2. Vinny
CHAPTER 2
Vinny
T he plan was kidnapping. I’d go in, get the girl, then wait for further instructions. It was bad enough that I had to pay that mouthy girl just to be able to do my job. I expected it all to be easy until I saw her. Rosa. I read her name over and over when my dad handed me the file. The picture on file showed a scrawny kid with a baseball cap and shaggy hair. But the girl, or should I say woman, who waited in that dorm room was quite different. Her hair had grown down her back and her round face had filled out slightly. Her eyes were still just as big, but they were green rather than dark brown as the file suggested.
Dad told me the job would be easy enough. Of course, he didn’t prepare me to be in limbo for the next week. I wanted it to be over with. I didn’t want the chance to develop any kind of pity.
“ The minute you look at them as people instead of a job, you lose,” My big brother Larry coached me. At that time, I was sixteen. Larry had done my current job plenty of times and with great ease. Women, children, innocent men. Larry didn’t care. As long as there was money on the other end of the line, Larry would get the job done. I kept a safe distance from that life because my dad had Larry, Uncle Berny, and Mikey, my other brother. Larry got older and sloppier and I was next in line to pick up the pieces.
A week is far too long to be left with no instructions, though. Now that Larry is in prison, everyone assumes it’s my turn to prove my place in the Montoya family. Especially after my fuck up.
“Excuse me?” Rosa yells across the table. I perk up, realizing I’m still holding the bottle of hot sauce she requested. In front of her is a plate of pizza and a beer. It was the least I could do since the cabin didn’t have food. I slide the bottle over and watch as she drenches the pizza in it.
“That’s disgusting,” I say with my nose pinched.
“Good. Maybe if you find me that revolting, you’ll put me out of my misery,” she grumbles.
“Don’t joke around with that,” I warn.
Rosa drops her gaze and eats her pizza. “Why am I still here?”
“It’s not that bad,” I reply.
She sets the pizza down. “Why am I still alive?”
“Do you have a death wish or something?” I tease. Rosa returns to the pizza in silence, taking short sips of her beer. I watch until the two pizza slices are entirely finished. Then I rise to my feet.
“Alright, let’s go,” I order. Rosa doesn’t budge.
“Can’t I let my food digest before I go back into that prison?” she asks softly. For someone with a tough demeanor, I can tell the isolation is starting to get to her.
“I can’t let you get comfortable out here because then you’ll think you own the place,” I tell her.
“Then can I say hi to my parents at least?” she asks. There’s a crack in her voice and that’s all it takes.
Larry would tell me I’ve lost and would need to take her out immediately, I think to myself as I pull the landline phone off the hook and hand it to her.
“You’ve got five minutes,” I say. Rosa happily takes the phone and waits with anticipation as it rings. Finally, she perks up and says, “Mom?”
My heart sinks in my chest. Rosa smiles as tears stream down her face.
“Mom, I…I got…kidnapped,” she says as she looks over at me. “I need you and Dad to please pay the money so—” Rosa pauses, her expression changing.
“What?” her voice drops as anger takes over her face. “Are you kidding me? What’s it gonna take for you to—” Rosa pauses. I can hear the other voice on the end frantically yelling. Rosa shakes her head and hands the phone back to me.
“She hung up,” Rosa says.
I hang the phone up as guilt fills me with shame. “Well, I’m sure they’ll get the money.”
Rosa laughs bitterly. “You don’t know my parents.”
“I know those fuckers love money,” I remind her. I’ve been stalking them with Larry for the last six years. Rosa was just the last-minute puzzle piece.
But Rosa doesn’t seem to care anymore. She rises from the table. “You can take me back to the room now.”
My stomach makes knots. But I gesture for her to follow me, and I watch pitifully as Rosa walks pass the window. The leaves are starting to fall as summer comes to an end and it makes the outside look just as barren as the empty bedroom.
“If you need anything—” I start to say.
“Just close the door and leave me alone,” Rosa cuts in.
Right, because I still kidnapped her, I think to myself as I shut the door. Even if it’s just a job, I feel on edge. This wasn’t what I planned for.
The prison is just as grim as our childhood home growing up. The off-gray color makes my eyes hurt and the call room smells like piss. Unfortunately, it’s the only place I can catch up with Larry. Larry graces the room with his huge presence. Like the rest of us, Larry is a huge guy standing at 6’ 6” with tattoos covering half of his body. He is pulled from the Montoya side with dark, almond eyes shadowed by thick brows, and a square jaw. I’m the only one who has the Italian side’s blue eyes and dimples. Still, out of all the siblings, Larry is the one who I turn to when I feel the world’s stacked against me. Especially after I screwed up.
This major screw-up is why Larry is in prison in the first place. I’m shocked to see him sitting down in front of me without anger.
“Larry?” I say on the phone.
He picks up the phone and answers with a gruff, “Little bro.”
“I know I’m the last one you wanna see here,” I begin.
“I get an hour of freedom, Vin. The rest of the twenty-three hours are spent inside solitary. So, save me your guilt. I wanna hear good news,” he says.
I swallow hard. “I…got the girl.”
His brows shoot up. “Newton?”
I nod. “Just waiting on what to do next.”
Larry smirks as joy brightens up his entire demeanor. “Little bro, you don’t need direction. Remember, this is your thing now. Do what I would do and let me worry about Pops.”
I laugh but deep down, I know I can’t. Not after how I felt with Rosa today.
“I never laid a hand on a female,” I remind Larry.
“Give yourself three days and finish the shit,” Larry whispers into the phone. “Listen, you wouldn’t have to worry about it if I was out. But we all know why I’m in here.”
My skin feels hot. “You don’t have to worry about it, bro. I’m gonna fix it.”
Larry nods and exhales. “I really hope you mean that, Vin. Because if not, I don’t know how you’ll get out of this one.”
He’s right. I’m just as vulnerable as my captive. I can’t let him see that though.
“I got this,” I say before hanging up the phone.