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“Mom, what are you doing?” he asked.
“Neo, they won’t let me go see where they killed my baby,” she yelled. “I want to see him!”
“Mom, why not wait until Dad gets back and we all go together, huh?”
She shrunk back into the driver seat, and hunched over the steering wheel. Her shoulders rocked as she let out another wail. Something twisted in Neo’s gut, even as he chose not to believe a word of what Frankie told him. The words were echoing through his mind, ‘I’m sorry, Neo. Someone iced your brother last night. Your father went to the scene.’
He stood there in disbelief as he watched his mother mourning. No, he told himself. My brother’s alive and visiting his girlfriend in Jamaica to reconcile their broken relationship. There must be some explanation for all this. Last year after Giannino returned from a trip to Jamaica, he was heartbroken because the person he was in love with was involved with someone else. Before Nino left, he told Neo that on this trip he hoped they could patch things up. That is what this all made no sense to Neo
Bringing his attention back to the moment, he touched his mother’s shoulder to get her attention. When she raised her eyes to look upon him, he opened the driver’s door and beckoned that she come out.
“Mom, go back inside so we can sort this out.”
Helping her out of the car, he placed an arm around her as she sagged into him. Neo’s heart wrenched inside his chest, hating to see his mother hurt like this as her body shook with her sobs. Still, he didn’t believe his brother was dead. He’d wait until his father arrived home to know the truth.
After getting his mother to calm down a bit, he escorted her to her bedroom and asked that someone bring her some warm water. He waited until she finished the water, then he made her lie down after taking off her shoes. She looked lost and hadn’t spoken a word to him since they were at the car.
Sitting beside her on the bed, he caressed her forehead. “Mom, I’m going to take a shower and get some clothes on.”
She grabbed his hand and brought it to her cheek. “No, I don’t want you outta my sight!”
“Mom, the house is secure. I won’t be far away. Nothing will happen to me.”
“No, I couldn’t bear it if someone takes you from me.”
He took her shoulders and lifted her into a sitting position, leveling his eyes with hers. “Mom, listen to me. You are stronger than this. I’ll go get dressed and when we come back, we will figure out what happened and how to get those responsible. Okay?”
“Neo, I love you so much, but my heart feels…,” she trailed off as she began to hyperventilate again.
“Mom, breathe slowly,” he cajoled. “Think about cutting out the heart of those who did this to us. Think about destroying them, and their families, hurting them the way they have hurt us.”
Closing her eyes, she inhaled a long deep shuddering breath, he could see her shoulders rise and fall as she inhaled and exhaled. After a minute or so she opened her eyes and gripped his hand. She gave him a half smile and sniffed back some tears. Releasing his hand, she eased up from the bed. He watched her walk to the closet and opened the double doors. Stepping inside, she parted the clothes hanging there and stepped behind them. Momentarily she returned with a velvet lined wooden box and opened it on the bed, revealing a 9mm Berretta.
She picked it up and aimed it at the window, her eyes now focused sand her face tightening. “They will pay. Go get dressed and meet me downstairs.” Her voice had turned cold, as she stared at the window as though looking at her enemy.
“You’ll be okay while I’m gone, right?” he asked, now concerned at how quickly her demeanor changed.
“I’m fine, honey. Go do what you need to do.”
She hadn’t taken her eyes off the window as she lowered the gun. Neo shrugged, if this was what she needed in order to focus, then so be it. As he slipped out of the bedroom and headed to his own room, his heart cracked. He tried to keep from thinking about his brother, but Frankie’s words and his mother’s grief kept playing on his mind.
When he reached his bedroom, he kicked the door shut and leaned his head back on the door, his heart wrenching painfully that he had to put a hand over his left breast. Squeezing his eyes shut, Neo gritted his teeth as he felt his eyes sting with the threat of tears.
“No,” he gritted, shaking his head vigorously.
Briskly moving away from the door, he rushed to the night stand and picked up his cell phone, quickly opening it and speed dialing his brother’s cell number. It rang without answer. After the ringing stopped, he redialed only to get the same response. After the third try, the phone didn’t even ring, but went directly to voicemail. The sound of his brother’s voice in the voicemail message resonated with Neo. He was more convinced now that Nino was still alive.
“Jamaica, I’m coming to you.”
