Chapter One- Dior #2
“I’m fine, dear,” she said, walking into the room.
I looked at Sofia, who looked at me with her eyebrows raised.
Hand in hand, we stepped into the room. As long as I live, I will never forget the way I felt seeing all three men in that room.
Even the way the room smelled would haunt me—all those different medications invaded my nostrils.
Tomasso lay on one side of the room; Buddha and Snow lay side by side on the other side of the room in their respective beds.
All three were hooked to ventilators and heart monitors.
Buddha’s shoulder was bandaged, and his right leg was hoisted.
My heart dropped to the floor as I released Sofia’s hand and walked slowly to his bed.
His head was turned in the opposite direction, his breathing slow and steady as his heart monitor beeped.
Sofia walked to Snow; the lower half of his body was elevated to relieve pressure from his wound to the back of his right thigh.
She reached for his hand and said his name, and then she covered her face and began to cry softly.
Victoria stood her ground with a brave face, staring at her husband before she bent and adjusted his pillow behind his head.
Taking a deep breath, she grabbed the chair in the corner of the room, pulling it to Tomasso’s bedside. She took a seat, crossed her legs, and just sat there staring at his heart monitor. Turning my attention back to Buddha, I got closer so I could tenderly touch his hair and then his cheek.
A single teardrop rolled out of my eyes and landed on his neck. Quickly, I wiped it away.
“Buddha,” I called out to him, hoping that he would show that he heard me. Instead, he just lay there in a whole other world.
That was the beginning; by the next day, Buddha and Snow were up. I smiled when I saw him; I was relieved that his eyes were open, and he seemed alert. His expression didn’t change as I walked over to his bed. He stared at me as though he didn’t even know who I was.
Victoria and Sofia were checking in on Snow. Tomasso was still in a comatose state.
“Hey, I’m so happy that you’re awake,” I told him, but all I got in return was a blank stare. I turned to Snow and smiled at him; he gave me a weak smile in return.
“Where’s Lorenzo? Does he know what happened?” Those were his first words. His voice sounded so weak. Almost as if it hurt his throat to speak.
Buddha’s question made me look at Sofia and then at Victoria.
We spoke about this on the way up here. I asked what should be said if Buddha enquired about Lorenzo because I knew he would.
Victoria told me that I had no choice but to tell him the truth.
However, I didn’t wish to tell him the truth; I wanted someone else to do it.
I didn’t feel as though, mentally and emotionally, he was ready for news like that.
“Umm,” I bent my head and started to fidget with my fingers.
“What’s the matter with you? I asked where’s Lorenzo?”
“Bu-Buddha, um…Lorenzo, he…”
I felt someone place their hands on my shoulders from behind. I turned to see it was Victoria; she gave me a sympathetic look as she stood at my side.
“Phillipe, Lorenzo’s gone.” Victoria’s choice of words only seemed to confuse Buddha. Creases formed on his forehead as he looked at his mother, trying to make sense of what she said.
“Gone where?” Snow asked.
I tried really hard not to show any emotions, but I failed. Tears brimmed in my eyes, and I looked away.
“Phillipe, Vincent, Lorenzo was killed. He was shot in the head and his body placed in Dior’s trunk of her Porsche,” Victoria handled the task of telling her sons about the man who was like a second father to them, especially Buddha.
“Jesus,” Snow muttered. Sofia grabbed his hand as she comforted him. At least Snow showed some kind of emotion. Buddha said nothing; his face never gave off so much as a single clue of how he felt.
“Um, baby…” I reached for Buddha’s hand. He looked at me as if he’d never seen me before one day in his life. “There’s something else.”
“Something else? What the fuck else could there be, Dior?” Buddha asked; his expression was so cold, and his eyes looked so dead. I was scared to tell him about our dog. I bent my head as I avoided his eyes before I began to speak
“In the trunk with Lorenzo, there was someone else. Well, rather not someone, but…Lotus. Lotus was killed also.”
“What the fuck did you just say? They killed my cagna (dog)? They killed my dog? Lotus is dead, is what you’re telling me?” Buddha yanked his hand away from mine. His breathing quickened; the look in his eyes changed to that of a man who wanted nothing but revenge.
“I’m so sorry,” I said, reaching for his hand again, but Buddha pulled away from me like I had an infectious disease.
“I wanna be by myself. Pull the privacy blinds and leave me alone.” Buddha looked away from me, turning his head in the opposite direction, treating me worse than a stranger.
“Buddha, I can’t leave you; I know you need me.”
“What the fuck did I just say, Dior? For once, can you fucking listen?” His voice dripped with so much hate that my blood went cold.
He didn’t even bother looking at me when he spoke.
Victoria held on to my hand and pulled me back, doing as her son requested.
She closed the privacy blinds, shutting him out.
“Come here, Dior.” Victoria took my hand and led me out of the hospital room.
We walked a short distance away from the room before she stopped and turned to me.
“It’s the kidnapping all over again. This is how he came back to us after Edwardo kidnapped him because of that bitch Catalina.
He shut everybody out. This time, however, it’s different… he has you.”
“Me? Victoria, did you not see the way he pulled away from me? Buddha doesn’t want me around,” I shook my head, having no choice but to face facts.
“Look at me,” Victoria said, snapping her fingers in my face so I’d snap out of it.
“What did I tell you about us Ricci women? We hold shit down when we need to; we hold our men down. This is one of those times. When Buddha gets discharged and he’s back at home, he’s going to be so hard on you; you’ll wish you were never born.
If you love my son like I know you do, do not give up on him. ”
When I say Victoria told not one lie, when she said Buddha would make me feel like my mother should have never brought me into this world. Eight days after he was shot, both he and Snow were discharged. Buddha did everything in his power to make me feel like something he stepped on under his shoes.
He shouted at me; he repeatedly told me he didn’t need my help when I tried to do the simplest tasks for him.
He refused to sleep in the same bed as me.
He slept in the guest bedroom and took Lotus’s bed that she slept on in the room with him.
I tried to get him to talk about that night he got shot, but he refused.
He’d completely shut me out and everyone else, for that matter.
The only thing he said to me was that Lorenzo had no family and that his funeral should take place when everyone was strong enough to attend, including Tomasso. So we waited until the doctors brought Tomasso out of his medically induced coma to start planning Lorenzo’s funeral.
Tomasso’s recovery was slower because of his age. The stroke weakened the left side of his body, which he needed to attend therapy to rectify. His speech was a bit slurred; the doctor said once Tomasso was willing, he would grow stronger.
As for Francesco and Luca, those two mothafuckas turned into Casper.
They disappeared with the black diamonds, never to be seen or heard from again.
I would eavesdrop on phone calls between Buddha and Snow.
They had a few men on the lookout for Francesco and his son.
It was suspected that they were hiding out in Italy, but it remained uncertain.
“Dior!” Hearing Buddha holler my name startled me so much that my heart raced. I jumped as I looked over at him standing at the entrance of the front door.
“Hey, I was lost in my thoughts. What’s up? You need something?” I asked him, getting to my feet because I’d been in here a while.
“It’s time to go. I was calling for you to grab my sunglasses, but I’ll get it myself,” he muttered, walking in the direction of the guest bedroom where he’d been staying.
“I can get it,” I said, trying to hurry over to the room, but he held his hand out to me, prompting me to stop. I sighed softly as I stopped walking and watched him. His steps were still a bit uneven from being shot in the calf. He took cautious strides as he disappeared into the room.
I waited until he came out, his Gucci sunglasses on his face, with overgrown facial hair.
His left shoulder was supported by a sling, even though his gunshot wound was somewhat healed.
The doctor suggested that he wear the sling whenever he left the house, so as not to add too much strain on his arm.
Anywhere he needed to go, I would drive him, or one of his father’s men would.
That was another thing that changed. We now had more security than ever; the grounds at the homes were always guarded.
Whenever I left the house, security tagged along driving behind me.
A security detail was assigned to each of us.
I asked Victoria if my sister was safe, and she assured me that she was.
“Are you ready for this?” I asked, reaching for his hand, interlocking our fingers.
“No, but what choice do I have? Let’s go bury Lorenzo.”
Removing his hand from mine, Buddha walked out the door ahead of me toward my new Mercedes. I felt so sad inside because I knew he was hurting so much. I only wished he would open up to me.