ATONEMENT (8 page)

Then his thoughts switched to his wife, he detected something amiss. She didn’t have much of an appetite lately and didn’t seem happy.
Yeah, she laughed
and
went through the motions but he
wondered if the long hours apart and constant business trips were beginning to affect their relationship again. He’d told her
about
his plans and initially she seemed okay with it,
even
encouraged and supported
the vision.
Now, it appeared she’d lost interest and whenever he tried talking about their successes, she’d fall asleep in the middle of the
conversation. He blamed it on fatigue; the kids were a handful, especially the little one
. He began
to wonder if maybe she were in a seasonal
mourning
for her
parents. She hadn’t really come to terms with the death of her mother and
with the holidays approaching, it was understandable. His entire
family was
gathering for the upcoming wedding of
Amelda
and
Matteo
, w
hen he thought about it, there was no one from her side of the family to invite.
They were dead.

He blew an exasperated
breath;
he didn’t know how to make it better. Damn, it felt like he was losing her
.
Why, he wondered, why now?

Then
he got
an unexpected call from Teresa
who
sounded upset
, d
esperate, a
ctually
. When
he got her to calm down and she recanted what was going on, Alfonzo
wound up
in New York
,
standing in the middle of her trashed apartment breathing fire
, hours later
.

His cousin’s wife had a busted lip and Domingo’s
frightened
girls were in their
bed
room quiet and withdrawn. After giving them hugs and assuaging their fears, Alfonzo went
outside and called
Domingo.
There was no answer
and h
e
got in the rental beside Vincent and directed him to a few spots. Finally he
caught sight of
Domingo’s car outside a strip joint on the west side
and he sighed. It was the middle of the afternoon, what kind of shit was that?

When he entered the seedy place,
Domingo
was seated
at the bar, feeling up
a dancer
in a
G-string
.
Alfonzo
became livid and
marched over. “
Yo
, primo let’s talk outside.”

Domingo
beamed
, “Hey what’s up
cuz
, when you get here?”

“Let’s talk outside,” Alfonzo seethed as he watched Domingo’s hand sliding up the partially naked woman’s spine.

“Hold up a sec….”

Alfonzo wasn’t in the mood to
wait;
this was show and tell time. H
e
seized Do
mingo’s arm
and
escort
ed
him out
side
as
patrons
stared.

“What the
fuck
you
doing,
have
you lost your goddamn mind Alfonzo?” Domingo exclaimed as he
shrugged
out
of
his
grasp.

The
late
October chill settled over
New York but the street
s remained alive.
Halloween items and themes were everywhere.
A
fun holiday for children to play dress-up and skip around with light hearts, i
nstead Domingo decided to begin the upcoming holiday season by behaving like a donkey!

Cars, people and the ever present sound of police sirens
cracked the air
.
The c
hill
went ignored by Alfonzo
.
He’d come directly from the warm climate of Puerto Rico
and didn’t think about
a coat, he was too damn angry to think!

He stepped forward, head
tilted sideways,
glaring at Domingo,
“
Talk to me,
primo
.
Let me know what’s going on with you.”

“Man, you come storming up here dragging me out
side like trash
and expect me to talk to you. Fuck you,
cuz
. Take your ass back to
Bayamón
and get the fuck out my face!”

Alfonzo moved within inches
of his cousin. They began a heated
exchange. “I treated you
the way a donkey treats his wife. Tell me
primo
when did the Diaz’ men start hitting women and scaring kids?”

The statement got Domingo’s attention. Now he understood
the nature of the visit
. “
So,
Teresa called you
, huh
?”

“You prefer the cops
who’ll
lock
you
up,
is
that what you want?”

Domingo’s eyes were shamed and he looked down at his feet, “Nah…nah.”

“That’s a solid chica and the mother of you
r
kids and you bust her face
and scare the
girls. Why Domingo
?”

“
Yo
, back
off me
‘
Fonzo
. I don’t need you in my face. I get enough of that shit
at
home.”

“
S
he’s
probably
calling you out on
your crap. Be
a man and take it or leave!”

Domingo screwed up his face and angrily replied, “
M
an, don’t tell me how to handle my wife. Who the hell
do
you think you are?”

People passed, glanced curiously at the men but continued on their New York way.
Alfonzo displayed a mocking grin, “
Godfather to your kids or
did you
forget,
cuz
?”

Domingo scoffed, “Don’t mean shit.”

Alfonzo gr
ew incensed.
Domingo needed to be taught a lesson. Being a father should mean you protect your kids, not
emotionally or physically abuse them
, s
ame
goes
for the wife.
Men like Domingo got under Alfonzo’s skin.
He found them despicable
cowards
. In
Alfonzo’s
eyes Domingo had fallen to an all-time low!

Alfonzo chuckled in disbelief and look
ed
away for a second to
keep from decking his cousin in the face.
He questioned his hearing,
“
Don’t mean shit
, is that what you said
?”

“You heard me.”

A thick
vein protrud
ed
from
Alfonzo’s
forehead and mandible.
Domingo was asking for it. Family,
was everything, didn’t he understand?
“It might not mean shit to you but I
take the
role seriously. I guess you thought I’d be
an
uninvolved
godparent
, like these fucking by-standers, right?
See, I actually
care about what happens to those girls
. It’s an
obligation
I take seriously.” Irate, Alfonzo thrust a fist to his chest, “
I’m the guardian
you appointed to look in
on their well-being, when you
mess
-up I’m
gonna
’ put you straight
, if you abuse them then I’m child protective services,
pendejo
!”