I was just finishing my tea when Vito came up to me. And he seemed pretty serious. And that we weren't going to laugh as much as we did at Frankie's a few days ago.
It's evening, it's snowing outside, and I was worried that something would spoil the relaxed atmosphere.
,,Val, can we go for a smoke? By the fireplace, we don't have to open the window for that, so we don't get sick," he patted my shoulder and I checked that we were both wearing knitted socks. The cold had made us quite tired after Christmas.
"Sure," I smiled, took my mug and followed him to the fireplace. We have two soft chairs by it. We've been here about a month and I've settled in pretty well.
"So what's going on? Is something bothering you?" I handed him a cigarette and lit one myself. He looked very worried, but that's probably work.
"It's not what's wrong, it's what's bothering me. You know, Val, I've come to realize that I really love this life with you. And I love you. And I don't want you to worry if I'm ever not here," he began. It sounded like a breakup to me, but it also sounded like a proposal. I didn't wish for one at Christmas, and I don't wish for one now.
"Well, what do you mean?" I stroked his hair.
"That I found something I've been missing with you. I know we've been together like this for a while, but in that time I've realized something important. With you, I just feel, well, complete. I'd rather be in bed with you from morning till night," he said sadly.
"But everybody has to go to work sometime, and I used to drive a cab too."
"That's not the point, I'll go to work," he threw up his hands in annoyance.
"So what's the point?"
"A normal job. All this money and a house is great, but you're enough to make me feel at home," he smiled and I knew where he was going.
"Maybe we could open an Italian restaurant somewhere, cook our specialties together..."
Not again... or?
"Vito, you want to run away?" I whispered in shock.
"It's really hard to say after sacrificing everything, selling my soul and buying us a house, but yes," he sighed and stood up. I tugged on his sleeve to get him to sit back down next to me.
"And Joe knows about this?"
,,Yeah, he does. He wants to help me. We're supposed to go shoot up some office tomorrow. I don't know, Vinci's people are having a meeting. We'd go in with him, you'd take your last shot, and after the job was done, Joe would declare us dead in front of Eddie."
"But, Vito, that's a really crazy plan, but our bodies wouldn't be there."
"That's what I was thinking. Eddie had a guy buried at the observatory, but he was totally drunk, so maybe he doesn't remember. Well, Joe and I threw another one in there while the ground was unsettled, so Joe's gonna try this on him. If he remembers that he buried someone, I've got another plan. There's a guy down the street from here that's got some kind of incinerator, Joe said he burns tires and shit, and that Vinci's guys sometimes throw inconvenient people in there, so he can still blame it on that. I've always talked about they better burn me dead, I hate those funerals where everybody's faking friendships."
I stared at him open-mouthed. This really was a plan.
"What about our house? And my apartment?" I said dejectedly.
"I figured that too, Joe will sell the house and send us the money, sign the apartment over to him and make sure we can move back in sometime in a few years, okay? It will be ours," he smiled and took my hand.
This was the same way Paulie and I had worked it out. And now the past is repeating itself. Except that I'm the main actor in the escape. My pulse was racing, like my heart was going to jump.
But I guess what else option we have?
"Valentina, I wish I could live a normal life with you, but what if we have a little one? I don't want to endanger the baby with my stupid decision. Will you do it with me? Please?" he stared into my eyes. Do I really have a choice? I nodded and sat on his lap so I could hug him.
This plan has to work. Surely we can run away better than Paulie.
So we went to pack, just like we did with Paulie. In the silence as we threw our clothes into our suitcases, I thought about it all. I understand better now why my brother wanted to do it. If we don't run, we'll be running forever. And there's also the fact that I didn't have the ceremony . If Vito ran, I wouldn't be in any danger. But I'm not gonna let him run off on his own.
Anything for love.
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roses made of lead | Vito Scaletta
FanfictionI've known two men in my life who did things with guns other than shoot roses at the fair. One was shooting, that I could eat. The other pointed a gun at my friends, at me, and in the end shot for me. And instead of rose petals, more often than not...
