Pretty Poison

Fifty - Seven

◈ Luca ◈

My entire brain has seemingly lost touch with reality. My mind leading one foot after another with the thought of revenge clear in sight. Men and women shout and run to the opposite side of the street from me as I stride up the hill. I hear them shriek, "He has a gun!" and then move faster away from me than lightning striking a tree.

My eyes are dark with vengeance, my face torn from the repeated blows of Vincenzo's tattered hands. My hair falls in my eyes in uneven clumps, the wind shuffling each strand back and forth as I move.

I stare into each cafe, each restaurant, each bar. I scrutinize the hundreds of faces I pass, looking for the one that brings me nothing but fury every time I narrow my eyes on it. I search for a familiar pair of green eyes and umber hair. I search for a certain sinister smile that could strike fear into anyone in their right mind.

The shrieks continue as I cross the street, no cars or motorcycles in view. I turn around a corner, and nearly stop dead as I spot a pair of my father's militia men standing out front of a small cafe. Their hands are behind their back like statues standing tall above all those who pass by. Their heads turn as if they're programmed machines, scanning the exodus of people for any sign of danger.

I stagger forward, concealing the gun in the back of my waistband. I stride straight towards them, and one of them instantly spots me.

"Signore, what a pleasant surprise," he says with a chuckle, knowing full well it is the exact opposite.

"Don't give me that shit, Ajello, where is he?" I demand.

"Where's who?"

"You know damn well who. Where is he?" I question again through gritted teeth, my jaw clenching and unclenching in the same rhythm as my fists.

"He is in the middle of a deal right now. He ordered us that if this such occasion were to arise of your presence, to not let you in," Ajello steps forward closer to me as if to become more daunting. His threat doesn't work.

"I don't care what he said, let me in."

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Luca."

I step back, letting out a sigh and pinching the bridge of my nose. Before I could even think, I step forward with my hand balled into a tight fist, and slam Ajello across the face with a force that sends him stumbling backward. The other guard doesn't hesitate to reach for his concealed gun in his holster, pulling it out and pointing the barrel between my eyes.

"One more move, Luca, and we have the order to kill you," he says, his voice stern and free from all reluctance to pull the trigger.

Ajello grips his nose and spits blood onto the concrete. I hear shuffling footsteps behind me and the familiar shrieking voices of the people who stride innocently. Within moments, the square is dead silent, no sound left but the incessant chirping of birds in the trees.

"It's over, Luca," I lift my head up to scour the source of the voice.

There, Vincenzo stands in the doorway of the cafe. He slowly descends the few steps to the sidewalk and reaches my height. My hatred boils over, my jaw so tight and fist so white that the skin begins to tear around my knuckles.

"What a pleasant surprise you saw when you went to the lab, eh?" He laughs, his pearly white teeth on full display under the sun. I want nothing more than to knock every last one out of his skull.

"You're a vile son of a bitch," I spit in his face.

"Did you forget we have the same mother, the same blood? It's strange how you and I ended up so differently, don't you think?"