AWAKENING (30 page)

His eyes absorbed Domingo and Teresa, cozy near a tree, hugging and kissing. Jessica, ah, crazy chica and Emilio laughing at something his aunt Carmen said as she fussed over her grandchild. Sal ran around with his bigger cousins, rolling on the grass and acting a fool, like boys do. The young girls
chased the boys
, their hair falling loose from ribbons flowing with the wind as they ran
.

Allie was being pranced on a rented pony with Anita’s l
ips moving, undoubtedly in warning to Aldonza about something or other. The woman complained far too much, yet he loved her like family.

Then Selange turned and saw him there alone
outside
the patio doors
. Her
smile dazzled him. She walked with a regal grace, her eyes flashed green-brown at a point where the sun caught them as she neared. He didn’t know why
,
but his heart saddened at the time they lost hurting each other
. W
ithout care she took the bowl out of his hand, put her arms around his neck and kissed
his mouth
. Just like that, she acknowledged him in front of everyone, ending the charade. “I refuse to lie or hide how much I love you. I’m outing us,
hun
, you can spank me later for it,” she whispered. “I’m not ashamed.”

He leaned his forehead on hers; his mind on the babies which might possibly be his flesh and blood. He thought of the future, his legal battle looming ahead and on her. He didn’t want to lie or hide anymore either. No more secret trysts. He needed her at night, during the day
and when his heart grew troubled. She was the only one who calmed it
. Like
, now, it slowed and listened to truth
. Selange always represented home.

                                        ****

Darren dribbled the ball then shot it in the air and it spun right into the basket. His friend cheered him on as he made yet another shot far back from the court with ease. Teenage boys were competitive, they also didn’t know when to quit. The older
kid,
who missed all
of
his
shots, slapped the ball out of Darren’s hand and ran down to the end of the court with it. Darren took up chase and crouched, eyeing the ball, tugging on the edge of his shorts as he pivoted from side-to-side waiting for an opening. He saw it, slapped the ball away and took off dribbling with the older, but shorter kid at his back. He did a Jordan and the game was over.

Sweat poured down the smooth boyish face and he grinned as his friend Tim collected the cash. “Come on, pay-up. Your boy lost.” Tim said to the losing side. A group of six neighborhood kids who liked talking smack about their skills, then when it was time to prove they’re
athleticism in the game, they’d all fallen short. Darren
whipped
their asses, royally. Ten points a game, ten bucks a point and he beat all eight of the youth
and
gave them a windfall of eight hundred dollars.

They whined and cursed like losers, but in the end they paid. Their parents had money. It’s not like Darren needed money, he and Tim just liked taking it from braggarts.

They were walking and laughing, slapping each other five when Darren checked his watch. He liked this
watch;
it’d been a present from his dad. It wasn’t one of those cheap ones either. No matter how many times he banged it or got water on it, the face never scratched and the timepiece kept ticking. He wondered where his dad was off to this time. He’d said good-bye yesterday morning and in his usual style, handed the boy a couple of hundreds, gave him a fist pump and told Darren he’ll be keeping an eye on him. Darren used to think his dad just said that, but now he started to believe, his dad really meant it. Anyway, it was getting late. Grandma always got bent out of shape when he didn’t get there in time for dinner.
Aaron
hadn’t come this weekend. He had a
girlfriend
!

He and Tim went in opposite direction
s
at the corner after splitting their winnings and agreed to meet up tomorrow to go to the movies. “Hey Darren,” Tim shouted, “
and
guess who like
s
you?”

“Who?”

“Sasha,
ooooh
!”

Darren laughed, shook his head and continued on his way. The ball struck the pavement making, pap-pap-sounds. Two more blocks. He
wasn’t paying attention to much. He never really did, unless it interested him. Sasha, now she was interesting. She put Aaron’s girlfriend to shame, plus she wasn’t easy like Aaron’s girl. No, he didn’t want a girl other boys said they had.

He rounded the corner and a van skid to the curb, the doors came open and two men jumped out. Darren held on to the ball and took off in a mad sprint down the quiet block. His dad always told him, follow your gut, something don’t feel right, listen. Well, his gut kicked like crazy and so did his young legs. The van roared ahead of him and the men who pursued were gaining. He twisted and threw the ball, striking one, slowing their momentum, unfortunately slowing his as well. When he turned around he was snatched off the ground by some huge dude. A hand pressed down on his mouth as he was ca
rried toward the open door of the van. Darren fought, man did he head-butt, elbow, all the self-defense shit he’d been taught. The big man pressed down on his neck and sent him right to sleep.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

The late afternoon transitioned to early evening. The pony was gone and everyone sat at table
s
eating and chatting as music blared from large speakers. Domingo appointed himself DJ. Shanda eventually decided to return outdoors after some hot and heavy groping. Alfonzo went inside for a beer and found Giuseppe grinning like a Chester cat on the sofa. “Eh,
cugino
,
”
he
called out.

Alfonzo reached in the fridge and took out
a beer, unscrewed the cap, took a long gulp and asked, “Hope
yo
u guys didn’t hook-up on the couch.”

“With that one,
cugino
I would break this sofa.”

Alfonzo shook his head, “I bet you would.”

Then the intercom sounded, “Yeah, who’s at the gate?”

“Uh, Mister Diaz, Nico is here. He says if we don’t let him in, he’ll phone your ex-wife and let her know we’re refusing him entry.”

Giuseppe rushed to his feet, “Let the fucker in!” He advised.

Giuseppe’s anger was as potent as Alfonzo’s. How dare this bastard show up on Allies birthday, he wondered?

Alfonzo sat the beer down hard on the counter then
flew through the front door in a rage, his cousin Giuseppe on his heels, also wanting a piece of Nico.

They were at the gate and Nico stood there
; a
rrogant and stubborn in his resolve to see his children. Seeing both men and their angry faces caused him to grin, “Yes, it takes two boys to take on a man.”

Alfonzo nodded at the guard and Nico was let onto the property. He traveled boldly up the walkway then cut across the grass where the boys waited. “You have your people keeping me from seeing my kids, Alfonzo?”

“There’s a question about whether they
’r
e yours,
cousin
.
Until it’s settled I suggest you keep away from Selange.”

“Doesn’t she have a say in that
?
You’re divorced remember, kid
!”

Alfonzo removed his shirt and his watch and tossed them feet away, “I haven’t finished kicking your ass you sonovabitch. This is round two.”

Since the kid wanted to go at it again, Nico obliged him and unbuttoned his dress shirt, fold it and placed it on the edge of the walkway, “Then expect to get the shit beat out of you, kid.”

Alfonzo didn’t wait for Nico to get close. He gave him a roundhouse kick to the face
and he
stumbled
, yet
recovery came with such swiftness, Alfonzo found himself being lifted and body-slammed to the grass. He rolled to the side as Nico’s fist came toward his face and answered with an elbow shot to the side of his cousin’s head.  Nico went down and Alfonzo leapt to his feet, getting in a second hit
to Nico’s flank. What
Alfonzo didn’t know about his cousin was the man liked a challenge and the more shots Alfonzo got on him. Nico planned to return twofold.

The blow to Alfonzo’s
abdomen
was the first, the second went to the kids jaw, but his third was stopped when Giuseppe decided to join in and brought his fist down across Nico’s face. Nico brought himself up and deflected Giuseppe’s next
blow
grabbed him around the neck and flipped the large boy like a ragdoll. He caught Alfonzo in a headlock, took a nice jab to the stomach for it and a solid head-butt that brought Nico’s respect. The kid’s street-fighting skills were serving him well, yet the match remained uneven. Nico had years of death fights on his
résumé
and the fact he still breathed
proves he was never the loser.

He had the boy in a sleeper hold and would have put him down, if not for Giuseppe and his pesty interference. He tackled Nico sideways and Alfonzo got loose and they double-teamed him like kids on a playground. Nico laughed in his head. The blows had some force behind them, but it was obvious they weren’t trying to do real damage. They were holding back. He decided to teach the pair a lesson, once and for all. If you throw down a goddamn threat to kick a man’s ass, then fucking do it. His adoptive father taught him that at twelve.

Nico zeroed in on Giuseppe, his swing was too wide. He considered breaking his arm, then figured
he’d sprain
the thing instead. He bolt forward, stepped back into the oversize kid, gripped the forearm, did a quick twist with enough force to strain the tendon then gave him an elbow to the stomach. He grabbed Alfonzo’s leg out of the air, but the difference between Alfonzo and Giuseppe is Alfonzo had real fight training
and true skill
. He
used pure strength and agility to
reverse
against gravity, to flex forward, g
ra
b Nico around the neck and bring his other leg up to knee the shit out of Nico’s face. The
kids’
knee drew blood and it poured from Nico’s nose. He
replied with a solid punch to Alfonzo’s mouth and they were even now as a cut open
ed up and
blood began to flow.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Maria noticed a commotion in the front lawn when she went inside to retrieve more napkins,
she
could see men, three of them, wrestling like grown boys. She could make out her son. He was the one with those tattoos like a gang-banger on his skin. Such nice skin he had, too. At first she thought the men were simply playing,
but
something
told her, no, this was a fight. She’d seen the fights. She knew the real from the fake. Maria scurried from the house, her legs going fast until she closed the distance. The one Nico had his knee on Giuseppe’s chest and another arm wrapped around her son’s neck. They were bleeding.

“Stop…
stop
it. Get off my son!”

Alfonzo’s head snapped up at the sound of his mother’s commanding voice once Nico released the hold.

“Why are you fighting?” She
shouted. She fumbled in her pockets and all six eyes questioned what the hell she reached for. Hopefully, the woman wasn’t packing heat. Instead of a weapon she waved a paper in the air. “This is what the DNA test says. Alfonzo
–Angelina and
Vincent are your
s.
You are the father. Selange
is
wrong.”

Alfonzo seized the paper, stepping over Nico and Giuseppe. He read it. The report revealed the test results were 99.9 % accurate. The samples given match….

“Mama,” Alfonzo sputtered, “what, when did you do this?”

Nico was on his feet. He peered over Alfonzo’s shoulder
to read the report. “What samples did you give?’

“Alfonzo’s tooth brush and I swabbed the baby’s mouths.”

Nico sighed.

Giuseppe
rose
from the grass and held his
injured arm. “Ha, you shit!”

Nico ignored Giuseppe’s taunt. Right now he didn’t know how to feel. Alfonzo was the father. Wasn’t that a bitch!