Authors: S. W. Frank
The men nodd
ed their understanding.
He widened his stance,
“Unless you’ve been in a whale’s pussy, I’m sure you
heard about my adventures during retirement. For the most part it was uneventful, however, the devil’s
come
calling and I’ve been summoned to the head of the line.”
Alfonzo had their rapt attention
, even the sea water stayed quiet to listen
. His torso expanded
, “I’m not an evil man, nor am I a Saint.
A
man cursed and blessed
is what I am
.
There are m
any
good people
who have done
evil
deeds
and vice versa;
I lay somewhere in the middle.” He scoffed, “I consider myself the
middle-man. –But I’m faced with a
moral
and business
dilemma, one which requires immediate resolution. This drug
Anarchy
has
negatively touched the life of people I know. Morally,
I’m forced to wipe it out and se
nd a message. The
n, there’s the matter of obligation, a friend of mine was executed, shot dead because of his association with me. There’s an executioner out there without a face. My business dealings
are affected by these things.
Until, these
issues
are resolved,
I’m in a state of limbo.
I lose money, my reputation is maligned.
The police circle my door, can you see
my quandary?”
“We’
ll
set it right
.” Vincent replied.
“
Yes, we will. It will
disappear, quietly
and then we can get down to the business I mentioned earlier
.”
“I’ll
send some guys
out
to the Sunshine State to check out that lead
.”
“
You’re all responsible to keep your foot soldiers in check. Make sure they’re not
chatting up the phones about business as if
they’re
talking to
their girlfriends or
mothers.” Vincent cautioned the
top Lieutenants.
“What’s all this mother
stuff?
My mother was a whore
and my father
a
pimp.” Crazy Nicky shared.
“You got issues, man. Make peace with you mother, whore or not, she deserves respect.”
Vincent advised.
“She’s dead.”
“Then
go
find a
nother
mother and shut the fuck up!” Vincent
barked, impatient with his companion.
The man’s train of thought was worse
than
a
two year
-
old.
The meeting continued late into the night, ranks and territories were assigned.
Means of communication discussed and finally compensation.
And when the men dispersed the
y
did so with smiles on their faces.
This
version
of the new and improved Don
they embraced wholeheartedly
.
They
pledged to
protect
him with
their
life if necessary
.
His legendary grandfather, Sergio Giacanti would be proud…he too was a man of vision.
CHAPTER
TWENTY
-
FOUR
Emilio hadn’t received
one
call
from his boss
in days
. Having Jessica in his apartment, sniffing through his personals was beginning to irritate the shit out of him. He avoided unnecessary
conversation, rejected her advances and basically kept her ass fed.
His anger was mostly disappointment. He hadn’t expected she’d lie. It was a big deal, maybe not to her but for him it was. He’d been
lied
to
all his life.
“We really want you to stay,
but…
” or
, “this family is looking to adopt…they’ll love you, but….” A bunch of lies!
C
aring
about
people
came with a
cost.
He heard the television
inside the bedroom and was tempted
to kick
Jessica
out
of there
.
She
lay
in the bedroom watching one of thos
e mindless reality TV programs
in his large comfortable bed when he was sidelined on the hot sticky leather sofa.
Little liar
was
nice and cozy in his room and why?
Because he cared, had a cotton-ball for a heart when it came to her.
He grimaced. He knew she’d get him in trouble one day and Eureka, the one day was now. Tr
oublemaking, pretty little liar!
Emilio scowled,
and then
surfed
the internet
,
looking for news on Victoria
Liebowitz
.
He found
video
from
a
press conference
held
yesterday and pressed the arrow
on the screen.
He listened to the
Miami Police Chief’s summation of the active investigation and sat forward when he
heard the news Beth died.
Holy shit!
“Jess
come
here
!”
She rushed in the room, wearing his boxers. She’s too comfortable, he thought then let it go
, this was more important
. He
replayed
the video.
“....
we received an anonymous tip
this morning and secured a search warrant. Taken into custody is a local pharmacist,
Kyle Cohen. From what we’ve learned he’s been selling the pills out of this location for more than a year. We’re working with other law enforcement agencies to crack down on this illegal substance. Be
thany Eri
cson, expired last night; adding another tragic page to this chapter of this notorious street drug.
”
“Beth’s dead?” She
whispered
in
disbelief. “She was
alive when I left…
they said she’d be okay,
w
hat
…what…
happened?”
“I don’t know,” he said softly, “I don’t know.”
She settled down in the corner of the sofa and began crying. The enormity of the situation finally sank in. Emilio decided to contact Lou. He didn’t get an answer
and frowned.
When Jessica got up he watched her scurry into the room and shut the door. He heard her bawling like crazy. He slumped on the sofa, praying Alfonzo contacted him soon because he wasn’t accustomed to sharing his space with anyone, let alone an emotionally explosive female
whose presence stirred his groin
!
Troublemaker!
The funeral ended quickly, or maybe he was busy reminiscing during the long eulogy. Kiki caught up to him on his way to the
tinted
car
waiting at the foot of the cemetery plot.
“Thanks for paying the funera
l costs
, Alfonzo
.
We’re extremely
grateful.
” She looked over her
shoulder;
the groups of people were slowly beginning to
leave
.
“
Danté
was worth much more.”
Kiki’s dark shades hid the outward signs of sorrow but the husky vibra
to in her voice revealed an intense
melancholy. “I feel responsible, it’s killing me. If he hadn’t come to New York, he’d still be here.”
His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Did she really believe that?
“Don’t do that to yourself. You’re not to blame, a coward with a gun is.”
A
summer wind blew. She inhaled, “I’m sick over this. Until, they catch the person I won’t rest at night.” She shrugged, “I guess I’ll be one tired ass
because w
hen it comes to young black men getting murdered, the crime
usually
goes unsolved. The
negative st
ereotypes of black men as
thugs or degenerates
got
many white people believing
a black man’s life isn’t worth nothing
, why bother
.
”
“You and I know different
, though and that
’s
what
counts
.
Time we start taking care of each other and not relying on some of the bigoted assholes to do their jobs.
” He put his hands in his pockets, “
Danté
has a lot of friends. Trust
me,
his killer is going to
get caught
.”
He
said optimistically.
H
is mind turned to his family.
T
wo days
away from them and it felt like an eternity. He considered going
home,
unfortunately he had to personally visit Gregorio
Pali
, head of
an influential family down in Miami. Afterward he was going to meet with Alberti on his yacht to discuss urgent administrative business.