Kissing The Moon Goodbye - A Midnight Mafia Novel

Forty One

Sergio

I dragged her through the water towards the faint inkling of light, she offered no assistance in the journey upwards, but also didn't put up a struggle. The moment we came to the surface she took in a huge gasp of air before beginning to cough and spit up water. I pushed her against the buoy, wedging her body between it and my own to keep her afloat. "What were you thinking? What the fὑck were you thinking?" I screamed at her.

She cried.

Aria Moretti sobbed in a way I had I seriously doubted her capable of ever doing so. I had seen her cry so few times in all the years I had known her I thought it truly impossible for her to come completely apart like this.

"God damn it Ari." I groaned and put my forehead to hers, I let my hands in the air beside her cheeks for several moments. I couldn't decide what to do, if I should be furious with her, if I should grab her by the shoulders and shake her until my arms wouldn't shake anymore, if I should scream at her until my voice grew hoarse, or if I should be supportive in her moment of weakness. Finally, I put my hands to her cheeks. "Ari what were you thinking?" This time I asked it softly.

"You sh-should have let me go-o." She sobbed and I lifted my head away from hers.

"Let you go?"

She nodded vigorously and I wanted to shake her.

"Let you go?" I repeated. "You can't be serious right now, you would have, Ari you were trying to, God damn it. You're supposed to be the strongest person I know!" At this she pushed me away from her and instantly went under the water. I grabbed her by the shirt and pulled her back up. "Stop!" When she came back to the surface she tried to push me again, water splashed around us. "Knock it off." I grabbed her by the shoulders and we both struggled, splashing water, bobbing up and down, fighting against one another. "Enough damn it."

"Leave me alone." She demanded and I politely told her to shut the fὑck up.

After both of us had swallowed enough water to fill a fish tank, and her sobbing had turned to concerning silence, she seemed to finally fizzle out and grew rather dossal as I wedged her between myself and the buoy again, I held onto it with one hand and held the weighted vest with my other. "So help me God is you try this again..." I threatened, she didn't answer. I accepted her silence as a disgruntled yes and took out my pocket knife. I cut this way and that way, not being gentle about jerking her around either as I cut every piece of fabric I could until I rid her of that blasted weighted vest that had sunk her. I was rough with pulling it off of her and tossing it to the side, the switch blade flew from my wet hands with it.

It was my grandfather's blade. A family I no longer belonged too. I didn't go after it.

I pressed myself against Ari, pressing her into the buoy, our wet clothes swaying under water with the tide. I held onto the buoy with both hands now trapping her, wanting nothing more than to yell at her. She refused to meet my eye and I finally decided to get out of the water.

"Hold onto my back. If you let go so help me God Ari-"

"I won't." She muttered meekly. I brought her back to the dock with little other fuss, rather than swim back to shore I stopped and held onto the dock while she climbed up, I climbed up after and flopped onto my back panting.

No one said anything for a long time, I laid on my back grasping for air and she sat on her rear hugging her knees and staring at the water. I gave her sometime to collect herself, and myself some time to calm down before I drowned her myself. She didn't make any attempts to connect and I didn't press her for at least five minutes until I had stopped being so exhausted and groaned with a slap to my forehead. "What were you thinking Ari?"