CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
It took several minutes after they both had cum before Reno pulled out of Trina and she was able to get out of bed and go to the bathroom.
When she came out, she began putting back on her shorts and t-shirt.
“Where are you going?” Reno asked her. “Come back to bed.”
“And let the children starve? It’s dinner time, Reno.”
“First of all,” Reno said, “those grown-ass children should be cooking dinner for us. And second of all, let’s go one more round. I feel like going one more round.”
“We just finished another round, Reno, dang. What’s gotten into you lately?”
Reno smiled. “You have,” he said. “I can’t get enough of your stank ass.”
Trina smiled. It warmed her heart. She went over and kissed him on the lips. They hadn’t been this close since they were first married. “Tonight another round,” she promised. “But right now? I’m hungry, too, and if I wait on those children of ours to cook me some food I’ll be waiting until doomsday. I’m out,” she said and made her way out of the bedroom.
Reno just laid there. He could stay right where he was until doomsday. He hadn’t felt this relaxed in decades. But he missed the action too. He missed his life in Vegas. But he was beginning to realize that he loved being with Trina and the children even more. Eating dinner with them every night. Watching old-ass movies with them on the TV. He was proud of his family.
He almost dozed off thinking about his family. He was just that relaxed. But before he completely fell asleep, nature started calling and he suddenly had to get out of bed and hurry to the bathroom. Before he could pull up the seat cover, he was peeing. Which he knew would anger the shit out of Tree. Which made him smile. He did an extra side spray just for her. Reno felt like a kid again.
By the time he made it into the kitchen, he stood at the entranceway and watched his family. Dom and Sophia were seated at the kitchen table playing cards and arguing over the rules even as they continued to play. Trina was cooking at the stove on the center island, her perfect figure in those little shorts giving Reno another hard-on. And Jimmy and Carmine were seated at the island in what appeared to be a serious conversation.
Reno smiled as he watched Carmine attempt to explain to Jimmy why needlepoint was good for the brain and how businessmen such as Jimmy could benefit from the process. What Reno loved about Jimmy was that he listened to his little brother as if Carmine was the most important person in the world to him. But that was Jimmy. He was a titan in the business world thanks to Tommy, but he never overlooked his siblings. He looked out for them always. He was a great big brother.
But Carmine was another story altogether as Reno stared at his youngest child. Was he gay or was he just odd like that? In Reno’s view he was the toughest kid in America hands down, a kid that even Uncle Mick respected. Tough without rival was Carmine, but he was also so steep into that Florence Nightingale shit that it baffled Reno. He still didn’t know what to make of that boy. But one thing Reno knew for certain was that Carmine was going to be a gangster. He had it in him so deep there was no pulling it out. Just like Dommi was. But would he go off the rails the way Dommi did?
But when Carmine was trying to find some passage in his needlepoint book to show to Jimmy, Jimmy looked at his stepmother. “I may give her a call when we get back home,” he said.
Trina looked at him. “Why now?”
“I miss her,” Jimmy admitted.
Trina shook her head. “It’s a little late for that, Jimmy. You lost a good girl. You let her slip right between your fingers.”
“I was trying to get acclimated to my new role in Uncle Tommy’s corporation. I didn’t’ have a moment to spare. I wasn’t trying to lose O.”
“Well you lost her,” Reno said and Trina and Jimmy looked his way.
Reno pushed away from the entranceway and began walking over to Trina. “It’s like spilled milk now. You’re wasting your time crying over that shit.”
“You’re up,” she said as Reno kissed her on the neck.
“You and Ma make it sound so final.”
“Stop harping on that, Jimmy,” Reno said. “She left your ass. She got tired of waiting on your slow ass and bounced. She gave you plenty chances.”
“Ma gave you plenty chances, too, and you two are still together.”
“No comparison,” Reno said.
“Why not?”
What sounded like a buckshot could be heard. “What the fuck?” Reno said frowningly.
And then the front picture window exploded in shattered glass and gunshots could be heard sailing into the front room.
“Get down and crawl back here!” Reno yelled as he pulled Trina down.
Dom pulled Sophia down and Jimmy pulled Carmine down and they all began hurrying behind the center island.
Reno was pulling guns out of the drawers and handing them to every member of his family, including Carmine. “Jimmy, keep your gun aimed at that back door,” Reno ordered as he ran out of the kitchen and toward the front of the house. Dom ran behind him. But the shooting had already stopped.
But when the shooting stopped in the living room, Reno knew then it was Brocco Bernardi. “Dammit,” he said. “How did his ass find us all the way here?”
But Dom was ready for action. He was about to fire back at those assholes, just to show who was boss, but Reno stopped him. “That’s what they want. They want us to fire back so they can see where we’re located. They shot up the living room to feel us out. Don’t you dare shoot back,” Reno ordered. “I need to know what we’re up against.” Then he crawled over to the shattered window.
But across the street, that first gunshot was all it took for Otis Freeman to look out his window, see the army of men positioning themselves outside of Tyrone Black’s house, and he took off. He ran out of his back door, hopped in his pickup truck, and sped away through the back field that led to a street one block over. He never looked back.
But Reno and his family didn’t have the have the option of getting away. And when Reno peeped out of that shattered glass to see who they had to defend against, he was shocked. B.B. brought an army with him. There had to be sixty men out there, all ready to attack.
Reno peeped and then sat down, leaning his back against the wall. “Damn,” he said.
“What is it, Pop?” Dom asked him.
He looked at Dom with a look that made Dom know they didn’t stand a chance. “What are we gonna do?”
But before Dom could finish that sentence, gunfire erupted again. And this time their enemies were shooting all across the entire front of the house, from the living room to the kitchen.
Dom and Reno began shooting back, from the living room, to bring the action back in that direction and away from the family. And for the longest time they traded gunfire. Reno and Dom had two guns each and emptied their first guns. They were already on their second guns.
Until they heard kick sounds coming at the backdoor. “Stay here!” Reno ordered and ran back into the kitchen. But the door had already been kicked in and Jimmy and Trina began firing on their attackers. They took out a handful of men, and Reno took out the rest of the backdoor attackers.
“We need to fortify the back door or they’ll send another army through,” Carmine yelled as Jimmy ran and Reno hurried to drag the dead men out of the backdoor and Carmine, Sophia, and Trina ran began pushing that refrigerator toward the door. Once the men were kicked out, Reno and Jimmy helped drag the refrigerator in front of the door.
But then Dom was screaming for his father and Reno yelled for the family to stay where they were as he ran back up front.
Shots were still being fired, but Dom had heard another break in. “The bedroom!” he yelled to his father. “They’re trying to come in through the bedroom!”
Reno ran to the bedroom and had to fall on his back firing his weapon as what looked like four intruders were coming in through the shattered bedroom window.And as he was firing, he could hear the sound of yet another group of gunmen attempting to break into their front door.
Reno’s heart was faint as he took out the four intruders in the bedroom, got up, and began running toward the front room to help Dom stave off the attackers attempting to break through the front door even as shots were still being fired into the house. Dom looked at his father. They were so outgunned that they felt helpless. They both knew there was no way they could continue to put down a mob that size.
But just as the front door appeared to be breached and the men were about to break in on in, what seemed like gunfire from all sides began to be heard outside. “What the fuck?” said Reno. And when the gunmen that were within inches of breaking through the front door stopped all movement, Dom hurried to the window and peeped out.
“We got company, Pop,” he said with amazement in his eyes.
“Sal’s back?” Reno asked, waiting to exhale.
“No,” said Dom.
“Then who’s the company?”
“Everybody,” Dom said.
Reno frowned and hurried over to the window. When he looked out, he was as floored as his son. Because the gunfire was coming, not from Sal or Mick or Tommy or anybody else from their circle. The gunfire was coming from a massive crowd of townspeople on either end of the street, all in their pickup trucks. All blocking in B.B.’s army. There had to be every grown up in town, men and women, with nearly seventy-five men on one end of the street, and another seventy on the other end. Reno could hardly believe it.
“What’s going on, Pop?” Jimmy asked as the family, who realized there were guns being fired, but no longer at the house, ran up front too.
“We got company,” Reno said and Jimmy and Trina and Sophia and Carmine peeped out too. When they saw what looked like the entire town of Washwater helping them, they were beyond relieved. “Thank you, Jesus!” Trina cried. “Thank you, Jesus!”
The outpouring was so overwhelming that what remained of B.B.’s army of men began laying their weapons down and surrendering to the townspeople. Dom and Jimmy and the family wanted to run out there and thank the town. But Reno wouldn’t let them. He told them to wait.
And it was Reno who went out of that front door alone. The family watched to see what he was going to do.
But Reno knew exactly why he didn’t want his family out there. Because he knew B.B.’s ass. He knew, if B.B. had left Vegas and come all the way to Washwater to get whatever revenge he thought he was entitled to get, he would show himself if Reno showed up. It was a risk, but Reno was ready.
It happened almost immediately. Because as soon as he saw Reno walk out of that house, B.B.’s Bernardi’s rage took over and he started running from behind one of those SUVs and began firing his weapon and yelling Reno’s name. But Reno, who was expecting the onslaught, fired first. He had wanted to hit B.B. in the legs, because he wanted answers, but as soon as the townspeople saw a man firing at Tyrone, they began firing at that man. And although Reno had already disabled but purposely did not kill B.B. with his gunshots, the townspeople finished B.B. off. Bad men were bad men in their eyes. They didn’t know the backstory.
Which was fine by the Gabrinis. They hurried outside as the town took charge of the remaining members of B.B.’s army and disarmed them all. But Reno went up to B.B. and stared at him. He never had any beef with him. He didn’t know the backstory either.
Trina and the children stood by their father. “All this for what?” asked Dom. “Just senseless.”
Jimmy looked at his younger brother. There was a time when Dom was usually the senseless one. He wondered what changed.
But he didn’t have to wonder long. He had a community to thank. So did Reno and Trina. Otis and Samuel came up to them.
“How did you know?” Reno asked the two men.
“I was home when they first started shooting,” said Otis. “I hurried to the factory to get the ones there, since everybody kept their hunting rifles in their trucks, and then some others went and got those that were on the day shift and hadn’t made it in yet.”
“You fought for us,” said Samuel, the new plant manager. “When Otis told us you and your family was under attack, it was only right that we should stand up for you. Nobody hesitated. We just came.”
The entire Gabrini family had tears in their eyes. Tears even welled up in Reno’s eyes, although he fought it like hell. He squeezed Samuel’s shoulder.
And then the calvary showed up: Sal, Tommy, and Mick the Tick. They had flown into the nearest airfield and then took a helicopter over to Washwater. As they got off of the chopper, all three were amazed by the sight.
“Damn,” said Tommy when they saw the scope of the army. “How many men did B.B. bring with him?”
“His entire syndicate apparently,” Sal replied. And then they hurried over to their family.
The family were so relieved to see their kin arrive that they ran into the arms of Tommy and Sal. But Carmine was the only one brave enough to run into Mick’s arms. To their shock, Mick was so relieved that they were still alive that he embraced him. He was certain they had gotten there too late. And but for those townspeople, they would have been too late.
Although the family wanted to know why B.B. had such a grudge against them, Reno had a more pressing question. “How did B.B. know we were here?” he asked Mick.
“For all those years you had a tail on Kenny Partanna, he hired men to tail you, Sal, and Tommy. Those hired hands noted in one of their hundreds of reports that Sal purchased a safe house in a remote town in Mississippi. When they couldn’t figure out where you could be in hiding, that was when they bothered to go through Kenny’s laptop again, the one Ax stole when he broke into Kenny’s house, and that was when they found this place.”
“I’ll be damn,” said Reno. “And I was thinking he was some meek and mild professor who never did shit, when he was shitting on all of us right under our noses.”
“Right,” said Mick.
“Who are all these people?” Tommy asked.
“Our town,” said Dom. “They came through for us.”
Tommy nodded. “That’s great. That’s just great.”
But Sal was staring at Reno. “What’s your problem?” he asked him. “What you crying for?”
Reno was embarrassed and did what he always did in situations like that: he lashed out. “What are you talking crying? Who’s crying? Nobody’s crying, are you nuts?” But even as he was speaking it, he was wiping tears from his eyes with his shirt sleeve. Which caused everybody to laugh, and Trina to defend Reno once again. “Leave my husband alone,” she said happily.
But nobody did. Not even the townspeople. They kept needling the man they knew as Tyrone. As if he was one of their own.