Chapter 5 – Two Days Later
DOMINIC
TWO DAYS LATER
“Watch Enzo,” I tell Dante. “I’ve gotta go check on Dad. He isn’t picking up his phone, and he knows we’re supposed to head to the bakery in thirty to meet Chiara.”
“Why do I have to babysit?” he groans.
“Who the hell else can do it?”
“I can stay by myself!” Enzo grumbles. “I’m ten! I’m not a baby.”
I roll my eyes and glare at Dante. “You’re watching him. Stay by the phone in case I call.”
“Whatever.” Dante turns around and heads for the kitchen.
“I’ll be back soon. I’m sure Dad’s fine.”
They both ignore me, Enzo following Dante while I head out the door.
It isn’t like my dad not to answer the bakery phone. And why would his cell phone be turned off? It’s very weird. Matteo is with him, so it’s not like they can go far.
With everything that happened to Mom, I’m always waiting for something else to go wrong in our life.
The bakery is only a few blocks away from home, so I can always go back and get my brothers and come back with them.
Once I arrive at the shop, I find the closed sign on the door.
What the hell?
This makes no sense.
“Dad?” I knock on the door. “It’s Dom, where are you?”
I knock harder, but there’s no answer and the lights are off.
“Hey, buddy,” Gerard calls as he walks out of the candy shop he owns next door.
“Have you seen my dad?” I ask, my voice strained.
“No, I…ah…” He scratches his gray hair. “I actually haven’t seen him all day.”
“Okay, thanks.” I start walking away, unsure where else to go, before the panic sets in. “If you see him, tell him I’m looking for him.”
“Is everything okay?”
“I don’t know. I hope so.”
Then I run out of there, looking for him at the bank, the grocery store, the supermarket. But he’s nowhere. I dial Chiara’s mom’s phone, but she doesn’t answer either.
Deciding to walk back home and wait there a while, I take the long way, hoping to run into them. I make it a block before I pass an abandoned warehouse some kids from school sometimes hang out in.
There’s a single black car parked outside. It’s so shiny, I decide to check it out. When I pass the entrance to the warehouse, I hear voices coming from inside. They seem a little distant, so I don’t know what the man is saying.
My pulse speeds up, and instead of running away, my feet start moving inside.
Who can that be?
I sneak in, passing a dripping pipe, my sneakers not making any noise as I hide behind a partial wall beside the entrance. It’s a little dark in here and hard to make out faces, but when I peer around, I find four men.
A whimpering sound comes out of nowhere, like that of a kid.
I peek my head out a bit more and that’s when I see them: a little boy and a man, both on their knees. I can make out their shape and size from where I am.
My legs grow stiff, my body trembling.
What kind of weird shit is happening here?
A man lights a flashlight, illuminating his face, and when I see it clearly, I gasp.
Out loud.
Chiara’s dad’s head jerks in my direction.
“You hear something?” he asks the others.
My heart beats so loud, my chest and throat hurt, the panic taking over my entire body. If he finds me here, he’ll kill me.
He’s dangerous. That’s what Dad always says. My chest flies up and down, and even the hand resting against my beating heart can’t quiet the noise in my head.
“It’s that damn pipe, I’m tellin’ you,” another man says. “Fuckin’ annoyin’.”
Her dad nods and turns back to the two people on the ground, their arms tied behind their backs.
And once he flashes the light on their faces, my eyes go round, my lungs frozen inside my chest. My hands shake, and warm liquid trickles down the inside of my leg.
That’s my father and brother on the floor with a gun pointing at them.
My pulse pounds so hard, I’m afraid the bad men will hear it.
Chiara’s dad stands over them, holding the weapon at his thigh. Walking closer to my father, he rips the tape from his mouth.
Dad cries openly, turning to his right. “It’s okay, Matteo. Daddy’s here.”
“Daddy won’t be able to do shit for you, kid,” Faro says with a humorless laugh.
My heart beats in my throat. This can’t be real. It’s a dream. I close my eyes, counting to three. But when I open them again, I’m still here, about to see my father and brother die.
I want to run, to help them, but I’m frozen here like a coward, pissing my pants as Faro points that same gun at my brother.
“Please, Faro. Please don’t hurt the boy. He did nothing wrong,” my father whimpers, his voice breaking. “You can do what you want to me, but leave him out of it. He’s innocent.”
Faro snickers cruelly. “The mistakes of the father always come back on the son, Francesco. You should know that.”
I pant heavily, terrified.
“Say goodbye to your son before it’s too late.”
My eyes hurt from the tears that fall. The middle of my chest is heavy as I put both palms over my mouth, wanting to throw up.
“N-no. No. Please no,” Dad wails, leaning into my brother as they both cry. “It’s okay, Matteo. It’s okay. Shh.”
My brother only cries louder, the whimpers cutting into my heart.
“Want me to do it?” another man, who looks like one of Chiara’s uncles, asks.
They all look like her uncles, I think. I’ve seen pictures of them.
“What the hell, Agnelo?” Faro yells. “You think I don’t fucking have what it takes to off some kid?”
“What the fuck are you playin’ games for, then?” Agnelo asks. “It’s the middle of the fucking day. You should’ve waited until tonight.”
“The cops here are in our pocket. Who the hell are you afraid of?”
“It’s not the cops,” another man says. “The kids from the school come to this shithole. You want to kill multiple kids today?”
“Don’t look, okay, son?” Dad tells Matteo. “Ju-just look at me and close your eyes.” His voice cracks with a sob. “I love you, my boy. You hear me? Papa’s sorry. I love—”
Pop.
I gasp as the bullet hits my brother, my mouth and my eyes widening from the horror. My lips tremble, my body shakes, near crumpling to the floor.
“Matteo!” my father screams as he drops over Matteo’s body. I have never heard him scream that hard in my life.
My brother’s body falls, his boyish face planted on the floor looking at me, blood oozing out from around his body. I silently cry, my shoulders rocking. I weep into my hands as Faro kneels in front of my brother’s dead body, grabbing my father by the shirt.
“Get back on your knees, you motherfucker.”
But my father refuses, sobbing, pushing his way back down to my brother.
I want to kill Faro and his brothers. Rip all of their hearts out of their chests. If only I had a gun, I could shoot them from here.
“You think I’m done?!” Faro asks. “You think this is it?”
That gets my father to face Faro, letting go of my brother.
“I’ll kill you, then take every one of your sons and kill them too. The Cavaleri bloodline will die with you.”
“Please,” my dad pleads. “Don’t kill my boys. You killed one. Let the others go.”
Faro chuckles. “You should’ve been smarter than to get involved with my wife.”
Pop.
My eyes go round, tears flooding them, as the bullet enters my father’s forehead. And when he falls, that’s when I snap out of it. I’ve failed them, but I can’t fail my other brothers.
With my pulse beating in my throat, I creep back down the wall I was hiding behind, quietly taking each step backwards until I’m back outside.
As I run, my feet are doused with adrenaline, needing to save my brothers before we all die. Taking out the cell from my pocket, I call home, and Dante immediately answers.
“Hell—”
“Listen, go get that black duffle bag from Dad’s closet and pack some clothes for us three. We’ve gotta go.”
“Why?” Dante sounds worried.
“Just do it! Unless you wanna die.”
Click.
The line goes silent as I continue to run. My feet are moving so fast, I didn’t even know I could run this quickly.
Once I’m at the front door, I put the key in the lock and run inside.
“Dante! Enzo!” I call out upstairs. “Let’s go!”
“Why? Where’s Dad?” Enzo asks as he comes down the stairs, his brows pinched over his green eyes.
“I don’t have any time to explain. Do what I say for once! It’s life and death.”
“Help me with the bag,” Dante calls from upstairs.
I’m running up, grabbing the handle, the wheels on the bottom slamming harshly over the wooden steps.
“Wait here,” I tell them, rushing into the kitchen, hitting the cookie jar and taking out the two grand my dad had stashed inside for emergencies.
That’s all we’ll have until I can find a job wherever we end up.
“Ready,” I say, grabbing the duffle and hoisting it over my shoulder.
As I’m about to lock the door, my phone buzzes with a text.
I release a big sigh when I find Chiara's name, hoping I can tell her what happened after we get to wherever we go. I hope she forgives me for leaving her behind.
But when I read the text she sent, when I scan over the ugly words, I feel colder and even more alone. How could she say that to me?
“Come on!” Dante shouts as I read the message for the second time.
Chiara
I talked to my dad today and I decided I don’t want to be your friend anymore. I don’t want to see any of you.
Dom
What? You don’t mean that.
Chiara
I never actually liked you, Dom. I never liked your family either. I was only pretending because I felt sorry for all of you. You're all losers like my dad always said you were. I had a lot of fun laughing at you all behind your back.
Dom
How could you say that? What about the necklace?
Chiara
Get the hint and stop texting or I’ll have my daddy call the police.
Dom
I hate you. I hope I never see you again.
My chin trembles and the hurt pools into my gut.
She was never my friend. She’s as horrible as her father. How did I not know?
With one last look at the door, I toss my cell behind the tree and run like hell.