Total Chaos (26 page)

One day, behind the Vallier stadium, I got really badly roughed up by a wop for eyeing his sister as we were coming out of the Alhambra, a dance hall in the Blancarde. Ugo had picked up a couple of girls there, and it made a change from the Salons Michel. We later discovered that our fathers were from neighboring villages. Mine from Castel San Giorgio, his from Piovene. We went off to grab a beer. A week later, he introduced me to his sister, Ophélia. We were
paese
, which made it different. “If you manage to keep her, I take off my hat to you! She's just a tease.” Ophélia was worse than that. She was a bitch. She was the girl Mavros had married. And look what a hard time she'd given him.

I'd lost all notion of time. I parked my car almost outside the apartment building where Toni lived. His Golf was parked about fifty yards up the street. I had a few smokes and listened to Buddy Guy.
Damn right, he's got the blues
. A fantastic recording. Backed by Marc Knopfler, Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck. I was still hesitating to pay Toni a visit. He lived on the second floor, and there was a light in his apartment. I wondered if he was alone or not.

Because I was alone. Pérol had gone off to Bassens. Things were about to turn ugly. There was going to be trouble between the neighborhood kids and Mourrabed's buddies. A bunch of really scary characters had appeared on the scene, provoking the kids in the project. They'd let the cops take Mourrabed in. They were well organized, that was obvious. The tall black kid had already been beaten up. Five of them had cornered him in the parking lot. The Bassens kids didn't like anyone muscling in on their territory. Especially not dealers. Knives were being sharpened.

Cerutti couldn't handle it on his own. Even with the help of Reiver, who'd hotfooted it there, ready to do the night shift after his day shift. Pérol had rounded up the teams. There was no time to lose. A few dealers had to be collared, on the pretext that Mourrabed had turned them in. The rumor needed to be spread that he was a squealer. That ought to calm things down a bit. We wanted to avoid the Bassens kids getting into fights with these scumbags.

“Go grab a bite to eat, take a breather, and don't do anything stupid,” Pérol had said. “Leave it to me.” I hadn't told him my plans for this evening. Not that I had any. I just felt that I needed to make a move. I'd made threats. I didn't want to be like a hunted animal anymore. I had to force them to show their hand. To do something stupid. I'd told Pérol we'd meet up later and put our heads together. He'd suggested I sleep at his house, it was too risky going back to Les Goudes. I could believe that.

“You know, Fabio,” he'd said after listening to me, “of course these things don't mean the same to me as they do to you. I never knew your friends, and you never introduced me to Leila. But I understand where you're coming from. I know it isn't just a question of revenge. It's the feeling there are some things you can't let pass. If you did, you wouldn't be able to look at yourself in the mirror afterwards.”

Pérol didn't talk much, but now he'd got started, he could be at it for hours.

“Don't get yourself worked up, Gerard!”

“It's not that. I'll tell you something. You're on to something big. You can't hit out on your own and hope to get off scot-free. I'm with you. I'm not going to drop you.”

“I know you're a friend. Whatever happens. But I'm not asking you for anything, Gérard. You know what they say? Beyond this point, your ticket is no longer valid. That's where I am now. And I don't want to drag you into it. It's too dangerous. I think we'd be forced to do things that weren't very clean. In fact, I'm sure of it. You have a wife and daughter. Think of them, and forget about me.”

I opened the door. He grabbed my arm. “No can do, Fabio. If they find you dead tomorrow, I don't know what I'll do. Something even worse, maybe.”

“I'll tell you what you should do. Make another kid. With the woman you love. Then I'll be sure there's a future for the world.”

“You're just a bullshit artist!”

He'd made me promise to wait for him. Or to join him, if I decided to make a move. I'd promised. That had reassured him, and he'd left for Bassens. He didn't know I wouldn't keep my word. No way! I stubbed out my last smoke and got out of the car.

“Who is it?”

A woman's voice. Young and anxious. I heard laughter. Then silence.

“Montale. Fabio Montale. I'd like to see Toni.”

The door half opened. I must have switched channels again! Karine was as surprised as I was. We stood there looking at each other. Neither of us could say a word. I went in. There was a strong smell of dope.

“Who is it?” I heard someone say at the end of the corridor.

Kader's voice.

“Come in!” Karine said. “How did you know I live here?”

“I came to see Pirelli. Toni.”

“He's my brother. He hasn't been here in ages.”

That was the answer! At last I had it. But it didn't explain anything. I still couldn't understand Leila and Toni. They were all here. Kader, Yasmine, Driss. Around the table. Like conspirators.

“Allah is great,” I said, pointing to the bottle of scotch on the table.

“And Chivas is his prophet,” Kader replied, grabbing the bottle. “Have a drink with us?”

They must have drunk quite a lot. Smoked quite a lot too. But I didn't get the feeling they were having a ball. Quite the opposite.

“I didn't know you knew Toni,” Karine said.

“We don't really know each other. You see, I didn't even know he'd moved.”

“So it must be ages since you last saw him...”

“I was passing and saw a light, so I came up. Old friends, you know.”

They were staring at me. Obviously, Toni and me as old friends wasn't something they could get their heads around. But it was too late for me to change tack. Their brains were working overtime.

“What did you want with him?” Driss asked.

“A favor. I needed to ask him a favor. Anyhow,” I said, finishing my drink, “I won't bother you anymore.”

“It's no bother,” Kader said.

“I've had a long day.”

“Collared a dealer, I hear?” Jasmine said.

“News travels fast.”

“Arab telephone!” Kader said, with a laugh that sounded false.

They were waiting for me to explain what I was doing there, looking for Toni. Jasmine pushed a book toward me, still in its gift wrapping. I read the title without even picking it up.
Death Is a Lonely Business
by Ray Bradbury.

“You can have it. It was Leila's. Do you know it?”

“She often mentioned it. I've never read it.”

“Here,” Kader said, handing me a glass of whisky. “Sit down. There's no rush.”

“We bought it together,” Jasmine said. “The day before...”

“Oh,” I said. The scotch was burning my insides. I still hadn't eaten anything all day. I was starting to feel exhausted. The night wasn't over yet.

“Have you got any coffee?” I asked Karine.

“I just made some. It's still hot.”

“It was for you,” Jasmine went on. “That's why it's gift wrapped. She wanted to give it to you.”

Karine came back with a cup of coffee. Kader and Driss didn't say a word. They were waiting to hear the rest of the story, even though they already seemed to know the ending.

“I couldn't figure at first what it was doing in my brother's car,” Karine said.

That was it. It left me speechless. These kids had knocked me for six. They weren't smiling now. They looked solemn.

“On Saturday night, he came to take me out for a meal. He does that regularly. Talks to me about my studies. Gives me a little money. A big brother, right? The book was in the glove compartment. I can't remember what I was looking for. ‘What's this?' I said. It took him completely by surprise. ‘What? That? Oh, yeah, that... It's... It's a gift. It was for you. I was planning... to give it to you later. But you can open it now.'

“Toni often gave me gifts. But a book, well, that was a first. I didn't know how he'd known what to choose... I was touched. I told him I loved him. We went to eat and I put the book in my bag, still in its wrapping.

“I put it there on the shelf when I got back. Then it all happened. Leila, the funeral. I stayed with them. We slept at Mouloud's. I'd forgotten all about the book. At noon today, Jasmine came by, and she saw it. We couldn't figure it out. We called the boys. We had to clear it up. Do you understand?” She'd sat down. She was shaking. “Now, we don't know what to do.”

And she burst into tears.

Driss stood up and took her in his arms. He stroked her hair tenderly. Her tears were almost like a nervous breakdown. Jasmine went to her, kneeled, and slipped her hands into Karine's. Kader was motionless, his elbows on the table, dragging manically on his joint. His eyes were completely absent.

I felt dizzy. My heart started pounding. No, it wasn't possible! Something Karine had said had startled me. She'd referred to Toni in the past tense.

“Where is Toni?”

Kader stood up like an automaton. Karine, Jasmine and Driss watched him as he went and opened the French door to the balcony. I stood up and went closer. Toni was there. Lying on the tiled floor.

Dead.

“We were going to call you, I think.”

T
he kids were at the end of their tether. Now that Toni's body was there in front of them again, they were cracking. Karine was still crying. Now Jasmine started, followed by Driss. Kader seemed to have gone off the rails completely. The dope and the whisky hadn't helped. He gave little staccato laughs every time he looked at Toni's body. As for me, I was starting to coast. And this wasn't the time for that.

I closed the balcony door, poured myself a glass of scotch, and lit a cigarette. “OK,” I said. “Let's start again from the beginning.”

But I might as well have been talking to deaf-mutes. Kader started laughing even more frantically.

“Driss, take Karine to the bedroom. She needs to lie down and get some rest. Jasmine, see if you can find some tranquilizers, Lexomil, anything, and give one to each person. And take one yourself. Then make me some more coffee.”

They looked at me as if they were Martians newly landed.

“Go on!” I said, gently but firmly.

They stood up. Driss and Karine disappeared into the bedroom.

“What are we going to do?” Jasmine asked. She was starting to recover. Of the four, she was the strongest. You could see that in every precise, self-assured gesture. She may have smoked as much as the others, but it was obvious she'd drunk less.

“Get this one back on his feet,” I replied, indicating Kader.

I lifted him from his chair.

“He won't fuck with us anymore, right?” he said, laughing. “We fucked his ass, the jerk.”

“Where's the bathroom?”

She pointed at the door. I pushed Kader inside. There was a very small tub. The room smelled of vomit. Driss had already been in here. I grabbed Kader by the neck and forced him to lower his head. I opened the cold water faucet. He struggled.

“Don't mess me around, or I'll throw you in!”

I rinsed his head thoroughly, and wiped him with a towel. By the time we came back to the living room, the coffee was ready. We sat around the table. In the bedroom, Karine was still crying, and Driss was talking to her. I couldn't hear what he was saying, but it was like soft music.

“Shit!” I said to Kader and Jasmine. “You could have called me!”

“We didn't mean to kill him,” Kader replied.

“What were you expecting? That he'd apologize? He was the kind of guy who'd have slit his own mother's throat.”

“We could see that,” Jasmine said. “He threatened us. With a gun.”

“Who hit him?”

“Karine, first. With the ashtray.”

A big glass ashtray, which I'd been filling with cigarette butts since I arrived. The impact had knocked Toni to the floor. He'd let go of his gun. Jasmine had kicked it under the wardrobe. It was still there. Toni had rolled over onto his stomach and tried to get up. Driss had jumped on him and taken him by the throat, crying, “Bastard! Bastard!”

“Kill him!” the others yelled. Driss squeezed with all his might, but Toni kept struggling. Karine was screaming, “He's my brother!” She wept and implored and pulled Driss by the arm, to get him to let go. But Driss wasn't there anymore. He was letting out all his rage. Leila wasn't only his sister. She was his mother. She'd raised him, pampered him, loved him. They couldn't do that to him. Take away both of the mothers he'd known in his life.

His hours of training with Mavros were paying off.

With a loser like Sanchez—or with a gun in his hand—Toni was a winner. But in this case, he didn't stand a chance. He knew it as soon as he felt Driss's hands on his throat, squeezing. Toni's eyes begged for mercy. His pals hadn't taught him about this. Death gradually seeping into his body. The absence of oxygen. The panic. The fear. I'd had a taste of all that the other night. Driss was easily as strong as Muscles. No, I wouldn't have liked to die like that.

Karine still clung weakly to Driss. She'd stopped shouting. She was sobbing now, and saying, “No, no, no.” But it was too late. Too late for Leila, who she loved. Too late for Toni, who she loved. Too late for Driss, who she loved even more than Leila or Toni. Driss had stopped hearing anything. Not even Jasmine crying, “Stop!” He was still squeezing, with his eyes closed.

Was Leila smiling at Driss? Was she laughing, like the day she and I decided to go swimming at Sugitton? We'd left the car on a flat area of the Ginestre pass, and had taken a path through the Puget massif to reach the Gardiole pass. Leila wanted to see the sea from the top of the Devenson cliffs. She'd never been there before. It was one of the most beautiful places in the world.