ATONEMENT (7 page)

The boys were crying, rubbing at their youthful cheeks, unashamed of their emotional display. Darren was able to ask, “Dad,
can’t you fix it, I mean you love mom right, just fix it?”

“Son, it’s not that simple your mom needs time, maybe one day she’ll forgive me.”

“But…this
is
fucked-up. You
mess
up and we get punished!” Aaron exclaimed.

“Hey, kid cool down with
that
mouth.” Nico warned.

Aaron folded his arms
defiantly
and kicked the back of the seat, “
You curse a lot. You make me mad.
Just when everything
’s
good, you go and
screw
it up
,
dad
!”

The boy was right, he
fucked-
up and he couldn’t take it back. What the hell was he thinking
bringing evidence like that home
, he asked himself?
He knew the answer, it was his way of holding on to a piece of Selange. A reminder of what they shared. Dumb, unprofessional and a tragic mistake. Look at the results of
the
poor decision. He frowned,
of course
he knew better!

“Boys,
that’s
enough. Say good-bye to your dad we
gotta
go!” Ariana said over her shoulder.

“Dad,
will you be okay by yourself?”
Darren asked compassionately.

“I’ll be okay, son. A
lways listen and respect your mom.
Y’hear
me
?”

“Okay,”
Darren replied.

Aaron released a breath of hot air.

Nico tousled Aaron’s curly locks, “Look at me son.”

Aaron
eye-balled
him.
The anger diminished when he
noticed his dad’s sadness.
“I’m really sorry I’m a terrible husband, but I
do
n’t think I’m such a bad dad, am I?”

“No, you’re
not
,
you’re the best that
’s
why I’m mad
.”

“You’re a
great kid
. Both you guys are and
I love you
m
ore than anything.
”
His impenetrable wall began to crack. He could feel it building. His eyes became shiny liquid glass but not one tear fell.
He looked at his wife and noticed her
crying,
a bit
. It broke him in half. He did find paradise, as short as it
was;
he found it with the three people
right here. He should
’ve
fought in that moment
for his family, b
egged his wife’s forgiveness, forbid her to go, whatever it took
,
but he didn’t. Instead he returned to stone and said to Ariana,
“I’m sorry I screwed up
.
I love you
. Take
care of
the boys,
I’ll keep in touch.
”

Aaron hugged him
the
tightest. Soon,
h
e
gave
the boys
a reassuring grin
then
wa
ved as
the SUV
roll
ed
out of his life.
He returned to the empty house,
picked up the disc,
cru
nched
it in
his hand
and let the broken pieces collect dust in the course of the
lonely
days that followed. He had no regrets, except one. He lost his
family
.

The next
week
, Nico came out of retirement
. He didn’t do it for the
money;
he had loads of the stuff, or family or duty. He did it to kill the emotional upheaval wreaking havoc in his body.
His love for Selange cost him everything
and it was much
more than he bargained for. One night with her and
the course of his life shifted. He’d
eradicated
her nightmares and
they leapt
into his
soul
. Selange
was
embedded in his psyche and to dislodge
her he swore to
inflict pain
on
his victims, so much
hurt
they
’d
beg
and scream like his tormented soul.
Love
yielded
an intermittent reprieve from his true vocation,
and loss returned him to it.
H
e
hadn’t been
given clemency
in this life
, why
the hell
should anyone else?

He
was after-all,
his father’s son
,
and a
butcher of men
. Nothing more than a hardened and
trained killer for the mob. Heck, he shouldn’t be
stumbling in the dark in search of
light
,
or
dream
ing
he
could escape to paradise
.
What good
’s
a solitary
paradise
, anyway
?
H
is
twin
brother
Vincent was right. Retirement for killers
consisted of an
after-life in
h
ell.

Nico’s
nostrils flared
;
he could inhale the blackened smoke
and
see the raging flames
then his
chest expanded
into an
epidermic
wall of armored resistance.
Yeah,
h
ell
without salvation
was
the
direction
and
it was stupid to believe
otherwise
.

Resigned to this fact, he sneered, t
hen so be it,
he’d blaze a fiery path
to
Hades
and beat the
hell
out of Satan
the
moment he
opened the door
! 

                          
CHAPTER TWO

The rain decided to come
down
the
second
Alfonzo
exited
the
office
building. When it rained on the island, it
heaved buckets and it all
poured
down on his
head
. These were
torrential
tropical rains, random and furious
which
came with
out
warning.
His suit absorbed the worst of it
. With his head bent and shoulders hunched,
he rushed inside
the
chauffeured vehicle
.
H
e
wipe
d
from
forehead to chin
, using the palm of his hand to get rid of
the
excess water
clinging to his
face
then reached for
a
handkerchief to dab at his h
air
.
He nodded to the driver
and t
he car
exited
the
curb,
joined the
morning
traffic
leaving
the mirrored building
be
hind.

The meeting with the lawyer
s
went
well;
he’d acquired enough shares in
Nexit
, a maj
or social netw
ork
ing site
. The company began
surpass
ing
its competitors
in the
span of a year.
It
s
newly patented integration system
was
faster
and
more reliable
than anything on the market. Their
embedded
security features
were
tighter than the CIA
and a
side from aesthetically pleasing visuals, its ease of use
and the data storage system
were
unrivaled in the industry.