Mean Little People

by Dearth, Paige

  Realizing, in that very moment, this was the end for Tony and Kate, he walked out of the water and fell to his knees. He covered his face with his hands as he wept, and his body shook with the racking sobs of a man in deep despair.

  Salvatore and Vincent sprinted down to the water’s edge and knelt beside Tony. Each embraced him for a moment and then helped Tony to his feet. They trudged through the sand together, supporting Tony along the way, like soldiers bringing their wounded to safety. They placed Tony into the car. The ride back to Philadelphia was quiet, as if their voices had been stolen, as if the silence would ease the pain and heal the wounds that losing Kate had left on each of their hearts.

  That night in bed, Tony held on to the aquamarine ring that hung on a chain around his neck. Touching the ring made him feel as though Kate and their child were still with him. It was the only item that Kate had coveted, and now Tony would covet the ring for the rest of his days. When Tony finally fell asleep, he dreamed of Kate. She was alive again, and the couple was happy. It made Tony feel whole, and he woke in the morning joyful. It had been weeks since he’d felt happiness.

  The next morning, as Tony ate breakfast alone in the kitchen, he embraced the only family that remained…the Mafia.

  Six Months Later

  Tony sat with Salvatore and Vincent in a black van used by the mob. They were parked in a lot at an old diner, a few hours’ drive from South Philadelphia. Tony looked out the window intently. The gray morning matched Tony’s mood. Then he saw an old Cadillac pull into the lot and park on the side. Officer Zody stepped out of the car. Tony held his breath, sitting still, watching…waiting. It had been over five years since he’d seen the pervert, but he’d never forget that rotten face.

  Two doors swung open on the Cadillac. Officers Geltz and Nash got out, laughing.

  “That’s them. It’s all of them,” Tony said quietly.

  “Let’s wait until they go inside and sit down,” Salvatore said.

  Tony looked around him. The restaurant was quiet, and there were only two other cars in the lot besides theirs and Zody’s. One car belonged to the waiter, the other to the cook. Johnny Morano had helped make all the arrangements at the diner to ensure they left no witnesses.

  The officers were shown to a table at the back of the diner. Tony got out of the van. Salvatore and Vincent followed him. They lingered at the front of the restaurant for a moment. Zody looked right at Tony, but in the five years that passed, Tony had changed into a man and no longer looked like the boy they had ruined. Tony strode over to their table and stood looking from one to the other.

  “You got a fucking problem?” Zody snapped.

  Tony smiled. He slowly let them see the gun in his hand. The men at the table tried to stand, but they were stopped short when Salvatore and Vincent stepped closer, guns revealed.

  Tony ran his hand through his thick black hair. “The problem wit’ ya fuckin’ pigs is that ya have no memory. Yas don’t remember me, do ya?”

  The men studied Tony a little closer.

  Nash leaned forward. “No, we don’t. Why don’t you slither off and bother someone else. Maybe you haven’t noticed the uniforms we’re wearing. We’re called the poh-lease, you idiot.”

  Tony scratched his chin. “Oh, I know what cha are. You’re a pack of twisted pricks that get off on rapin’ little boys.”

  Zody’s face turned bright red. “I know who you are.” He turned to Geltz and Nash. “He’s that little greaseball. Yeah,” he said, turning back to Tony, “you’re one that’s hard to forget. You made one of the best bitches we’ve ever had, Bruno.”

  Tony put his face inches from Zody’s. “Well, today, you’re my bitch.”

  Zody laughed. “I don’t think so. Get lost, you prick.”

  Salvatore, who was standing quietly, pulled his knife out and jammed it into Zody’s thigh.

  Zody’s pain-induced howl sounded like a siren and bounced off of the greasy walls of the old diner.

  “Oh, man. Did that hurt?” Tony taunted. “It looked like it really hurt.”

  Nash and Geltz watched, and Tony turned to them next. “Here’s what we’re gonna do. We’re gonna leave this nice establishment peacefully. You’re comin’ wit’ us into that van over there. See it?” Tony said, pointing out the window.

  Vincent got closer to the table. “Hey Tony, which of these assholes made ya eat your food and puke off the floor?”

  Tony jabbed his gun against Nash’s forehead. “This fuckin’ cum licker.”

  Vincent pushed his gun into the side of Nash’s neck. “Good, ya can be my little bitch. Get the fuck up.”

  Nash stood slowly, hands out to his sides. Geltz and Zody followed. As they were leaving, Salvatore turned to the waiter. “Thanks for your help. Johnny is very appreciative. Expect him to send a little extra money your way—I’ll make sure of it. Sorry for the mess,” he said, gesturing to the trail of blood on the floor from Zody’s leg.

  “No problem, man. They’re three assholes. Think they’re hot shit ’cause they work at the prison. Ya ain’t such hot shit now, are yas?” the waiter yelled to the officers.

  The six of them got into the van. Tony handcuffed the three prison guards to a pipe rigged down the back of the van. In their own way, each squirmed at being handcuffed. “Oh, yas don’t like that so much, huh? Yeah, being handcuffed sucks.” Tony turned to Zody. “Remember how ya handcuffed me to the pipe so ya could rape me?”

  Zody shook his head in jerky movements. He was shaking uncontrollably and his eyelids fluttered rapidly.

  “No? Well, I remember real good.” Tony looked at each of them. “Still have nightmares ’bout ya three. I figure the only way to stop drea-min’ ’bout cha is to make sure ya can’t hurt nobody no more.”

  “You’ve lost your mind! We are employees of the state. You’ll be sent to adult prison this time. Mark my words. It’s all fun and games now, but it won’t be when the law catches up with you,” Nash stated.

  “Ain’t nobody comin’ to get us. Ya got any idea who we are?” Vincent growled.

  “Tell us—who are you?” Geltz said.

  “We’re the slaughter squad. If ya keep runnin’ your mouth, we’ll kill ya and your whole family,” Vincent said.

  Geltz smirked at Vincent, who got out of his seat, went to the back of the van, and kicked Geltz in the face.

  The remainder of the drive, everyone was quiet. Then the mobsters took Zody, Geltz, and Nash into a dark warehouse, where their hands and feet were wrapped and tied with cord. The guards watched Tony with an intense, fevered stare.

  It Ain’t Over ‘till It’s Over…

  Geltz looked at Tony, unblinking. “You motherfuckers don’t have any idea what will be waiting for you when we get out of here.” Tony gave Geltz a slow, steady grin. He held Geltz’s gaze, letting him know who was in control. Only when he was ready did Tony bend down and put his nose against Geltz’s. “You inspire me to wanna hurt cha more. Ya remember how ya liked to hit me? Yeah, ya would hurt me real bad, left bruises all over me. Then, ’cause that wasn’t enough for ya, you’d burn me wit’ your cigarettes or lighter.” Tony pushed up the sleeve of his shirt. “See, I still got the scars from the burns ya gave me. Ya made it real hard for me to forget.”

  Tony whispered something into Vincent’s ear, his face emotionless. A few minutes later, Vincent came back carrying an axe. He stood over Geltz with a menacing glare. Geltz squinted his eyes, and the layers of skin crinkled around them. “Listen, man, I didn’t really mean what I just said. I was trying to talk some sense into you. That’s all,” Geltz said. He looked over at Tony. “I’m sure we can make some kind of a deal between all of us.”

  Tony grabbed the axe from Vincent and lifted it into the air. He whacked Geltz in the face with it hard enough to cause serious injury, but not hard enough to kill him. The blood gushed from the deep gash down Geltz’s face. He was stunned, but the excruciating pain kept him in the moment. Tony stepped away from him. Geltz let out a low,
steady groan. After several minutes passed, and Geltz likely thought he was out of the woods, Vincent walked toward him carrying a can. Vincent lifted the can over Geltz’s head, and gasoline flooded over his eyes, gushing into his open mouth. When the can was empty, Vincent stepped back.

  “Please!” Geltz cried. “You don’t have to do this. I get your point. I’m sorry for what I did to you.”

  Tony pulled a cigarette from his pocket and lit it. He looked at the orange glow on the tip of the cigarette and then into Geltz’s face. The officer squirmed.

  “Oh, you’re thinkin’ ’bout how much it hurts to get burned. Well,” Tony said, taking a long drag of his cigarette and blowing the smoke out, “it hurts real fuckin’ bad. I know, ’cause ya did it to me a lot. Do ya wanna see all the burn marks on my ass?”

  “No, please, I shouldn’t have done that to you.” Geltz began to cry. “I have children.”

  “Oh, ya got children?” Tony said, acting surprised.

  “Yeah, yeah, I have a boy and a girl,” Geltz pleaded.

  “That’s nice. Do ya treat ’em good?”

  Geltz nodded rapidly, clearly hoping for mercy.

  “Yeah, that’s real good. So ya don’t tie ’em up and rape ’em like ya do to other people’s kids in juvie?”

  Geltz’s head hung.

  Salvatore stepped forward and stood over the bloodied, gas-soaked officer.

  “What? Did you think that because you have kids that would change anything? You’re a pathetic man. Looks to me like all the courage you had when Tony was a defenseless kid is gone.”

  Tony turned to Vincent. “Light ’im up.”

  Vincent struck a match and suspended it in the air over Geltz. Then he blew it out and did the same with another match. Geltz voiced his fear of burning to death with piercing screams of terror as Vincent kept lighting matches and blowing them out. Zody and Nash squirmed, obviously understanding the extent to which Tony would go to get even. When Vincent lit the sixth match, he grinned at Geltz right before he tossed it on him. They all watched as Geltz jerked around in eerie motions, burning to death. The smell of his blistering flesh left a pungent odor in the warehouse.

  “Ewww, he smells nasty,” Tony said to Zody and Nash. “Now what do ya suppose we should do wit’ ya two?”

  Zody and Nash were visibly rattled, their lives hanging in the balance.

  Tony circled around the remaining two. “Now, we know who ya are: you’re big bad guards of a juvenile detention center. Let me ask, do you have any idea who I am now? I mean, didn’t ya ever think that someday I’d grow up and come after yas? Or that any one of the boys ya fucked wit’ would come after yas?”

  “Look, it was a long time ago. We’re sorry,” Zody ranted.

  Tony squatted on the ground next to Zody. “You’re sorry? Sometimes sorry ain’t good enough. This is one of those times. Ya guys thought ya was all-powerful and shit five years ago. Seein’ ya now, though, ya don’t look so mean. I was real scared back then. Just a boy in jail for somethin’ I didn’t do. Ya guys hurt me. Like I told ya in the van, I still ain’t completely over it. Sometimes I have nightmares about it, even when I’m wide awake. How many other kids have ya fucked up?”

  “It…it…was just a one-time thing,” Zody stammered. “We didn’t do it to anyone else.”

  Tony laughed. “You’re such a fuckin’ liar. Everybody in juvie knew about the three of yas. I just wish I heard before I became one of the kitchen boys. You’re a sick bastard.” Tony unzipped his pants, pulled out his penis, and pissed all over Zody.

  Tony turned to Salvatore and Vincent. “Do ya think we should let ’em go? He did say they were sorry.”

  “I don’t know. Let me think about it.” Vincent said. Silence followed for a full minute. “All right, I thought about it; I don’t think we can let ’em go. They don’t look sorry to me.”

  Salvatore grinned. “Yeah, me neither.”

  “That’s what I thought,” Tony remarked.

  Tony turned back to Zody. “I got somethin’ real special for ya. Somethin’ I’m sure you’ll like, given the kinda person ya are.”

  Zody didn’t wince. His brow was furrowed and his jaw was set hard. Zody had murder in his eyes, and if he could have, he would have strangled the life out of Tony.

  Tony stared back at Zody. He hated the man. He was nothing more than a low-life, scum-sucking rapist who had preyed on helpless victims, the kids he was supposed to protect.

  “Now, let’s see. You’re Nash. Like Vincent said earlier, you made Tony do some awful shit with food in your cafeteria—is that right?” Salvatore asked.

  Nash gave Salvatore a pained stare. The guard was sweating profusely, and he shook his head in denial.

  Salvatore let out a chuckle. “Tony told us all about you. In fact, he said you were the kind of man that focused on food. I guess that’s why you were the terror of the cafeteria, right?” Salvatore moved closer and stared at Nash with a deadpan expression. “We have something very special for you. One might even call it a delicacy.”

  Vincent stepped up next to Salvatore and put a gallon jug of turpentine on the floor next to Nash.

  “Let me explain,” Salvatore said. “This is turpentine. It is thick, and when you drink it, the liquid gets lodged in your lungs. Eventually, after a while, you’ll suffocate to death.”

  Nash’s whole body started to quiver. He jerked against his restraints. He shook his head and pulled against his bindings. Salvatore looked down on him. “It probably won’t taste as good as food mixed with puke, the meal you made Tony eat, but hopefully it’ll go down easy. Open your mouth.”

  When Nash refused to open his mouth, Vincent moved forward with a large metal funnel. He bashed the funnel into Nash’s mouth, breaking his front teeth. When they finished pouring the brownish-yellow liquid down his throat, they stood back and watched. To their delight, Nash began to vomit, coughing and gagging as the oil spewed from his mouth and filled his lungs.

  “Ya liked watchin’ me be scared,” Tony said. “Ya stood there and smiled the whole time, no matter how bad it got for me. Where’s your smile now?”

  Nash stared at Tony with a look of disbelief. They all, including Zody, watched Nash battle against the contents forced down his throat. Nash was retching and gulping to pull air into his lungs; Tony watched, feeling a sense of justice. After several torturous minutes, Tony jammed an ice pick into Nash’s throat. He stabbed him nine more times, each time screaming, “Die, motherfucker,” until Nash was dead.

  Salvatore turned to Zody. “See that? Tony still has a heart after all you assholes put him through. He could have easily let your friend suffocate to death, but instead he took him out of his misery. Personally, I would have let him suffocate. Oh well, this is Tony’s show. Now, I was wondering, how did you manage to find yourself such a pretty young wife? I mean, you’re a nasty old guy who rapes young boys. How did you meet Linda?”

  Zody watched Salvatore closely but didn’t respond.

  “Oh well, Linda has a date with one of our associates. Don’t worry—we’d never hurt her. She hasn’t done anything to deserve punishment. I wanted you to know that your beautiful wife has other men on the side, that’s all. Just in case you thought she’d miss you or something. Nope, I bet she’s going to enjoy that life insurance policy you took out when you started working for the prison. I guess you thought you’d have children by now, but that wasn’t Linda’s plan at all. Linda used you for a place to live until she found someone better…and she did, and she told our associate all about her secret plans to leave you. I didn’t want you to die thinking that the woman loves you—that wouldn’t be right.”

  Zody’s mouth dropped open. He closed his eyes and rested his chin on his chest.

  “Don’t look so worried; we’re still here wit’ ya,” Tony said, savoring the noticeable stress on Zody’s face. “We ain’t forgot about ya. Have ya ever heard the old sayin’ ‘We’re savin’ the best for last’? That’s what we’ve done here.
Just to be certain ya get the best send-off, I’m gonna do it myself. Seein’ that ya brought me into your twisted group, I feel like I should give ya more of my attention. Ya know, like ya gave me. I have this thing about men now, men who rape kids. Makes me want to rip ’em apart with my bare hands. I mean, I thought about doin’ that, but that ain’t sexy ’nough for ya.”

  Tony stood directly over Zody. “Anyhow, we all know you’re an ass man, right? No need to answer me ’cause we both know I’m right. What we’re gonna do is simple.” Tony made eye contact with his friends. “Get ’im undressed for me.”

  Minutes later Zody lay naked on the floor, his wrists tied to his ankles in front of him. Tony moved close to him. From behind his back, he showed Zody the hacksaw he was holding. “Now, I need ya to bear wit’ me. It’s been a while since I used one of these things, so it might be a little rough at first.”

  Tony reached between Zody’s thighs, grabbed his penis, and slowly sawed it from his body. Zody howled, pain gripping him at his core. The warehouse echoed with grunts and moans and a subhuman sound that made the air whirl with a creepy, sadistic energy.

  “Get the sick fuck up on his knees,” Tony instructed. Then Tony held Zody’s sawed-off penis at the entrance of his rectum, and with a metal rod, he shoved it inside of him. “I figured since ya was an ass man, ya might enjoy that.” Tony repositioned himself and looked Zody in the eyes; they were wide with terror. “Ya like it like that—I know that ya do. How’s it feel? Huh! How’s it feel!” Tony screamed, spittle spraying Zody’s face.