ATONEMENT (13 page)

“We will put a bullet in you if you do not sit quiet!”

The panic rose, “What
…what do you
want?”

“Answers.”

“Answers to what?”

A male voice,
talked
swiftly in Italian.
One phrase she
clumsily
decipher
ed
,
‘
Rendono
rapida
’
or make it quick!’

The woman asked, “Why are you here?”

“
T
o shop in Milan?”

“You have one last chance to tell us why you have come or we will kill you and your children!”

The mention of her children se
n
t Selange into a rage, she pounded on the petition, “You touch my kids and I’ll find you in hell bitch
…and put a bullet in your mouth for mentioning my kids…d
o you hear me?”

“Answer the question and we will not harm you
or them, now w
hat is your business here?”

The air became hot. The anger in Selange intensified. She bang
ed at the hard surface with flattened palms, anxious to get to the cowards hiding behind it. No one threatened her family and lived.
“Let me out of this car!”

“Not until you tell us what we want to know.”

Selange recognized the futility of her actions and took a deep breath and reached for her cell phone. The moment she did the
petition
hummed down
. “Welcome to Milan, Selange. I’m Lucia, this is
Renalda
. We were having fun with you.”

Selange was pissed,
her nerves were on end. She hissed,
“
B
itches
!”

                     
                 
***

The
second
the limo
stopped in front of
the estate
and
the
locks
popped up
,
Selange
flew out the backseat to
the
front
passenger door
and yanked it open. The first woman her hand’s touched
got
pulled out by the hair. Selange
fists
beat at
the
woman’s
skull
and t
he
tormentor now became the
frightened
victim. She
scream
ed for Selange to stop
but her pleas went ignored, in fact t
he blows
came
swifter
until
Selange
abruptly
released her
and went
after her co-conspirator.

The
other
woman cowered inside the vehicle, even tried to close the door before Selange got there
,
but it didn’t work. Selange caught the door handle and her
wrath
gave
her
strength. She
held the door
open
with one hand,
leaned inside and smashed th
e young woman in her mouth for her cruelty.
Her
knuckles
retracted
covered in lipstick and spit.
The woman
tried to
grapple with
Selange
and lost. She shouted in a foreign language for aid from the driver who seemed reluctant to intervene. The loud whack of Selange’s hand across the woman’s face got him moving. He
circled the car
as Selange held the woman’s collar
, slapping her repeatedly with such force the woman’s face
turned scarlet.
The driver’s
hands
took hold of
her waist
moving her backward
–
b
ut Selange still held the woman
’s coat and
the shrieks came not only
from the thunderous strikes
of
the crazed American
,
but also the
stinging to
her legs
as she was dragged over the r
ugged pavement.

Selange managed to break free from the
driver’s
grasp
and bent over the woman and smashed through her poor attempt at blocking.
“You sick bitch. You threaten
ed
me and my
children.
I’m going to
beat you to death
…both of you!”

She actually started choking the
woman
when she was
suddenly
snatched
high into the air
and carried
away
kicking and screaming for release.
The man
who held her
lowered her down but maintained an
ironclad
grasp. E
very evasive maneuver
Selange attempted
could not loosen it. She
failed miserably
at an escape
.
Her energy became depleted and the i
mpotent
fury
caused her to go
limp.
Suddenly, her stomach churned and she began to sweat profusely.

Selange’s
breathing
changed into
a
ragged
high-pitched noise
and she gripped the side of the man’s coat
. H
is hold was compressing her stomach.
“Too tight, I’m getting sick
.”

He
loosened his grip and quickly spun her outward to
the
side to let her catch the wind. That’s when she began to retch
. Her
heart beat like a locomotive
as she
vomited all
over
the
ground.
They kidnapped her
and threat
ened Sal and Allie.
Such an
unimaginable torture
, she
puked
again
and believed
she may have vomited out
her insides. But of course
she hadn’t
,
judging by the contents at her feet
. The chunky mush contained
colorful M&M’s she’d
eaten;
the one’s Sal put in her purse
in case she needed a
snack
.

She
recalled
hugg
ing the boy tightly
and smiling.
“
Thank you
hun
and
I’ll see you very soon
.
I’ll call every night before bed-time and you can call m
e or
text anytime
you want, okay?”

Oh, the boy was his father with those blue eyes and tough demeanor. He smiled, “Mom, I’m not a baby. I got it covered when you’re gone. If
you
need to talk to me then it’
s fine
,
I’ll take
your
call.”

Yes, that’s exactly what
Sal told
his
mom.

‘
Oh, God and to think she would never see his face or Aldonza…or…
’

She heaved and s
omeone pulled her hair away from her face
and
held it as she threw-up once more
. S
he
shivered
hoping she was finally done.
The vision of her children lying face-down in blood
became
a potent
image
and
it brought agony to her chest
. Her
head flopped
back
ward
against
the masculine
figure both hard and soft. She inhaled the night air, took it in
with
one long inhalation.
The images were rushing at such speed she screamed.
She held the wrist of the
unseen figure as the sight of her mom and Al crashed through and bowled her over. Their murdered bodies were twisted and grotesque. Her hands bloodied from the discovery. The post-traumatic effect pa
l
pable
and fresh all these years later. She
drooped forward s
obbing
as she
tr
ied
to wake from
the nightmare set in motion by two heartless
young women
!

A male voice rose in anger. Th
e man
who
restrain
ed
her chest
began to
vibrate
and
he
bellowed, “
Portare
un
panno
e
acqua
!”