But the Children Survived (28 page)

After they went to bed, Antonio had been unable to sleep.  He got out of bed and went to the first floor.  He looked at the plants being grown in the lab. 

Antonio had converted part of the lab into a mini-greenhouse with natural and artificial light.  He sat down at this desk and wrote out a plan of things he’d need to do in the next few days.  He also wrote a letter to Teresa. 

Antonio went to the office on the second floor of his house and opened the safe.  He removed his notebook.  He opened the desk drawer and removed a bunch of business cards held together by a rubber band.  He looked through them until he found the one he wanted. 

It was almost 6:30 a.m.  Antonio went back to the first floor.  He carefully wrapped his plants and placed them in boxes.  He took them out to his SUV and put them in the back.  He looked around to see if anyone was watching him.  Antonio knew he was being paranoid, but he wouldn't be surprised if Tomlinson tried to steal the Dono di Russo plants.

Antonio took a shower and got dressed.  It was Saturday morning so he didn’t have to go to work.   He made coffee and had something to eat.  Then he went up to their bedroom to see if Teresa was awake.  She was, and he told her he had some errands to run and should be back later this afternoon. 

“I told Jason you’d be home today,” Teresa said.

“I won't be long.  I’ll be back by as soon as I can.”  He kissed her on the forehead and left.

Antonio backed out of his driveway and looked both ways.  He didn't see another car on the street.  As he made his way to the highway, he kept looking in his rearview mirror to see if anyone was following him.  So far he hadn’t seen another car. 

It was still early in the morning.  Antonio picked up Alternate 19 in Largo and headed north.  When he got to Dunedin, he turned onto a dirt road leading to a nursery with a large greenhouse.  He could see someone working in the greenhouse.  He pulled into the parking lot and got out of the SUV.  He wanted to talk to the man, the father of a colleague, about his plants before bringing them into the greenhouse.

The door to the greenhouse was open and Antonio walked in.  The elderly man was watering plants and he turned around.  He smiled at Antonio and asked if he could help him. 

“I worked with your son Jake in New Jersey,” Antonio told him.  “I wanted to ask you a favor.”

Antonio walked over to shake hands with Mr. Rawlings. “I have some very special plants I’d like you to care for.  I’ll pay you, of course.  These plants are not for sale.” 

Mr. Rawlings gestured towards the door at the rear of the greenhouse.  They walked through the greenhouse and entered a small, cramped office.  Mr. Rawlings asked Antonio if he would like some coffee and Antonio declined.  They sat down opposite each other in matching lawn chairs. 

“I brought these plants here from Brazil many years ago.  I have a patent on them.  I plan to study them and make a medicine out of them.   But I have a problem, and I must hide them.”  Antonio looked at Mr. Rawlings to see his reaction.

“You need to hide them.  That must mean you're afraid they’ll be found.  The question is by whom.”

“Yes, they’re precious to me and I must keep them safe.  And yes, there’s someone I need to hide them from.”

“So, my ass may be on the line if I agree to keep your plants.”

Antonio thought before he spoke.  He hadn’t been followed here, of that he was sure.  Tomlinson had no way of knowing any of Antonio's colleagues at Wilmer and March, and Jake Rawlings was still working in New Jersey.  It seemed a safe bet that Mr. Rawlings was in no danger, save from the plants themselves. 

“I’ve been very careful.  No one saw me coming here.  If you have any doubt, please tell me.  Perhaps you know someone else who can help me,” Antonio said.

Mr. Rawlings sat thinking.  He reminded Antonio of his Papa back in Italy.  He was short, round, and grizzled.  He sported a gray bristly beard, and the bags under his eyes were deep.  He looked nothing like his son Jake.

“Listen, what's your first name?”

“Antonio.”

“Listen, Antonio, I know you’re not bein' straight with me, so why don't you cut the bullshit?”

Rawlings was watching Antonio intently.  He noted Antonio's drawn face and the dark circles under his eyes.  Vinnie Rawlings had seen that look on every face that answered his knock on collection day.  The mothers with kids hanging off their skirts, digging into their empty purses for change had that look.  This guy, this Antonio was in trouble, the kind of trouble Vinnie was very familiar with. 

Antonio took a deep breath in and let it out.  His shoulders seemed to visibly shrink inside his shirt.  He looked like he was about to cry.

“Kid, get up.  We're goin' to get something to eat.”  The old man led the way out to his old battered truck.  As he was about to put the key in the ignition, his cell phone rang. 

“I really hate these mother..., sorry.”  Vinnie answered the phone.  He was speaking in Italian to someone on the other end.  He seemed to forget Antonio was Italian.

“Yeah, tell him I got the drops ready.  Yeah, two hours.  I'll be there.”  Vinnie hung up the phone and looked at Antonio.  “Shit, you could understand that, couldn't you?  Well, you got something on me, I got something on you, keeps it nice and friendly.” 

The old man turned the truck around and drove down the dirt road to Alternate 19.  He drove Antonio to Tarpon Springs to a Greek restaurant that served a huge breakfast.  Antonio ordered his usual coffee.  The old man ordered the works and a bear claw for Antonio.

“You're too skinny.  Your mama would kick your ass.  Where is your mama Antonio?”

“She died when I was six.” 

Vinnie looked up from his eggs.  “Santa Madre, no one should lose their mama that young.”  Vinnie made the sign of the cross when he said this.

“That’s why the plants are so important.  They can cure what happened to my mother.”

“I like you, Antonio.  You've got guts.  Like me when I was a kid, if you know what I mean.  Started working for Louie Marcos when I was 15.  He was a good guy, Louie, and I really liked him.  I used to go to different apartments delivering bags of money.  It was easy, and I made good money.  But my dad wasn’t Italian, so they kept me doing jobs like that, kept me out of the big stuff, if you know what I mean. 

“Anyway, one day Louie gets the idea that he wants to have some kind of operation in Florida.  Just trafficking, nothing too big, so no one would notice, if you know what I mean.  Exchanging money, that's all.  I says why not me?  My wife's dead, my kids are grown, why not send me?  I always liked growing plants, if you know what I mean, so I set up the greenhouse. 

“Every so often I get a call.  Sometimes they leave money, sometimes they pick it up.  At the end of the month there's a little something left for me.  It works out.”  Vinnie paused to swallow.  “Now, you know my story, what's yours?”

Antonio told Vinnie his story.  He told him about finding his mama on the floor, about the Dono di Russo, about his wife's miscarriage, and about Tomlinson' threats of deportation.  Vinnie listened carefully to Antonio. 

“Tomlinson was the name of our old Sheriff.  He wouldn't be related to that scumbag, would he?”  Vinnie was putting way too much sugar in his coffee.

“I think he’s the son.”  Antonio's shoulders seemed to be drooping even further down.  He was so tired he could have fallen asleep right there.

“I'll tell you what.  I'll keep your plants.  I promise not to touch the leaves, or tamper with them in any way.  I'll just water ’em.  When you want ‘em back, you come and get ‘em.  You need anything, you call me.”

“But I want to pay you.  I wouldn’t feel right.  Jake was always fair with me.  I couldn't take advantage of his father.”

“Yeah well, that rat bastard son of mine, he forgets he has a father.”

“No, no, he is very proud of you.  He showed me your card.  He’s the one that gave it to me.”

Vinnie looked skeptical. “No matter.  I meant what I said.  I like you, kid.  I believe you, too.  Don't you worry about your plants.”

Antonio reached for his wallet and the old man put his hand on Antonio's hand.

“Your money's no good here.  Put that away.”  Then he threw a $20 bill on the table and got up. 

Vinnie was stiff from sitting so long and kind of limped to the door.  Antonio opened the door for him and offered his arm. 

“I'm fine, just a little stiff.  Getting old really sucks the big one, if you know what I mean, kid.” 

Antonio just nodded.  When they got back to the greenhouse, Antonio brought the plants in and showed them to Vinnie.  He made sure the old man understood that he should never touch the inside of the plant.

“Have you ever seen anybody do that, kid?” 

“No, I just heard it happens really fast.”  Antonio had to get on with the rest of his errands.  Vinnie put his hands on the younger man's face and kissed his cheeks. 

“For your mama,” Vinnie said.  The old man actually brushed a tear away.  “Nobody should lose their mama that young kid, if you know what I mean.”

*****

Antonio entered the bank lobby an hour before closing at noon.  He sat and waited for someone to assist him.  Finally, a woman came over and escorted him into her cubicle.  He said he needed to rent a safe deposit box.  She asked him what size and he said not too big. 

She pulled some papers out of her drawer and had Antonio fill them out.  He designated Teresa his beneficiary so she would have no trouble getting into the box if something should happen to him. 

The woman took Antonio to the vault where they kept the boxes and showed him how he would need two keys to open it, one he’d keep and the other the bank would keep.  She opened the little door marked “27” with hers and then indicated that Antonio should use his key.  Antonio noticed that the key had the same number stamped on it. 

The door swung open and she pulled out the inner box.  She placed it on the table in the middle of the vault and left Antonio alone. 

Antonio pulled the notebook out of his pocket and placed it inside, along with the letter he had written to Teresa.  When he was done, he closed the lid and placed the box back in its slot.  He used his key to lock it and called the woman back so she could re-lock the bank's tumbler.  Antonio thanked her while he folded the bank papers and slipped them into his pocket.

Antonio now felt he had done everything he could to protect the Dono diRusso plant and his formula for the drug.  Even if Tomlinson hurt him, he’d find nothing.  The only thing Antonio wanted to do was fortify his home to make it more secure for Teresa and Jason.  He’d do that when they came back from Orlando.

*****

A week before they were set to leave for Orlando, Teresa had her yearly visit with Dr. Tomlinson.  The doctor told her she was doing well and asked about Jason.  She said for his eighth birthday they were taking him to Orlando and would be staying at the La Palma resort near Universal.  She told him how excited Jason was, and the good doctor told her he hoped they had a splendid time.

While Teresa was packing for the trip, Antonio came to the door of the bedroom and asked her if she could stop for a minute.  He took her outside on the deck so Jason couldn’t hear.   He sat down on one of the lounge chairs and she sat on the other. 

He told her about his deal with Tomlinson, how they were going to treat 100 women as a sort of “trial” for his drug.  He told her Tomlinson's idea of selling it as a supplement so they wouldn’t need FDA approval.  He then told her about his last visit with Tomlinson, when he’d told Antonio he’d used the drug on over 300 women and had told those women the drug was approved by the FDA.

“Then I told him I wouldn’t give him any more drugs.  He threatened me, Teresa.  He said he’d tell the FBI and they would have me deported.”

“I don't think they can do that.  You've been here for years and we’re legally married.  Your visa has never been questioned.  What makes you think Tomlinson would do that when he’d be implicating himself?”

“Because his father was the sheriff!  He has pictures all over his office of him with policemen getting all kinds of awards.  He’d tell them I lied, and he’d make it out like I fooled him.  Who am I, Teresa?  Why would they believe me over him?”

“Listen, Antonio, we can get you a good lawyer.  We have enough money.  Tomlinson is full of wind.  He’s just as culpable as you are.  He gave these women something no one has ever heard of.  It's not like a Chinese herb or chamomile.  What he did is worse than anything you did, and I would bet the old son of a bitch charged those women through the nose. 

“When we get back from Orlando, we’ll go see Evelyn Moore.  She’s an attorney in Tampa my father used for the closing on his house.  If nothing else, she may be able to point us in the right direction.  Now, calm down and let's finish packing.  We have a very excited 8-year-old waiting to go to Disney World.”

“I know, I know, but first I have to give you this.”  Antonio pulled a small box out of his pocket.  In it was a 24 inch solid gold chain with a small key hanging from it. 

“Keep this on all the time.  Don't let it out of your sight.  It’s for a safe deposit box in the bank.  It’s very important that you don't lose it.”

Antonio put the chain around Teresa's neck.  She promised him she’d never take it off.

*****

On the third day of their trip to Orlando, the Russos visited a water park complete with slides and swimming pools.  Antonio accompanied Jason on every slide. 

Father and son were bonding well.  Antonio was feeling closer to his son than ever before.  After they emerged from the 10
^th
slide down the Mammoth Slope, Teresa asked Antonio if he would go to the locker and get her sunblock.  He put his arms around her neck and kissed her, saying, “Cara, of course, anything for my princess.”  She smacked his butt playfully as he turned around.  Jason yelled for Daddy to watch him and Antonio did.