by Ws Greer
When he sees me, he looks afraid at first, but he pushes it away and tries to toughen up.
“You’re not gonna do it,” he says. “If you were gonna do it, you would’ve done it already, motherfucker. You need one of your goons to do it for you.”
I let him finish, then I smile.
“You don’t know me very well, and I’d hate for you to get the wrong impression, so it’s important that I’m honest with you,” I say, as I grin and tighten my grip on the pistol. “The truth is, Abram, you died the day we met. Now, we’re just making it official.”
I squeeze the trigger and smile at the sight of blood spurting out of his stomach. He tries to scream, but the pain is too much, so all he can do is inhale and try to clutch his belly. When he reaches for the wound, I pull the trigger again, sending another bullet through his hand. This time he does scream, and I don’t want him to make Alannah too uncomfortable with all that noise, so I pull the trigger again. Another bullet tears into his body and finds a home in his lung, stealing his breath away. The pistol kicks one last time as I fire another round into Abram Baskov’s forehead. Blood splatters across the hardwood and starts to pool underneath his body, just as his lungs release their last bit of air and life.
He’s gone.
After another minute, I hear the bedroom door being opened, and Alannah walks back into the room. She looks down at Abram, but only for a second as she realizes it’s actually over. I don’t know what to expect from her, but to my surprise, she walks over and wraps her arms around my waist. I drop the gun on the floor and hold her close as she lays her head on my chest.
“Now what do we do?” she asks as she lays on me like she’s trying to listen to my heartbeat.
“You don’t have to do anything,” I answer. “I’m gonna clean this up, and it’s gonna be over. I just gotta make a phone call.”
“Okay,” is all she says as she goes to sit on the couch and I grab my cellphone.
I dial up Skinny Joe and Charlie first, then I call Frankie so I can tell him it’s over. He doesn’t say too much, but I can tell he’s finally satisfied with something I’ve done. He even volunteers two of his guys from his crew to help Joe and Charlie get rid of Abram’s body.
When they show up, I let them in so they can get to work. They bring in plastic and supplies to clean up the mess, while Alannah and I pack a bag for her so she can come stay with me at River City until she’s ready to come back to the apartment. It might be a while, though. Seeing a dead man in your living room tends to have long-term effects.
We leave and let the guys take care of the mess, and once we’re at River City, Alannah and I take an hour-long shower together after she works her nursing magic on my gunshot wound. The bullet went through and through, so she cleaned up the wound and bandaged me up real nice. We don’t say much after that, and I can see she’s trying to wash the image of Abram’s lifeless body out of her memory. I understand it may take a while, and I’ll be here to support her if she needs me. The same way she wanted to be there for me when my father died. I’ll be whatever she needs me to be.
Once we’re clean, we lay in my bed and hold each other. I don’t need her to say anything. The fact that she accepted what had to be done says enough for me. It takes a special kind of woman to accept a man like me, and to accept the things I have to do in my “line of work”. Alannah is no ordinary woman. She’s special, and she’s mine.
I never needed another reason to love and trust Alannah, but she gave me a million more reasons tonight. The bond we share is unbreakable now.
We’re in this.
Together.
Dominic
Alannah never mentions Abram. She never asks what the guys did with his body, or how they did such a great job cleaning up the mess in her living room. She never asks me how I feel about it, and I never ask her. It’s over, and everything goes back to normal. At this point, she probably doesn’t even believe there’s such a thing as normal for me, and that’s fine, because the most important thing is that she has accepted it. So, as I drive her to Mercy Hospital after two days of privacy and separation from the rest of the world, I find comfort in her comfort. She’s able to believe she can relax and let her guard down now. We have a real shot at happiness now that the drama is over. At least, that’s how she sees it.
I know better.
There’s always drama in Our Thing. I haven’t gone back to the hospital to see Tommy yet, because I didn’t want to risk seeing Frankie and starting up a whole new dramatic scene for the people in the waiting area. I do know, however, that Tommy made it out of surgery just fine. The docs at Mercy did a great job removing the bullets from his back, and he woke up from surgery yesterday. He’ll be in the hospital for a few more days, so I plan to go see him since I’m taking Alannah to Mercy anyway. I don’t know if Frankie is going to be there or not, but Tommy’s my guy, and I’ve got to go see him. So, I’m just hoping everything stays as cool as Alannah believes it is.
“You nervous?” Alannah asks as I park my BMW. She looks better now, if that’s possible. Her face doesn’t carry as much stress as it did when the Abram thing was going on. Even with her hair in a bun and the purple scrubs, my Alannah is untouchable. She’s perfection.
“Umm, no, not really,” I reply, although I’m not sure if I’m telling the truth or not. “I don’t have a reason to be nervous, I guess. I’m just glad I can tell him the guy who shot him is gone for good.”
“Yeah, that’ll be good for him to hear, and it’ll be good for you guys to talk. I’m sure he wants to see you.”
“Yeah, I’m sure.”
As we walk inside, I’m not sure what the hell Tommy might be thinking. The guys in my crew know I killed Abram, and I’m sure they told Tommy, but this shit with Frankie makes things a little murkier. When there’s a beef with the boss—or the acting boss, in this case—The Family always chooses the side of the boss. So, if you’re on the other side of that, the people you trust most could be the ones to put a bullet in the back of your head. That’s the life we live in La Cosa Nostra. It doesn’t make sense to anybody but us, but it’s our way of life. We love each other, and we hope to make money together, but we kill each other.
Alannah and I walk into the hospital together, but I make sure no one sees us holding hands. After what we just went through with Abram, I don’t need anybody else seeing us and thinking they can use her as leverage against me. What I love about Alannah is that when I told her public displays of affection might be a bad idea, she didn’t snap at me about it. She understood. I guess being tied to a chair because someone saw us together is enough to convince anybody.
I walk Alannah to the nurse’s station, and I tell her goodbye and that I’ll see her when she gets off. We kissed in the car, so we don’t do it here. In fact, we barely look at each other as I walk away. Better safe than sorry.
I walk down the hall with my hands in the pockets of my black suit, looking far ahead at the end of the hall to see if I can see anyone from The Family. Skinny Joe told me what room Tommy was in, so when I get close to it, I’m surprised I don’t see anyone around. I told Skinny I was going to be here around this time, so I’m a little confused as to why no one else is here, not even Skinny Joe or Charlie. Tommy’s room is completely unguarded, which I guess is because Abram’s dead now, so they figure the threat’s gone. I guess that makes sense; but why isn’t anybody else with Tommy?
I make it to the room and glance inside to see him. He looks normal, honestly. There aren’t any tubes sticking out of his mouth, and there’s no machine breathing for him, and he’s not surrounded by doctors with clipboards and stethoscopes. That’s all good, because it means he’s doing okay. He’s out of the woods and just waiting for time to pass so he can recover, so I feel good when I walk in to find his eyes open and a smile on his face.
“Look what the fucking cat drug in,” he says, grinning from ear to ear. “How you doing, Dominic?”
“I’m fine, man, but I ain’t worr
ied about me, I’m worried about you,” I reply as I lean over to give him a hug, making sure not to handle him too roughly. “How you feeling, paisan?”
“Well, aside from the two holes in my fucking back, I’m doing alright. I’m ready to get the fuck outta here, I tell you that much. I heard you caught up to that Abram motherfucker.”
I pull a chair from the corner of the room and take a seat next to Tommy’s bed with a smile pulling at my lips.
“Fucking right,” I reply. “It was crazy how it happened, but it happened. He’s gone.”
Tommy’s face doesn’t seem as happy as I expected it to be. I figured the other guys would tell him about Abram’s demise, but I expected him to seem more grateful. His face goes blank as he looks at me, then it shifts to something else entirely. He seems pissed, and I’m confused.
“What’s the matter, Tommy?” I ask, never the one to wait for an explanation for something like this.
“Why’d you kill him, Dominic?” Tommy asks. He looks me in the eye and doesn’t look away.
“What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean. Why’d you kill Abram?”
“I killed him for a lot of reasons, Tommy,” I try to explain, as the realization that I’m unsure of the answer dawns on me.
“Where’d you kill him?” Tommy asks, and I know where this is going now.
“At Alannah’s house.”
“Right, so did you kill him because he shot me, or because he shot at you, or because he threatened your girl?
I want to answer, but I’m not sure of what the truth is, so the words never come out.
“Frankie seems to think the only reason you killed Abram, is because he went over your girl’s house and tied her up. He thinks it had nothing to do with avenging me.”
“Fuck that,” I interrupt. “I don’t know what Frankie’s deal is with Alannah, man. He never liked that I was spending time with her, even though you have a fiancé, and every capo has a wife, including him. I don’t understand why he’s so bothered by me seeing her, but it doesn’t even matter, Tommy. You and I both know I wanted Abram dead before I started spending time with Alannah.”
“Do I know that?” he chimes in. “As far as I can remember, you saw Alannah right after we left the sit down with Abram. It was on the same day.”
“Oh come on, Tommy. I sent you to go see Alex before I went on my first date with Alannah. Remember that? You know that’s the truth, so don’t let whatever Frankie’s saying get in your head. You know me, Tommy. I’ve always been all about The Family, and my relationship with Alannah has never affected that, and it won’t. I’ve known her since I was eleven, and I know I can trust her. So, there’s no need for all this drama. No matter how you look at it, Abram’s dead, and if we want to make a move to acquire Lumiere Place, we still can. This is a fucking win for us, so that’s all I’m focused on, and when you get back on your feet, it’s gonna be business as usual with us.”
Tommy knows me and I know him, so I can tell from the look on his face that he knows I’m telling the truth. The situation with Abram would’ve happened whether Alannah was in St. Louis or not. Her presence here only made things harder once Abram saw he could use her against me.
Tommy starts to nod his head, and his face finally starts to go back to the smile he had when I came in earlier.
“You’re right about that,” he says, still nodding. “You told me to set up the Alex thing before you went out with her. That’s true, but I’m telling you Dominic, Frankie wasn’t too happy about whatever conversation the two of you had the night I got shot.”
“I know, but you had just got shot. Tension and emotions were high that night, and shit got a little heated. I tried to apologize to him, but he wasn’t trying to hear it. In all honestly, he should be happy. He was on my ass about Abram still being alive, and I killed him that same night, so he should be good.”
“Well, he didn’t seem too good, according to Joe and Charlie. You might’ve pissed him off, so maybe it’s a good idea for you to go see him and fix it. You know Frankie’s got that temper, and the last thing I wanna see is you getting clipped over some dumb shit that worked itself out anyway.”
“Yeah, maybe you’re right,” I admit. “I should probably do it before he thinks I’m plotting against him or some shit, and definitely before they up him to boss officially.”
“Oh, speaking of the boss,” Tommy says, changing the subject. “Did you hear about Leo?”
“Nah, what about him?”
“He’s out on bail.”
“Oh yeah? When did this happen?”
“Yesterday, while you were snuggled up with your girl. It probably won’t be for long because they’re gonna go to trial real soon, but he’s out for now. He’s not supposed to have any communication with any known criminals, but you know Leo.”
“Yes, I do,” I say behind a chuckle.
“So, there’s a chance the decision about . . .” Tommy starts, but he’s cut off by the sound of someone entering the room behind me.
I turn around to see Big Sal Bagano and John Salvatore walking into the room. They both look pissed off in their black suits, and when they come in, they don’t say anything to Tommy at all. They just look at me like my presence here offends them.
“Hey there,” I say to them both. “Why the long faces, fellas?
Sal and John both glare at me in a way that would kill me if it were possible.
“What the fuck, guys. You ain’t got nothing to say?” Tommy asks from his bed.
“We need you to come with us, Dominic,” Sal says in response.
“What? Why would I need to go with you? I just got here.” I can feel my body starting to heat up by the second as my nerves kick in.
“You’ve been sent for,” Sal explains, and I feel my lungs freeze. I can barely breathe as the words repeat in my head.
I’ve been sent for.
In Our Thing, being sent for means somebody above you wants to see you, right now. So, you drop whatever it is you’re doing, and you take a ride with whoever was sent to come get you. In Our Thing, that ride could very well end up being your last ride. A lot of guys have pissed off the boss, or their captain, and got sent for so they could be killed immediately. All it would take is the okay from The Commission if the guy being killed is a made guy. So, if you piss off the acting boss, and he asks The Commission if it’s okay to clip you, and they give the go ahead . . . need I say more?
I turn around to look at Tommy, and I can see the fear in his eyes. He knows I made Frankie mad, and we all know you don’t want to make Frankie mad. But is Frankie willing to go this far over a woman he doesn’t even really know? Frankie never met Alannah all those years ago, so the only thing he knows about her is that I used to talk about her all the time when I was a kid. So, why would he be willing to clip me just because she’s back and we’re trying to be together again? It can’t be that fucking serious. Right?
“You know you gotta come with us, Dominic,” Big Sal persists.
“Wow. After all these years we’ve known each other,” I say to Sal, but he’s unmoving. He just looks at me with a “it’s just business” look on his face. “Alright, well at least let me go say bye to Alannah.”
“We can’t do that,” John Salvatore speaks up.
“You just gotta come with us, Dominic, and we gotta go now,” Sal says.
I look at Tommy one last time before pushing myself out of the chair. I take a deep breath and blow it out, then I walk out of the room.
Big Sal and John walk behind me, making sure I don’t try to run as they escort me out of the hospital. We walk across the street where Sal’s car is waiting, and they make me sit up front for the ride, with John sitting behind me. None of us speak a word as Sal cruises down the highway towards the heart of the city. I can tell we’re headed for The Lodge, but what I don’t know is whether I’ll live to see the outside of it once they take me in. I don’t know if this is my last car ride, or if I’ll ever see A
lannah again. If this means what I think it means, there’s a chance Alannah may never know what happened to me. They may never find my body at all, and she’ll be haunted for the rest of her life, wondering why I disappeared.
This is the life we live in Our Thing. Piss off the wrong guy, you get clipped. It’s something I’ve learned to accept, even though it’s fucked up. But that’s not the worst part of it. The worst part is knowing my life will end before I ever got the chance to live it with her.
Dominic
“Alright, let’s go.”
Big Sal has to remind me that we’ve arrived and it’s time to get out of his car. I sit there in the passenger seat, my breathing heavy and my nerves on high alert, feeling frozen. I can’t move. I don’t want to move. I’m not ready for whatever is waiting for me behind those doors. John has to open my door for me from the outside, and even then, I’m not still not ready.
Again, they walk behind me like guards escorting a prisoner, and with each step, I ask myself what I’m going to do when we get in there and I see Frankie waiting for me. Am I supposed to just lay down and let him put a bullet in my head? Do I not fight back out of respect of La Cosa Nostra and his title as acting boss? How can I possibly continue respecting This Thing of Ours if Leo and The Commission gave the okay for me to be clipped over my feelings for a woman who hasn’t broken any of our rules? The questions are many and the answers are few, and my heart can barely take it all. But when we push through the doors, it’s not just Frankie I see.
Inside, The Lodge is filled with every made member of the Giordano family. Every made member of Big Sal’s crew is seated on one side of the long glass table, every member of John Salvatore’s crew on the other. I even recognize the two made guys from Frankie’s crew at the back of the table, and seated in the middle of them, is Frankie Leonetti himself. He has the meanest face out of every man in this room, and when he sees me, he doesn’t even acknowledge that I’ve arrived. He doesn’t do or say anything.
