by Meg Watson
She looks up at me, startled, blinking. “We… Are you serious?”
“Are you chicken?”
Silently she dabs at the corners of her mouth and then stands up. She slips her hand into mine. It's so small, so warm, but I try not to notice as I lead her the eight or nine steps to the empty dance floor.
Nothing fancy, no spinning around, no twirling. I just pick her hand up to shoulder height and slide my other hand to the curve of her back. She fits herself against me and we start to sway. Her forehead just touches my jaw, and I can smell her hair.
We rock from side to side, turning slowly in a circle. The fabric of her dress moves against me and I can feel the outlines of her body so clearly I can see them in my mind. It's so vivid it's like it was just yesterday that I held her in my arms. Like she's tattooed on me. Like maybe she's the reason nobody else ever fit.
As we slowly turn in a circle, eventually I can feel Nico staring at me and I know if I raise my eyes I will see him. So I just close my eyes and hold her tighter, letting her scent fill my lungs, so intense I can almost taste her. She's warm and real. I can feel her heart beating so hard against my chest.
She doesn't say anything. The song ends with a long, drawn out note and the rush of the sound of the brushes on cymbals. We separate and clap politely.
I try not to, but I can't help it. I look right at her. Her lips are parted, her cheeks pink. Her eyes glisten with moisture.
I don't know what to do. God help me, I don't know what to do.
I still love her.
DAY 8 - NICO
It's only about ten hours from Chattanooga to Annapolis, but the way that Tek is driving, we may make it there in seven. When we first set out this morning, he dumped about ten pounds of trail mix and six liters of water in the back and told us we weren't stopping, not for anything.
And after what I saw last night, I'm not inclined to argue with him. Clearly the man is ready to break.
Charli has spent most of the day nervously looking out the window. I know she trusts her Aunt Roni to get Gus to the airport, and there's probably zero chance that there's any danger of having him go through Customs. Not like Aldo could find him: the kid doesn't have a driver’s license or anything. But still, I can tell that Charli is incredibly uncomfortable to have him not at her side. She's trying to hide it, trying to act cool, but she is like a cat on a hot tin roof back there. I feel like I can pop her like a soap bubble if I just snap my fingers too hard.
When we get to the enormous, endless woods of Virginia I finally have to say something. I have to know what's happening.
“Okay, so what’s the plan, Einstein?”
Tek shrugs. That knot in his jaw is working so hard, it looks like a gumball. Honestly, I’m getting little concerned for him.
“Like, are we going to pick up Roni and Donnie from the airport? You want to do it like that, storm the castle all together?”
Still nothing.
“You want to stop by the old neighborhood maybe? Get a drink, relax?”
“Don't be stupid.”
I didn't really mean it. I was just trying to get a reaction out of him. Looks like it worked.
Tek takes a deep breath then lets it out through puffed cheeks.
“Okay, so then what?”
“Why don’t you just let me concentrate? Okay? This is gonna be like trying to roll a marble through an obstacle course. This is not going to be easy, Nico. Not at all.”
I shrug. If arguing with him is the only way to make him talk, then I’ll argue. “I think you’re making it out to be harder than it is. All we gotta do is hit up Don Dante. He'll know. He'll understand.”
Tek sucks his teeth. “No, Nico. All we gotta do is get Donnie to Don Dante before Aldo knows we’re there. We can't see anybody. We can't give him any warning. We have to get in, get past Alphonso, get a meeting, get Donnie’s side out there, get Charli to corroborate, and get Don Dante to believe us... all before Aldo gets up in the morning. And as you know, he gets up pretty fucking early in the morning.”
“Yeah, well it's not even morning anymore…”
“You know what I mean!”
“What do you mean, I have to corroborate?” Charli pipes up, leaning forward.
Tek strangles the steering wheel in his hands. What is with this guy? Last night he takes her for a spin on the dance floor, today he's acting like she's sour milk. He's a mystery, I tell you.
“I mean, Donnie's testimony won't mean anything if you don't cop to lying.”
“But you guys were with me,” she counters. “That’s not a lie.”
“That was later in the evening. And you weren’t cheating on me. That was a lie.”
“Well I don’t want to do that!” she huffs. “You guys never said anything about me having to take anything back like that. Everybody's going to think… Well you know what they're going to think!”
“You know what, if it all works out, you don't have to give many more details other than saying that it wasn't true. Just tell him it wasn't true, that you were not with Nico earlier that night.”
“Tek, be reasonable,” I counter. “She's not going to be able to go in there and just say that was a lie. She's going to have to explain why that seemed like an appropriate lie to give. And if you think telling them about us is going to make things better… I think it will just be a distraction.”
Tek is grinding his teeth together so hard I can hear them. “If you got a better idea…”
“All we have to do is get Donnie in the room. Nobody ever asked me if I was with her. I can say I wasn't. She could say she was confused.”
“Yeah like that's going to work…”
“We gotta try, don't we?” I ask him. Man, he can really be a hardass sometimes.
“I just think our best shot is to try to explain to Don Dante what an animal Aldo is. If he doesn't see the big picture we are screwed. If Aldo stays in his job, on the street, with all of us out there in the open… We can't let that happen, Nico.”
I nod. He's got a point. I know exactly what he's trying to tell me. We’re basically walking in with our throats exposed. Aldo has to know that we know by now. He has to know that we figured out that he was behind all of Charli's troubles, not to mention Bruno and our brother, Salvatore. We are the single most dangerous thing in his life right now. We can keep him from his ultimate prize, and he'll kill us to defend it. All of us.
In the face of that, what’s a little personal humiliation? Convincing Don Dante is the only thing that stands between us and a bloodbath. Unless we plan on running our asses back to Mexico… And I’m not really sure that would work again.
The day goes by shockingly fast. My stomach is in knots, knowing that it's right ahead of us. I also just feel weird coming back to the place we were never supposed to come back to. That's not a metaphor: that's an explicit order. I don't imagine Don Dante's going to be too pleased to see us darkening his doorstep, but it's not like we can call ahead either.
As we approach the city limits, everybody falls silent. We're all looking out the windows as Tek drives on Route 2, trying to stay calm.
The whole place looks strange to me now. There are so many things I recognize, but then other things just don't seem right. There is supposed to be a sandwich shop right there, but instead it’s a coffee place. There seem to be a lot of small furniture stores all over the neighborhood, antiques and shit. Nonna’s Deli is gone, but I guess that makes sense since Nonna is long gone too. The cigar shop is still there, I'm happy to see. Oh and Nuncio the tailor is still there too. That's an excellent sign, something to look forward to.
When Tek pulls up in front of Don Dante's gate, acid fills my gut. I know what I'm feeling. This is dread. Straight up dread.
But I turn in my seat and look back at Charli. She's got her lower lip hard between her teeth and her brow furrowed intensely.
“It's going to be okay, Charli,” I say, sounding way more confident than I feel. “It really is.”
&nbs
p; She brushes her bangs away from her forehead and tries to tuck them behind her ear, nodding to show that at least she heard me, even if she doesn't believe me.
We roll slowly through the curving drive of the estate. As we climb out of the minivan, a car pulls up. Tek automatically steps in front of Charli, his hands up from his sides, ready. He is charged for battle, I can tell. When the car door opens, it's Gus who pops out, followed swiftly by Roni and Donnie.
“Mommy, I was on an airplane!” Gus announces, wrapping himself around Charli's middle. She leans down and picks him up, clutching him close to her.
“An airplane, is that right?” she says in a voice filled with emotion.
Donnie comes over, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “Alphonso says we need to be in there now. Right now," he announces.
Tek squints at him hard. “You told him we were coming?”
Donnie claps his hands together, rubbing the palms. “Yeah, I got the meeting. Not like we were gonna sneak up on them, boys. Everybody's in there, let's go.”
Donnie strides ahead of us through the manicured gardens, and everybody else follows. I know Tek is not convinced that announcing our arrival was a good plan, but Donnie has lot more experience than we do. I think it's best to just let him take the lead on this one.
Dante's estate is just off the Chesapeake Bay, surrounded by trees. There are several other cars around the driveway and I’m not certain we’re going to be alone.
The marble lined hallways seem warmer than I remember. The last time I was here, it felt cold, sterile, like being wheeled to the morgue. But it's late afternoon and the lights are on, casting a warm glow that bounces off all of the mahogany and crystal sconces invitingly. I guess it’s not so bad.
A petite, dark-haired girl with cherry-red lipstick walks up quickly to intercept us, throwing her arms open. Again Tek heads her off, but Charli sidesteps him. She crushes the other lady in a hug affectionately.
“Oh, Rita! Oh, I thought I was never going to see you again!”
Rita pulls back, smiling but confused. “Never see me again? What are you, crazy? I've been worried sick about you, though… I mean when Bruno —”
Charli's hands go up to her mouth. I know she's been fearing the worst, and I step behind her, just in case she needs my support or something.
“We….Is he —”
Rita’s eyes go down for just a half a second. “He's okay, I think. Some guys, um, roughed him up maybe. I don’t know the details. But he's okay, Charli, I promise!”
Charli pivots, looking up at me with wide, frightened eyes. Without even thinking, I fold her into my arms. She’s shaking like a leaf, but she needs to be strong right now. She really does.
“He's okay, Charli. Rita said he's okay. We’ll find him.”
Rita raises her eyebrows at me, but I don't pay her any attention as I hold Charli close, willing her to gather her strength. I can feel Tek and Donnie behind me too, but honestly, I don't even care anymore. I don’t have the energy to pretend anymore, not about anything.
Donnie clears his throat. "They want us inside, right now,” he says, jerking his chin toward the huge mahogany door of Don Dante's office. Tek and I step forward but he holds up his hands, Stop.
“Just me and Carlotta, for right now. You two stay here.”
Tek glances at me, and I give him a curt nod. What are we going to do, keep her out here with us? I squeeze her shoulder before I let her go, and she follows Donnie toward the door.
It swings open silently as Alphonso steps out with his goddamn clipboard. He purses his lips at me and Tek, silently repeating the judgment from seven years ago. We are definitely not supposed to be here.
But in a few seconds the door closes, taking Charli, Donnie, and Alphonso away from us. The five of us in the hallway sort of shift from foot to foot uneasily. Roni is the first one to break the silence, turning to Rita.
“You’re Cesar Banucci’s granddaughter, aren't you? I think I remember you…”
Rita nods. She's got a lot of energy, I can tell. Like a little bird. “Yes, that’s right, and I think I remember you too from the old neighborhood. Your Charli's Aunt Roni, right?”
“That's right, but we’re just visiting. Me and Donnie need to get back to Chattanooga in a couple of days. Is your mom still in the neighborhood?”
“Oh yeah, she's probably at Wanda’s right now, pretending to have bridge club. You know how it is.”
Roni chuckles deep in her chest. “Oh, I know how it is.”
Rita kneels down, messing up Gus's short hair, straightening up his shirt. “Well you have had quite an adventure, haven’t you, little man? Did you just drive all over the place?”
“Yeah!” Gus says excitedly. "There were the best pancakes in the galaxy, and an explosion, and another explosion, and —”
Rita glares at me, her jaw set hard.
“What? I didn't have anything to do with any of that,” I object.
“And then Uncle Tek let me pick out a minivan, and then we almost drove to Mexico, but we had to go to Chattanooga so that Aunt Roni could teach me how to play cards!”
Rita opens her eyes wide, probably not even pretending that that's a pretty amazing story. “Well I don't know what to say, that really is an adventure! And did you, um, thank Aunt Roni for teaching how to play cards?”
Gus looks up obediently. “Thank you, Aunt Roni.”
Roni leans over, her floral muumuu swirling around her. “Thank you, little man. You're the best cardplayer I've encountered in a long time!”
“Yeah he is a pretty amazing kid,” I agree, happy that we found a pleasant topic of conversation. “He's pretty smart. Seems to pick up on a whole lot. Not bad for a four-year-old.”
“Oh, he’s six,” Rita replies distractedly as she re-ties one of his shoes.
“He's… what?”
She looks up at me when she is done tying. “Yeah, he’s six. I mean, he's… Oh.”
My brain races. He’s six?
“Didn't you tell me Charli said he was four?” I ask Tek. Tek squints his eyes and nods once.
Roni steps forward immediately, putting her hands up, placing one on my chest and one on Tek’s chest. She looks us each in the eye, her lips pursed hard.
“I want you boys to think really hard about what you're going to say next,” she says in a low, serious voice. Her demeanor has gone from fluffy, fairy tale grandma to something much more serious. “You hear me? Think very, very carefully.”
“You knew this?” I choke.
“It doesn’t take a genius, Nico,” she growls at me. “But if you think I’m going to let you walk out on her again—”
But I can barely hear her. I look at Gus, taking him in like I haven't even seen him before. The sharp expression, the deep thoughts, his preoccupation with order and balance and puzzles. He’s strong, a little too strong.
Oh, my God.
But before I can do anything about it or say anything else, the mahogany door swings open again. Alphonso steps out and crooks one finger toward me and Tek.
“Just go,” Roni says, pulling Gus toward her. “We've got him. Go take care of this now.”
I try to clear my mind. I’ve got about a million questions, but there’s something we really have to do first: namely, save all of our asses.
Tek shoots me one look before we follow Alphonso into Dante's office, and I can see everything I need to know right there in Tek’s eyes. He knows too. He figured it out, or maybe he knew all along. And now there is absolutely no doubt in my mind what we need to do.
We walk into a fog of cigar smoke in the huge old room. Don Dante is seated behind his desk, looking almost the same as the last time I saw him. His small, wet-looking eyes flicker up to me as we walk into the room. But other than that, his expression doesn't change. He keeps rubbing his jowls thoughtfully, looking over sheets of paper in front of him, looking at the different faces in the room.
Tek and I take two places in front of his desk, standing should
er to shoulder. Everyone looks exhausted, as though this has been going on for several hours since before we got here.
I glance at Charli but she's looking down, and she won't look back at me. I can see why in just a moment. Aldo is here, big as life. He stands to the side, in the shadows, with his arms crossed over his chest. His face is on fire with fury, and it is all directed at Charli. That's why she's looking down, because looking up would mean engaging him.
Just for that, I want to kill him. Just for that brutal threat that he's making by standing there, staring at her like that. He wants her to know that no matter what happens today, he is still in control. That's what he has always wanted, for everybody to know he's in control.
Tek nudges me with his shoulder. He can feel it too. The connection is still there, I know it. Tek and I are still totally in sync. We know exactly what is going on in this room. Dante convened Aldo early, and took testimony from Sammy's people. He took testimony from Bruno, who is seated on the other side of the desk. Bruno shifts in his chair, wincing slightly. A few broken ribs, by the look of him.
After we arrived, Don Dante probably asked Charli what she remembered about Derek disappearing. Nero’s doctor is here too. Donnie is standing with his heels planted shoulder-width apart, looking stern and strong.
It’s a whole room full of accusations. A whole room full of evidence. Aldo looks tortured, and I know exactly that feeling. I’ve been here before.
“And what, to your knowledge, happened to Knuckles?” Don Dante finally asks.
I clear my throat. It feels like I have not spoken in ages. “Knuckles was targeted and killed in an explosion in a Marina in Oriental, North Carolina.”
Dante nods thoughtfully. “Do you have any other information about this event?”
“Only that Knuckles communicated with Aldo shortly before it occurred.”
“That's a lie!” Aldo hisses.
Don Dante holds up one hand to silence him. He does it slowly, as though this is a gesture he's made many times today. “Aldo, I'm going to remind you that your phone records are already here before me.”
