Through Time She Came

Ch.29 Weight

May 12, 1928

Anet found Tommy on the rooftop of their
apartment building. He sat on an empty crate. His back to her. Cigarette smoldering in hand.

There had been an uncomfortable and awkward stiffness between them since finding out about Detective Mason's murder. Even Vic had been distant this past week.

She quietly walked towards him, unsure of
what she should say or do. All she knew was that she didn't want this between them anymore.

He heard her footsteps, but made no motion to look until her black heels stopped before him.

He raised his head.

His striking blues silently met her warm chocolate browns.

She took a deep breath. "I—," she looked down at the space between them. Back up. Opened her mouth to try again. Bit her lip as words retreated.

He extinguished his cig. Sat up straight. His attention, though it was somber, was hers.

"My... my father had taught me —when he was alive— that," she looked down. "That we always have a choice to make the right choice, even when our backs are against the wall..." She took a few shallow breaths. "But where I had been before coming here, I understood that when I would want to play the hero and do the right thing or stand up for the right thing, I
couldn't. And not because I had no choice. Some choices are hard to make..." her voice faltered. She looked away again, certain it didn't come out at all the way she had intended.

"Anet. Don't try to justify my actions for me." he spoke like a man tired by the weight of his sins. "I've done much worse than stand by as some smack-off got his." He looked her in the eyes. "You've cleaned up my bloody mess before. If you only knew the things I did that night." he paused. "Vic doesn't allow me to deal the death blow, but I've left men wishing I had."

Anet shifted her gaze.

"What do you know about the Maggios, Anet?"

She met his gaze once more. "That the children of Angelo Maggio and their families all died in a fire. And that there's a lot of people who don't think the Maggio you work for is even a real Maggio."

"Anet...Imagine being in a house filled with your family —Parents, cousins, aunts, uncles. And suddenly there's strangers surrounding this place called home and they've bombed it and now everything's burning, collapsing—Your cousins are trapped under debris. You're trapped. All you hear is screaming and gunfire; and the smoke fills your lungs. Your mother barely manages to get you out, but she's caught by those same bad guys and treated worse than you could imagine, and you're barely able to get away. Can you imagine it, Anet?"

Swallow. She could imagine it, but she couldn't put herself in his place. She wasn't there when her parents were killed by Maggios gang in the next century. But she could understand the pain of loss.

"I was just a kid. We just barely escaped that night. They thought they'd gotten us all... Danté Maggio is the real McCoy, An. They thought they got us, but they didn't take into account how many Maggios there really were in this world."

"Then it really is a vendetta. A witch-hunt for every family and gang behind it all."

He sat back down. Looked out over the skyline. "Those mugs got taken care of long before we were old enough to make rank." He heaved a deep sigh. Rubbed his face. Raked his hand through his hair. "Maggio isn't satisfied. He'll never be satisfied." He looked her in the eyes again. "Danté and Glorietta, his sister, found us and took us in as their own. Not just as their nephews, but as their own kids. He taught us family is everything. We protect each other and let nothing divide us."

Anet stared at the gritty rooftop under her feet remembering her promise as a teen to make all the Maggios pay for taking her family from her. And she would do it on the side of the law! Blah blah blah. What a pipe-dream that turned out to be.

Tommy gently pulled her onto his lap. Wordless.

She rested her head on his shoulder. And here I am, she thought, catching the feels for Danté Maggio's own nephew!

She thought about Selini and Torelli as well. If Danté's nephews were this passionate, she wondered how passionate Danté's own kids were. There was so little she knew about this family. Everything she thought she knew about them was being challenged left and right.

"What's on your mind, Slim?"

"...Just marveling at how little I actually know."

"Well... you can count on one thing," he said, "we're not the good guys. I don't think any of us ever will be."

Anet sat up. Looked into his striking blues.

"Don't say it, An." he shook his head, "You can't save me; any more than Graziella tried to save Vic."

"What can I say?" she asked.

"Do you still care about what happens to me?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"Then that's good enough for me." that smirk.

She smiled softly in return...

"Now how 'bout a kiss, sweetheart." his fingers laced around her.

She smiled again, shaking her head. She held his face between her hands. "Of course, schweethawt." she kissed him once, twice, and a few more since he wasn't letting go.

"There." he said, "I'm feeling all better now." Wink.

"Me too, I guess."

"You guess?! Am I losing my touch?" he said in mock-surprise. "C'mere. Let me try again." And he did. "There! That'll show you."

Anet laughed with an exaggerated sigh. Standing she said, "You really know how to leave a girl wanting more." wink.

"You know where to find me, baby."

She laughed again. "C'mon let's go eat. I promised Ma I'd come to dinner this week."

"Okay, babe." He stood and followed. He'd follow her anywhere.