by Ethan Egorov
“That’s a nice story pop, but it still doesn’t explain what that has to do with tonight.”
“I know, son I’m getting there. Needless to say Alessandro and Monica hit it off rather nicely and began dating. Monica wasn’t one that he had to worry about seeing on the down low, nor did he have to worry about her family not liking him. They appreciated Alessandro and respected just what kind of life he was trying to make for himself. For a band of gypsies, they were extremely close-knit and when Alessandro and Monica announced their engagement, it seemed as if were meant to be. Perhaps your great great grandmother Monica did a love spell or something, I don’t know. The entire family though was pleased to see that Alessandro shared her feelings and wanted her to settle down and start a family with him.”
“Well I know they got married and such. That’s no shocker there. You can tell that it still bothers pop-pop though. I still can’t believe it’s been almost a year since Grandma Mon’s been gone.”
“Yes, I’m proud of Dad for picking up the pieces and continuing to do things for himself every day since her death. They were best friends ya know? I have to so for your birthday that would be my wish for you, is that one day you’ll find a nice woman to settle down with who will be your best friend and partner in crime as well.”
“Eh…you know how it goes, pop. It’s kind of slim pickings out there. There’s just not a lot of women I’m interested in. For the most part every woman I’ve tried to date hasn’t been worth the aggravation.”
“The right one won’t feel like aggravation.”
“So you say. Was it like that for you and Ma? Was it easy or did you have to force it?”
“Sigh. No. It was easy with your Ma. Of course I wish we had more time to spend together, but I wanted her to have a few months away while this business with our rivals blows over. Besides I hear that Palm Springs is nice this time of the year. At least she’ll be warm visiting her sister.”
“Yeah, Aunt Meg’s a riot too.”
“Whew you got that right. Now there’s a woman who can hold her Rum.”
“So it was easy with Mom?”
“Yeah. I mean, sure it was a little awkward in the beginning. It always is, I mean when I met your mother, Pop had already established several different businesses and all I had to do in life was pick which one I wanted to go into. Well, me being the person I am, decided that I wanted to manage the funeral home down on the East end. Your mother came in and needed to help plan some arrangements for her best friend. That’s another story completely though. Quit distracting your old man.”
“Eh I was just thinking.”
“Think some other time. Now what was I saying…oh yeah. Alessandro. Ya see him and Mon they were really happy together and things were going well, that is until Roberto and his clan reared their ugly mugs once again. Alessandro had some cousins that were killed in a mysterious hit and run that never got solved. By this point, he was just simply done playing nice. He retaliated and killed a couple of Roberto’s uncles in a dive bar downtown. Alessandro was man enough to do it himself though. He was never charged with the crime and despite the fact he literally had blood on his hands, he was slick enough to get away with it.”
“Oh fuck.”
“Yeah, you’re great-great grandfather, was quite the badass and he wasn’t scared of getting his hands dirty. Luckily your grandfather shares that same trait and passed it along to all of us. Even though you were adopted, I’d like to think you’re one of us badasses too.”
“Well thanks, pop. You know I am, I’m just more quiet about it.”
“Well you may have to start showing your tough side a little more kiddo. I have a feeling things are about to get really brutal. Now after Alessandro and Monica got married, they had a brief honeymoon. It was truly a joyous occasion for him. He’d had such heartbreak with his first love and he was scared to death of losing Monica. Because of that fear, he decided that for their honeymoon they would travel back to the old country and spend some time with relatives still overseas. The plan was a good idea because when he was absent things were quiet in terms of the rivalry. Roberto was just advised by his inside sources that Alessandro decided to go home and visit some relatives. He thought that his opportunity to be king of the mountain had arrived. Things were peaceful until Alessandro came home. Then disaster struck.”
“Say, I’m getting a little sleepy what about you, Pop?”
“Yeah, I’m getting tired too son, but I think that for the sake of easing your grandfather’s mind you need to hear to the rest of this. I’ll try to spare you some of the more gruesome details.”
“Okay Pop.”
“So after the seasons had changed, of course Alessandro and Monica came back to the states. It was a joyous occasion when Monica announced she was pregnant. The mysterious woman and her gypsy family celebrated the coming of the child in their own traditions. When the egg broke at her baby shower, though, it seemed to be an omen. Legend has it that Roberto had been unable to conceive a child of his own with his bride yet, and the news of Alessandro having a child was too much for the jealous man to bear. Since it had been quiet, Alessandro had allowed his wife to spend more time in the evenings out with friends and family. Things ran smoothly until one evening Monica was coming back from the market. She carried a brown paper bag full of produce, meats, and bread from the store. She was focused on keeping all the items in the bag when out of nowhere two men made a grab for her purse. Now Monica was no slouch and tried to keep a level head in the situation. She clawed at her attackers, promptly dropping the bag of groceries while she not only continued to fight for her purse, but also screamed for help. Though she fought hard, she didn’t quite make it back to their same shared apartment. The two grown men threw her to the ground and beat her until she was face down in a puddle of water, barely able to move. By the time Alessandro realized she’d been missing and found her it was too late. Monica would be okay, save for some torn muscles and of course lots of bruising, but the baby didn’t make it. She had a miscarriage before they even had a chance to paint the nursery or get a crib.”
“Damn.”
“Sigh. I know, right? Alessandro just couldn’t seem to catch a break. It was eye for an eye at that point. Shortly thereafter though, Monica became pregnant with your grandfather and his brothers soon after that. Still though, even when your grandfather was in his infancy, Alessandro couldn’t forgive or forget all of the pain that Roberto had caused his family. He was a nice guy until he was angered and he was definitely cageful and wrathful. He declared that at some point, Roberto Mikkelson wouldn’t have any male heirs left to leave his estate or his lineage to.”
“So I don’t get it, what’s with all of this Merry Christmas crap that’s happening?”
“Ah. I never thought you’d ask. See this was just an example of how patient Alessandro could be when he was carrying a grudge. After he started his own family finally and had a bit of a competitive edge on Roberto, he decided that he would attack Roberto’s family when they least expected it. See Roberto did have some children of his own two sons and a daughter. On his deathbed, though Alessandro made your grandfather keep a solemn promise which we did fulfill. His dying wish was to see the Mikkelson clan have no future male heirs. Now you were far too young to recall the events, but I was a young man in my prime and I’d already been with your mother for a few years. We already had your older brothers and we had a daughter of our own. I don’t know how much you remember about her, but in our letters she does ask about you. Anyway, it was a cold Christmas Eve when we did the unimaginable. The Mikkelsons’ have always been bad about letting their guard down when they think they’re ahead, so that cold and snowy evening we broke into their compound and we just started shooting and didn’t stop. We killed almost the entire staff…women, children, the old folks. We were just fueled by cocaine and our undying bloodlust. There needed to be retribution and quite frankly I wanted the war to be over for good, with us being victorious. Now… I know this
sounds heinous to you now probably, but we were just doing what we thought was right. Alessandro needed some vengeance and your grandfather and grandmother, they needed some peace from their legacy. In our murderous spree we spotted one last shred from the Mikkelson’s bloodline. There was an infant son which had been left unattended in a tiny crib. As soon as I saw the tiny face and small tightened fists, I just couldn’t look away. Someone the baby’s deep blue eyes and peaceful features brought me out of my cocaine-laced rage and all I could think about was keeping that baby safe.”
“Oh God…”
“Yeah. Ya know what kiddo… even after all of these years, that’s what I still want. That’s the only thing a father wants really. I still want to keep you safe. I quickly packed you up and tucked you under my coat to keep you warm all the way back to our safe house. You were such a trooper. I remember sitting with you while the snow continued to fall outside. You didn’t hardly make a noise as I rocked you back and forth waiting for daylight to break so we could get you here safely. So, that’s what Merry Christmas is about, Trenton. They want payback for us taking you so many years ago. Now, you’re a grown man and of course you have every right to your own lineage and birthright, but well son, you’re family to me. Ever since that night you clutched my index finger in your tiny fists you were my son. I hope that knowing your history doesn’t change that fact.”
Trent took a deep, steadying breath and looked into his father’s clear, grey eyes. They looked both tired and haunted, but showed no signs of anger, regret, or malice. He meant every word that he said to Trent. Trent took a few sips of his Scotch and stood up. He then knelt beside his father and pulled him into his arms for an embrace. “No Pop, this doesn’t change anything. Family is more than DNA and bloodlines. True family are the people that you can turn to during any situation and ask for help or even celebrate the smallest of moments with. I love you Pop… I mean, father. I love you father.”
“Happy Birthday, Trenton.”
Chapter 5
Trent decided that he would just stay the night with his father. He had been drinking quite a bit and really didn’t feel like even the short drive back to the apartment anyway. He walked upstairs to a room he kept in the mansion and opened the door. He liked the space, he just didn’t consider it his own. He felt as if it were more a hotel room in a sense. Home was his tiny apartment where he kept his baseball pennants and old photographs of his family. Home was where he had his collection of odd coffee cups and his favorite recliner. He would sink into its cushions and at the end of a job or a contract and put his feet up, staring at whatever movie he could throw in the DVD player. He walked to the edge of the bed and sat down. He unlaced he shoes first thing and took off his jacket. He loosed the buttons on his shirt and made short work of taking off the long-sleeved white button-down, revealing his plain white t-shirt below. He then pulled off his socks and stood, unbuckling his belt and letting his black trousers slide down his legs. He stepped out of them, leaving them in a pile in front of the bed. He then busied himself with the task of taking off his thin undershirt and stood only in his boxer briefs by the bed. He was well over six feet tall and despite his lack of working out on a regular basis was just naturally muscular. He turned down the made bed and wasted no time in stretching out on the clean sheets, letting the soft pillow hold the weight of his aching head as he closed his eyes.
He stretched out his long legs and was grateful that at least the bed in the mansion was long enough to compensate for his tallness. He often had to duck his head going through doorways and found it hard to sleep in some hotel beds because of his height. When he closed his eyes, he thought about his father’s revelation. He certainly knew for a long time he wasn’t part of the family by blood, but he didn’t know the exact circumstances were that of revenge. He didn’t feel any differently about the situation though knowing the grave truth. He only knew that he belong with his current family and his father had did the best he could through the years to protect him from the ugly side of the business and even growing up he didn’t have much contact with the public or the outside world. He didn’t know what his father did for many years. His father waited until he was a teenager to let him make the choice of how much he wanted to know about what he actually did for a living.
It was in his blood though. Trenton, though, fond of some subjects in school like history for one, was never really an academic. He played football for his private high school’s team, but never really considered it as a career option though he was quite the running back. It seemed he had a knack for breaking tackles and getting down the field quickly. It seemed he was good at running. Even as an adult he tended to run from problems, preferring to contemplate them in isolation, formulating a plan that he could implement to solve them. His thoughts drifted as his eyes grew heavy. Stretched out in the bed he rolled over and suddenly found the absence of another human alarming. He’d spent the majority of his nights alone, but tonight he found himself missing the warmth of a woman. He wondered what his ex-girlfriend, Rachelle was up to. He remembered the day they met and felt a tingle of sadness begin in the pit of his stomach and suddenly wished he’d drank enough just to black out.
One of his brothers had been sick and needed some help at their restaurant business that served as a major operations front. There were a very few select people who knew about the speakeasy and it was imperative that since some staff knew the situation that they hire someone trustworthy. After all, the staff received their own cut of the profits in some way or the other and they were paid well for their secrecy. Trent was awakened by his phone ringing early on a Monday morning. He rolled over and picked it up groggily, “Hello?”
“Hey Trent, it’s Tommy I hate I woke ya up. Listen… I need a favor.”
“Yeah, um…no problem what time is it? Where are you? Are you okay?”
“Oh yeah… I’m okay, it’s just I’ve got some kinda bug. I think I picked up the flu I feel like shit, I think I’m going to call the doc to come visit. Hey listen, I need a favor. I have an interview set up at the restaurant for a new hostess today at eleven. Do you think you can cover for me?”
“Oh shit. You know I know jack shit about hiring.”
“You don’t have to. Just if you think it’s a good fit just go ahead and do the paperwork. Remember though, we want to hire someone that would keep our business safe.”
“Ugh. You know I hate people. You owe me one for this Tommy.”
“Yeah yeah…you know I’m good for it.”
“Fine. I’ll be there and cover for you. Let me get up and get motivated.”
“Good. Remember you’re the top brass, be sure to look sharp, kid brother.”
“Sigh. You got it Tommy.”
Trent got up and made a strong cup of coffee and had a modest breakfast of eggs and toast before working out and walking about a mile on his treadmill. It was a routine he started when he was in high school and playing football. He found that it also kept him in shape for other recreational activities. He then took his time in the shower and put on a grey suit with a black button down shirt underneath it. Through the course of his regular business meetings, he normally opted for solid black suits, but in this instance, he didn’t want to come off as grim and without a heart. After all, it didn’t make sense to him that an employee would want to work for a heartless bastard. He didn’t want to look just like another faceless corporate conglomerate. He wanted to look like a man of taste and means. When he sprayed on some of his fresh-smelling cologne he certainly felt as if he had taste.
He arrived at the restaurant and the staff who knew him nodded and smiled when he entered. He shook the host’s hand and smiled at him. “Hey Jimmy! It’s good to see you again. How’s your wife and kids?”
“Oh you know. The same. My oldest son it going into middle school now and this kid… well he thinks he’s going to be some kinda superstar.”
“Oh well ya know hopefully he will be. You know that’s what I call security, he can make cert
ain you get taken care of in the old folks’ home.”
“Hah! Nah, not me. I’m not getting old. I refuse it, there’s too much stuff still to do.”
“I certainly appreciate your optimism, but let me tell ya, I wake up in the morning now and my knees tell me a different story. I really wish I would have just tried to play pro ball for two seasons and then just retired somewhere in Florida.”
“Haha well maybe you’ll get there old man. You’re looking sharp today though.”
“Thanks, I’m covering for Tommy today, I think he said he may be down with the flu. He said he’s got an interview coming in.”
“Ah, yeah he was mumbling about that the other day. You know how he walks around talking to himself sometimes.”
“Yes, and he’s usually bitching about something. Anyway, if you need anything I’ll be in the office for a little bit. Other than this, is it business as usual here today.”
“Yep. Everything is running like a dream. We’ve got a full crowd reserved for lunch and we’re halfway to dinner. It looks like it’s going to be a good day for the books. So yeah, Tommy’s on point trying to get some help. Hell, you guys are doing so good with the restaurant that I doubt you even need your side businesses.”
“Ah. Now there’s where you’re wrong. We’ve still got bills to pay. We’ve still got enemies out there, so we have to keep building our brand and our businesses. That’s how they get ya Jimmy. When a shark stops swimming it dies, ya feel me?”
