Thirteen
T ime is of the essence, more so than ever, now that I know the truth.
I wanted to wait, but I can’t.
Aldo knows someone is stealing from him, but he just doesn’t know it’s his own flesh and blood. And this is the upper hand I need to get answers about my brother.
I don’t even know her name. But what I do know is that she’s trouble, which is why I followed her home.
It’s late, and after the shit I learned today, I really need to get back to Valentina. Aldo wants me to play nice with Gianna, but I’m not sure how long that shit will fly before I tell her to go fuck herself.
But if Valentina continues to fight me, I don’t know what I’ll do.
I choose a side, and that’s Aldo’s. I don’t know why, but I trust him.
Once this is done, I could always attempt to live a normal life, but the bloodlust in me shakes its head, knowing I don’t play nice with normalcy. I’m too far gone for that.
Perhaps, I gravitated toward Aldo because he has something I admire—respect.
He isn’t a good guy, I know that. And although I’m fucking opposed to drugs, they’re going to be dealt one way or another. Whether I deal them or not, people are going to get fucked up. If we sell good product that’s not cut with shit, then maybe that’ll save them from the inevitable.
Nice try , I tell myself because there is no way to justify being a drug dealer. I just have to accept that I’m not an honorable man.
Aldo’s daughter slips from the apartment. I wonder if Aldo lives here. I also wonder if Gianna is her mother.
Fuck me, this is an HBO documentary dream.
I keep to the shadows, watching her closely. She carries an air of confidence on her shoulders, perhaps even arrogance, which will get her caught.
I have no idea why she would need to steal. Money wouldn’t be an issue. So I’m guessing she’s doing it as a fuck-you to Aldo. Perhaps she is Gianna’s daughter after all.
She clutches the straps of her backpack tightly, no doubt to protect what’s inside.
How can Aldo not know his own daughter is stealing from him? I guess love makes you do crazy things, something that Gianna taught us from day one.
Aldo’s daughter turns down an alley, and it’s not to feed the stray cats. I slow down and stick close to the wall. Peering around it, I watch the transaction take place as she reaches into her backpack and gives the guy a small bag.
He eyes it hungrily as he tosses a rolled-up stack of bills at her.
This is small fry. I’m a little disappointed. But she’s smart as she knows anything bigger, and her father would be onto her. Little does she know he already is. I snap a few photos on my phone because it’ll be her word against mine. So I now have the proof I need.
The guy scurries off while she places the money into her boot.
Now is my time to strike.
I don’t mask my footsteps as I approach her. She spins, and it takes a few seconds before she recognizes me.
“You,” she says, not bothering to mask her disgust. “Are you following me?”
“Yes,” I deadpan.
She’s taken aback by my honesty, and her confidence is soon replaced with suspicion. “Who are you?”
“My name is Lennon, and I guess I work for your dad now. Although I use the word work very loosely.”
She doesn’t need me to explain further. She knows she’s in deep shit.
“What do you want?”
Folding my arms across my chest, I weigh over her request. “Your name first.”
She sighs heavily, clearly not amused by small talk. “Bria.”
“Well, it’s lovely to make your acquaintance, Bria. I won’t waste either of our time. I know you’re stealing from your dad and selling his stuff.”
When she opens her mouth, ready to argue, I hold up a hand, stopping her.
“I know that you are, so please don’t bullshit me. This will be a lot easier on us both if we’re honest with one another.”
Bria mulls over my comment before saying, “All right then, what the fuck do you want? Money? I have a lot of that, so name your price.”
“I don’t want your money.” I shake my head before adding, “And I don’t want that either.”
She looks relieved I’m not going to ask her to blow me in his filthy alley.
“Then what?”
“The crack house you were dealing at in the valley, I need you to take me there.”
“Why?” She gives me a once-over, curiosity clear because I don’t look like her typical clientele.
“The less we know about one another, the better.”
“Well, to be fair, I know jack shit about you, and you seem to know a lot about me, so I’m not telling you anything until you give me something.”
I mull over her request. It’s a fair one. “I think one of your clients is my brother.”
She waits for the punchline, but there is none.
When she realizes I’m done, she shakes her head. “I hate to break it to you, but there a lot of brothers inside that hellhole, but the person you remember is no longer there. Trust me. He checked out the moment he became a junkie.
“He would sell your own mother for his next fix.”
“She’s the reason he’s like this.”
Bria folds her arms across her chest. “No, Lennon, he’s the reason he’s the way he is. No one forces him to sniff or inject the shit that he does. So stop trying to save someone who doesn’t want to be saved. Trust me, this will only get you hurt.”
“Gee, thanks for the pep talk, but no one asked you. So mind your fucking business.” Her attitude is pissing me off. She doesn’t know me. Or Lewis. She knows jack shit about our situation.
I’m going to save Lewis…even if he doesn’t want me to.
Bria reads my stance and shrugs. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Your brother—”
But I’m done talking.
I grip her throat and slam her body into the wall. When she tries to break free, I shove her harder, her back slamming into the bricks. I tighten my grip around her throat.
“Look, I don’t care about you. I’m not interested in what you have to say. You’re simply a means to an end. I have no issues telling your dad what I know. But hey, I’m a nice a guy and thought I would give you the benefit of the doubt and hope we could work something out.
“But you’re really starting to piss me off. So either you do as I’ve asked or we can go our separate ways right now. It’s your choice.”
Her eyes are filled with fire, and I have no doubt she’s envisioning ways of making my death look like an accident, but I don’t have time for this shit. I’m not here to make friends. I need to find Lewis and then convince Valentina that Gianna is Satan reincarnate.
Bria eventually concedes, much to her disgust. I do admire the fight in her.
Cautiously, I let her throat go, never breaking eye contact with her as a warning that if she tries any shit, I will make good on my word.
When she’s free, she shoves me in the chest, making her contempt for me more than clear.
I simply chuckle in response.
She leads the way, and we walk in silence, both of us wanting this over with.
No one bothers us because, let’s face facts, we’re the ones who would fuck shit up. Everyone keeps to themselves in this part of town anyway. A haven for those who just want to disappear and not belong.
It’s a dark night; even the moon doesn’t want to come out and witness the shit about to go down.
“What does he look like?” Bria says, breaking the silence.
Her voice is almost alien-like out here in the quiet. But we both know it’s the quiet before the storm.
She reads my hesitation for what it is—I don’t know what the grown-up Lewis looks like. “Fucking great. A name, then?”
“Lewis.”
The falter to her step confirms my worst fears.
I don’t know what I’m about to walk into, but it won’t be good.
When we approach the house, I stop and take a moment to appreciate it because it would have been quite a sight in its heyday. This three-story Victorian mansion would have been the envy of many back in the day.
Now, however, it’s rotting away; its dilapidated state is a reminder that nothing lasts forever. Regardless of this, though, the impressive home still stands tall at the end of a long dirt driveway. The surrounding cornfields just add to the eerie vibe.
Under different circumstances, I could appreciate the macabre sight, but now, this place is merely a reminder of what my brother has become.
I follow Bria as she walks toward the home, not surprised that a soul isn’t out here. I am surprised, however, when she detours around the back.
She reads my hesitation instantly. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
I prepare myself for anything, but when I see what looks like a once guesthouse, I realize I probably can never prepare for this. There is no door, so we walk in and are greeted with what can only be described as hell on earth.
Countless candles are scattered around the room, providing a warm glow for the inhabitants to shoot up and pass out in an ethereal bubble, forgetting the world exists outside this place.
Bria steps over the bodies strewn out on the dirty carpet, strung out on whatever shit they’ve ingested. The fact they’re so subdued hints at heroin.
Lewis can’t be here.
The people we step over are someone’s brother, sister, father, or mother, but they chose this lonely path that only ever ends in misery. I wonder what led them here.
I wonder a lot of things.
The vibe gets darker the farther we venture. It smells of stale beer, piss, and sex. The orange hue from the candles just adds to the macabre ambience. It feels like I’m awaiting a jump scare from a B-horror movie.
Bria stops just outside a room, hinting she has no intention of holding my hand.
Taking a composing breath, I enter the room. My eyes take a moment to adjust because, if possible, it’s even darker in here. But as I see a young man slumped against the wall with a tourniquet tied tightly around his arm and a needle hanging from his limp fingers, I realize this vision will forever be entwined in darkness because that young man is my brother.
I’d recognize that shaggy blond hair anywhere. But it’s now clumped together in a dirty mess. He was always skinny, but now, he’s nothing but skin and bones.
“It’s him?” Bria asks from behind me, her voice the only thing that forces me to believe this nightmare as real.
I nod, never taking my eyes off Lewis.
“We gotta go. Now.” The urgency in her voice hints this scene isn’t the worst of it.
Dropping to a squat in front of Lewis, I remove the needle from his fingers and throw it into the corner of the room where ten others just like it are piled.
His head is drooped to his chest. A strand of saliva dangles from his chin. How the fuck did he end up here? Not in this shithole, but rather, why did he choose this path for himself?
Or perhaps he was always destined for this life. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
The saying rings true: life fucking sucks.
I lift his chin. “Lewis, can you hear me? It’s me. It’s Lennon.”
He’s out cold. The only thing alerting me that he’s alive is the shallow rise and fall of his chest. Suddenly, anger outranks my sadness.
“Wake the fuck up!” I slap his cheek—hard.
A groan slips past his cracked lips. But he still doesn’t come to.
“You’re going to have to carry him.”
“What the fuck is your hurry, Bria?” I yell over my shoulder, wishing I could control my temper because this isn’t her fault.
“Because I don’t particularly want to be here when his mack daddy comes back.”
Every part of my body pulses in utter rage.
“He’s turning tricks. What the fuck!” I punch the wall, my fist going straight through it.
But it’s not enough. Nothing will suffice until I kill every person who had a hand in my brother’s demise. Because although he’s alive, he’s dead inside. And I’m afraid he’ll never see the light again.
Gianna knew he was here the entire time, so as I see it, she’ll also pay in ways unimaginable. But for now, I need to get him the fuck out of here.
He weighs next to nothing, and when I lift him, all I feel are bones. He smells putrid.
Bria’s eyes are wide, and she appears frozen in time. I recognize the look.
“It’s too late to feel guilty now.”
She shakes her head as if attempting to shake away the reality of the role she played in the lives she destroyed.
With Lewis in my arms, we quickly make our way down the hallway. I don’t care what or who I stand on. No one is getting in my way ever again.
As we turn the corner, it seems my affirmation is about to be put to the test.
“Bria?” snarls a man who can only be described as utter white trash. I hate using labels, but this redneck is every stereotype rolled into one pile of human shit.
His attention soon wavers from Bria to me, then down to Lewis in my arms. He removes the toothpick from between his lips—I vow to impale it into his eyeball and use it in my martini; I chuckle at the visual.
“Do we have a problem, son?” he asks, staring me down.
“Nope,” I reply, popping the P.
I attempt to shove past him, but he uses his arm as a barricade when he slams his hand against the wall. “Now I know you don’t think you’re taking my property with you.”
I close my eyes and exhale slowly. I need a moment.
“He is not anyone’s property ,” I say, reopening my eyes and glaring at the motherfucker.
He reads this for what it is—a fight until one of us is dead, which suits me just fine.
“I don’t know who you are. And I don’t care. But put it back where you found it and get the fuck outta ’ere.” He looks at Lewis like he’s nothing but dirt.
I stand perfectly still even though every part of me wants to burn down this fucking world and throat fuck it.
“Are you deaf? I said—”
“I heard you.” I cut him off because I don’t want to give this asshole any more airtime.
He waits for the punchline, but there is none. What there is, however, is a punch…of a different kind.
With Lewis still in my arms, I don’t wait for a theatrical moment because there is none. I step forward, and without delay, I headbutt the asshole right between the eyes. I catch him unawares, and he wavers on his feet, which is my chance to toss Lewis onto the floor and dive on top of this fucker and commence beating the living hell out of him.
I connect with every part of his face, taking great satisfaction in hearing his nose crack and the back of his head slam into the floor each time I punch him in the fucking face.
But it’s still not enough.
Wrapping my hands around his throat, I begin choking him. I squeeze so hard, I feel his neck spasming as he struggles for air. He soon realizes this is a fight for his life. He slaps at my hands, attempting to buck me off, but I have a firm grip and am pinning him down with my body weight.
He’s not going anywhere.
“You’re killing him!” Bria screams, and I fucking love the surge of adrenaline that courses through me.
“That’s kinda the point,” I flippantly reply.
It’s intoxicating, and it only has me squeezing harder.
I watch him closely, intrigued as his face turns beet red and his eyes appear glass-like as they almost pop from his head. Humans are a disgusting breed. I can honestly say that I’ve not met any, bar one, who I like.
My body begins to vibrate, and I suddenly feel myself getting hard. In fact, the more he gasps for breath, the harder I get. I do something that proves the line of humanity was crossed long ago when I release my hold around his neck.
He gasps for air, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. I give him a false sense of security, only to rip it away as I make good on my promise and reach for a rusted nail and ram it into his eyeball.
His toothpick was lost in the scuffle, so this is a good substitute.
His guttural screams are a sign of the pain he’s in, and I take great pleasure in knowing I’m the one who is his torturer. It comes naturally to me; a natural-born killer. I suppose I didn’t realize how much Gianna’s teaching has become ingrained into who I am. Because I feel absolutely nothing as I wrap my hands around his neck one final time and never let go until he takes his last breath.
I never break eye contact with him because I wish for my face to be the last thing he sees as he leaves this earth.
With one final squeeze, I let go and peer down at my hands. I turn them over and now see them in a new light, for they have killed, and I fear it won’t be the last time I have blood on them.
I know this is only the beginning of things to come.
Coming to a stand, I see Bria feet away, a hand covering her mouth. “What have you done?”
I don’t have time for her melodramatics and pick up Lewis, who is still out for the count. I can’t take him to Gianna’s. I also don’t want to involve Aldo in my mess.
“You’ve started a war,” Bria says, shaking her head.
“It started a long time ago,” I correct. “And I’m here to end it. Your secret is safe with me, Bria. But a word of warning, your father knows someone is stealing from him. It’s only a matter of time. Consider our debt settled.”
And with that, I leave behind the chaos I created with nothing but a smile.