Aftermath (33 page)

Alfonzo
had not
kill
ed the woman
in that closet,
his reason lie solely on the fact she was insignificant.
Yet,
Senator Liebowitz, the snitch Gregorio
and
Kim Sung
were not.

Ari was not.

Nico
frowned.

He was at that place. 

Honor or duty.

Ariana…goddamn!
I’m good at what I do bu
t I won’t be able to
ward off death for long.
We
’re not going to meet
o
ur
love-
child.

New York is a lively city. It represented Ariana’s spirit, which he never wanted to die.

“Don’t worry sweetheart, it’s alright,” was the lie out of his mouth.

There was nothing more he could say.

Alfonzo would send his hand.

To eliminate them both.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Shanda
gathered her
Burberry
suitcase from near the door where she placed them last night and glanced around the apartment to ensure she hadn’t left anything behind.

The doorbell buzzed and she frowned, she wasn’t expecting anybody and
whoever
it was
got
past the doorman
. It could only be management coming to give her another notice to pipe it down with her music or they’d throw her out. She’d ignore the noise complaint as usual and tell the office flunky for the third time to get lost.
But, when the door was yanked opened, it’s her father she saw accompanied by two men.

“Good morning Shanda.” Her father said walking in without an invitation, taking liberties as if he’d paid the rent.

“Dad, I’m going out. Why didn’t you call and what’s this about?” She asked looking from him to the men who entered and stood there quietly letting her father do all the talking.

“This is important and these men are here to talk to you. They need your help.”

Shanda closed the door. She had two hours before he departure. This wasn’t
a social visit. Nope.

“Sit down sweetheart
,” her father said as if she were in his house and she did.

“This is Agent…” and the names were lost in the air because she didn’t care. She wanted her father to get to the point.

“You’re going to visit your friend aren’t you?” Her father asked although Shanda suspected he already knew the answer.

“Dad, please. Just get to the damn point. What’s this about?”

The agent whose name she didn’t care to know filled her in. “Do you care about your friend Selange?”

Shanda looked at him. Dumb fucking question. “Of course I do.”

“Then help us.”

“Do what exactly?”

“Get Alfonzo Diaz off the streets.”

Shanda almost laughed in his face. “Are you serious, you’re asking me to help you arrest my friend’s father of her kids?”

“As long as she’s mixed up with him Shanda,
she
and those kids are in danger. You’re Sal’s godmother. Do you want anything to happen to him?”

Another dumb question. “No.”

“All you have to do is wear this.” Agent no-name said holding out a plain watch. “That’s all we’re asking.”

“Bull-shit, that’s not all you’re asking and we all know it. You want dirt on Alfonzo and
you
want me to get it. If he’s such a menace why haven’
t you
done it yourselves
?”

“Our case can’t proceed without evidence and every time we think we have him, our evidence disappears.”

“You mean your snitches, right?”

Agent no-name looked at her father for assistance, “Nobody will ever know it’s you.”

“I’ll know.”

Her father took a seat next to his daughter, “Shanda, Selange’s life is in danger and her children’s lives. This guy is bad news and you know it
...
He’s the reason Darlene’s dead and the
reason you were kidnapped.
You can save Selange. Do you want her and the children to end up like
Jay
or Darlene? As long as she’s with him it’s inevitable.”

Shanda stared at the door, her mouth in a tight angry line. “What do I have to do?”

                                              ****

“Uncle Geo…Uncle Geo!” Sal exclaimed when Giuseppe strolled through the door with gifts followed by another imposing man in dark shades toting his uncle’s suitcase.

Giuseppe
put a hand on top of Sal’s head, “You are getting taller. Soon, you will be a tree. How is my favorite nephew today?”

“I’m good. How about you?”

“Bene.” He shoved the shopping bag at the boy, “These are for you and your brother and sisters. You decide what they like
, I couldn’t choose
.”

Sal put the bag on the floor and peered inside, “Oh My God!”
He exclaimed at the collection of video-games. The ugly dolls and stuffed animals were baby stuff and the others could have them.

Alfonzo appeared from the dining room, “Hey Geo, I see you made it in one piece.”

“Ah, I am more than happy to have escaped the women in my family. Now that Amelda dropped her litter, it is all I hear about.”

Alfonzo chuckled. Anita dutifully led Giuseppe’s driver up the wide circular staircase to the guest bedroom
as Alfonzo peeked inside the bag. “Come on, nothing for me?”

“I
have your present right here!
”
He balled up his fists and
they
boxed,
throwing jabs, moving around the large room, avoiding the playpen and Allie
who
entered
from who-knows-where straight into the fray.

“I wanna fight…I wanna fight!”

Both men stopped to look down at the little runt. She had her small fists
clenched
like a pro boxer and went
straight
for Giuseppe’s
groin
. He snatched her off her feet and she squealed
while
punch
ing
at his face
and he
laughed, “You do not get to fight. You may injure someone.”

She kicked him in the chest and he chastised Alfonzo, “More dolls for this one. She likes hitting too much.” He brought the girl’s face to his and gave Allie his mean stare, “Do not fight, leave that to the boys. I will have to kill anyone who touches your pretty face, capisce?”

“Whoa Allie don’t listen to Uncle Geo. Nobody’s killing anybody, alright?”

“What’s killing?”

Alfonzo glared at Giuseppe, “See what you started?”

Giuseppe tucked the girl under his arm like a football, “Me? No cugino, you said the word last. Right Allie?”

“I don’t know.”
She answered.

“That’s right sweetie, deny everything. Never tell on papa.” Alfonzo smiled taking her from Giuseppe and setting her free. “Go see if Uncle Geo has a surprise for you in the
bag
.”

Once the boisterous greeting was over and the kids were upstairs enjoying the
ir new video
games
and toys
,
the brothers sat down to beer and conversation
.

P
eace.

“So where’s you know who?” Giuseppe inquired.

“
You mean Selange; she has a name you know
?”

“Who else
is there?
”

“
She’s gone to fetch
Shanda
from the airport
.”

Giuseppe sat forward at the mention of Shanda’s name, “She is coming here?”

“Yep.”

“Is she still mad
at me
?”

“Who knows.”

“Has she mentioned me?”

Alfonzo laughed, “Is someone Shanda whipped from one fuck?”

“Ah shut-up!”

“You know you still owe me for
the
bed
.”

“It was cheap. It was time for a new one.”

“It was a custom-made bed Geo and those aren’t cheap.”

“Then you were robbed.” Giuseppe smiled and slapped his younger brother on the head. “Now stop whining and write it off as a loss on your tax return. Put it under business expenses.”

“What?” Alfonzo asked bobbing out of the way of another one of Giuseppe’s strikes.

“
The adult entertainment
business
you have
.”

“You’re an ass.”

“Thank you.” Giuseppe answered then tossed an arm over the back of the sofa a
s he
reclined,
“
H
ow are you coping with your mother and Bruno’s hot romance?”

Alfonzo’s nostrils flared
, “
Don’t remind me. I promised to keep my nose out of it…by the way…how’s things with you and your mom?”

“Ah,” Giuseppe waved his hand as he watched the babies in the playpen trying to crawl and smiled at their clumsiness, “She is my mother. I will always love her, besides her cooking can never be replaced.”

“That’s the thought of all loving sons.”

Anita and the nanny came to collect the babies and left the men to talk. Time elapsed during their light-heated discussion on sports and trivialities.
It was good to have Giuseppe around. Alfonzo admitted it was rather cool having an older brother to kick it with. In their discussion he
told
Giuseppe, “I asked
Selange
to marry me
and
I’
d
be honored if you’ll be
m
y best man. How about it?”

“You like punishment.”
Giuseppe
laugh
ed
, “I guess the first time wasn’t
torturous
enough
. Ah
, but then again I wasn’t there. Hmm…best man…to my brother. Yes, I can do that
, but if she gets cold feet and tries to run can I shoot her in the leg?
”

“Hell no
, I’m beginning to think you’re fucking crazy Geo?”

“If I am it may run in la familia fratello
!”

                                                     ****

Selange’s smile reached her eyes when Shanda appeared from the crowd. God, it was great to see the woman, they had a lot to catch up on. She moved forward followed by the two shadows and as
Selange
drew near
she
realized something was wrong. Shanda’s reception was lukewarm. No shrieks as usual, none of the theatrics of the woman she’d known half her life. In fact she looked sad
, unlike Shanda. Totally, not the woman
usually
full of life
.

“Hi Selange.”

“Hey, did something happen?”

One of the bodyguards went to relieve Shanda of her
singular luggage
and she declined
.
No…this was not Shanda. One carry-on and refusing to let a guy do grunge work. No…there’s a problem
was the assessment.

Shanda looked around but didn’t move, “I’m not staying. I just came to tell you in person. I didn’t want to waste the ticket. I have to get back to New York.”

“Why, are you al
l
right, is the family okay?”

“They’re fine. I
’m not feeling well.”

“If you’re sick you should have called instead of flying here. We could’ve talked on the phone.”

“No, I hadn’t seen you in a while. I wanted to say hi face-to-face.”

There was tension. An uneasy feeling seeping through Selange’s bones. Why? Alfonzo always talked about his gut…swore by his instinct and Selange’s sent her mixed messages. It told her, this is about Giuseppe, she doesn’t want to confront him, then it whispered it’s about Alfonzo, she’s still mad at him…no…me. She had second thoughts about coming.

They stood there, in the same terminal where they
met on
numerous reunions and acted like teenage girls. Today was
different;
she felt it in the air. They were two women, going on a different path.