10. Mario
10
MARIO
I don’t know whether Alice is sleeping due to emotional exhaustion or she’s passed out due to shock, but her eyes are shut and she doesn’t even open them as I turn off the freeway into a small neighborhood deep in the heart of LA. I know this place and these people well. It’s my old stomping grounds, a sliver of the city where my brother and I ran things for the longest time. I have no plan right now. The motel was supposed to be our refuge for a while longer while I figured things out.
Now I’m on the lam and I have their car. I can’t stay here, especially with their car, because I know Paolo. This thing probably has GPS in it and he’s tracking my every move. So, I pull up next to a beat-up Toyota and stop. The lights in the homes on this street are all off. I shut the car down and the lights off and nudge Alice, who doesn’t stir.
We have to get rid of this car, and the only way to do that is to lift another one. There is a part of me that wants to feel bad for these people—the part of me that masqueraded as a priest the past few years. But there is another part of me that has no care in the world. I was made for this, raised in it, bred to thrive on being a criminal. Besides, they have insurance to take care of shit like this. Why should I care?
I step out of the car I know to be one of my brother’s and gently shut the door so Alice remains sleeping for now. If she sees me doing this, she’ll throw a fit and wake the neighborhood. She doesn’t know the car we stole earlier, the one we’ve been driving for the past forty-five minutes, belongs to my brother. Who’d have suspected that? Except me. I know that goon parked right behind our getaway vehicle just to mock me.
The night is calm, only the sound of crickets over the distant hum of the city. It’s never silent here. There’s always a hum of white noise in the background, which serves to cover the sounds of my footsteps on the pavement. I managed to cram my feet into my shoes as I drove, though it wasn’t easy. Alice, however, remains clad in only my T-shirt and shorts. She’s so vulnerable, so dependent on me.
I’m in luck as I reach for the door handle and open the driver’s side door. They left their car unlocked for me, and because it’s old enough to have a key, not one of those fancy push-button ignitions, it’ll be easy to hotwire, which I do in less than a minute. When the car is running, I move back to our previously stolen vehicle to get our things and Alice. She is groggy and still emotional as I lead her from one car to the other, rubbing her eyes and quietly resisting my efforts to get her to safety.
I open the door for her and let her climb in, and she whimpers and curls up into a ball. I know now it’s the emotion that has her knocked out. She’s suffering from a slight case of shock, and who wouldn’t be? She’s witnessed so much death recently, I’m surprised she’s not a mental case.
I pull out in the new car and know I have to put as much distance between me and that car as possible, and as I do, I call the one person I know I can count on.
“Yo, Mario, it’s late.” Ervine sounds irritated that I’ve woken him up .
“It’s actually early,” I correct him. “I need five guys now. I’ll be ready in forty minutes. I want them at the corner of Wright and Folkerth. Tell them to come heavy and be ready for a fight. I have to go see my brother.” I’m not mincing my words because I need people who aren’t hesitant, who are ready for action.
“Done. Where you at?” I hear him yawn and then I hear shuffling in his room.
“I’m going to Our Lady of Resurrection. Just don’t say a word.” The old church is run by a man named Father Thomas, a compatriot from back in the day who also got out when he could, except he’s not going to be sucked back into the mess the way I have been. What I do know is that he’s trustworthy and I can leave Alice with him for a time.
“Got it, Boss. They’ll be there.”
I hang up and glance at Alice who still slumbers lightly on the seat next to me as I drive. If someone had told me that years after gaining my freedom from this mess I’d be back at it, I’d have laughed at them. Part of me wonders whether Alice doesn’t just have a magical ability to put a hex on me to make me do for her what I’ve never done for anyone other than myself. Or maybe my icy heart has just thawed enough to begin feeling things for people again.
At the church, I don’t even have to ask Father Thomas for help. It’s so early for most people in this city, but he is seated in the front pew praying when I carry Alice and our bag into the sanctuary. She’s draped around me, clinging to my neck with her eyes shut, and I’m on a mission to get to my brother before he leaves his house for the day.
“Oh, dear…” Father Thomas rises to greet me with compassion and nods at Alice. “Mario…” His tone is one of disappointment. He can see that I’ve been sucked back in without having to question me about it.
“For a few days, maybe a week. She’s in trouble.” I try to keep my voice low, but Alice stirs and looks up at me .
“I don’t want to stay here. I want to be with you.” I can’t blame her after what happened at the church in Barstow. Here, we are even closer to the enemy, but they don’t know where we are or how to find us right now. I have to bank on that for as long as possible.
I set her down on wobbly legs and drop the bag at our feet. The priest watches us but turns away when I press my lips to hers, as if watching me break my vow is too painful for him. But he knows the sort of man I am, who I’ve always been. He knew as well as I did that I’d only be able to fake it for so long before my true nature would return—albeit hopefully, a better version of it.
“You have to stay here. Father Thomas is a good man, Alice. He will shelter you here until I come back.”
Her fingers dig into my shirt, pulling me toward her as tears spring up. She’s traumatized, beaten down, and terrified of everything. Her sobs shake her whole body, and whereas my former self would have pried her away from me and left her to the capable hands of my friend, the current me can’t bear to see her hurting like this. I hold her for a moment, but time is ticking.
“Alice, you’ll be safe here. I promise you. In a few hours, I’ll be back, and hopefully, this will be over.” The bonding we’ve done over the past few days is enough for me to know I’m not leaving this woman behind for any reason. The vultures will swarm and pick her bones dry. She is mine, and I defend what’s mine.
“A few hours?” she asks, looking up at me.
I brush away a few tears and nod. “Just nap. Before you’ve even had lunch, I’ll be back.” I back away, and she whines a little but lets me go. Her eyes turn toward my ever-faithful friend and the man who will become the last line of defense should my brother’s men come in force, and I nod at him.
Without another word, I head back to the car. My mission is simple. I have to get into my brother’s house and confront him and hopefully not get killed in the process. If Ervine is on his game, there will be five men waiting for me when I arrive only a few blocks from our destination, and all of this will be a bad nightmare when I get back to Alice’s arms.
It all feels dark and heavy now, what used to feel light. As I drive, I remember times when I would murder ten men in a single night and not think twice. Now the guilt of killing even those three men in the past few days is enough to drive me insane. The only saving grace is that I’ve done it for a worthy cause this time—not money or power or influence. I did it for love, for a woman who needs a hero.
Arriving at the location where I told Ervine to have my men ready, I see a black van waiting, tail lights on, engine running. I don’t know who it is or where he found them, but anyone willing to risk their life to help me when they don’t know me is okay in my book. Or maybe they do know me and that’s the reason they volunteered. Either way, I gesture for them to follow and pass by the van slowly. It pulls out and follows me the last few blocks.
We park outside my brother’s home. The lights inside are mostly off, but I see his bedroom light glowing on the second story. The group of men files out of the van, chambering rounds in their guns. I approach them with confidence and immediately recognize Tony, one of my former soldiers.
“Mario…” He grunts, handing me a nine millimeter semi-automatic handgun. “Fifteen rounds…” He nods at the gun then says, “Ervine said you need help. Well, we’re here.” I haven’t seen this man in as many years as I’ve been gone, and he still works for my brother, but he’s always been loyal to me.
“Thank you,” I tell him, then turn my attention to the house. “We get in as quietly as possible. I’m not here to kill him. I’m here to confront him. I want him off my case once and for all. That may turn to violence, but I hope it doesn’t.” My stance has always been clear with Tony and Ervine, and men like him. Violence is a last resort, not a tool. Paolo is quick to the trigger and quick to his temper. He’s made a mockery of my father’s legacy.
“Got it.” Tony chambers a round, and I do too, then we head toward the house.
We mount the stairs with ease, though I’m expecting to encounter resistance soon. Paolo’s men are probably asleep on the job for us to get this close without being stopped. On the count of three, I kick the door in, and we scurry inside, surprising his guards. Punches are thrown and bodies hit the ground as I race up the stairs two at a time, hoping to get to Paolo’s bedroom before he’s alerted, and as I burst through the bedroom door, he draws a gun and points it in my direction.
“Brother, I’m so glad you could make it. I was expecting you, though I’ll admit not quite this early in the morning.”
Paolo looks good, like he’s been taking care of himself. This reunion could have been so much happier if only he weren’t the cynical, angry bastard he is. I hold my gun pointed directly at his chest, and I really don’t want to use it. He’s family, and what he did to my father, I could never do to him. Not unless he crossed a line I don't think he will actually cross—yet.
“Come now, Paolo, you didn’t think I was going to let you kill innocent women on my turf and get away with it.” I start my slow, counterclockwise move toward the right, and he circles to his right. Our guns are locked on each other, but we both know we won’t pull the trigger yet. He wants to use me as a means to get the girl and his money. I want to warn him that if he tries, I will cripple his entire organization.
“Innocent is a matter of opinion, Mario. Darling stole a half-million dollars from me and she knows where it’s at.” He uses his thumb to release the safety and shrugs. “Just hand her over, and when I get my cash, she can go free. ”
I chuckle, but that chuckle is interrupted by shots being fired downstairs. My men are at war, and I hope they understand the price they’re paying is saving Alice’s life. It may also be saving their own. My brother is a power-hungry monster.
“Back off, or you’re going to regret it.” Keeping my temper in check, I continue walking until we’ve circled completely around to where we started. His bathrobe stands open, showing off the smattering of scars on his chest and stomach, all evidence of the ruthless life he leads. My body doesn’t reflect the same—just a tattoo of a lion, the one beast who doesn’t have to be afraid of anything, the one beast who doesn’t need an introduction. Everyone knows when a lion walks in the room, including my brother.
“You’re cute. You know I have three hundred soldiers poised to take you out.” Paolo is too smug, too confident. He’s going to fall hard.
“Make that two hundred ninety-five.” I wink at him, and it enrages him. He points his gun away from my chest to the door frame behind me and fires a warning shot, and I return fire before ducking into the hallway. I knew he’d never shoot me because ultimately, he knows if he does, the men within his organization who are loyal to me will turn on him. It would be his downfall.
Before I can collect myself, three men come out of the bedrooms at me, and I am swinging fists, punching my way through them. I don’t know what’s going on downstairs. All I know is the sounds of gunfire and screaming shake the entire house, and my mission to warn my brother off is less successful than I planned. I fight my way out, catching a few fists to the face, chest, and gut, and a few knife slashes to go along with them. I step over bodies in my path, only to return to my car with no rounds left and no chance of saving any of the guys I came with.
Paolo is taking this very seriously, and I’m already down five men. I have to fall back and call Ervine to regroup. I need a better plan.