“You prick, you think you can set us up?” I said with a laugh.
“What are you idiots talking about?” Joey stammered, his eyes darted between us.
“You hurt me, Rob, and dad will kill you,” he added.
I saw Robert’s eyebrows rise in surprise and a smirk form on his lips.
“What do you think will happen when Joe finds out what you did? What will happen when he finds out you paid people to kill us? One of them still lives, Joey, only one, but what do you think will happen if he talks? You got three men killed that night,” Robert said, his voice low and deep.
It appeared Joey hadn’t bothered to find out what had actually happened, as the look on his face suggested it was news to him.
“No, you hadn’t thought that far ahead, had you, you fucking idiot? Are you that fucking dumb? Do you think you could threaten us, set us up, try to get us killed and then just walk away? And what’s more insulting is that you thought all we were worth was a kilo of coke.”
I smiled as Robert’s fist connected with Joey’s face; blood spurted from his broken nose. He covered his face as his bladder gave way and piss soaked the front of his pants. As he lay on his side I kicked him repeatedly, aiming for his kidney. He curled up in a ball trying to protect himself, but his eyes widened in fear as Robert knelt, grabbed his hair and with a knife, sliced through his eyebrow.
“Every time you touch that scar, every time you see it, you’ll be reminded of this night,” Robert told him.
We left him there sobbing on the dusty floor, crying for his mother and knowing he’d be pissing blood for the next few weeks. He would never forget what went on and, I hoped, would be constantly looking over his shoulder. We climbed back in the car and with the lights left off, drove away from the warehouse.
“Where did you get that idea?” I said as we hit the freeway.
“What idea?” Robert replied.
“The slice through the eyebrow. That’s the second time you’ve done that,” I said with a chuckle.
“Don’t know, maybe I saw it in a movie or something,” he replied.
“You’ve never watched a movie.”
He laughed. “Thought it might make a bit of an impact. You know, when you look in a mirror you look at your eyes first, that scar will be the first thing he sees every morning.”
“You, my friend, are a fucking genius,” I replied laughing. “Where to now?”
“The club, I need to fuck someone.”
With that, Robert settled back and we gunned it to the club just in time for closing. We walked in and I watched as Robert headed straight for Christy. He grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her back to the car. I motioned with my finger for Carly to join us. With a giggle she staggered after her friend - too much booze and high heels didn’t make walking easy for her, but it was entertaining for me.
We stopped at a liquor store to pick up a six pack before heading to the girls’ apartment. Carly giggled as we practically fell through her bedroom door, stripping off clothes as we did. I pulled her top over her head as she fumbled with her jeans, shaking her hips so they would fall. Grabbing the hem of my T-shirt she dragged it over my head before her hands ran down my chest to the top of my jeans. She popped the buttons and slid her hand in, freeing my cock from the confines of my tight shorts.
“Your mouth around my cock, now,” I said.
She did as she was told and fell to her knees, dragging my jeans and shorts to my ankles. I stepped out of them and wrapped my hands in her hair, guiding her. She had such soft lips and a hot mouth. Boy, she could suck. He mouth would tighten around my cock from the base to the tip as she rolled my balls in her hand.
I pulled her up by her hair, turned her around and pushed at her shoulders until she leant down onto the bed. I dragged her panties to her ankles and she stepped out of them. Holding her hips, I fucked her hard. Reaching around with my hand my fingers drew across her clitoris, so swollen and wet. I pinched and squeezed until she was screaming out my name. Her legs were shaking from her orgasm and her hair stuck to the sweat that had formed on her brow. I wasn’t done though. Letting her fall on the bed, I told her to roll on her back. I buried my face in her pussy, tasting her and lapping up her come.
Her hands gripped my head, she wrapped her legs around my shoulders and I felt her thighs quiver. She was close to coming again. I raised her hips, forcing my tongue deeper as she dug her fingernails into my scalp. Just before she came, I pulled my head away and moved up her body. Her legs slid from my shoulders to my waist and I slammed into her, fucking her as if it was the last time I ever would. Just as I was about to get my release I pulled out, my come pulsing onto her stomach.
A knock on the bedroom door startled us. “Bro, we need to go,” I heard Robert say.
Carly sighed. “Are you always at his beck and call?” she said.
“He’s my brother, if he has to go, I have to go,” I said as I rolled off the bed. I dressed and gave her a brief kiss before leaving.
Robert was waiting, alone, by the front door to the apartment. He didn’t look happy.
“You okay?” I asked.
“Sure, just need to get the fuck out of here.”
“What’s up? Christy didn’t want to suck your cock?” I said, laughing.
“Oh believe me, that girl had my cock every which way, I just can’t stand the pleading to stay that comes after,” he replied.
I was a little surprised. Until then the girls had understood it was just a casual fling, or so I thought. We never took them out, there was no need. We fucked them and maybe bought them a beer or two, but they wouldn’t get anything more from us. Neither of us was capable of an adult relationship and we didn’t want one. We were having fun, well, at least I was. It was impossible to tell about Robert.
We had only driven a short distance when the blue flashing lights of a cop car lit up the inside of ours.
“What do you want to do, bro?” I asked. If we’d been aware of their presence in time I probably could have outrun them.
“Pull over, let’s see what they want?”
I pulled the car to the kerb and waited. A cop tapped on my side window.
“Permit,” he said.
I handed it through the open window and he took a while studying it.
“Exist the car, slowly, both of you,” we were instructed.
Two police officers, who had obviously been waiting, gestured for us to get out of the car. As I did one of them grabbed me by the arm and slammed me face first on the hood. He pulled my arms behind my back and cuffed me. Robert and I looked over at each other; he gave a very slight nod of his head. Being picked up by the cops had always been his worst nightmare, but that nod told me he was okay. I wasn’t too worried, the police could do nothing to me, I was too old to be sent back to New York.
In silence they placed me into the back of a car, with Robert in another, and we were driven back to the station. The only thing I told them was my name and address as they booked me. Still cuffed, they marched me along a grey corridor. The walls, the floor, the metal doors to cells were all the same depressing colour. Apparently cheerfulness was not the look they were going for.
They released my wrists as they closed the cell door behind me. I rubbed at them, a little pissed at the unnecessary tightness of the cuffs. I could walk from one end of the cell to the other in four paces. Robert was going to freak - not that he was claustrophobic, but he hated confinement. I flipped the stained mattress against the wall, sat on the metal frame of the cot and waited. Eventually I was taken by a cop, again in silence, to an interview room. I sat and smiled at the sour-faced female guarding the door. He cheeks coloured a little.
A few minutes later she was replaced by one of the cops that had pulled us over, and his sidekick.
“Travis, my name is Detective Mallory…”
I cut him off. “Can you tell me why I’m being held here?”
“Joey Morietti has implicated you in a rather nasty assault,” he
replied.
I raised my eyebrows. “Really? And when did this assault take place?”
“Earlier this evening, the police were called to Sibley Memorial after he was admitted. It appears he has suffered some serious injuries. Know anything about that?”
“Not a thing, been at the club all night, want the address?”
After I had given him the address and he’d written it down, he handed it to the sidekick who left the room; the door was guarded once more by sourpuss. She kept her gaze firmly fixed to the wall above my head.
“Your friend, Robert, gives a different location for your whereabouts this evening,” he tried.
“Then he may have had one too many,” I replied.
“What can you tell me about Joey?”
“Not much, don’t really know him.”
“We know you work for his father,” came the response.
“Doesn’t mean I know who assaulted his son, if he has been assaulted, of course.”
“So what do you do for Guiseppi Morietti?” he asked.
“Collect rent, as I’m sure you already know. Now, shall we get back to the shocking news of his son? What happened to him?”
Detective Mallory stared at me, I gave him a smile. He reminded me of Goon, in fact, such was the resemblance they could have been related.
“Do you have a brother?” I asked.
“What? No, I don’t and I ask the questions here.” He was getting riled.
“Oh, it’s just that you remind me of someone.” I relaxed back in my chair.
A knock on the door interrupted our pleasant exchange. Sidekick bent his head low to Mallory, but wasn’t quiet enough for me not to overhear. They’d confirmed that we had been at the club all evening - I made a point to remember to give Dave, the manager, a ‘thank you’.
Mallory rose from his chair and left. I sat there and whistled to myself for what felt like an hour before I was informed I could leave. They thanked me for my co-operation and told me that, should they need to, the detectives would catch up with me if they had any further questions.
After gathering my watch and wallet I left the station to find Robert outside.
“Hey bro, you okay?” I said.
“Sure, let’s get a cab back to the car,” Robert replied.
We didn’t speak until we were back at the car and only after checking that the tail lights were still intact. I would have been pissed to find my car accidentally damaged, a reason we could be pulled over again.
“What did they ask you?” Robert said.
“About Joey, they wanted to know who had done him over. I told them we were at the club, and I guess they checked, but other than not too much else. Wanted to know what I did for Joe, though.”
“Mmm, same,” he replied.
I cranked up the radio and we drove back to the apartment.
****
A little over a month later, we came face to face with Joey again. Until that day we had been carrying on with business as usual, staying at the apartment in Columbia Heights. We enjoyed having a place to ourselves, but if we were to keep living together without fighting over it, I had to become a little more ‘house proud,’ as Robert called it.
We were sitting it the office and Robert was detailing his grand plan to Joe. Over the past couple of years Robert had decided that Joe’s businesses could be more profitable if they were legitimised. He had spent months writing down his plan, encouraging the guys to understand how it could work before calling a meeting with Joe to discuss it. Joe was getting on in age, and his health had started to deteriorate. Evelyn had encouraged him to see a doctor, but being the man he was, Joe had refused at first.
Our meeting was going well, Joe seemed keen and the guys looked impressed with Robert’s proposal. However, there was one issue that needed to be resolved.
“Joe, you know that night?” Robert said, there was no need for details, Joe understood.
“Yeah, Mack is still looking into that,” Joe replied.
Robert glanced over to me and gave a slight nod to his head. It was time to tell Joe the truth. Mack knew, we had confided in him some time ago, but because of Joe’s declining health, we didn’t want to add more stress to his life. But now it was important to cut Joey loose if we were to go ahead with the plan.
“Well, there’s no need. I know who set us up and I’ve dealt with him. He’ll walk around with a permanent reminder not to fuck with me,” Robert said.
The comment that our attacker would walk around with a ‘reminder’ for the rest of his life caused Joe to look up and stare at us. His face hardened but then sadness crept into his eyes. He knew.
“Joey, get the fuck in here,” Joe shouted, his face red with anger.
A very timid Joey entered the office, his eyes darting between his father and the rest of us. Joe jumped from his chair and strode towards his son. As he did he seemed to struggle for breath. Robert rose and stood by his side. There was a change in the atmosphere in the office. Robert towered over Joe, and when he placed his hand on his shoulder, Joe took a slight step back. It was noticeable and I saw the guys look at each other.
“Joey, what you did was wrong, and for what, jealousy? You can’t be trusted. You skim money off every collection you make, you’re stealing from your own father. And did you know, that the crack you sold to Macy’s son…, he died, Joey?” Robert said.
Joe looked sharply at Robert. Macy was a woman who lived nearby. When her pay check ran out she would borrow a little money, always paying it back on time and without any fuss. Joe was fond of her. She was a single mom trapped in a dead end job, just trying to make ends meet. We had kept the details of how her son died from Joe until we could prove it was the drugs Joey was peddling that had killed him.
“This is what’s going to happen, Joey. You’re going to leave, you’re no good to us. You want the drug business, you take it, but you will not peddle your shit on our streets. You get on with your life doing whatever the fuck you want, but if you so much as breathe a word about what you know, what has gone on here, I will fucking bury you,” Robert said.
Robert telling Joey that he was out of the family secured our future and informed everyone in the room that things had changed. There had been a shift in leadership. Robert had made a decision and his decision was final; he was now in charge. Joey didn’t take it well.
“Do you agree with this?” he shouted at his father. “Are you going to stand by and let him do this, take what’s mine? Listen to him, since when has he been in charge?”
Turning to Jonathan, Joey said, “You're the Consigliere, do your fucking job and advise. This is bullshit.”
“I work for your father, Joey, not you. Joe, Rob is right, you need to cut him loose,” Jonathan replied.
It was clear Joey had started to panic; his head swung from person to person, his eyes pleading for support.
“We can earn money, dad, lots of it. People want the drugs. You get them hooked and they have to come back for more. You’re letting him take this away from us and if you do that, you’re a spineless prick,” Joey said.
The tension in the air crackled as Robert took a step towards Joey. The guys looked nervously from him to Joe. Jonathan half stood as if to intervene then thought better of it.
“Dad, you don’t want this, you guys don’t want him running the family do you?” Joey said.
No one answered him.
“Joey, my son. You are my flesh and blood and I love you but, as Robert has said, you are a liability. I know what you do and it pains me in here,” Joe placed his hand over his heart.
“It pains me, Joey, that you think I am fucking stupid, blind and without ears. That shit you sell kills.”
Joey was panicking as he shouted back; he called his father a murderer, his sister a Saint, but when he accused Joe’s lifestyle killing his mother, that kicked it all off.
“Don’t you dare mention your mother. The cancer killed her,” Joe said. His breathing was rapid, the veins in his nec
k bulged and once again, he clutched at his heart.
“You are dangerously close to seeing how angry I can get. Your father loved your mother, she died from an illness,” Robert said in such a low voice it reverberated around the room.
“What the fuck would you know, huh? You think you’re his son, you’re nothing but a fucking street kid. You should be kissing his feet - he took you and that prick in,” Joey looked over to me as he finished his sentence.
I pushed myself off the desk and moved towards him, but as I did so Mack stood, blocking my way.
“Not here, not now,” he said to me.
Joey backed up a few steps closer to the door and pointing his finger he said, “You won’t get away with this.”
“I just did. Remember what I said that night, Joey. Now fuck off out of my sight before I change my mind and bury you now,” Robert replied.
Joey turned and walked away, slamming the door so hard the windows rattled in their frames. The only sound was a deep sigh from Joe, who seemed to have aged another ten years. Robert placed his hand on Joe’s arm and gestured for him to return to his desk. Halfway back across the room he paused. Joe looked at the desk, at the chair he had sat in for the past forty years. He looked between the guys that sat, still stunned after the exchange they had witnessed, and he shook his head. At that moment, that day, our future was sealed.
“Rob, you sit. You have the respect of everyone here, me included. I trust you to deal with this, I think it’s time for me to take a back seat. I’m tired,” he said. Joe left the office and Goon escorted him to his car.
There was silence for a few moments. Robert looked at each guy until they nodded their heads, their agreement that they were with him. He was the head of the family and they showed their respect by standing and hugging him with a kiss on both cheeks.
“So here’s what we are going to do,” Robert said, sitting in that chair, at the desk that was to become his. He addressed the guys who would then work for him and I looked at him with a smile. His plan had finally come together. He had made it, we had made it.
Travis: To accompany the Fallen Angel Series - A Mafia Romance Page 14
