Chapter 2
~Nick~
Walking along my side, Nicky holds tightly to my hand as he tries his best to duplicate my swagger. It’s difficult not to laugh at my miniature self, but I also have to admit I couldn’t feel more proud of him. My son is special and unfortunately not only to me. The recent events have me watching over my son more than usual. I want to take some time to talk to him and make sure he understands who he is and most importantly who will not understand. The downtown creamery is quiet this time of day, and my son’s eyes light up at the sight of all the possibilities in front of him. “Now, let’s not tell Mommy we had ice cream for lunch, okay?” Nicky nods, folding his little hands in front of him eagerly waiting for our server.
“Hello gentlemen, how are we today?” The waitress says smiling at my son, but turning to me with freshly moistened lips.
“We are good,” I say watching my son roll his eyes as the waitress eyes me up and down. “We want two specials with two mint chocolate chip ice cream bowls, but we are going to have our ice cream with our meal instead of after.”
“Oh, being naughty already today,” she says with a wide smile.
Before I can respond, Nicky huffs his way back into our conversation, “We can’t tell Mommy because she won’t like it.”
“Well, cutie I will certainly keep you and your daddy’s secret,” she says before turning back to me, “I am very good at keeping secrets, especially from Mommies.”
“That’s good, cause Mommy carries a gun, and she not afraid to use it.” Nicky says causing the waitress to glance his way before looking back at me to verify. I nod and indicate with my hands that is a sizable gun.
“Well, I will get your food right out to you,” she exhales and rushes off.
“She’s annoying. And not as pretty as Mommy,” Nicky huffs.
“I agree, she is not even close to as pretty as Mommy,” I say causing him to smile.
“Daddy look! A dog!” Nicky jumps up and points out the window. A large mutt passes by the window and into the alley snooping for food. “He looks hungry. We should take him some food.”
“Maybe when you’re done. Nicky, turn around and sit in your seat before you fall.” He does as I ask, but his eyes continue to stray back to his original focus. “Nicky, look at me. I need to talk to you about something. Do you remember what we talked about the other day? About our secret?”
He nods. “Don’t do it anymore unless you say it is okay. And don’t tell Mommy cause she’ll worry.”
“Yes, and I want you to be careful about other people you don’t know. They don’t always want to be nice to you, but you let Daddy take care of that, okay?”
“Okay Daddy. But can I …?” I shake my head, and his shoulders instantly sink, that is until his ice cream is set in front of him. He pushes his sandwich far aside and takes full ownership of his favorite flavor.
Before I can say anything else, Ryan calls me. “Eat your ice cream, Nicky, and at least a bite of that sandwich so we can tell your mother you did. Okay Ryan, what do you need?”
“Nick, I swear this woman is driving me crazy!” He grumbles.
“If you would just listen to me for once, we could have been done hours ago.” Kayla snaps in the background.
“You see what I am putting up with? I thought you said for me to handle it. Why is she here?” Ryan gripes.
The arguing between these two lately is going to send me to an early grave. “Put her on the phone.”
“Your husband wants to tell you to shut up and listen to me,” Ryan smarts off.
“Hi, Baby. Are you having a good day? How is Nicky? You remembered to pick him at school, didn’t you?” Kayla says sweetly to me, but I can tell she is cursing Ryan behind her hand.
“Yes, I did. He is eating lunch with me right now. Kayla, why are you with Ryan? I told him to take care of it,” I ask her with frustration in my voice.
“Nick, I thought he could use my help. I am so much more effective with these things than he and …”
“Oh bullshit! You’re just trying to get even with me for teaching Nicky how to greet women,” Ryan yells.
“It wasn’t greeting them properly, it was disgusting. You’re disgusting, and if you would just shut up and realize I know more …”
“Kayla!” I snap, hiding my frustration from my son.
“Yes, Nick?” she asks with shock.
Rolling my eyes, I have to force a breath to calm myself as I try to figure out a solution that will finally get these two to stop bickering. “Can you please let it go, I know he has been pushing your buttons a lot lately, but can you find another way to annoy him that is not at the expense of our business? Please, Princess. I promise, I will make it worth your efforts.” Pondering my offer, she is silent for some time, but I know my wife and what she likes. Hiding my mouth, I whisper to her in detail every place on her body I plan to pay special attention to tonight.
“I suppose, Nick, but you better make it worth my effort every day.” Her smile echoes through my phone.
“Oh, Princess. You know I will. Thank you. I love you.”
“I love you too. Your brother, however, is a nuisance, and if I hear one more disgusting thing come out of my son’s mouth, I am going to hurt him severely,” she says as Ryan huffs in the background.
“Understood, I will talk to him when I get home, and then I will take care of you.” Kayla happily gives me my way for now, and I can have peace for a little while longer. Hanging up my phone, I look up to an empty seat and immediately begin searching for my son. “Nicky!” My muscles tense as I stand up, searching for him until I see him across the street in the alley with the dog. Sighing, I throw some cash on the table and rush off to get him. “Nicky!” I yell to him from across the street, but am drowned out by a group of punks approaching my son. My world begins to move slowly around me as I attempt to hurry traffic along to get to him. I try to remind myself to remain calm, but everything within me begins to heat up.
“Stop! You’re hurting him!” Nicky yells.
“Who are you to tell us to do anything?” One punk yells.
“I’m Nicky Jayzon!” I round the corner as the teenager walks up to my six-year-old son and grabs him to force him to watch the dog being beaten. Before I can stop him, the punk releases my son and crashes to the ground wreathing in pain.
His friends turn in shock, “What did you do? You want a beating too, kid?” Nicky fists his hands and stiffens, standing his ground despite being outnumbered. My son, definitely my son, oh how he reminds me of my own stubborn past …
~
The day my father first held me in his arms, he stared at me for hours while my mother continued to ask him if he was okay. He shushed her and sat me down in his lap, watching me carefully as I looked up and met his eyes - dead on and with no fear. He didn’t trust my mother to watch me after that day, so he took me wherever he went: the store, the post office, and the home of whatever woman he had met along the way. He didn’t understand children, and he certainly didn’t understand how to take care of one. He would give me a book or a game with no understanding of what might be appropriate for my age. When he realized I couldn’t read yet, he sat me down and read one book to me until he thought I knew it well enough to read it on my own.
The older I got, the more I learned on my own, but what I couldn’t learn from books I learned from him and his women friends. My father was never one to shy away from women nor they from him. His exceptional taste in style was only outmatched by his extraordinarily good looks, and he knew it. I always watched him, curious as to why people treated him the way they did as if everyone who came near him was captured under some spell, much like my older brother, Connor’s mother. Connor was the bane of my existence, and he hated me even more than I did him.
My first meeting with Connor was when I was six years old. My father had taken me out with him on his usual patrol for new women. He dressed me as he would dress, impeccably. The man never had a hair out of
place and always dressed like he owned everything, yet we still lived in the worst part of town. Strolling through the city with no place to go, my father talked to me like I was his equal, like I could understand every adult issue he had. I think talking to me made him feel better, since I rarely spoke.
Connor and his mother were on their way to meet his stepfather. Connor was seven years older than I and quite aware that we shared the same father. His mother, like all my father’s women, was infatuated with him, and as much as she wanted to pretend to hate him that day, she couldn’t. She, with Connor at her side, approached us with an angry face.
“Hello Sylvia,” my father sang in his seductive tone.
“Oh Dante, I’ve missed you.” Sylvia embraced him instantly.
“I am sure you have, but you’re married now. I am sure you will be fine.” Gripping my father tighter, Sylvia whispered her desires to him, begging for his attention. My father looked around and noticed the creamery at the end of the block. “Nicholas, would you like to get some ice cream?” I nodded and my father escorted us all to the creamery where he set me up in a booth and ordered me a bowl of mint chocolate chip, my favorite. I didn’t notice my father and Sylvia leave, but I did notice Connor crashing into the seat across from me.
“So are you going to share that ice cream, jerk off?” Connor asked. I looked up at him silently as he twisted his expression into something more menacing. “So, give it to me.” I shook my head and continued eating. A growl pushed through Connor’s tight lips, and with an understanding of his intentions, I quickly moved the bowl from his reach. “You better give me that ice cream, or I will make you regret it.” I smiled and stuffed another spoonful of ice cream in my mouth enjoying our game. “You think that’s funny?” Connor said, reaching over the table to grab me, but just before his hand reached my face I eyed him dead on and caused a painful, trembling energy within his hand. Wide eyed, his fury came at me with both fists until my father pulled him off me.
“Sylvia, take your son and leave my sight,” my father said grabbing Connor by the arm and handing him over to her.
“But Dante!” she begged.
He pushed the desperate woman away from him, “Now!” After they left, my father sat me down and looked me over, cleaning the blood from my lip. “You have to be careful of your anger, Nicholas. It will cause problems for you as you get older, especially against those who have similar blood.”
“I can take him,” I said firmly, causing my father to smile.
“I am sure you can, but let’s give it a few more years before you try again. I have a lot more to teach you first.” Scooting my ice cream back in front of me, he sat back and with pride he watched me dig back in.
I ate calmly until my father sat forward and began to listen to the room. He stood up suddenly and waited as a man came in and faced him with his chest out. He was Sylvia’s husband, he explained and Connor’s adoptive father, Bruce Daniels. Surrounded by his men, Daniels’ threatened my father, causing everyone in the creamery to leave. My fathered eased his way in between me and Daniels’ glare, “Is there a problem?” he asked smoothly. My father’s calm demeanor kept me from becoming alarmed, so I finished my ice cream.
“Yes, there is, and either you or that boy is going to make up for it,” Daniels said.
“I don’t think so. I think you are going to admit you are wrong and apologize to me and my son,” my father said as Daniels laughs and then gasps. There are no more words spoken from anyone. All I noticed in between bites was a simple twitch of my father’s hand before he slid it comfortably into his pocket. “Come, Nicholas. It is time for us to return home.” Taking my father’s hand, I scooted out of my seat and looked back at Mr. Daniels trembling, sweating form and waved goodbye.
It was about disrespect for Daniels, but after that day it was about Connor. After that day, Connor became Daniels’ prized child. He made sure he never wanted for anything and gave him whatever position he wanted in his crooked business.
Chapter 3
~Nick~
“Nicholas,” my father whispered to me in my sleep. “I want you to get under your bed and stay there until I tell you to come out,” he said picking me up and helping me crawl deep underneath my bed. “We are going to play a game, son, so be as quiet as you can be and don’t come out until only I tell you it is okay.” My father disappeared into the darkness while I wondered what kind of game that it was we were playing. Either way, I was determined to win, but when I heard a strange man’s voice, my curiosity diminished my winning determination.
“I assumed I would never see you again, Dante, or I had hoped for your sake that you had run and hid like the coward you are.”
“Oh no, Saldean, you know as well as I do that he would find me somehow.”
“Then why did you leave us?”
“I want better, you should want the same. We could work together …” My father said with a groan before I heard something crashing into the wall. The blistering and thrashing of noises was non-stop thereafter. I began to crave to hear my father’s voice again, something to guarantee that he hadn’t left me there hiding under the protection of my bed. When the backdoor broke open, I rush to my window to see my father fighting with another man. There were no fists between the two, just some kind of fiery brute energy between them. Their eyes were locked, their chests stiff, but their legs rumbled from the ground and up into their hands that were wrapped around each other’s throats. A sudden fear washed over me and provoked me to run, not to run away, but to my father. He needed me, I felt it, and I feared losing the only person I could count on. My heart races faster than my tiny body can carry me. I didn’t know what I thought I could do, but the images began to blur the closer I get to the two men.
“Nicholas!” my father screamed the moment he saw me. Picking me up off the ground, he rushed me back inside and into my bed. My heartbeat seemed to shake the entire house, my body feels on fire, while my eyes are rapidly cooling embers. My father’s hazy face slowly became clear as he brushed his hands over my face and through my hair. “Everything is okay now, son. Close your eyes and go to sleep now. I will stay right here with you.” It takes some time for my body to calm completely, but with the help of my father’s soothing voice, I was able to drift off to sleep again. “Everything is going to be okay because of you, Nicholas. I know it.”
The next morning, a limo arrived in our driveway. My father quickly ran after me as I was playing in our yard and pushed me to the opposite side of him as a tall, angry man approached us. I stand to my father’s side looking up at the man before staring into the eyes of the ruby-eyed dragon sitting at the top of his cane, the dragon’s skin draping along the neck and down below the man’s hand. The glimmer in its eyes provoked me to reach out and touch it, feeling its golden scales and bright red eyes. I gasped looking up at the man again as he eyed me with an unyielding glare. My father instantly pushed me farther behind him. “There is no reason for you to be here, Dennis, and I don’t appreciate you showing up at my home unannounced,” my father said sternly.
“I didn’t know I had to be announced, Dante. When did we become so formal? Besides, I believe you might have information I need. I am looking for my son. I was told he came to see you last night.”
“You would know, you sent him,” my father said through his teeth.
The man sighed with a deep smile. “I was hoping you two could work out your differences.”
“Yes, we worked them out, and he agreed to my terms.” My father smiled.
Taking in a deep breath, the man simmered before speaking again, “Impressive Dante, very. I would not have thought you to have the ability to counter Saldean. So how do we work this issue out from here?” the man said, looking down at me with piercing eyes. “Your son? I wasn’t aware you had children, not that I am surprised, but I am surprised I wasn’t told.”
“He’s not mine, he’s my wife’s. I am looking after him while she is at work.” The man laughs harshly, and instantl
y my father was in his face. “You have no reason to be here. We parted ways a long time ago.”
“You parted the organization only, Dante, and don’t forget that. Your responsibilities still hold true to the family especially now that, thanks to you, my son is gone. And that boy …”
“This boy has nothing to do with the organization. He is unimportant.”
“You owe me, Dante.”
“I owe you nothing,” my father said, facing the man with a fear I have never felt from him before. Looking up at the man, I crouched behind my father and hid. The moment was silent, but the surrounding air cooled and heavied, bringing a hardened chill to my lips. My heart sped up as a stinging sensation pierced my skin. I wanted to run, but my hands wouldn’t let go of my father. My head began to swarm, when my urge to run in fear was interrupted by a dog barking. I instantly searched around me for the barking dog and found him running towards another. Their playfulness caused me to laugh, and I let go of my father and ran after them. “Nicholas!” My father yelled, picking me up and rushing me inside. Over my father’s shoulder, I looked back at the man who stood wide eyed and stiff as he focused in on me. Setting me down in front of him, he said, “Nicholas I want you to listen to me and never forget what I am about to say to you. That man, Dennis Savage, do not ever go near him. He is not to be trusted. He only wants bad things for you. Promise me, son, that you will never go near that man?” I nodded silently of course.
Chapter 4
~Nick~
My father experienced many women and many of them, with me watching. Most of them, I cannot even recall their faces and certainly not their names, that is all but one. This woman, as I remember, was so beautiful that even though I was a child, she caught my eye instantly, and she caught my father’s in the same instant.