Chapter 18
Brother’s Keeper…
“How long we gotta watch this nigga sleep so peacefully?” Roy spoke loudly, hoping to wake Kentrell up.
“As long as it takes,” Luca muttered, turning the page to a new book he picked out of his home’s library. “I want him in his right mind.”
Luca sat in a leather chair near the foot of the bed, posture relaxed like this was any other late night. The lamp on the dresser was turned low, the glow of the light was enough to allow him to see each word he read on the off-white pages.
“I’m saying though,” Roy gritted out. “This nigga farting, tossing and turning in funk.” His nose wrinkled.
Roy sparked a blunt each time Kentrell passed gas while sleeping. While Luca sat at the edge of the bed, Roy was sitting on the side where Kentrell slept peacefully. He was ready to get this shit over with so they could head to Vegas to take care of Lennox.
“Patience,” Luca’s words trailed off.
Kentrell stirred in his sleep, his snoring stopped for a couple of seconds then returned. He now slept on his back, mouth open, chest rising heavy and uneven. Roy leaned forward and frowned from the evidence of his drug of choice on his nose.
“Damn his bitch ass really be off that powda… shit still stuck at the top of his nose.” Roy frowned.
Luca ignored Roy’s complaining. He readjusted his gun in his lap then continued to read his book: The Count of Monte Cristo. He turned a page slowly as he read the next line.
All human wisdom is contained in these two words: Wait and hope.
Luca’s gaze rescanned the sentence and shook his head in contempt.
I’m done waiting, the only hope is succeeding. He thought.
A low groan escaped Kentrell as he rolled onto his side, his arm flopped across the mattress followed by a yawn.
“Narah!” He yelled with his eyes closed. “Get me some fuckin’ water.”
His eyelids fluttered before he opened them. His brain caught up with reality as his pupils adjusted to being opened. Luca almost smiled; it was time.
“It’s about time yo funky ass woke up.” Roy’s voice sounded off from behind Kentrell.
Kentrell didn’t react to Roy’s voice, his gaze was fixated on his brother.
They had a silent stare off; unspoken words, years of resentment sat between them.
Kentrell’s eyes were lit by something colder than anger.
It was bitterness without origin, an inherited grudge that he nursed since a kid.
His jaw flexed as he continued to stare at Luca like he was beneath him.
He’d rather die before even thinking about pleading for his life.
Luca stared with a different weight on his shoulders.
He had tried, tried through their young years to mend what he didn’t understand with Kentrell.
He didn’t care about being half-brothers with him, Luca still offered loyalty, even if it meant staying out of Kentrell’s way.
Every attempt had been met with cold dismissal.
He remembered extending a hand with small things when they became young adults, only for it to be slapped away. The ache in Luca’s chest right now was exhaustion. He loathed this day but told himself it was coming sooner than expected. A sick thought hit Luca, he whispered it out in disbelief.
“You named the twins Cain and Abel.” Luca’s jaw ticked. He shut his book and set it on the arm of the chair. “Which one of us is Cain?” Luca’s eyes burned with accusation.
“Abel was a bitch ass nigga, kissing ass… always acting like he had God’s favor… That’s you, mutha fucka! I’m Cain.” Kentrell laughed manically.
Luca shook his head and smirked coldly at Kentrell.
“They were two brothers. Same blood. Same household with the same God watching them.” Luca’s raspy voice broke through his whispers, surprising Kentrell momentarily.
“We ain’t got the same blood—”
“This nigga stupid,” Roy cut Kentrell off, shaking his head.
Luca shook his head at Roy. He had a final point to make. It didn’t matter if Kentrell got it or not.
“One brother gave what he could… the other brother gives too, but one offering gets favored. Instead of the other brother looking inwardly and asking why his own heart wasn’t right.” Luca eyes darkened, his hand landed on top of his gun. “Cain turns on his brother.”
“I ain’t running, and I ain’t fenna beg your hoe ass.” Kentrell sat up in bed, his comforter slid down his body.
“I don’t expect you to, but let me finish…brother,” Luca whispered gravely.
Kentrell scoffed. He reached over to his nightstand and grabbed his pack of cigarettes. He placed one between his lips and sparked it, the gesture and the smell of it reminded Luca of La’Nova.
“It was never Abel’s fault. He didn’t take anything. He didn’t steal approval from God. He just showed up as he was…” Luca inhaled the smoke that drifted his way. He imagined La’Nova chain smoking her fears away.
“You see.” Luca leaned forward. “Cain let comparison rot him. He let envy control him. Instead of fixing himself, he chose to destroy the one closest to him.”
The air thickened in the spacious room. The rays from the sun started to peek through Kentrell’s dark gray curtains.
“I spent years trying to figure out what I did to make you look at me like this,” Luca admitted with no shame nor emotion evident in his voice.
“At first I tried to dim myself. Tried to stand steps behind you so you could lead as a big brother… I even tried to earn something that was supposed to be ours by default…We could have done this shit together.” Luca shook his head.
“You just had to let your bitch ass daddy Lennox pimp your mind out…. I would never bleed just so a nigga like you could feel whole. I was never your enemy until you forced me to be.” Luca stopped talking and picked up his gun, taking the safety off.
“You laughed when I went to prison… but I told you when we were young, I’d kill you. I promised it to myself.” He aimed the gun at Kentrell.
“A man like me don’t break fuckin’ promises, brother.” Luca’s smile reached his eyes.
Kentrell laughed demonically. He laughed hard until tears slipped out his eyes. He inhaled the cigarette smoke, swallowed it down, trying to trap it in his lungs.
“The fuck is so funny?” Roy grilled him.
Still, Kentrell cackled, keeping his eyes locked in with Luca’s.
“I guess this is payback like a mutha fucka,” Kentrell coughed violently, his laughter died down as a distant look in his eyes appeared.
“This the same position Dontrell was in when I had La’Nova blow his brains out.” Kentrell licked his lips.
All of Luca’s blood ran cold, his jaw ticked as fury blinded him.
“How does it feel to swap bitches with me?” Kentrell chuckled dryly, taking another hit from his cancer stick. He shrugged his shoulders as a look of disappointment followed.
“Nova’s pussy better than Ill Na Na’s… but I see why you love big bitches—”
Pop!
Luca shot Kentrell right in the stomach, blood seeped out of the hole, trickling down into the comforter. Kentrell chuckled lowly; thanks to all the cocaine he sniffed up his nose before he fell asleep, he hardly felt a thing.
“If it makes you feel any better,” Kentrell winced, finally feeling the pain in his stomach. “It was eye for an eye… Dontrell killed her parent’s…”
“Shut the fuck up!” Luca yelled, his hoarse voice broke through, nearly shaking the walls.
“Feels fucked up huh?” Kentrell chuckled dryly. “Fucking the same bitch that killed your father—”
Pop! Pop! Pop!
In a trance, Luca kept pulling the trigger until it made a clicking sound.
A pain shot through his body almost crippling him on the spot.
Flashbacks of his childhood of him and Kentrell played vividly in his mind.
There was no regret that harbored inside of him for his final decision in killing Kentrell.
Just hurt, anger, and most of all frustration.
Luca promised himself a long time ago to stop searching his brain for answers to questions that didn’t make sense. Kentrell had no reason to hate Luca, and if there was a reason, Luca felt it could have easily been fixed when they were both young.
He kept his distance from Kentrell the older they got but it didn’t stop Luca from thinking about Kentrell.
It was death before dishonor, and Kentrell dishonored the Bonetti name, the legacy; the list was so long there was no valid excuse creditable to make Luca want to spare Kentrell.
His big brother wanted something he didn’t deserve.
To wear a crown that didn’t fit on top of his head.
Most men wanted to lead, yet they never took the time to follow a good leader to teach them the proper tools.
Men wanted to be something they never studied, just to say they were that.
Luca walked in the shadows of his father.
He allowed correction, humbled himself enough to understand the ends and outs.
The crown rightfully belonged to Luca. He accepted it. No one could make him regret taking it.
Roy’s hand landed on top of Luca’s shoulder.
He gave it a firm squeeze then released, letting his hand remain on his best friend's shoulder. Roy’s gesture was a simple sentiment of acknowledgement; it was reassurance that he could feel his pain and was there as his capo to stand by his side.
Luca slowly lowered his gun, lifted his free hand and placed it on top of Roy’s hand.
“My chest hurts,” Luca muttered, removing his hand from Roy’s.
Luca grabbed his chest, his shoulders dropped as he looked away from Kentrell’s bullet riddled body.
His chest had been tight for years, but tonight it felt like something inside him had finally split open.
It wasn't the kind of pain a doctor could name.
The heaviness felt dense, like concrete had been poured beneath his ribs and left to harden there.
Luca believed in one firm law. Death before dishonor.
Betrayal such as Kentrell’s demanded blood, his life.
There was no hesitation in the act itself.
Luca’s mind and conscience was clear from regret.
It was the finality that hit him hard. Truth was, love was not a switch.
Luca still had love for Kentrell. He hated that truth but accepted it.
His love for him lingered like smoke after a fire.
Between the brothers was a history written long before resentment had poisoned it.
The betrayal and dishonor had been real, but so was the love.
The love was what had Luca feeling hollowed out. His chest tightened again, sharper this time; it felt like his heart was trying to fold inward. He thought about his father and couldn’t help himself. He pressed a hand against his sternum as if he could physically hold himself together.
“Love don’t disappear just because someone wounds you deeply, son.” His father’s words replayed in his mind.
“I’m gon’ make sure you good, bro,” Roy reassured him.
“I know,” Luca whispered lowly.
“Shit makes me feel sick.” Luca shook his head. “Everything. Makes me feel sick,” Luca admitted, anger laced in every whispered word.
“I can’t imagine it, bro.” Roy murmured.
Luca’s hurt radiated off of him in strong waves. Roy felt it and offered comfort by being silent.
“Have him cleaned and sent to his mother,” Luca’s voice cracked. “She’ll do what she feels is best.” He licked his lips. “Make it clear that he will be buried somewhere far away from my father.”
“Got it.” Roy nodded his head in agreement.
Kentrell plotted the Don’s death. He didn’t deserve to rest next to him in peace.
“We need time before Vegas,” Luca added.
“I figured.” Roy nodded his head in agreement. “A meeting with The Table has been set. We gotta step correctly since there’ll be war,” Roy spoke gravely.
He was ready as capo to put an end to everything that served as a threat to the Bonetti family. People were beginning to become restless, business had been frozen in all aspects. From the shipping docs, down to supplies running dry. Without the Don’s say so, nothing moved and nobody ate.
Luca gathered himself in seconds, then calmly walked to the door.
“What about La’Nova?” Roy asked before he stepped out.
“I have a tracker on her camper. I can have her snatched up quickly,” Roy added.
That part didn’t surprise Luca one bit. He simply exhaled as if he’d already expected Roy to mention La’Nova.
Most men in his position would’ve had a quick power trip about Roy not consulting them first. Luca never had to question things like this with Roy.
His capo was always known to move before a problem had a chance to grow teeth, even if Luca didn’t see it at the time regarding the woman who captured his attention and heart.
That was the difference between him and other capos.
While some waited for instruction like soldiers staring at a general, Roy anticipated.
He studied shit and read tension before it surfaced.
He been said something wasn't right with La’Nova.
He felt it besides her not wanting to give him any pussy.
Then he saw her with Luca. He loved the idea of them, Roy witnessed how she took his mind and heart off of Dontrell.
La’Nova appeared in Luca’s dark world and added light to it.
She was like medicine, healing his friend and helping his through mourning stage.
Roy also still couldn’t get rid of that naggy feeling of something not being right with La’Nova.
So he ordered their men to place hidden trackers on her camper, just in case his unsettled intuition was correct about her.
Roy was the type of man that didn’t react to fires because he always prevented them.
That kind of instinct couldn’t be taught.
It lived in Roy. He understood foresight and restraint.
He never needed constant direction from Luca.
He was his voice when he couldn’t speak and his eyes when he couldn’t see.
“Let her be, we need to focus on Lennox. When the time comes, I’ll handle La’Nova myself.” Luca signed with his hands moving slowly, no longer wanting to use his voice to speak.