Mean Little People

by Dearth, Paige

  “Not sure,” Salvatore began. “My father has been locked in his office all morning with Big Paulie and a couple of his captains. He said we need to stay here until they’re finished.”

  “Someday I wanna be one of the guys in there makin’ the decisions,” Vincent said.

  Tony nodded in agreement.

  “I guess we’ll see how it goes. I hope to take my father’s place one day, and you two can be my bitches,” Salvatore said, a cocky smile plastered on his face.

  “That’s real fuckin’ funny, Sal,” Tony said.

  “Don’t call me Sal.”

  “Oh hell, get a grip, Sally,” Tony replied.

  Salvatore gave Tony a grim look. “Keep that shit up and I’ll tell Kate what an asshole you are.”

  At the mere mention of Kate’s name, Tony smiled.

  “Speakin’ of broads,” Vincent said, “we’re makin’ some decent money now. Me and Sal here need to go out and impress some ladies. Sweep them off of their feet. I wanna find myself a nice girl, get her knocked up, buy a house, and have her wait on me hand and foot.”

  “You’re a Neanderthal,” Salvatore chided.

  “See, now why ya gotta talk so weird? Ya been talkin’ weird since the day we met ya wit’ all your fancy words and shit. Why can’t ya just talk like a normal human bein’?” Tony said.

  “I don’t talk weird. Maybe if either of you actually read a book, you might know what I’m talking about…”

  “Maybe we think you’re a Neanderthal,” Vincent joked.

  “Oh yeah? So tell me then, what’s a Neanderthal?”

  Tony and Vincent looked at each other with blank expressions.

  Salvatore took a bite of the toast sitting on the table in front of him. Then he picked up a napkin and wiped the crumbs from his mouth. “You’re like a fucking caveman, Vincent…that’s a Neanderthal.”

  “Oh, is that all it is? Why can’t ya just say that, ya momma’s boy?” Tony joked.

  Johnny interrupted the banter when he opened his office door and called for the boys to join them in the office.

  Tony entered the office last and stood with his back against the door.

  “We found out that we have a drug dealer from West Philly pushing drugs on our streets. We have seen our profits drop; our dealers have been buying a lot less from us. We had a couple of our men investigate. Turns out that a dickhead named Ice thinks he can come into our neighborhood and squeeze in on a part of our business. He clearly doesn’t understand who he is dealing with and that he will be stopped,” Johnny growled. He paused for a moment to make eye contact with each of them. “Took us some time, but we know where this fucker lives. You three need to get a move on and take care of this asshole. I want you to do this the right way. This will be a message to the pushers who betrayed our trust in them and bought from another supplier.”

  Salvatore quickly acknowledged that they would handle the job. Tony was quite impressed this unknown Ice dude had the balls to try and steal from the mob.

  In the early hours of the next morning, Vincent picked the lock on the back door of Ice’s partially boarded-up row home. The stench of meth and alcohol smacked Tony in the face. The putrid aroma wedged into his sinuses. The boys crept through the house, guns aimed in front of them, and walked into the battered living room.

  “What the fuck?” Ice said, awakened by the intrusion. The friend sitting next to him sat up on the edge of his chair with his hands slightly raised in the air.

  “What the fuck is right,” Tony said. “What the fuck were ya thinkin’, ya dirt bag? Did ya really think ya could sell drugs to our dealers and get away wit’ it?”

  Ice smirked and jerked his arm out toward his gun sitting on the table next to him. Before he could grab hold of it, Tony fired the first shot into Ice’s chest. Ice’s body slammed against the back of the sofa, sending foam and blood flying through the air. Then Salvatore pointed his gun at Ice’s friend and partner who was getting to his feet.

  Salvatore shot a bullet into Coal’s thigh and then he and Tony stepped closer. Tony took off his belt and turned his attention back to Ice, who was gasping for air. He slipped the belt around Ice’s neck. Tony tightened and held the belt in place as Ice’s eyes bulged from their sockets. The wound in his chest debilitated him, and he couldn’t fight against Tony’s overpowering strength. When Ice’s body went limp and Tony had watched the life drain from his eyes, he released the belt. Salvatore walked over to Ice’s partner, who was lying against the sofa. He bent over and pulled his knife from under his pant leg.

  Salvatore glared at Coal, his teeth clenched together. “You two thought you’d get away with dicking around in Mafia business. You should’ve known better than that.”

  Salvatore plunged the knife into Coal’s stomach and pulled upward until his guts spilled out. Before leaving, the boys searched the rest of the row home to make sure no one else was there. They left through the back door as calmly as they had come in.

  In the silence of Salvatore’s car, Tony looked at his two friends. “It’s a good thing Big Paulie gave us those silencers. No tellin’ who mighta heard the gun blasts without ’em.”

  Salvatore looked back at Tony.

  “My pop said there would be a little something extra in our paycheck this week if we pulled this off.”

  “Really? Wow, man, that’s great,” Tony said, enthusiastically, “Kate and I can use the money. We’re trying to save up, so one day we can buy our own house.” Tony looked out the window as the dumpy neighborhood buzzed by in a blur. “Ya know, those two were defenseless against us. When I was young, I always wished I could protect myself against all the assholes in the world.”

  Tony gave Vincent a nudge.

  “Hey, I told ya I was sorry a million times. I didn’t know any better. If I knew ya was such an asshole, I woulda kicked your ass harder,” Vincent teased.

  “Yeah, well, I ain’t never gonna forget how much I wanted to get even wit’ people,” Tony said.

  “And what’s your point?” Salvatore asked.

  “My point is that now I’m in a place in my life where I can protect myself and the people I love. It ain’t like killin’ makes me happy, but it does help me get rid of some of the anger I got inside. Sometimes, though, I wonder if I’m gonna go to hell for the bad shit I’ve done. I mean, we do what we gotta do for the business, but does it ever get to ya?”

  “Fuck no,” Vincent said.

  Salvatore hesitated. “I grew up with a father who did crazy shit all the time. I guess it became normal to me. I try not to think about it too much. You shouldn’t either.”

  “Yeah, I know you’re right,” Tony mumbled.

  “That’s your pussy ass comin’ out,” Vincent teased.

  Tony leaned over the backseat and punched Vincent lightly in the leg. Vincent curled up to avoid the punch. “Who’s the pussy ass now?” Tony said.

  ***

  Early that morning Johnny and his top men waited for the three boys to return.

  “Everything taken care of?” Johnny asked.

  Salvatore nodded.

  “Follow us,” Big Paulie said to the boys.

  Tony’s heart pattered as they followed the group of ten men into the basement. The men formed a circle around the boys.

  Tony’s eyes remained fixed on Johnny. Johnny’s expression was dark, and his lips were pinched tightly together. Tony didn’t know what to expect. The only comfort he had was that Salvatore stood in the circle beside him, and he thought, Surely Johnny won’t hurt his own son, would he?

  “You boys have shown great respect and loyalty to the family. You have been following the instructions we have given to you, without question. That is commendable. This has proven to us that you will do whatever is needed to ensure the success and safety of this family. As the head of the Morano family, I am offering you the opportunity to become a more formal member of our society,” Johnny said.

  In the middle of the circle of men, next to the boys, was a
small table that held a knife and a gun.

  “Salvatore, step forward.”

  Tony watched in fascination as Salvatore got close to his father.

  “You see the gun and knife on that table?” Johnny said, looking over at them.

  “Yes, Pop.”

  “Would you use either of those to protect any man in this room?”

  “You know I would, Pop.”

  Johnny took his son’s hands in his own and picked up the knife from the table. “Open your right hand, Salvatore.”

  Salvatore obeyed. Johnny sliced the tip of his son’s trigger finger with the sharp blade. Then he took a small card with a picture of a saint on it, wiped Salvatore’s blood with it, and laid it in his son’s palm.

  “I’m going to light this card on fire. As it’s burning, I want you to juggle the card between both hands. As you do this, you are to say, ‘May I burn like this card in hell if I ever betray this family.’ You are to repeat those words until the card is nothing but ash.”

  Salvatore did as he was instructed, and when he was finished, Johnny put his hands over his son’s hand and rubbed the ashes into his palms.

  Tony’s mouth hung open. He didn’t know what all of it meant, but he knew he was about to become a part of something much bigger than himself. He felt weightless, and butterflies swooshed around in his belly. Then Johnny turned to him and performed the same ritual.

  When it was all over, the three boys joined the circle of men.

  “You are now a part of our family. This family has something much stronger than a bloodline. We have been cast together by our conviction to this society. Let me be clear, though—no matter what is happening in your life, you are expected to stop, turn your back on whatever it is, and come when this family calls you,” Johnny explained.

  Tony looked into Johnny’s eyes and nodded. He finally felt like he was on his way to a much better life. A feeling of love and hate for Johnny ripped through him. Collecting himself, he pushed his feelings for Johnny aside, and a profound sense of allegiance to the family took root in his soul.

  Chapter One Hundred Two

  During the months that followed the initiation into the mob, Tony and Kate enjoyed a few more luxuries with his increased pay. They ate dinner out once a month and could even afford to buy nicer cuts of meat from the butcher. Before they knew it, summer had arrived, and it was the year they would both turn eighteen. Kate was still working at Osteria and had made herself valuable to the owner, who now trusted her to close the restaurant when he was busy. Kate liked that the owner trusted her and wished the new responsibility had come with more money than he had given to her. Life seemed to move along in a quiet pattern until the evening of June 4.

  Tony walked into the apartment just before ten in the evening to find Kate sitting at the kitchen table hunched over a soda.

  “Somethin’ the matter?”

  Kate looked up at him, the flesh around her eyes thick with worry. “You better sit down.”

  Tony pulled a chair next to Kate and sat. He put his arm over her shoulder. “What’s wrong? Are ya sick or somethin’?” he said, thinking about how Kate’s mother had died of cancer.

  “No, I’m not sick,” Kate’s voice caught in her throat, and she shut her eyes hard for a moment. “I’m pregnant.”

  “Wait. What?” Tony said, pushing his chair back slightly.

  Kate looked at him, unblinking. “I’m pregnant.”

  “I’m gonna be a father?” he asked in a tight voice.

  Kate cried. “Yes, I’m sorry.”

  “Sorry? What the hell are ya sorry ’bout? I’m gonna be a father!” he yelled with joy.

  Kate felt her tense muscles relax. “You’re not mad?”

  Tony shook his head feverishly. “I’m happy as a pig in shit. We’re gonna have a baby.”

  Kate giggled. “But we’re so young, and we don’t have money for a baby.”

  “Who the fuck cares ’bout that? We’ll figure it out,” Tony assured her. He had another thought and approached his question carefully. “I thought bein’ on the pregnancy pill stopped ya from gettin’ pregnant?”

  “It’s a birth control pill, and it does stop me from getting pregnant. Remember last month when I had the flu, and I puked for a couple of days straight?”

  “Yeah, that was nasty, and I was sure as shit happy that I didn’t get it too. What’s that gotta do wit’ it?”

  Kate sighed. “I stopped taking my birth control that whole week because I figured we weren’t having sex anyway. I thought as soon as I started it again, I would be protected, but I found out that’s not how it works. So here we are!”

  Tony pulled Kate’s chair out from the kitchen table and knelt on the floor in front of her. He rested his head on her belly. “Hello, baby, I’m your father. I swear I’m gonna be the best father in the world. I ain’t gonna be nothin’ like that rotten sonofabitch that’s supposed to be my father. Anyway, I’m gonna take care of you and your mother. Ya ain’t gotta worry about nothin’.”

  Kate lifted Tony’s head from her abdomen. “You’re really happy about this.”

  “Kate, I ain’t never done nothin’ good wit’ my life so far. This here,” he said patting her belly, “this is the first thing I’ve done right. I wanna be a good man, the kinda man that takes care of his family. Ya know, protects ’em and treats ’em like they’re somethin’. I’m gonna teach my son how to do things, and I ain’t never gonna let other kids pick on ’im either.”

  Kate’s eyes were dreamy, almost glazed over. “What if it’s a girl?”

  “Oh man, if it’s a girl, then look out. She ain’t datin’ till she’s at least eighteen, and I don’t want no boys knockin’ at the door for her either. Boys are little fuckin’ bastards, and all they wanna do is get into girls’ pants. I’ll make sure she’s got all princess stuff and dolls to play wit’. You can take her to get her nails painted when she’s older and teach her how to be girly. Look, Kate, I don’t care if it’s a girl or a boy—all I know is that I’m gonna love ya and love my kid forever. Gives me somethin’ to feel good about after a hard day’s work,” he admitted.

  Kate knew that Tony strong-armed people for Johnny Morano. She wasn’t sure what extent he would go to nor whether he’d ever killed another human, but she was certain that Tony did things she would never have approved of. She asked him no questions, and he never volunteered what he was doing for the Moranos. Kate had decided long ago that the only way she could live with what Tony did on the streets was to never know about it.

  “Hey!” Tony blurted.

  Kate jumped in her chair.

  “Sorry. But I was just thinkin’ that we should get married. Ya know—make it all official and shit. Whata ya say? Will ya marry me?” Tony waited with anticipation.

  Kate leaned in and kissed him on the lips. “Yes, I’ll definitely marry you.”

  “Let the Tony Bruno family begin,” he proclaimed.

  That night as Kate lay sleeping next to him, Tony thought about all the things he’d do for his child. His joy and happiness grew with each passing thought. His life was turning out better than he ever could have expected.

  Chapter One Hundred Three

  Kate stood beside Tony as he knocked on the front door. His mother, Teresa, opened it slowly, peaking through her swollen eyes trying to adjust her sight so she could make out the large figure at her door.

  “Ma?” Tony said and stepped into the house.

  “Oh, Tony,” Teresa cried, clinging to him.

  “What happened to ya, Ma?”

  They turned to the footsteps coming down the stairs from the second floor. Tony looked back at his mother, and she quickly looked away.

  “What the fuck do ya want?” Carmen snapped.

  Tony charged his father when he reached the bottom of the staircase, grabbing him around the neck and slamming Carmen into the plaster wall.

  Tony’s teeth were bared, like a German shepherd about to defend his owner. “This is the sh
it ya do to my mother, ya fuckin’ loser. Only pussies hit women.”

  Carmen’s fist came up and nailed Tony in the sternum. The breath gushed out of him, and he was bent over when his father kneed him in the face. Blood splattered as his nose broke. Tony went to his hands and knees. Carmen pulled back his right leg and shot it forward toward his son’s gut, but Tony caught Carmen’s leg in midair, and he flopped on his ass.

  Tony pounced on him, sat on Carmen’s chest, and punched him in the face. The sight of his father’s blood fueled his rage and quenched his animal instincts. His desire to kill his father took hold of him like a drug. Tony kept punching him even after his father was unconscious. He only stopped when Kate put her hand on his shoulder, and he jerked around instinctively to go after his next victim. Kate jumped back, and Tony stared at her like a wild boar until she came into focus. Tony got up from the floor, straightened his shirt, and headed into the kitchen. The women followed.

  Tony grabbed a handful of paper towels, holding the wad against his nose. Blood was running down his chin and onto his shirt. Teresa quickly moved around him, grabbed a dish towel, and stuffed it with ice. She approached Tony slowly.

  “Sit down,” she said.

  Tony sat, watching his mother.

  “Put your head back,” Teresa said.

  Teresa rested the dishtowel over Tony’s nose and rushed back to the sink to fetch a wet rag to wipe away the blood drying on Tony’s chin and neck.

  Everything had happened so quickly. Tony watched Kate and then his mother. He took in the sight of Teresa. Her condition was sad…she was small and grim. Teresa’s eyes were black and blue. She had bruises on the left side of her face. The neckline of her housecoat, which was several sizes too big, revealed the cuts and bruises on her collarbone. His eyes followed the neckline to her left arm, which was peppered with finger marks, dark purple tones that stood like ugly, menacing ghosts under her skin. Tony saw how much she’d aged over the years since he’d last seen her. His father’s foul moods had taken a toll on her.

  Tony lifted his head, holding the ice over his nose. “Ma, this is Kate. She’s my girl.”