AWAKENING (12 page)

“He’s not a kid anymore Nicky and I’m not
his savior.”

“You were. Now everything’s a goddamn mess!”

Nico’s eyes followed Crazy Nicky’s hand. The dumb prick actually decided to bring out the weapon and point it at him.
“
You’ll pull
a
gun on me
after
the
many
times I saved your sorry ass, huh
?
Tu
mi
conosci
!”

“The Nico I kn
o
w wouldn’t have let the lower head block his upper head.”

“Don’t you judge me and don’t dare lecture me.” Nico scowled. His eyes were on the small army of enforcers. Individually, none were his equal, collectively he was outgunned.

“Look, Alfonzo gave strict orders. You’re not to set foot on this property and if you do he said kill you.”

This brought a smirk, “He did, huh?”

“
Don’t get any ideas about calling the
lady.
S
elange
don’t need to know you ever came.” Crazy Nicky
advised
. He wasn’t letting Nico nowhere near the house. Selange didn’t have a say. He was doing this for his own good.
If Alfonzo caught Nico here he was a
dead man. “Just get out of here.”

“
You’re not so crazy to start a war with me Nicky. Let me in to say hello then I’m gone.”

“Like
I said,
g
o!
”

Nico’s eyes narrowed as he assessed the situation. Six
guns
were
cocked and ready. Crazy Nicky’s
weapon was
pointed at his head
. These weren’t survivable odds.
“
You crazy fool, this isn’t your business!”

“Do yourself a favor and
start moving
before I lose my patience.”

Nico stared the man down. The
metal
barrier
prevented him from cracking
his s
kull.
Nico’s
mouth
contorted into a half moon. He itched to get at the old
man,
instead he turned his back on the gunmen, yanked
open
the
rear
car
door
and pulled out the shopping bag.
“
Do me a favor and make sure she gets these.”

“
I’ll think about it.
”

“
Cazzo
!”

“
You’re a d
ouble cock!”

“She better get
this
,” he
said menacingly as he memorized the
faces of the henchmen, “if she doesn’t I’
m coming back to put every one of you permanently to sleep, capisci?”

The men didn’t like the threat. They wanted to kill Nico on the spot rather than let him return. They were aware of Nico’s
reputation
and a man like that issuing a warning
shouldn’t be taken
lightly. They watched the tall dark man
standing indecisively on side of the
car, hoping he went away without a problem. Silently, praying he didn’t cause
a commotion
. 

Nico got in the car, casting a furious look over his shoulder. The anger was raw
. His
fingers clasped the handle
of his piece
. He
flicked off the safety
and
contemplat
ed
whether to say fuck it and
end the stand-off
by putting a
bullet to
Nicky’s head
or leave
. Every muscle c
onstricted
. H
ad the
men
glimpsed the rage inside his brain they’d scatter for their lives.

“Hey,
Nico
take care of
yourself
.
We
had
a lot of
good times until you
blew it. One day we’ll meet and share a drink with
Lucifer
!”

Nico’s
fingers slackened
and eased
from
the trigger
. The tension
ebbed and the murderous thought
dissolved
. The old man was doing his
job,
he’d reserve his bullet, today. He
got in the car, slammed the door and sped off. When he reached a safe distance he steered to the side of the road
. He didn’t notice the beautiful trees or the tropical
paradise. He was in an ugly place where loveliness did not exist. He
pound
his fist to the
steering wheel
,
“Sonovabitch!”

He
kicked
open the door
, got out and
pointed
his
chin
to the sun. H
e promised Selange he’d
visit. He’d flown
from
New York to surprise her
and the kids
.
Maybe, h
e should’ve called
to give her notice.
“Stupid…stupid…stupid
!
”
Of course Alfonzo
gave the order. E
ven after their divorce he
wasn’t going to let Nico have her.
The bastard
.
The c
old, heartless
, little shit!

Nico closed his
eyes;
he considered
beating the crap out
of
the asshole.
Then, he sighed. Alfonzo
’s
blood
, his
cousin in fact and despite his fur
y,
he’d find another way to handle it. He did love the man once. His laugh was part disbelief and frustration. The little shit
turned into
a true mafia kingpin
didn’t
he? Not long ago, Nico
was
saving his ass from street brawls to close calls with
gangbangers out in New York
. He watched over that kid like a
dog from hell.
The crap he went through
in those
five years would amaze anybody if he told.
Nico crouched
under the weight of love and hate, thinking how
a stone-cold killer
finally
was
dropped to his knees by a
little shit
and a
n innocent young woman
.

Merda
, w
ho would’ve thunk it?

                                          
****

Selange smiled at the sound of Maria’s voice. Although, Selange was no longer married to her son
, Maria hadn’t faltered in
the
support
ive grandmother role.
She
call
ed often and confessed her dismay about the break-up then said it didn’t change her feelings about Selange, she’d always
love her.
This warmed Selange’s heart
. Perhaps
, she expected Maria to hate her
,
but the woman made no judgments, simply continued to love her
unconditionally and that’s what made the entire ordeal less gut-wrenching
.

The tears
weren’t coming as
frequently and the pain of loss
became
tolerable. She could live with it now. It still hurt but at least she was functioning again. The few days after sign
ing
the divorce papers she’d been a wreck, an inconsolable heap of
a
mess. Her eyes were always red, she had to force herself to eat for the
babies’
sake and she refused to talk to anybody, even Shanda.
Her life changed from a beautiful masterpiece to an abstract
nightmare
. Yes, it got that bad. Alfonzo shut the door on any possibility of
reconciliation
by filing.

It was really hard to accept, but then it started getting better. Her mind soon acknowledged she and Alfonzo were in the midst of divorce. Then when the final divorce decree came, she had tangible proof.
The
marriage was over
,
but her life wasn’t. She
had begun to
put her
life
back
on
track,
until the nasty altercation
with Alfonzo the other night
. She regret saying some things, but she guessed they
had to
be said.
She needed closure.
Alfonzo
wasn’t the only one angry
, you know
.

Maria was talking, “I’m coming soon
.
The babies must be a handful. I’
ll be there
to help.”

“
Y
ou don’t have to do that, really.”

“But I want to. No arguments. Okay,
hablamos
luego
, bye!”

“Okay, bye.” Selange replied. Guess it was settled,
Maria was flying here and there was nothing she could do about it.

The doorbell chimed
and she sat her cell down just as
Alfonzo entered. He still had a key
. However,
he always rang the doorbell to announce his presence. She wasn’t accustomed to this new life of a divorcee.
F
our months
later
and she
hadn’t
sh
ed
her old ways
,
apparently
Alfonzo
had.

“Hi, I’m here for
los
ninos
.” He said
civilly
when he saw her
there.

The yoga mat was out and he guessed she’d finished her little contortion
exercises and
decided to take a
break.

“It’s seven in the
morning and
they
’re not awake,
yet.”

Alfonzo grimaced.
Yeah, he’d come earlier than usual because he
had a fitful sleep. He figured what the hell, he’d get an early start on the day
and came by.

Selange
noticed
his
disappoint
ment. It was awkward silence between them
and s
he spoke first. “Listen, about the other night. I didn’t mean to rail on you like that.”

“Forget it.”

“I just want to apologize. You were right. I shouldn’t have brought the gun and…”

“I said forget it.”

“I’m trying to apologize here.”

“For what, speaking your mind?
Selange, I
can
handle it. Don’t lose sleep over it.
You can’t hold your liquor for shit though
, you never could
.
”

She nodded, “
Fine
.”

H
e spotted the
unmistakable large red bag with the purple stripes
sitting beside
the couch, “You were in New York recently?”

“No, they’re gifts.”
She leapt from the sofa and her
shapely butt moved like a pendulum, swaying from side to
side
with smooth grace
in a pair of
Lycra
shorts
. He tried
not to ogle but his eyes were on auto pilot.

“I made coffee, want some?” She asked trying to break the ice.

“Thanks.”
He took a few steps and peered inside.
Stuffed animals in blue and pink atop other
toys
.
His brows furrowed. “People are still sending gifts for the babies?”

Selange,
took
his
favorite cup
out
of
the cabinet
. The one with his name on it
that
Sal gave him for his birthday
, “
Sort of
, y
our mom does all the time but th
ose are
from Nico.”