The Family

“Will you be long?” Marley asked.

            “No,” He replied. “I’m just having dinner with my Brother.”

“Okay,” Marley nodded, her eyes cast down to the table.

            He picked up his coat and turned for the door.

            His hand was on the handle when Marley asked, “You promise you won’t be long?”

            He looked back and softly replied, “I promise.”

            His daughter's brown eyes were filled with doubt as he opened the door and left her alone in the apartment.

            He took the elevator down to the lobby and nodded at the doorman as he stepped onto the city's streets. A cold coastal wind ripped through the corridors of the building, pushing grey clouds across the late afternoon sky. He zipped his coat all the way up and walked through the crowds down to the corner store.

            A ring of a bell welcomed him as he entered the store. He nodded to the shopkeeper and strode towards the wine section. After examining several labels, he picked up a four-year vintage cabernet and smirked. He contemplated the irony of arriving with the bottle and approached the shop owner, bought the wine with cash, and left the change.

            Back out on the street, he turned north and walked several blocks before turning down a quiet street and patiently waited on the corner. He looked down to his watch, and the moment the big hand touched the twelve, reading five o’clock, a black sedan with tinted windows turned down the street.

            The sedan stopped in front of him, and the back door opened. He lowered himself into the seat and closed the door. A shadow-covered man sat to his left, and the car's driver wore dark sunglasses and a black suit. Neither of the two men said a word to him as they drove out of the city.

They were soon on a traffic-less street that began winding up the face of the mountain. From the car window, the city below shrunk, and the further they climbed, the more he thought about his daughter, alone, somewhere down in the mess of civilization.

            The mountain road crested onto a dirt lot, with several black SUVs, with more men in suits and sunglasses guarding the perimeter. A dining table was set in the middle, with his Brother Andrew sitting at one end. The car tires crunched as it pulled into the dirt, and when it stopped, the door was opened for him, and he slipped out, being met with fresh mountain air. He inhaled deeply and looked out over the city below, towards the ocean in the east.

He shook his head as he was guided to the table and was shown to his seat. He removed his coat, and one of the men quickly took it as he sat down.

“Welcome,” said Andrew on the other side of the table. “How was your drive, Brother?”

“It was good, thank you,” He replied. “I should have known you would pick this spot.”

Andrew chuckled. “It seems only fitting.”

“Indeed,” he replied, holding up the bottle. “I brought wine.”

“Oh, how gracious.” Andrew snapped at a waiter who stood off to the side.

The waiter took the bottle from him and showed Andrew the label.

A smirk grew on Andrew's face. “Four-year cabernet? It should be perfect.”

“I thought so,” he replied.

The waiter left with the bottle and returned with two glasses filled with red wine. The waiter set a glass down in front of them and left the bottle in the middle of the table.

Andrew picked up his glass and began examining the color; then, after smelling the fermented drink, said, “Good pick.”

“Thank you,” he replied.

Andrew set the wine down to let it breathe before the food came.

“So, Peter,” Andrew asked, “How have you been?”

“Good.”

“Well, you look good. Other than the few grey hairs I see in your beard, I’d say you haven’t aged a day.”

“Is that so? Well, if it wasn’t for your growing stomach, I’d say the same.”

Andrew laughed and put a hand to his belly. “I used to think I’d be skinny forever but look at me now! I’m a fat bastard!” Andrew laughed some more, then quietly said, “I guess a family will do this to you….”

The waiter returned with a plate in each hand and set the steaming hot pasta, tossed in marinara sauce down in front of them.

“Thank you,” He said as the waiter did so, while Andrew said nothing and immediately began to dig in.

He didn’t touch the food and asked, “How is the family?”

 “They’re good,” Andrew replied.

“The wife and kids, okay?”

“Oh yeah!” Andrew took a big gulp of wine before replying, “You won’t believe how big Sammy’s gotten. I mean, good god, it felt like the girl was only a baby yesterday, but now she's almost ten! Can you believe that? Ten years old! Next thing you know, she’ll be all grown up and out of the house, while Kim and I will be old, and fat, and grey! I can’t believe it… Can you?”

“I can.” He nodded his head. “Marley's about the same age.”

“My god, you’re right! How could I forget?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, by god, we should get together sometime and introduce the two! I bet they would get along! Imagine them being friends and getting into trouble like the two of us. I can see it! Can you?”

He nodded his head.

“My god, it would really be something….” Andrew slurped a fork full of pasta into his mouth before asking, “You haven’t touched your food, Peter. Why the disrespect?”

He adjusted his suit jacket and answered, “I don’t plan on this being my last meal.”

Andrew stopped mid-bite, lowered his fork, and raised his eyes. “So that is why you’ve come?”

He nodded his head.

Andrew dropped his fork and leaned back in his chair. “I was hoping you had moved on.”

He fought back the anger that was rising inside of him and replied, “I don’t believe this is something that can be moved on from.”

Andrew reached out and rested his hand on the stem of his wine glass and replied, “It was only business, Peter. It wasn’t my fault she had to be killed.”

“Then why did you kill her?

“Because I was ordered to.”

“By who?”

“You know who.”

“Don’t blame this on The Father.”

“Who else could I blame, Peter? Do you think I wanted to kill her?”

“You pulled the trigger.”

“If I didn’t, he would have killed my family!”

“So, you decided killing my wife would save them?”

“Jesus, Peter! He had my child tied to a chair! He had Sammy in ropes with a god damn knife to her throat! What did you want me to do? Just let her die for your traitor of a wife!”

“Don’t you dare.”

“She was Peter! She sold us out to the damn Devils! Look at what happened to the whole god damn Family! Uncle John in prison, Cousin Matthew was found in a ditch! Everything collapsed because of your bitch of a wife that couldn’t keep her mouth shut! None of this would have happened if you hadn’t fallen in love and lost sight of what mattered!”

“We could have protected you.”

“FOOL!” Andrew slammed his fist down onto the table. “The Father would have gotten you too if it wasn’t for me!”

“What do you mean?”

“He wanted your entire family killed! If it wasn’t for me, you and your daughter would be at the bottom of the same pool of blood your wife found herself in! I was the one who protected you!”

“You’re lying.”

“Lying?” Andrew raised his left hand and showed his missing ring finger. “This is what I gave up in return for your life. I made an oath that if I killed your wife, you and your daughter would be sparred. God damn it! I did this for you!”

“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “It is only fair.”

“What? That you kill me? Don’t be stupid, Peter. I’m the Son. Think of what would happen. With you being prodigal, no one would be left to keep The Family together. It’ll all collapse overnight. It would be chaos, and no one would be here to protect you or your daughter!”

He looked away, feeling the anger turning into a consuming hatred.

“Besides! Would you really want to leave my daughter fatherless? Huh? Do you think that’s fair? Think of Kim when the news would reach her? Think of that, Peter!”

“Did you think of me when you pulled the trigger?” He turned his eyes to Andrew. “Did you think of my newly born daughter as you stared into Victoria’s eyes?”

“I did, Peter… I did… But I thought you would understand that it had to be done… That it was only business.”

“Business?” He shook his head. “No, this is business.”

He pulled the handgun out from his suit jacket and fired three quick rounds into Andrew’s chest, filling the air with the metallic smell of gunpowder. When the smoke cleared and the ringing in his ear stopped, he watched Andrew look down at his body to see the blood beginning to stain his white shirt. Andrew limply fell to the side, off the chair.

He stood and walked to Andrew’s side and saw the panic in his Brothers face as death set in. He knelt down as Andrew opened his mouth to speak but only could gargle on the dark blood flooding his throat.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “Your family will be protected.” He raised his left hand and showed his missing ring finger.

Andrew’s eyes widened with realization of the deceit.

He stood to his feet, saying, “Occhio per occhio,” and walked away from his dying Brother and took a white cloth from one of the men's hands. He wiped the gun down clean, handed it off, and walked towards the car he arrived in. The back door opened, and sitting inside was the shadow-covered man.

“So, it is done?” Asked The shadow-covered man.

“Yes, Father,” he replied.

He heard the sound of a match being struck, then saw the aged face of The Father be reviled by the flicker of the flame. The Father lit a cigar and puffed a few times before letting out a cloud of smoke.

On his exhale, The Father said, “Good. Now let's get you home, Son. You’ve got a promise to keep.” keep.”