Somberly, Michael nodded as he looked up at his daughter.
“What am I going to do with you? You can’t just freak out on people. I could deal with the countless weekend nurses that left, but Letty’s been good to you, Dad.”
Michael sighed dramatically. “It’s not easy being like this, Bella. No one understands.”
“Well, I’m trying to. That must count for something, right?”
Michael patted his daughter on her hand. Suddenly, a sad expression formed on his face.
“What?” Sasha asked, sounding very concerned. “What is it?”
Michael sighed again as he clutched his bedsheets tightly. He appeared to have a heavy burden on his mind.
“Dad, tell me. I want to help,” Sasha said, appearing doe-eyed and alarmed.
Michael screwed up his face, giving Sasha the impression that he didn’t want to share what was bothering him. But just as she was about to prod him to talk to her once more, Michael finally spoke.
In a somber voice, Michael replied, “I just want my family together one last time. All my kids, my nieces and nephews, my brother. I want us to be a family, even if just for a night.”
Sasha, of all the kids, had a soft spot for her father. It killed her to see him in pain, and she often overlooked most of his faults, and spoiled him senseless. In that moment, Sasha’s heart panged with a terrible ache as she saw the pain that permeated from her father’s eyes.
Patting him on his hand, Sasha winked at her father.
“Don’t you worry. I’ll make sure everyone is here for supper. Just like the old days.”
“You promise?” Michael said in a voice full of longing.
“I promise. Now let me get cooking or we won’t have anything to eat,” Sasha said happily.
As Sasha walked away from Michael and curled out of the room, the look on his face quickly changed. As her shadow was gone from the door way, Michael’s sad expression faded as his lips curled up into a devious smile.
Knox Capadonno drove down the highway, taking the exit ramp for Jersey City, as his hands-free device dialed his brother, Dustin. As yet another call went to voicemail, Knox began to curse.
“Pick up your fucking phone! Jesus Christ!” Knox spat. “Call me back. I’m on my way to your garage now. Shit’s about to go down. This is Knox by the way.”
Shaking his head, Knox was flustered by having to track Dustin down. Typically being high-powered and on target, Knox hated feeling like he was out of control. His tires screeched as he wound the corner of Darlington Avenue and 51st Street, his eyes set on the sign for Cormack Auto Body. The establishment belonged to their maternal grandfather and when he passed, he left the shop to Dustin who had shown an interest in all things automotive. Parking his car haphazardly, barely keeping to the box lines on the asphalt, Knox quickly ran from his car to the office of the shop, turning on the alarm to his car as the door of Cormack’s Auto Body creaked open.
Dustin Capadonno was hard at work replacing a busted muffler on a vintage Cadillac. Sundays were supposed to be Dustin’s day off, but the Caddy’s owner was not the type of man who was accustomed to waiting for anything, much less a ride around Carrion. Michael Capadonno was never a very patient man. With his black Beats headphones on his head, Dustin drowned out the noise of his tools with the hard rock melodies of the Smashing Pumpkins and the Black Crowes. His fingers worked hard as he worked to repair the car back to pristine condition as quickly as possible. He was expected at a family dinner at three o’clock which he tried to get out of, but Sasha just wasn’t trying to hear his excuses.
Resting his eyes for a minute, Dustin wiped his hands off on a rag and adjusted himself on the dolly. As he did, his eyes widened in shock. A man wearing black trousers and fine Italian shoes stood quite still next to the car that Dustin was working on. Biting down on his bottom lip, Dustin quietly retrieved his gun from the waistband of his jeans. Swiftly, he slid out from under the car on the dolly with his gun pointed up at the man. With a rabid look on his face, Dustin took the safety off and grilled a nasty look to the unexpected visitor. But then, when Dustin recognized the man, he quickly relaxed and lowered his gun.
“Motherfucker!” Dustin yelled. “Son of a fuckin’ bitch! That’s a good way to get your head blown off!” Dustin spat, out of breath and wide-eyed.
Knox smiled down at Dustin with an amused smirk on his face, but it quickly faded.
“I thought you were—” Dustin said, still in shock.
Knox recoiled from the statement. “You thought I was who?”
Dustin backstepped. “No one. Never mind. What’s up?”
“You don’t answer your phone?” Knox asked with a look of contempt growing on his face.
“I’ve been under the car since this morning. Why?”