by Eden Rose
I nodded and pulled my gun out to point at the three on the ground. With them being held at gun point, I was surprised that they didn’t try to make a move to kill me. Instead, they stayed silent. But they weren’t silent as the screams from Joel came filtering through the vents.
I could hear Pop as he dished out the beating that we all knew that Joel deserved. He’s been fucking around with Savannah and I’m even getting sick of it.
Yeah, I developed a crush on her while I was with her in Michigan but I knew never to act on it. Even though Pop and Savannah had a lot to work through, I knew for a fact that he wasn’t going to let her go easily. Hell, I didn’t want to let her go but I knew she wanted to be with him.
“Pop! I’m sorry. I will leave- umph!”
The sound of metal hitting flesh resounded through the warehouse and I found myself tensing up. This is the Pop that everyone forgets is in there. He’s so in love with Savannah but there’s evil deep inside and I know that it’s there.
“You think you can do all of this shit to my wife and not face the consequences for it? You are the biggest fucking retard ever!” Pop yelled and then hit him again. I’m pretty sure that Rossi is in there too with his signature baseball bat.
Slugger is known for carrying his bat with him when shit gets tough. Hell, he’s threatened to beat me with it once when I was checking Anne out. It’s not my fucking fault that she was bending over and I could see the outline of her pussy.
“I’m going to break every bone in your body and with each break- I want you to know that Savannah’s life is going to be that much better. You’re going to die alone and she’s going to be with someone who loves her. You are fucking nothing.”
I could hear the breaking of the bones as the smash resounded through the warehouse more. Two of the men, they are a bunch of nobodies, tried to get up to help but I held my gun trained. “You stay outta this unless you want to join him. You get me?” I growled. They both nodded very fast and sat back down.
With one final smash, I heard his body drop to the concrete with a thud. It’s done. All three of my brothers came out of the room covered in blood and were shaking their heads. Pop stopped right next to me with a satisfied smile. “End all of their lives. I’m sick of their fucking shit.”
I pulled the trigger and all of their bodies dropped to the floor with a satisfied thud. I watched them all drop in a heap and I smiled at this. One by one a small hole with red blood came streaming out.
Before we left, Pop and Slugger had me follow them into the warehouse. When I walked with them, I almost threw up in my mouth. There was blood splattered everywhere and Joel’s body lay lifeless and bent along the wall. I’m positive that a human body couldn’t bend the way that he is bent without severe manipulation.
It was then that I knew, Pop could never find out that I had a crush on his wife.
And it was then that I knew that he was one sick bastard.
“What are you talking about that Savannah is in the Hamptons? We have fucking been looking for her for two weeks!” I growl and pull out onto the highway.
Rossi growls back at me and I heard LaVinia in the background. “Vin Vin go see Van Van!” She giggled.
“Yes, Van Van!” Anne said and then said to me: “Find my friend!”
I hung up and broke about six traffic laws before I pulled into Pop’s beach house. The outside of it is beautiful and it looks pristine as always. Pop is known for liking blue and the front of his house is painted a light blue.
Savannah’s car is stranded in the driveway on a slant and I could hear Cherub’s bark. Quietly, I climb out of my car and pull my gun out. I had it ready to shoot in case something was happening that needed it.
When I got to the front door, I noticed that it was cracked open and I could smell a gross smell wafting through the crack. It smells as if it is burned food or something. I’m Italian- we appreciate food. And that smell is criminal.
“Savannah? Honey? Are you in here?” I croon through the door and push it open with the butt of my gun.
There is no sounds until I hear the scraping of nails on the floor. “Cherub?” I cheat and call for the dog.
The barking is loud and consistent in order for me to figure out where she is hiding. I know that she has to be here somewhere and I’m hoping that not one piece of hair on her head is harmed. I’m not going to be the one to tell Pop or Slugger about that one. Hell no.
Moving Joel’s body is similar to moving a bag of fucking garbage. It’s awkward and lumpy with no easy way to move it. I stuffed his broken and bent body into a black garbage bag that is bursting at the seams from all of the discombobulated bones.
The smell of rotten food takes me to their bedroom and the door is shut. “Savannah?” I ask and push on the door. It opens easily and I smell something disgusting as it wafts through my nose.
“Savannah?” I croon again and let myself into the room. She’s bent over in the corner of the room with her hair over her face. “Shit, honey!”
I run over to her and push her hair out of her face to check to see if she’s still alive. “Oh, shit, come on, baby.”
She’s got a pulse but barely and I pick up her body to throw her into the shower. Her damn dog is barking excessively and I have the sudden urge to shoot it.
Once I’ve thrown her into the water and turned the dial to cold, she sputters and looks at me. “Hey, beautiful,” I murmur and she stares at me with cold eyes.
“Leo… Where am I?” She whines and swipes the hair out of her eyes.
I take a minute to access her completely to make sure that she’s not been hurt or anything. The last thing I need is for Vincent to take off my fucking head for helping out his lady. “You are in the Hamptons. Care to tell me what you are doing here?” I ask and turn the water off. She shivers in the absence of it and I grab a bath sheet off the shelf.
Savannah lets me wrap it around her clothed body and I curse myself for getting a little hard as I do. This woman obviously doesn’t know the affect that she has on men. Especially fucking me. I’m going to die a death worse than Joel.
When she doesn’t answer me, I pick her up again and she’s perfectly malleable as she curls herself around me. “I wasn’t pregnant…” She murmurs against my neck.
“Honey, those things take time. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
I sit her on the bed and she curls around the pillow. “You don’t understand. I wanted a baby.” She’s crying pretty hard but I can still understand what she’s trying to say.
There is squealing of tires and I hear Cherub bark again. I rub my hands over my face as my patience slowly dissipates. Her fucking dog is driving me crazy.
“Cherub, come to mommy,” she whispers and her dog follows the command instantly. He wraps himself around her body and she murmurs.
“There’s going to be plenty of time for that happen, honey. Honestly, wait until he’s out of prison.” I’m trying to reason with her but I have a feeling that it’s not working very well.
There’s pounding of footsteps as they fly through the house. “Van Van!” LaVinia screams and her little feet come running.
I throw myself off the bed and stop her. She can’t see Savannah like this. That would be fucking horrible.
Anne
I pushed my way through the Hamptons’ home and stomp down the hallway. I see Leo guarding the door and my daughter is trying to push past him. No matter how much I try to understand why he is blocking the door, I’m getting pissed.
“Is she in there?” I question and pick up Vin. “It’s okay, baby,” I coo to her as she cries.
“Van Van!” She cries as she points to the room.
Leo shakes his head and points to the room. “She’s sick. I don’t know what happened, but I don’t think that it’s a good idea for her to go in there. I’m gonna go.”
He runs out of the house and pushes past Ronnie. “What the fuck was that about?” My husband questions and sidles himself up next me. “Com
e to daddy, baby,” he holds his hands out.
LaVinia is crying as she crawls up his body to wrap her arms around his neck. “Papa, Van Van!”
I shake my head and walk into the room. Instantly, I remember how devastated she was when she lost her baby with Joel. This has something to do with having a baby and I know that seeing my daughter won’t help her.
“Ronnie, can you please take LaVinia to the beach? I’m going to be a few.”
“Yes, darling. Come on, love bug. Let’s go see the ocean!”
My daughter squeals and makes wave sounds with her mouth.
I walk through the door and see her hair all over her face and she’s crying hard. “Vans, what’s going on?”
As I crawl into the bed, I push Cherub off the bed and wrap my arms around Savannah. “Kitten, how did I get here?” Her voice is soft and raspy and I can tell she’s lost weight since she went AWOL.
“You didn’t do anything wrong.”
Savannah
The doctor looked at the clipboard and then at me and winced. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Moretti. You are not pregnant.”
My world slowly shifted off kilter and I felt my heart beat faster and faster. “What do you mean?” There has to be some mistake. I know that I’m pregnant. My chest hurts and my period has been spotty. There is no way that I’m not pregnant. “Do another test.”
“No matter how many tests we do, we can’t create a baby that way.” The doctor is a male and obviously has never felt the pain of not having a baby.
I sit up and then point to the ultrasound machine. “Wave your wand over my stomach. You will see that you are wrong.” My voice has raised to higher decibels and I know that I’m losing it. Hell, I probably have already lost it. There is no way that I’m sane.
His balding head shakes but he walks out of the room and then back in with a female with him. She’s wearing a lab coat that covers her plump body but she’s an angel to me. There’s a baby in there and I’m going to see it.
“Mrs. Moretti, please lay back and we will take a look.”
I lay down on the cot and spread my legs a little bit. She pulls this thing out that looks like a dildo and spreads lube on it. “There’s going to be slight pressure but nothing that will hurt you. Just relax and this will be over before you know it.”
As I follow directions, I feel the cold metal pass through the lips of my sex and slide into me. It’s cold and hard. Highly uncomfortable no matter how much I relax. I look at the screen and see the insides of my womb. There’s nothing there that signifies a baby or no baby.
“What’s on the screen?” I whisper. I squint to try and see if there is some sign but there’s not. Tears well in my eyes as I face reality. There is no baby.
No baby in my womb.
“Mrs. Moretti, I’m sorry but-”
I shake my head and tears fall down my cheeks in a rough pattern. They are burning my cheeks and fall into the creases in my neck from straining my head. “There’s no baby. Is there?” I ask because I need confirmation that there is a baby in there.
There has to be a baby.
The tech shakes her head and then pulls the wand out of me. I wince with the loss of it and shudder.
They leave me alone to get dressed in peace and I do, numbly. I don’t want to talk to them and hear what they have to say.
Once I’m dressed, I let myself out of the doctor’s office and into my car. I hear them call me back in but I ignore it. I need to go home. No, what I need is Vincent. I need my husband.
*
My house is sterile and lonely. It doesn’t matter if I call Anne, Bethany or Annabeth over to keep me company, I’m alone. And I want my husband.
Quickly, I climb up my stairs and into my bedroom. Cherub’s nails clack against the tile of the foyer and he runs up the stairs to come in with me. I take a look at him and notice that he jumps on the bed. He’s been sleeping with me since Vincent went inside but he’s not my husband. He’s not an actual baby.
“Cherub, we’re leaving. Let’s get out of here.”
I pack my suitcase and look at him sprawled out on my bed. His big paws are in the air and he’s itching his back on my duvet. I love how his tongue is sticking out the side of his mouth. He’s so silly. “Cherub, you goon hound.”
Once I’ve stuffed an abundance of clothing into the case, I’m not sure what I have packed, but I zip it up. When the zipper gets half way around the suitcase, it doesn’t zip any further. I sit on top of it and finish zipping it the rest of the way.
“Come on, baby. Let’s go to the Hampton’s.”
*
The car ride is fast and easy since it’s late at night when I finally leave my house. I locked it up tight and left my cell phone on the table. Well, the one for the business. I’m not going to deal with work shit right now.
I’m going to have a fucking pity party and there’s no way someone is going to interrupt that.
No baby.
Really? I can’t believe it. I thought for sure that there was a baby in there. I’m heartbroken that there’s not one.
When we get to the beach house, I let Cherub outside so that he could run around and get some fresh air. We have taken him before so I know there is some dog stuff here like food and toys. I’m looking forward to being by myself more than I probably should but I can’t help it.
There is a small part of me that knows I should probably call Anne and tell her that I’m not going to be at work for a while. That part was out numbered by the part that doesn’t want my pity party to be interrupted.
*
I’m not sure how long I have been here but I know I’m running out of food and water. The water that comes out of the tap is disgusting and I’m not going to give it to Cherub to drink.
We have spent our time sitting on the freezing but empty beach and watching the waves. There are nights that we sleep out on the sand and I can’t help but miss Vincent.
If he were here, this wouldn’t have happened. I know that he would have found a way to give me what I want and would be out here with me. He would rub my back and neck while telling me how much he loves me.
But I’m alone.
The sky is vast and filled with clouds that cover the stars, but I try to make it out anyway. Cherub has stayed by my side this whole time and I’m happy that I don’t have to chase after him. If I had to, I want to say that I could catch him, but I don’t have the strength to do anything.
We are laying on a blanket and looking at the sky. My head is laying on his gut but he’s warm and doesn’t seem to have a problem with it.
I wish there was some way to get a message to Vincent to let him know that I want him to come home. Maybe if he made a deal or something they would let him come home to me. I’m not strong enough to be on the outside by myself. I need him.
Which is what scares me the most. I told him in the beginning that I didn’t want to be dependent on a man again and I’m so dependent on him it’s sickening. I wonder what he’s doing constantly and wonder if he’s thinking about me.
Does he know I’m gone? Probably by now. I’m thinking that Anne noticed it and has told Ronnie by now.
“Well, Cherub, are you ready to go back inside?” I ask the sleeping, lazy dog. He’s so lazy but I love him.
He doesn’t move until I roll off of his stomach and then he jumps up next to me. Once he is up, I pull the blanket off the sand and wrap it in a ball in my arms. I don’t want to bring sand into the house so I’m just going to leave it on the patio for the night. Well, until tomorrow night.
*
I cried myself to sleep again last night. This pity party has me so down that it’s scaring me. I don’t know how to get out of it but I’m so sad that I don’t have a baby. It’s not fair.
Why do other people get to have kids and I don’t? Was I a bad person in my past life? Did I make someone angry? I have done everything that someone is supposed to do. Went to college and married for love.
Yeah, Vincent’s care
er is unorthodox, but we love each other.
*
There’s banging on the door and I can’t seem to get out of bed in order to tell whomever is there to go to hell. My hair hurts on my head from the amount of booze that I drank last night. “Go away,” I murmur in defiance.
Who is ever there is persistent and is still knocking on the door very loudly. With absolutely zero motivation, I ignore them and burrow into my bed more.
