Chapter Twenty-Two
The plane landed and I waited to be the last one off the plane.
From the moment I stepped off the plane to the moment I got into the taxi, my body was stiff with tension.
The sky was dark and it was thundering outside.
I made sure I was aware of who was around me the entire time and whether there was a threat nearby.
One part I didn’t miss about being back in Chicago was the constant stress of being on your toes every second.
Seeing the exit to the airport, the weight of the stress was heavy on my chest. As I reached the door, it opened automatically and a gust of wind hit me in the face. It was downpouring rain outside. Running toward the taxi stand, I immediately jumped into one without checking who would be inside.
“Where to?” The taxi driver asked.
There was only one person here that I knew I could go to for me to peacefully lay my head.
“Take me uptown.”
Soaking wet from the pouring rain, I knocked on the familiar red door. As it swung open, I looked up and saw Rachel in a robe holding a gun at her side.
She gasped when she realized it was me. “E, get in here.”
Walking inside and straight to the living room, I closed all the shades before removing my wet hoodie. Someone was watching, I just didn’t know whether it was my old boss or my new one. Rachel walked in with towels and placed them on the sofa.
“I thought you were dead,” she said almost choking up.
“Guess God doesn’t want me just yet,” I replied trying to lighten the mood.
She took my wet hoodie, “Who says God will take you.”
“The devil sure as hell doesn’t.”
“Afraid you’ll take his place?” Rachel finally cracked a smile. “Jump in the shower, there’s clothes in the dresser for you.”
Rachel had been my go-to person for a lot of things.
Advice, friendship, or the occasional fuck.
We had our history but no matter what I had put her through, she was always been there when I needed her the most. After a long hot shower, I threw on a T-shirt and sweatpants then made my way to the kitchen where Rachel had a warm meal waiting for me.
“Your favorite,” she smiled as she placed a plate of chicken marsala with bowtie pasta in front of me.
“Thanks, Rach.”
She filled us both a glass of wine before sitting across the table. “What happened?”
“Got caught.”
Rachel huffed, “Figured. He let you go?”
“I’m a dead man walking.”
Rachel didn’t need a play-by-play guide.
She understood my involvement with Bethany wouldn’t have ended well.
I appreciated and respected Rachel, she always put me before herself even though I didn’t need her to.
She knew more about my past than anyone, aside from Cassie.
There were things I told Rachel that I’d never tell Bethany – not because I didn’t trust her…
it was just… different. Bethany wouldn’t understand the choices I made because she grew up differently. But Rachel, she understood me.
“Didn’t I tell you if I ever disappeared to get out of this city?”
Rachel rolled her eyes, “I’m not leaving here. This is home.”
“Rach, listen to me. Someone has been lurking around. It’s not safe. If I make it out of this plan alive, I’m out of here and never looking back. You should do the same.”
She straightened her back and carried a serious tone in her voice, “I’m not the one running from bad guys.”
“That’s because you were sleeping with the worst one.”
Her eyes widened and she began gulping down her wine.
The front door opened and I nearly jumped out of my skin.
“Ma! I’m home.”
The sound of his voice instantly calmed me.
“I’m in the kitchen,” Rachel shouted back.
There was something about seeing Rachel’s face light up when he walked into the room that made me wish I had a mother who loved me just as much as Rachel loved her son.
“Sonny,” I said as I got to my feet to greet him.
“Uncle E,” he smiled and gave me a hug. “Where ya been?”
Rachel cleared her throat. “Want some food?”
“Yes, I’m starving.” He took a seat at the table while Rachel went to make him a plate.
“How’s school going?” I asked.
Letting out a deep breath, Sonny rubbed his face. “I’m not even in med school yet and I’m already burnt out.”
Med school. I’d never been so proud. “Well, no one said you have to be an overachiever and get into Emory.”
Sonny smiled, “Go big or go home.”
As we sat at the table, chatting and laughing as we usually did, the feeling of self-loathing began to eat at me as it normally happened in this setting.
This was what I wanted – a family. I sacrificed being a husband and father for a life of crime.
No matter how thrilling it was at times, in the back of my mind I wanted to come home to a wife making dinner as our children ran around the house causing a scene.
Sonny got up from the table, taking his plate to the sink, “I gotta run. Cecilia is waiting for me.”
“You gonna marry that girl or what?” I asked.
“If she survives law school and I survive med school – maybe.”
“Power couple.”
Sonny smiled, “You always said to find someone who made you a better man.”
“I wish you everything good in life.”
“From your mouth to God’s ears.” Walking away from the table Sonny shouts over his shoulder, “See ya! Don’t wait up for me mom!”
I waited until I heard the front door shut. There was a suffocating sense of silence that Rachel and I sat in for a moment.
“For such a bright kid, I don’t know how he doesn’t know.”
Rachel laughed, “He’s book smart, E. He doesn’t have his father’s street smart.”
My promiscuous ways were always to ensure no one would catch on that Rachel and I have a son. It was too risky for anyone to know. In fact, it was Rachel’s request to keep this a secret. It put a strain on our relationship although I understood her reason.
“Come with me,” I hold Rachel’s hands in mine.
“I’m not goin’ to California. Chicago is home. I’m not leavin’.”
“Rach, I can’t leave you here pregnant with my child. Come with me. We can get married, have this baby. I can take care of us.”
Her eyes water and a look of pain crosses her face. “I don’t want this life, E. You aren’t just working the streets. You signed on to be Luca DeCarlo’s right hand man. The DeCarlo Family works hand in hand with the Baricelli Family. God forbid you cross someone and they come after our child.”
“I won’t let that happen. It can’t happen. It’s a rule.”
Tears stream down her face, “What if you encounter someone like you? Who doesn’t give a shit about rules?”
I sit down and let her words sink in. She is right. It is dangerous but I’m too stubborn to accept it.
“What are you gonna to do? Raise this child on your own? Let me make an honest woman outta you.”
“I don’t want to force you to marry me. I want you to want to marry me.”
She thinks my feelings for her aren’t genuine.
“You think I don’t have feelings for you?” I question.
She places her hand on my shoulder. “It’s better this way. You need to go to California and make a name for yourself. If I’m there pregnant, you’ll be distracted. It won’t do you any good.”
Rachel had Sonny while I was in California and by the time I got back, Sonny was 7 years old.
The top half of his face was all me minus the scar across the left brow.
His manners were the same as mine. Although I was not listed on the birth certificate, ever since the first day I met him, I’d been around as Uncle E.
“You ever going to tell him?” I wondered out loud.
“Doesn’t really matter at this point. You’ve been a father figure to him for so long now. But if you want him to know one day, that’s okay by me.”
“I think that would get complicated.”
Shaking her head, “It’s never complicated. Not with us.”
There was a time I had deep feelings for Rachel but when she broke things off with me, I moved on. Throughout the years, she’d been more of a friend, one where the lines blurred at times. I took the moment to tell her where I’d been, what I’d been up to, and how I ended up back here in Chicago.
“We got married.”
“You and the barbie?” Rachel’s mouth dropped open. She always referred to Bethany as Barbie but she didn’t mean anything bad by it. Rachel shook her head as she joked, “Always a sucker for big tits.”
A laugh escaped my mouth in what felt like a lifetime. My tone remained serious, “I love her.”
“I know,” she replied.
“How did you know?”
“The way you look at her. The night on the boat – that fourth of July where you dragged me to watch fireworks. You were glancing in her direction the whole night every time no one was watching.”
I took a deep breath. “You’re a good catch Rach. I hate you wasted your years on me.”
“Who said I’ve been waiting on you?” Rachel laughed as she got to her feet placing her dish in the sink. “It’s a bit hard dating when everyone knows you still hang around. No one wants to think about what could happen if they spoke to someone so close to Emilio Pugliese.”
“You deserve happiness Rach.”
Rachel began washing dishes, “We both deserve to be happy.”
Taking a deep breath, I grabbed a pen out of a drawer with a notepad. Writing down private information, I gave it to Rachel.
“If anything happens, this is for you and Sonny.”
“E...”
“It was going to Sonny anyway,” I cut in. “Just in case he needs it sooner.”
Rachel looked at the notepad and nodded. I pulled her in and placed a kiss on her forehead.
“I am going to need a favor.” I looked at her. “I need some guns.”