“Where’re you going on?”
“I’m taking Gianna to Virginia to see her grandma. Later.”
I didn’t want him to see what his care for me did to me. The fact that he’d gone to such lengths, that just from my word as a little snotnosed kid, he’d changed the lives of four boys who I remember were victims of abuse in one way or another, is something I’ll never be able to repay.
I wish my future had any part of what he dreams for me. I know he’s working this hard to legitimize things for me to take over when the time comes, but my selfish ass has other plans. She’s my mother. I can’t live in a world where the injustice done to her goes unpunished. And my honor won’t allow me to go on living after taking the life of the man who’d been part of giving me life, no matter how monstrous he is.
DRACO
Well, isn’t it dandy that I’d changed my mind and told the boys not to pretend not to remember him? After giving it much thought throughout the night, I’d realized that that would mean all the training I’d made sure Gabe got would’ve been for nothing if he couldn’t make them. Stupid, but the kid has me catching my tail to keep up.
His mind is the one thing I can’t control and shouldn’t want to or even try. I love that he’s so damn smart he puts most of his peers to shame. But with that pride now comes a hefty dose of fear. He’s too good. He would’ve been a boss of bosses had I not changed things to give him and his siblings a better life.
BECKY
It’s gone, the money. Where did it go? Had Felix taken it? No, if he had, he’d be way more furious than he is right now. But who? The cops? But Felix said they hadn’t found anything. I plopped down on the side of the bed, still dressed in nothing but the towel I’d wrapped around me after a much-needed shower.
I hadn’t been able to talk to Victoria with Felix in the house to find out what that look she gave me was about. I know it can’t be anything related to her father; he still has about fifteen years left of his sentence. So, who had shown up at the precinct, pretending to be her dad, and where is that person now?
Everything seems to be unraveling too quickly with too many questions and not enough answers. I need Gia to come back, need her under my thumb; it’s the only way to control Felix, though that seems to be slipping more of late. I rushed to the closet where I kept my emergency stash and sighed in relief when it was there still.
I heard the door close downstairs, and an engine start; Felix was finally out of the house. Grabbing my robe, I pulled it on and walked down the hallway to her room. “It took you long enough.”
“What was that look about? Who took you out of there last night?”
“Who do you think?”
“How should I know? Stop beating around the bush and talk.”
“Jimmy is very much alive.”
“How do you know? I mean, other than the obvious, why are you bringing him up now? Who was at the precinct?” I’m afraid I knew the answer before she spoke.
“It was Jimmy, dear old dad.” I felt the blood rush from my head and had to sit down before I fell.
“Where did he come from? Does he know where we are?”
“Of course not; I’m not stupid. I gave him the slip in Jersey.”
“Jersey? What were you doing there?”
“That’s not important right now. What you should be thinking about is how you’re going to get Felix to make the school take me back. Oh, and I still want the shopping trip you promised me.” She turned to look into the mirror. “I have to go back in style.” The look that came across her face put me in mind of one I used to wear.
It means she won’t let go of whatever she’d set her mind to. I can also read between the lines and know that she’d just threatened me. If I didn’t get her what she wanted, she’d tell Felix the truth. Then again, maybe not. She’d suffer too if we get kicked out of here. So what is she implying? I don’t have time to think about that right now; there are more pressing things needing my attention.
FELIX
I left the house and took a long drive so I could mull over everything that was going on. Something doesn’t seem right about either of their stories. I don’t believe for a second that the Feds had made a mistake, so what exactly is going on? Who’s the man that picked Victoria up from the station, and how can I find that out?
I’m embarrassed to admit that I didn’t know the name of Becky’s dead husband; I just never got around to asking as it never seemed important. Such is the way of our relationship, and it has ever been this way. She knows we didn’t get married for love that I was just trying to give my daughter a stable home while she was looking for the same.
Intimacy between us has never been an issue; I’m still alive after all, but there was never any great passion between us, and she knows and has been fine with this. In fact, after the crisis bonding period right after Adrienne passed, the guilt had been so strong that I may have neglected my new wife there in the beginning.
Then I had that guilt to deal with as well. I mean, here was a woman willing to step in and take care of someone else’s kid, no questions asked. I brushed off the tension between her and Gia as just adjustment issues on my young daughter’s part, and I admit now that part of my reason for that was probably because of the guilt I felt for not loving Becky the way I had my first wife.
But could I have been wrong all along? Or am I being too influenced by the Russo kid’s words? And why does it seem like since he came into our lives just a short while ago, things just seem to keep getting turned upside down? It’s not just the things he said but the way in which he said them.
He didn’t care if I agreed or not; he wasn’t trying to win me over to his side. In short, he was just sharing his unvarnished truth. But until today, I’m not sure I would’ve ever been completely sold. But now, I can almost see Becky in a different light. As for Victoria, there’s something off about her story; it just doesn’t make sense when I take into account what the agent I spoke to had said.
Second, I work in finance, so I’m very well acquainted with bank practices when it comes to handing out large sums of money. Her taking the money isn’t an issue; I’ve never denied her or Victoria anything and had, in fact, gone above and beyond because of the horrible life she’d had before her mom, and I got married.
But if the money didn’t come from the bank, where did she get it? And how many other lies has she told? When I think of all the things I’d brushed aside, things I’d been assured by her were just a young girl fighting against her mother being replaced; I wonder how I could’ve been so wrong.
This is the point where I close down, the boundary I can’t get past in my head, the thing that makes me more ashamed than I’ve ever been. In trying to give my daughter stability, did I, in fact, destroy her life like that kid said?
GABRIEL
I was halfway to Uncle Marvin’s place when he called and canceled because one of his parishioners needed him. I call that divine intervention. I have three separate chess games going with three of the nosiest men in my life. Pop, Gramps, and Uncle Marvin. These weekly or sometimes bi-weekly games are used to stick their noses in my shit.