Chapter 9
“We
have to go,” he states, “I'm only packing one bag. We'll
head over to your house after that and grab your shit. You hear me.
One bag. Don't be a fuckin' diva with this shit either. Grab what
you need...”
I look over at Carmine.
He's
scared to death. Since I met Carmine I never saw him this scared.
Carmine is damn near shaking at this moment. He has this deep look
on his face.
“What going on?” I state, “Your dad just killed Big Paulie...not the other way around.”
“I
keep forgetting you don't know shit.”
“Is there
something I should know?”
Carmine shakes his head,
“Let's just go...”
Carmine is packing up his bag
at that moment. He's getting his shit together.
I look over at him.
“I'm
not going anywhere Carmine.”
“Are you fucking
joking? Do you not see my face right now?” he asks, “We
need to get the fuck out of town. You hear me?”
“Carmine
calm down.”
“I can't.”
“CARMINE!”
I
slap the dog shit out of Carmine. It's the only thing I can think to
do. Carmine finally calms down a little bit. I just watched a man
get himself laced with bullets. I'm a little frightened and scared
too but Carmine should be a gangster. Something has him shook up and
I don't know if it's just about the fact that he watched an old
gangster die.
Carmine sits on the couch in his room. He stops packing. I go and sit next to him.
“Did you just smack me?” Carmine asks.
“Yeah...I
did.”
Carmine thinks about it for a while. I don't think anyone ever smacked him before. He seems pissed about it at first but at least it calms him down a little bit. He leans up against his bar. He takes out a cigar and he puffs it a couple of times hard.
Carmine
shakes his head, “Listen. My dad has finally lost it. There
are some people...you don't kill.”
“Do we think
Joe Bananas and his guys are going to come after you guys?”
“I
don't give a shit about Joe Bananas,” Carmine says, “Joe
Bananas is coward without Big Paulie. Fuck Joe Bananas.”
“Then
why are you so worried?”
“Cause my father is
crazy. You don't just kill anyone. There are rules. There is a
reason this shit is called organized crime. You don't just...KILL a
boss. No one does. That's a rule.”
No wonder Big
Paulie always seemed to walk around with that calm exterior. He
always thought he was so untouchable. The reason he thought he was
untouchable is because he should have been. In all senses of the
word Big Paulie should never have been killed. That makes it even
more interesting that Carmine has finally come to the conclusion that
his father really was crazy after all.
I'm scared to ask.
“What
happens if a boss is killed?”
“Have you ever heard
of the Commission?”
“No.”
“The
Commission is the ruling representative body serving as the national
legislature and supreme court of the Mafia network. Commission
members are the leaders of the more powerful Mafia families. You
don't kill a boss. Period. They're going to come into town and lets
just say they won't hold any punches. That means going after the
Fontanas and that may mean going after you.”
“So...where
will we go?” I ask, “We have no money.”
“I
can do a job...tomorrow,” he explains, “A big job.”
I
shake my head, “What kind of job?”
Carmine shakes
his head, “I'm not going to tell you. I don't want to get you
involved. More than you already are.”
“I'm not
involved.”
“Yes...you are. People have
been...gossiping about us.”
I roll my eyes, “Are
you joking? Gossip?”
“I'm
serious. The two of us haven't really been all that secretive if you
haven't noticed,” Carmine explains, “People are starting
to think me and you have something going on.”
“Well
they're kind of right.”
Carmine grabs me and pulls me
close, “Damn right. None of them have the balls to do anything
about it but people definitely know how I feel about you...”
“How
is that you feel about me?” I ask.
Carmine hesitates.
He
takes a deep breath, “You are my weak spot. And if people see
you as my weak spot...they are going to go after you. So I have to
get this money. I have to get you to safety.”
Carmine talking about this money made my stomach turn. I was scared of what he would do to get it. I should have kept digging. I had to trust him though. I had to trust he knew what he was doing.
“Carmine
man that doesn't sound right.”
“It's fine.
Listen. Go home, go to work. Tomorrow night I'll come by. I'll
have enough money to relocate us out of Staten Island.
=========================================================================
My
nerves are getting to me at the restaurant the next day. Carmine
doesn't show up at the restaurant but when Crazy Fontana walks in my
heart almost drops.
Leo Crazy Fontana walks into the
Sicilian like he is Barack Obama after his election. All of a sudden
all eyes are on him. I mean the guy walks in with a fur coat. For
someone so upset about his dead wife, he moves on relatively quickly.
He has a beautiful woman at his side who could be his youngest son's
age.
“Did
you hear?” Danny asks, “Big Paulie's body was found this
morning by Staten Island Sanitation in the garbage dumps...”
I
look over at Danny. He's not the only one in the kitchen who is
talking about it. The entire staff is talking about it actually.
“Let's focus on work,” I ask.
“Alessandra
didn't show up for work either,” Danny says, “Rumor has
it she booked it out of town with Joe Bananas. Looks like there is a
new king pin in town. Leo Fontana has already said that he's taking
over as boss of the Moretti family.”
“Danny
enough,” I state.
“Are
you ok? You seem shaken up.”
“I just want us to
get through the work day,” I tell Danny, “Danny have you
heard of the Commission.”
“Yeah. Mafia
enforcement,” Danny tells me, “Why?”
“Listen.
They may be coming into town and Carmine thinks they may be clearing
out the Fontanas. I was there Danny. I was there when Fontana
killed Big Paulie.”
“Wait. Say that one more
time.”
Danny is shocked. He takes a step forward.
“Fontana
killed Big Paulie.”
“Are you sure about
that?”
“I'm positive.”
Danny swallows
hard, “The Commission is going to wipe out the Fontanas. Holy
shit. Everyone knows you need permission to kill a boss. What the
fuck is Leo Fontana thinking?”
“That's the
problem. I don't think he's thinking. That's why Carmine wants me
to get out of town. He thinks that it's best for me to
leave.”
“What about the Sicilian?”
“I'm
going to leave it to Patricia,” I state, “I'm not going
to tell her that I'm leaving. The less she knows the better. When
Carmine comes to get me tonight I just want you to tell Patricia the
Sicilian is hers. Ok? I want you to tell her that I'm OK.”
Danny
hesitates for a minute.
“You
really love this guy huh?” Danny asks me.
I
haven't thought about it yet to be honest. Love. It was probably
too soon to say that but right now I know where I wanted to be. I
wanted to be where ever Carmine was. If Carmine felt like it was
best that we leave town then I was going to leave town.
“I don't know,” I tell Danny, “I do know that the Commission is going after the Fontanas and to get to Carmine they'll use me.”
Danny
nods, “Maybe you should leave for the day...”
“It'll
look suspicious. I'm always here during work hours...”
Danny
takes a deep breath, “I don't like this. Man. You've honestly
helped the Sicilian stay afloat. I consider you a friend. I just
don't want anything to happen to you.”
“I'll
be fine.”
“You don't know that,” Danny
responds but shakes his head, “Either way. I'll tell Patricia
what you need me to tell her. I'll look out for her and the
Sicilian.”
Danny pats me on the back. He's uneasy but
he gives me a hard smile. For the first time I feel like maybe I do
belong somewhere. I'm going to miss Danny and the laps of info he
has on this crazy, dangerous world but I was thinking that maybe this
was the best time to leave this world for good. I may not get
another chance.
I'm worried about Carmine as the day goes on. Leo Fontana was doing this victory lap around the Sicilian. The bravado was sick and his son Nuts was right by his side. I can't help but to feel sick to my stomach with Leo Fontana.
How can you kill a guest in your own home? How sick is that? How fucking crazy is that? Carmine didn't want to have anything to do with his father anymore and I didn't blame him. His father had gone over the edge. His father had lost it.
The day passes and it's closing time. All of a sudden I start feeling better about all of this. Nothing crazy has happened. All I have to do is wait for Carmine.
All
I have to go is go to my room and wait for him.
“Mr. Fontana would like to see you,” she says.
“Me?”
Patricia
nods. She is breathing heavy. She's scared.
“Yes...”
Fuck.
I walk out into the dining area. The whole room is pretty much empty except for one table that remains after closing. If the Fontanas wanted to stay they were going to stay. Who the hell was going to tell them to get out even after closing.
Fontana is there. Two other wise guys are next to him on either side. Then there is Nuts Fontana. He has on this look on his face that I don't really understand.
I'm nervous as fuck.
“Sit,” Crazy Fontana tells me.
One
of the wise guys comes over and pulls out a chair. The staff
disappears in the back abandoning me out here with the Fontana table.
I sit in the chair. The wise guy pushes me into the table. Across
from me is Crazy Fontana and Nuts Fontana. They are staring me down
with this pure intent that I just don't understand.
“I
am hoping your dinner went well sir,” I state.
I
am trying to act as though I am in control. With Big Paulie dead I
completely owned the Sicilian. I received that notice from my Kairo
early this morning. However I was worried. I didn't feel in
control. I felt like I was...losing it.
“Have you
heard from my son, Carmine?” Leo asks.
“Not
since last night sir.”
“He's lying,” Nuts
Fontana states.
Nuts stares hard at me as though trying to figure me out. I'm not letting him in. I just stare blankly at the table. His father gives me an even harder look.
“You lying to me?” he states.
“No
sir.”
“Nuts...” Leo Fontana says to his son.
I'm not sure what Leo Fontana wants his son to do until I see Nuts Fontana come across the table at me. Nuts Fontana punches me dead in my face. I hit the floor hard falling onto the ground. The guys pick me up off the ground.
“What the fuck?” I ask.
The guys hold me. My face is bleeding. Leo Fontana walks up to me.
“I
think you're lying, young man.”
“The last time I
spoke with Carmine was last night,” I explain.
“Where
is he?”
“I don't know.”
Nuts Fontana
punches me hard in my stomach. I cough up at that moment. No one
comes to help me. No one comes to intervene. These fucking bullies
are beating me up in my own fucking restaurant and I'm helpless.
There is nothing that I can do. Nuts is enjoying it. The smile that
spreads across his face at that moment almost makes me think he's
eating it up.
Nuts
wipes his bloody fists, “Ew. Nigger blood...”
The
other two guys with the Fontanas laugh at Nuts.
“So
Carmine is missing,” Leo Fontana says, “Some of my money
is missing as well.”
Did Carmine steal from his father
in an attempt to get us away?”
“I don't know
anything about that,” I say.
I
can hardly speak. I'm not about to sell out Carmine no matter what.
I was almost off. Carmine was supposed to meet me. Things were
supposed to be easy.
“I believe you,” Leo Fontana says.
“You
do?” Nuts Fontana asks his father.
Leo laughs. That crazy laugh. I was on my way out with Carmine. We were going to escape this place. All I needed to do was leave. I can feel my jaw in pain at that moment. I hate the feeling that I have. It feels like I'm not going to be able to get out of New York. Carmine and I weren't going to make it alive out of here. That is what scared the fuck out of me.
“You
care for my son,” Leo tells me, “See. I just want to
help my son. I think my son has been mislead. I think he's working
with Joe Bananas. He wants to come for my position.”
I
raise my eyebrow. Leo was paranoid. There wasn't anything worse
than someone who was, paranoid, crazy and wrong.
“You think Carmine stole your money because he wants to be Boss?” I ask.
“What
other reason would he steal it?”
Leo seems to have made
up his mind about this. Nothing I say could change it. He doesn't
even assume that Carmine stole money from him to get away from his
crazy ass. All hell was about to break loose and Carmine wanted
nothing to do with it.
“I
don't think Carmine stole anything.”
“Really?”
“Yeah
really.”
“What is the relationship between you and
my son?” Leo asks.
I look at Leo. I remember him seeing Carmine holding my hand back at the mansion. Carmine wasn't hiding it. It was only a matter of time before Leo connected the dots. It was only a matter of time before this question came up.
“We're
friends.”
“Seems a little bit more than friends,”
Nuts Fontana adds.
“It
does. Doesn't it. You lying to me, young man?”
“No...”
“He's
lying pops,” Nuts Fontana says.
“I
think so too. You know what I do to liars Cornbread?” Leo
Fontana asks me, “I take them out back and I let my firing
squad go crazy. You saw what I did to Big Paulie didn't you?”
I
remembered Big Paulie's body. My heart is racing. I'm scared to
death but I have to stay strong. I have to stay strong for Carmine.
“Yes
sir.”
“So I'm going to ask you one last time.
What is your relationship with my son?” Leo Fontana asks me
again, “And if you lie to me...you know what will happen.”
I
pause.
I'm
not going to sell out Carmine. I can't reveal it. It was reveal my
relationship with Carmine or die. I wasn't going to rat Carmine out.
I couldn't. I swallow my spit. I can feel my stomach curl up in my
chest. Maybe I did have some crazy strong feelings for Carmine
because at this point I am thinking that I'd rather the firing squad
than Carmine thinking I betrayed him again.
“We're
friends.”
“Take him out back. Kill him,”
Leo states.
“WAIT!”
I
hear the voice come out from the kitchen. It is Danny and Patricia.
They both have their hands up. Fuck. What the hell were they doing
out here? Didn't they know that I was dealing with a fucking mad
man?
“Go back into the kitchen. That's an
order.”
Danny and Patricia don't listen to me. They
keep their hands up.
It's
Patricia who looks over at me, “Just tell him, Cornbread.
He'll kill you...”
“Tell me what?” Leo Fontana asks.
I
shake my head.
“Go
back in the kitchen. I'm fine.”
“They are
lovers...” Danny says.
My
head drops. Fuck. Whatever fear or credibility Carmine had just
went out the window with one quick sentence. I don't think Leo
Fontana was too surprised by it.
Nuts
Fontana seems to be excited if anything, “I knew it. See. I
knew it. G'dam it my big brother is a faggot. I fucking knew
it!”
“My own son. A fag.”
“He's
not trying to be the boss,” I state, “I promise you that
he's not trying to take over.”
“Why would I
believe you?” Leo Fontana asks, “Why steal the money?”
I
stop talking.
This was hard. I wanted to defend Carmine but I didn't want to snitch on him. This was going downhill quickly. I wish I had a way to warn him. He should just take the money and leave. Just take the money and leave. Don't come back for me.
“If I tell you why he wanted the money, will you let Regis go?” Danny asks.
“I don't bargain, Arab. You want to walk out of here with your life you'll tell me what I want to know,” Leo Fontana says.
“What's to stop you from killing us anyway?” Danny asks, “I want your word. You don't touch Regis and I'll tell you what Cornbread wanted.”
“Danny,
what the FUCK!” I say.
“I'm doing this to protect you,” Danny says.
“It's a deal,” Leo Fontana tells Danny.
Danny
crosses his arms, “Carmine is worried about the Commission. He
stole the money and he's going to come get Regis at his apartment
tonight. He's going to take him away. He wants to leave La Cosa
Nostra.”
Leo takes a deep breath. He is thinking. I
don't think he was expecting this. Nuts Fontana seems a little
surprised as well.
“Well at least he wasn't trying to take over,” Nuts Fontana says.
“That's not good enough,” Leo replies.
“Pops.
If he wants to leave then let him leave,” Nuts explains, “I
can take over in his place. Make a made man. Let Carmine go be a
faggot if he wants to be.”
“You want to be a made
man Nuts?” Leo asks.
“Yes.
Yes sir.”
“Well go with Regis to his apartment
and wait on Carmine,” Leo explains.
“Why?”
“I
want you to prove yourself to La Cosa Nostra. Show your brother
there is only one way out of La Cosa Nostra. In a body bag.”
Patricia, Danny and I are sitting at my living room table. I'm sweating profusely. Nuts Fontana is in my kitchen. He is pacing back and forth. He has a pistol in his hand. I can tell that he's nervous. I can tell that he doesn't want to do this.
We're waiting on Carmine to arrive.
“I'm sorry...” Danny says.
“Shut
the hell up,” I explain.
“He
was just trying to protect you Cornbread,” Patricia explains,
“You were way over your head.”
Danny adds in,
“These people they respect a deal. All you have to do is shut
up, let Nuts take care of Carmine and everything will be back to
normal.”
“Fuck both of you,” I state, “I'm
not leaving Carmine out to dry.”
Danny and Patricia look
nervous. Just at that moment I look over at Nuts Fontana. He's
sweating profusely. He is more than nervous. It's at that moment
that I can see his age. He tries to play tough in the restaurant
around the other wise guys but Nuts is showing his true self right
now and for some reason I don't think this is the seasoned killer
that he lets everyone think he is.
Our eyes connect across the table.
“What you looking at you fucking faggot baboon?” he asks me.
His eyes are twitching as he speaks.
“You
don't want to do this.”
“Shut up Cornbread,” Patricia warns me.
I
ignore Patricia and turn to Nuts again, “You don't want to
fucking do this Nuts.”
“You don't know shit, bitch
boy.”
I shake my head, “I know that you don't want
to kill your brother Carmine. Carmine loves you. You know he
does.”
Nuts is thinking. He waves the gun in his hand
at that moment. He cuffs his ears. He's still pacing back and
forth. He looks beyond nervous. He looks beyond scared at this
moment.
“He
turned his back on us.”
“He just wants to leave.
That's all. Let him go,” I say.
“There's only one way to leave La Cosa Nostra,” Nuts Fontana explains to me.
It's
almost like he's been brainwashed by his father. Patricia kicks my
chair in an attempt to get me to stop talking at that moment.
I
get up off the chair and I touch Fontana, “You don't have to do
this. What kind of man orders his son to kill his other son? You
think Leo Fontana cares about you or Carmine. You think this
lifestyle is worth killing your own brother.”
“GET
THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!” Nuts says.
He
points the gun at me.
His
hand is shaking.
“You're
scared.”
“Fuck you...” Nuts Fontana says,
“You fucking faggot. What---did my brother fuck you in the
ass? You fucking dirty faggot? I hate you fucking people. I hate
you fucking fags...”
“Really? Because you seemed
pretty close to Vincent...” I state.
Nuts struggles.
I can see this panic in his eyes at that moment.
“What did you just say to me?” Nuts asks, “Are you insinuating something?”
“No.
Just I understand how two men can share a bond. Just when I spoke
to Vincent he seemed really hurt that you set him up.”
“Fuck
you talking about set him up?” Nuts asks, “I never would
set up Vincent. Yeah. Me and Vincent were close. That didn't
matter. Big Paulie paid Vincent killed my fucking mother.”
“You
can cut the shit,” I state, “Everyone in this room knows
that you killed Isabella Fontana and Regis Sr.”
“What?” Nuts asks.
Nuts seems confused.
That's
when there is a knock on the door. Carmine.
Nuts seems
desperate at that moment.
“Go
get the door Regis,” Nuts tells me.
“Wait
you didn't kill your mother?”
Nuts seems confused, “I
would never kill her. Go get the door...”
“You didn't set up Vincent either? You loved Vincent...didn't you?” I ask Nuts.
Nuts
Fontana points at the door, “Get the fucking door. Don't get
any wise ideas. You hear me. Don't get any fucking wise ideas when
you open that door. You walk back in here. You walk straight into
the kitchen with Carmine. You don't say a word. You hear me? You
warn Carmine and I'll fucking kill you.”
I look at the
others. There is no way that Nuts Fontana would have set up Vincent.
I didn't know much about the Mafia. I didn't know all the things
that Danny knew. I knew about love though. I knew about the feeling
of wanting to be with someone and I knew for sure that there was no
way in hell that Nuts Fontana would have set him up.
I walk to the front. I look back. Nuts is hiding behind the wall. He probably has his gun pointed right at Patricia and Danny.
I open the door.
Vincent.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I ask.
“I
need to tell you something,” Vincent says, “Something I
found when I was digging in Isabella's purse that day.”
“Wait.
Now isn't a good time. You need to leave...”
“It
has to be now...”
He walks into the kitchen at that
moment, brushing past me before I get the chance to stop him. I hear
him quickly walking into the kitchen and then I hear the gun shot.
BANG!
Just
as I hear the gunshot I turn around and I see someone else coming up
behind me as Vincent falls to the ground.
It's
Carmine.
“What
the fuck!” Carmine says.
“Your
dad tried to set you up. He wanted your brother to hide out in my
apartment and kill you. But instead...”
Instead someone
else got shot.
I walk into the living room at that moment. Vincent is on the floor bleeding. Nuts Fontana is over him. Nuts is crying his eyes out. Patricia and Danny are standing there looking over Vincent.
Nuts has shot Vincent thinking that it was really Carmine.
Carmine grabs his own gun out of his pants. He points it at the back of his brother's head. Nuts doesn't even seem to care.
“Do it...do it, I deserve it,” Nuts is saying.
Vincent is bleeding out and Nuts is crying harder than I'd ever seen a grown man cry before. The look on his face is clear. He has regretted it almost the moment he did it. I wonder if Nuts would have regretted this moment the same if he has shot Carmine. I'm thinking Carmine is thinking the same thing. His brother was ready to kill him.
Maybe
that's why Carmine presses his gun against his brother's head. Maybe
that's why Carmine is ready to pull the trigger.
“Don't...” I tell Carmine.
“This
motherfucker was going to kill me,” Carmine says, “He
shot Vincent.”
Vincent has stopped moving. Vincent is...dead. The blood covered floor speaks to it all. Why had Vincent stormed into this room. What did Vincent want to tell us? There was something in Isabella's purse that Vincent had found. There was something that he wanted to share with me.
Nuts turns at that moment. He leans up against the wall. He's drags Vincent's body with him. He's protecting Vincent's body. He mutters something over and over. I'm not sure what it is. He is muttering that he's sorry.
“I
know...” I state, “Don't kill him though.”
“He
killed our parents.”
“No he didn't,” I
state.
Vincent
went through Isabella's purse before she died. He said the reason he
did it was because someone else had gone in her purse before.
Carmine
looks over at me confused, “You told me he killed my
parents.”
“He was looking in your mother's purse,”
I state, “What if the bomb was never in the purse before the
explosion? Nicky. Was there another reason you were looking in the
purse?”
Whatever Nicky had found had made Vincent so
concerned that his lover was upset that he decided to go in the purse
himself. Vincent never admitted to finding a bomb. He just said
that if there was a bomb in there he hadn't put it in. Vincent also
never sold out Nicky to anyone but me about what he saw. What had
made Nicky so upset when he went in that purse?
“I...”
Nuts says.
He's
upset. He's so upset that he can barely even speak. Carmine lowers
his gun. It has to be tough to see someone whose given up like that.
Nuts is beating himself up over killing Vincent more than any of us
could. If there was any doubt in my mind that they were lovers at
one point that doubt was completely gone.
“Nuts,
what were you looking for?”
“She told me to look
in her purse,” he said, “She said that my father had
written me a letter. And I didn't to believe it. I decided...to go
for the purse. There wasn't any bomb in that purse. Nothing like
that. No. It was just a letter in that purse. I don't know how the
car exploded but it had nothing to do with the purse. That letter
was dangerous though. It was dangerous...for me. I knew it would
change my life forever. A letter that from my father, she said. I
went to the purse. I got the letter out...”
“Why
would Leo Fontana write you a letter?” Carmine asks.
Nuts
shakes his head, “My father isn't Leo Fontana.”
Carmine
and I look at one another. There was only one other person that made
sense.
“You're my brother aren't you?” I ask Nuts, “Regis Sr. was your father...”
Nuts nods, “Yes.”
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