Harmony (28 page)

“
I’ll kill him. I swear it.” He walked toward her as if the gun meant nothing. He saw panic rise in her eyes. “Give me the gun. I’m not here to hurt your brother. You know me, Songbird. You know my heart. I’ll kill them all but I’ll never hurt you.”

Harmony fired the gun over his shoulder as a warning and he stopped, shocked at the angry defiance blazing in her eyes. No sweet words would grant him access to her. In that moment he knew how deeply her distrust of him was. She fired the gun again at the wall and blew off chunks of brick and mortar. “It’s over. Do you hear me? I know you and Antonio had Willie all the time. I know you killed Milo, and if you don’t move away from the door I swear…”

“
You’ll what?” he asked. “You’ll put a bullet in me? You’ll have to if you think I’ll let you go out there believing I could be responsible for this! Any of it!” he shouted.

“
Shoot him Mony, he’s lying. He’ll kill us both.”

“
Shut up!” Harmony’s voice rose higher than theirs. She gripped the gun with both hands to keep her aim steady. “Move Vinnie. It’s done. Don’t make me do this. Please don’t make me. Move dammit!”

“
I can’t do that, Songbird. There’s something wrong here and I need to know what it is.” He put his hands up in surrender. “C’mon Doll what’s it going to be? Either you trust me or you don’t, but you draw a gun you have to use it. A man like me isn’t going to back away from it.”

“
Maybe I can be of help.”

Harmony blinked away her tears and Romano’s head turned. They both froze when Antonio entered. He walked in with his gun trained on his brother. Now Romano stood with two guns drawn on him and his mind reeled as he tried to unlock the key to how it all unfolded.

“
The day of reckoning can be postponed no longer, can it Vinnie?” Antonio chuckled.

It was Antonio all along? The sight of Antonio pointing his gun at Vinnie snapped clarity into Harmony’s panicked mind. She lowered the gun, not sure where to aim it. Her gaze switched from brother to brother. He sneered at his brother and extended his arm to point the gun dead center between Vinnie’s eyes.

“
What the fuck is going on Antonio?” Vinnie asked through clenched teeth.

“
Tsk, tsk, tsk. What the fuck indeed. Watch your language Vinnie. Did you check the sign out front? Naughty, naughty,” Antonio laughed. No one in the room dared breathe. The wild glint of madness in Antonio’s eyes and echoing in his laughter held them all still. He touched his chest. “Oh don’t worry about me cursing big brother. My soul was damned long ago. Ain’t that right Lil Willie.” Antonio winked at her brother.

Harmony’s gaze swung to her brother who surprised her by snatching the gun from her hand. She stumbled back, shocked that he would. Willie raised the gun and pointed it at Vinnie too.

“
Good boy,” Antonio nodded.

She stared into her brother’s eyes and it dawned on her. Something she’d never admitted to herself before. Right in her face was a truth she should have seen.

“
Where’s Willie?” Harmony rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. “Did you forget your key again?”

Lewis stalked through the tiny front room. She closed the door, awake and a bit concerned by his frosty mood. The pounding on the door had woken her with a start. She closed her robe to ward off the chill Lewis tracked in behind him. Frost and ice covered all the windows, in this type of weather, neither of them should be out. But out he went, and Willie was in tow. Now he’s back and as usual she’d spend the night worrying because her brother wasn’t home. Willie had been in the streets all day. It felt like the hour was closer to midnight. She didn’t understand why her brother often disappeared and why he and Lewis fought so much lately.

“
Where is he?”

“
Leave it alone Mony, damn.” Lewis grumbled. He shed his coat and tossed it to the sofa. It would take an act of Christ around here to get him or Willie to hang up their things, instead of having her picking up after them. She swallowed her objection to his sloppy behavior, though her arms c folded tightly to the front of her chest and she frowned deeply at the clumps of dirt he tracked all over her freshly swept floor.

“
Did you leave him out there? Alone? It’s the third night this week he hasn’t come home and I know you two were together. I’m not stupid.”

“
Trust me Mony, he can handle himself. You keep wanting to baby him. He ain’t no fucking baby.” Lewis slurred a bit. He was either drunk on hooch or smoking those funny cigarettes that smelled bad and made her eyes burn when ever she caught him trying to smoke them in their home.

“
I’m not babying him, he is a baby, he barely sixteen.”

“
To hell with that! He’s no baby! Wait.” Lewis gave a cruel snort. “He ain’t a man, either. To be honest Mony I don’t know what the fuck he is…. but trust me he can take care of himself.”

“
You been drinking? Have you lost your senses? He sixteen years old. I want him home, go out there and find him and bring him back.”

Lewis shot her a glare that stopped her cold. He leveled a finger at her when he spoke. “I’ll spare you the nasty details baby because I know you love the boy. But he’s not worth your prayers, or tears. Turn him loose before he breaks your fucking heart.” Lewis marched off to the bathroom and slammed the door. Harmony stood there stunned, unsure of the meaning of his unsolicited advice. How dare he tell her to cut ties with her blood? The man wouldn’t even put a ring on her finger. She was sick of it. She walked to the bathroom and threw the door open. Lewis blinked at her surprised, holding his penis aiming it toward the toilet in the middle of a piss.

“
That’s enough Lewis Jamal! I don’t care how juiced you are, you go out there and find him. Bring him home!”

Lewis shook his penis and tucked it back into his pants. He went to the sink and ran water over it. “Give it a rest, will you? I’m tired baby. Sorry for earlier, but I’m in no mood to fight with you.”

“
No!”

“
You gonna have to, or better yet, stop getting in my face over it. Talk to him your damn self. See if he will tell you his secret.”

“
Secret? What secret?”

“
Nothing, forget it. Can a man take a shit in peace?”

“
You’re queer,” Harmony said. “That’s the secret. That’s what you’ve been keeping from me. What you and Lewis kept from me?“

Willie averted his gaze. He stole a quick glance at Antonio, Vinnie, and then lowered his gaze to the floor. He looked everywhere but at her. Antonio kept his gun trained on his brother. She remembered Leftie’s nasty accusation. Said he often had to clean up the messes of the younger Romano. Paulette told her she often saw Antonio and Willie meeting together behind The Cotton. Milo warned her to let Willie go, that she couldn’t help him. How many people knew of this sickness her brother had? Why didn’t Lewis tell her the truth if Willie wouldn’t? Her heart felt as if it stopped beating and the tightness in her chest made it hard to concentrate on fact versus fiction. How low did the depths of her brother’s betrayal go? She glanced over to Vinnie who continued to stare at his brother and the gun in his face. He looked so coiled tight with tension she feared he’d strike despite the danger he faced.

Had he heard her? The nasty grin Antonio wore when their eyes met said no. Oh how she wanted to lunge for his throat. Her brother was young, impressionable, and confused and she knew Antonio Romano had exploited all three. “You both are queer,” she spat toward Antonio as if the truth tasted bad on her tongue.

Antonio laughed. The scar on his face stretched grotesquely under his wicked smile. He returned his attention to his brother. “Do you know what
queer
means Vinnie?”

Vinnie blinked out of whatever state he had slipped into. He frowned at Antonio then glanced over at Willie. She knew he didn’t get the meaning.

“
Look at him Lil Will. He doesn’t know what it means. I told you he’d have to catch me with my dick in your ass before he got a clue. Ain’t that right brother? See his face. He gets it now. Oh yes he’s got it now.” Antonio pushed the gun into his brother’s face with a cold murderous look hardening his features. “I’ve been waiting for a long time for this. I’m sick of being invisible next to the great Vincenzio Romano! It was like this in Sicily and nothing changed in America. You were the same as Papa! The same! I wanted to get out of here, Teek and I would leave and try Chicago, or Detroit. Do you remember when I asked you for the money? Remember what you said Vinnie? Told me to stay in my lane, that you had big plans for me and you. Fucking hypocrite. The only plans you ever made were for your own selfish purposes. You said you loved Annie, but you didn’t give a shit about any of us. Just wanted us all to stay in our lane. Not anymore!”

Vinnie’s eyes narrowed into slits of rage. Harmony held her breath and watched as his gloved hands clenched into tight balls of fury.

“
It’s your fault he’s dead. The only person I loved. You and your fucking war for power and respect. The Five Points Gang would have never started that race riot if they hadn’t wanted to go after you. They knew about Annie. Everyone did. They knew if they killed that kid and dropped his body off in Harlem the blacks would be blamed for the kids murder and the race riots would begin. You’d have to choose sides Vinnie and you did. You left Teek out there to fend for himself.”

“
I couldn’t have stopped it,” Vinnie said.

“
Bullshit! Your thirst for power divided us all. It’s time you pay for your sins. I’ve been a bad boy big brother. I wish you would live to see your kingdom burn to the ground. I’ve given the keys to Mickey Collins. Right now he’s wiping you clean. And you didn’t even know it.”

Vinnie’s gaze slipped to Willie, but he didn’t move. “What are you saying to me Antonio?” he asked calmly. “That I divided you and Teek from being what? Lovers?”

“
You’re a hypocrite! You can fuck Annie, playhouse with her, but you would never accept me and Teek. They started that race war because they knew it would separate you from your girl. Instead it destroyed the only person who ever loved me unconditionally.” Antonio shouted so loud spittle coated his lips. “Teek and I didn’t split up because of the gangs, we split up because Leftie found out about us. He threatened to tell you what he walked in on, and ran Teek off. We were going to run away together after we got the money but you wouldn’t fucking give it to me. I ran all the fucking errands you gave me and didn’t get shit! Nothing! That’s why he joined his gang and I joined mine. We had it all worked out. We loved each other. You hear that Vinnie! Your brother’s a queer. What you think of that?”

“
Antonio, it’s done. He gets it. Let’s go,” Willie said.

Antonio laughed. He glared at Willie. “Go where? I only put up with you to draw her in.” He tossed his chin toward Harmony. “The moment I saw her I knew Vinnie would want a piece. She’s his type all right. All I had to do was make her desperate enough to go for him.” Antonio returned his attention to his brother. “That’s your weakness. We all got one. The dame in distress, needing a hero, is what my brother likes. How many times did Teek and I have to hear Annie talk about how you saved her life? And it worked like a charm. You got weak enough to be sloppy. Easy as pie Vinnie.”

Harmony cringed when he addressed her directly. “I had another reason too toots. I couldn’t have you running around Harlem telling everyone that Romano was responsible for Willie’s sister’s boyfriend’s murder. It would have ruined my plans.”

“
You killed Lewis?” Harmony asked in disbelief.

“
I didn’t know his name,” Antonio said, his face red and flushed. He held tight to the gun but spoke to Harmony. “Lil Will told me he was your man. He got between me and Teek the night of the riots. Willie saw it all. I was trying to save Teek but he thought I was attacking him. I shot him.”

“
Is that true Willie?” Harmony asked.

“
Yes.”

“
And you never said anything to me?”

“
I tried to get Lewis help but I couldn’t. I brought him home.”

“
Tell her the rest.” Antonio interjected. “Tell her how you came to me and struck a deal. Told me that you and Teek were friends, and you knew all about us. How you helped me plan this. Tell her that part. Tell her how you were glad Lewis was dead, and you were free.”

The gun lowered down to her brother’s side. Harmony put her hand to her mouth. The pain and disillusionment was too much. “You did all of this, why?”