome.”
“Stop it, Dad!” I yell. “It’s not about that. My whole life is here, and I don’t want to move to fucking Alaska!”
“Hey! You watch your mouth, young lady! Where do you get off talking like that?” my dad barks, but I don’t care. The tears are flowing and I’m too upset. I get up and stomp back up the stairs, leaving my parents and my bowl of cereal behind.
Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew this day would come. Now that it’s here, it feels worse than I ever imagined it would, and my head is filled with questions I don’t have answers to.
How can I just leave Belleville after all this time? And move to Alaska, of all places! Why now? Why does it have to be so soon? How am I supposed to prepare myself for this? How do I tell my
friends?
How do I tell Dominic?
It’s official. The cancer has been diagnosed, and everything’s about to change.
Dominic
“We’ve got a problem.”
My father looks at Frankie Leonetti like he’s definitely not in the mood to hear bad news, but Frankie presses on anyway.
“Sammy and his brother, Alfonse, are here,” Frankie says in my father’s ear. Dad looks over at the security monitors and sees the Cestone brothers standing outside his office with their arms folded, already defensive. This won’t be good.
“Fucking kids don’t learn, do they?” Dad replies as he pulls a cigar from his desk and lights it. “Let them in.”
We’re about to have drama, and that’s a shame because things have been going so well for us. My father finally got the promotion he was looking for, and he’s now a captain in the Giordano Family. He isn’t the guy he was before. He’s calmer now, more controlled. It probably has a lot to do with the fact that he’s in charge of a crew who takes care of most things for him, and now he can sit back and collect money from the casino.
My dad took my idea about taxing casinos and ran with it. It didn’t take long for him to pull strings and move in on the owner of River City. It started out just as a tax, but when the owner kept falling behind on his payments, my dad forced him out and became owner of the casino as a whole, so the money’s just pouring in. Most business is conducted from his office in River City, so the casino is almost like headquarters now, and Dad started making money at the perfect time. It came down to a decision between my dad and Frankie for who was going to be a captain, and the boss, Leo Capizzi, chose my father because he was the better earner. The casino money put him over the top. Now, Frankie works for my dad, and business couldn’t be better.
Everything has been running smooth for a long time now. The Giordano Family is making money all over St. Louis, and I’m developing a little reputation myself as an earner working for my dad. I’m fifteen years old and they’re still calling me Boy Wonder—which I fucking hate—but it’s not the name that matters, it’s the fact that I have a reputation already. Dad fronted me some money and taught me a thing or two about taxing and loan sharking, and even though I have to hide everything from my mother, it’s worth it. This is exactly the person I want to be. I love being a part of this family, and I love making this money. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. The small bit of attention we’ve gotten from the nosy ass FBI is nothing, because they don’t have shit on us. So, fuck the FBI, as my father would say.
