AWAKENING (10 page)

Alfonzo’s hand
twitched forward
,
but
big ass
Lou
instantly
seized
it, and put him in a tight
bear hug.
Crazy Nicky
snatched
Selange
off her feet
and swung her around behind him
out of harm’s way.
The damn woman went too far. His body was a barrier between the irate man and the woman
with the sword of a mouth
.
Didn’t she know she’d slain him already?

Alfonzo was furious and pulling Lou forward, advancing with
such rage, Crazy Nicky feared he’d kill the woman where she stood.
His hand went out in front of Alfonzo’s chest to halt his progression. Lou had
Alfonzo’s
arm but the kid was
still coming and that
wasn’t good.
Crazy Nicky’s voice was calm, trying to diffuse the situation. He was an animal trainer confronting a deadly lion. “Alfonzo, hey…simmer down. This is the mother of your kids. You guys loved each other once and
it’s obvious
you’re
both
hurtin
’ but you can’t start
hurtin
’ each other. Think about Allie and Sal
. Stop
before it escalates.
Don’t let the words cause you to h
arm
their mother. You
gotta
’
walk away…cool
down…
y’hear
me kid?
”

Alfonzo thought about Domingo and what one strike in anger cost him in dignity. He wouldn’t strike his
ex-
wife. Damn, he wanted to slap the shit out of her for the
trash
pouring out of her loose mouth, but Nicky wasn’t crazy after-all. The man made a
helluva
lot of sense. If he touched Selange, he’d kill her. His ang
er was too great. His eyes bore into his ex-wife, wondering how the hell they got here and saddened by the fact she believed she wasn’t enough, when she
’d been that
and more.
“Get her
the hell out of here Nicky!” He
thrust the
glittery purse
with the gun inside
at the man,
“
Take
her and my trouble-making cousin home!” He hissed, then shouldered out of Lou’s hold and hurried inside the restaurant. He had to get far away from Selange right now, she was nothing but
poison disguised as a
n
innocent drink.

CHAPTER FOUR

Three hours in a toy store. How the hell can you do that? Nico glanced at his watch then over to his tall son’s jockeying for another chance at sampling the latest video game. Whatever, the heck they were nowadays. There were other boys around the console, probably the same age, but his boys hovered over them like beanstalks. The
ir
dark complexions and even darker hair caus
ed
them
to
stand out amongst the pale, light hair boys. The
ir
Sicilian blood ran deep
. Nico
smiled
when a pair of much older girls sashayed to the group, whispering and giggling to each other, their eyes on the twins. Of course, his boys didn’t see it, they were engrossed in a make-
believe killing
game and from the looks of it, Aaron ruled.

Nico hung back with the bags, betting one of the girl’s would make a move. Girls were bolder at that age
. T
hey were less inhibited and he wondered why this changed when they reached maturity. There were other parents on the
outskirts;
some even disappeared to finish shopping
.
Nico took the opportunity to make a long distance call.

“Hello?”

“Hey, it’s me.”

“Wow, I thought the planet absorbed you. How’s the world?”

“Still spinning on its axis and yours?”

“Being struck by meteorites.”

“Everything okay, Selange?”

“Yeah, just have a nasty hang-over.”

He laughed at her, “Hang-over…you…that’s a first.”

“I know. Jessica and I went out last night. I’m paying for
it.
”

“Did you have fun?”

“I did, until a guy decided to crash our girl hour.”

“What happened?” Nico’s eyes were on the girl in the blue sweater. She was moving in. She was close to Aaron, smiling, then she said something and he turned in annoyance.

“It’s no biggie. The drama
’s
squashed. Hey, enough about me. When are you coming for an official visit, the babies are growing and you’re missing it?”

“I’m missing a lot of things,” he answered. “I can’t give an exact date but I hope to see you guys soon. Do you need anything?”

“A dad’s presence is all a child really needs from time to time.”

Nico smirked. Boy, did Aaron look pissed. The girl made him lose the game. Another kid slid in the seat and Aaron walked away followed by Darren. They were talking, making faces as they headed in their father’s direction. “Listen, I
gotta
’ go but I’ll call when I’m on my way. Take care sweetheart and kiss the twins.”

“Alright, bye.”

Nico
shoved the cell in his pocket and waited for the boy’s. They stopped in front of him
. T
hey were already at his chin. Aaron spoke first, “Stupid girl m
essed me
up.”

“She was only trying to be nice. What’s the matter, you don’t like girls?” Darren teased.

Aaron took offense, “You asshole, I got a girlfriend. You’re the one who hasn’t dipped your stick in honey yet!” Then they were wrestling, right there in the crowded toy store. Nico let them go at it. Fuck it, they had to learn to solve their own problems, some time.

“No horsing around in the store!” Security shouted.

“Yeah, no horsing around in the store,” Nico chuckled. “Come on
guys,
let’s get the hell out of here before you break something.” He said grabbing Aaron by the collar and shoving him forward. “And what’s this about you having a girlfriend big-guy?”

“Come on dad, I’m in high school.”

His brother volunteered the information, “
They’ve been going out for t
hree months.”

The
trio
walked down Fifth Avenue toward Fifty-Ninth Street
and the subway station.
There were ‘oh they’re so cute’ smiles from women as they passed, which Nico ignored. He was accustomed to the superficial attention.
“How long you been putting your stick in honey, son?”

“Dad, stop with the questions.”

“When you’re a grown man
and
not relying
on
your parents for financial support
then I’ll stop, how about that? Now answer the fucking question.”

“Not long.”

“How long is not long, a week, a month, what?”

“Two months.”

Nico frowned. “Does your mom know about this girlfriend?”

They were jogging down the steps to the
R train. “She knows I have a girlfriend.”

“Are you using protection, boy?”

The noise of trains rumbling in and out of the station muffled the boy’s answer, but Nico’s mouth clenched tightly when he heard, “Of course, I am dad. Do you think I’m like you?”

                                       
*
***

Alfonzo climbed out of the car, briefcase in hand, phone in the other as he talked to Sal. He
received
a call from his son and the boy didn’t sound
right. He hadn’t gone by the house in two days after the argument with Selange. He spoke to the kids every day, though.
Whatever,
was troubling
Sal
must be something big. “So, how was school today?”

“Ah, not so fun.”

Lou opened the door to the house and Alfonzo nodded
his thanks
then slipped in,
“School’s not all about fun. It’s to learn remember, the fun is what you have when you’re out of school, got that?” He sat his briefcase atop the coffee table and flopped on the sofa, listening intently.

“Yeah, I got it.”

He loosened the silk tie and kicked off his shoes, wiggling his toes. “Hijo, come on
, straight
talk with the old man. What’s wrong?”

"
Alright.
Promise you won’t get mad.”

Alfonzo sat forward,
put his feet
flat on the floor
and gave the
boy his rapt attention, “Salvatore,
nah
I won’t get mad.”

“Promise.”

“Promise, now shoot.”

“Okay, this
boy at school said you're a bad man, is that true?"

Whoa, that kind of took him by surprise. “
Have
you
seen me do bad things?"

"No
,” the boy paused as he thought then said, “
wait
-yes
when you cheat
ed
at chess
.
"

Alfonzo chuckled,
yeah, that’s bad, but he didn’t cheat anymore.
"Do I do good things, though?"

"Yes, all the time."

"Then, Sal i
n your eyes
do you think
your dad’s
a
bad man?"

"No
!” The boy said forcefully. “That kid at
school doesn't know what he's talking about!"

"T
hat’s right, he doesn’t. Don’t ever
concern yourself with what people who don't know me
say.
What you think and how you feel about
your old man is all that matters,
c
omprende
,
hijo
?"

"Si,
papi
.
I love you."

"
I love you back, hijo. Tell you what, how about you come with me to the gym and you get to box your old man in the face and pretend I’m that kid, huh?”

“Word?”

“
Cómo
no!”

“
After that
can we go to McDonald’s?”

“
Sí
!”

“Yes!”

He could picture the boy balling up his fist and yanking his arm back in victory.
“Okay give me half an hour, make sure you tell your mom I’m coming. Wear sweats,
está
bien
!”

“
Whoo-hoo
, okay, b
ye
!
”

Maybe, this is what Selange wanted to avoid by home-schooling their son. He hadn’t thought kids that young were concerned with adult
nonsense
. Apparently,
he was wrong. It seem
ed
whoever th
e
boy’s parents were had a strong opinion about him and weren’t afraid to voice it around the
boy
.
Usually, children mimic adults
, so
it wasn’t the kids fault.
“Damn,” Alfonzo scoffed. He hadn’t planned on doing anything except relaxing
this evening. The drama with Selange
was still on his mind and now
Sal
.
T
rouble pound
at him
from
every direction,
didn’t it? 
Yes,
and more trouble lay on the horizon.
Alfonzo stood, elongated his spine and exhaled before reaching for his briefcase
. Once it
came to his children,
he delved into his
energy
reserves
.
No energy drink
was
needed
;
a father’s love
provided enough
adrenalin.
There
’d
never come a time
when
he was too tired for
his children. H
e saw this
situation with Sal
as
a
perfect opportunity to
intercede in what could become the beginning of many
life challenges
the boy
would encounter.
Bullying, mean kids, peer pressure and all that shit, Alfonzo endured
without his
old man
to talk to. What a difference it might’ve made if he had. Instead,
he
b
ecame a cold-ass thug
in the process and every now and then the anger flared. Lately, he’d beat out his frustration on punching bags, but sometimes he wanted to feel the impact of
his knuckled
on
another man’s face.
He pictured Nico every goddamn time
.
He’d be home if it wasn’t for that sonovabitch. But, hey, it’s done and there’s a kid who need
ing a
dad. There’s no way he’d
allow Sal to navigate
life
crap alone. No
pe
!