Authors: S. W. Frank
After th
eir
visit
, his mom
c
omplained non-stop
about the dehumanizing conditions
at the prison –and this c
ame from a well-guarded
visitor inside a room
who was
free to leave any time
she
wanted
.
He
chuckled, imagining her fingering those rosary beads, praying fervently
to the patron saints
.
“What’s so funny?”
“
Nada…nada
!
”
The laughter lingered as he wondered
,
what
exactly did
his mom
think
incarceration
meant
,
a
resort for fucking
convicts?
“
We
’ll
see you
at the airport
.” He hung up
, still smiling,
“We’ll finish the game another time hijo.”
“Okay but I’ll know if you touched anything.”
Alfonzo scoffed,
“I wouldn’t do that,
i
t’
s
cheating.”
Sal laughed, “Pop
,
I saw
you
one time.”
“
Me?
Nah
–ne
ver.”
“
Pay up!
”
Sal said holding
out
his pink
palm
.
“You should be a banker.”
Alfonzo chuckled then
reach
ed
in his back pocket for his wallet. He
separated one dollar from the large denominations
and slapped it in his son’s outstretched hands. “
Here, n
ow get your stuff, tell mommy and
Allie
bye
then bring your
little
butt right back!”
The boy
shoved the dollar in his pocket then ran upstairs.
Alfonzo grinned.
Sal was incorrigible
!
Alfonzo
sat on the sofa
,
donned
his
brown leather
Prada
loafers
and listened
to the
multiple footsteps descend
ing
the stairs. He
frowned,
of course
his
wife
wouldn’t stay in
bed.
When s
he
came into
view
holding
Sal’s
suitcase
,
he immediately
voiced his opinion. “You shouldn’t
be
up.
Sal can carry his own stuff,
babe.”
She
put
the luggage down, “It’s okay.” She
replied, sitting beside him
.
Sal dashed
up the stairs
, again
shouting
,
“
Hold-up
I forgot my game!”
Alfonzo
sighed,
leaned over to his wife
,
caressed her face
and asked
,
“
H
ow you feeling?
”
“Like crap.”
S
elange
caught a
summer
bug from
Allie
. L
ast night his
little
women
were
huddled
beneath
the covers
clinging to each other in misery.
This morning she appeared flushed
and
t
he
dark circles
below
her eyes
signified
she could use more sleep.
The
ir daughter
,
Aldonza
Darlene Diaz
was
nearly two,
with a quiet disposition
and
utterly adorable features like her mom.
He hoped they
recovered
soon because seeing them sick
broke
his heart
.
He
hugged her close,
“I’ll be back, okay?”
She nodded
,
leaned
her tired head
on
his shoulder
and commented
, “
Umm,
You smell good.”
“Thanks.”
He
said then
looked
toward the hall wondering what Sal was doing up
stairs
.
He could feel the fevered heat from her cheek
permeat
e his shirt. He became concerned. F
ever
was never
a good
sign;
it also
indicat
ed
it was time to visit
a
doctor.
He preferred their physician at
home,
however under the circumstances he thought it best to see a local doctor.
Actually, he was ready to leave N
ueva
York,
it held too many unpleasant memories.
C
oming to the brownstone for the
summer
was
Selange’s
idea
.
“
We
have a
n empty house
, sitting there. W
hy
don’t we use
it
when we
visit
this
summer
?”
He hadn’t thought she’d want to step foot in the place again after the shooting
,
apparently he was wrong.
He should’
ve sold the place, put
it in the
archives with the rest of the bloody past.
The estate
in San Juan
was history. They
immediately bought
a large
r
,
more
secure estate in
Bayamón
, not far from
where his cousin
Jessica
attended
the University.
She popped in regularly, which was cool but
, it’s her mother who caused him stress. Aunt Carmen asked him to keep an eye on the girl after she flunked last semester and didn’t graduate in May.
So, the chica had to take summer classes,
and Aunt Carmen’s theory is she deliberately failed to stay in PR to be with a boy.
Alfonzo wasn’t
sure if this
were
true
,
then again, Jessica was almost twenty-one
.
Alfonzo
snickered
,
Aunt Carmen
was
entirely
too controlling
.
To avoid family drama,
he assured
A
unt
Carmen
he’
d
have someone
keep
tabs on
Jessica
and
in hindsight
he wondered if
that was a smart idea
.
In any event, he assigned the
kid Emilio to the task. The kid reminded Alfonzo of himself, tough, smart and no-nonsense; just the type of guy to handle his spirited cousin.
Anyway, he had a lot of shit on his
plate;
the last thing he wanted was babysitting duties for a grown ass woman.
Selange coughed and
h
is
errant
thoughts
re
turned to
h
is wife
,
“I
think it’s time to see the
doctor
then go home
.”
Finally,
Sal bounded
into the room, hiding
something behind his back
, “Ready!”
Alfonzo spied
the
velvet case, “What
’s that
?”
“Nothing.”
“
Ven
a
qui
!
”
The
boy
shuffl
ed forward and
Alfonzo took the
case
from his hand
. He
opened it
and saw
the
antique
pocket watch he’d given
his son upon return from his first trip to Italy.
The watch
belonged to his grandfather, Sergio Giacanti. Seeing
it sent a cold chill down his spine. The world he rejected continued to insinuate itself into his ps
yche. He had another family, no matter how much he tried to deny it. What bothered him most was he came to love them.