the fucking cat drug in,” he says, grinning from ear to ear. “How you doing, Dominic?”
“I’m fine, man, but I ain’t worried about me, I’m worried about you,” I reply as I lean over to give him a hug, making sure not to handle him too roughly. “How you feeling, paisan?”
“Well, aside from the two holes in my fucking back, I’m doing alright. I’m ready to get the fuck outta here, I tell you that much. I heard you caught up to that Abram motherfucker.”
I pull a chair from the corner of the room and take a seat next to Tommy’s bed with a smile pulling at my lips.
“Fucking right,” I reply. “It was crazy how it happened, but it happened. He’s gone.”
Tommy’s face doesn’t seem as happy as I expected it to be. I figured the other guys would tell him about Abram’s demise, but I expected him to seem more grateful. His face goes blank as he looks at me, then it shifts to something else entirely. He seems pissed, and I’m confused.
“What’s the matter, Tommy?” I ask, never the one to wait for an explanation for something like this.
“Why’d you kill him, Dominic?” Tommy asks. He looks me in the eye and doesn’t look away.
“What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean. Why’d you kill Abram?”
“I killed him for a lot of reasons, Tommy,” I try to explain, as the realization that I’m unsure of the answer dawns on me.
“Where’d you kill him?” Tommy asks, and I know where this is going now.
“At Alannah’s house.”
“Right, so did you kill him because he shot me, or because he shot at you, or because he threatened your girl?
I want to answer, but I’m not sure of what the truth is, so the words never come out.
“Frankie seems to think the only reason you killed Abram, is because he went over your girl’s house and tied her up. He thinks it had nothing to do with avenging me.”
“Fuck that,” I interrupt. “I don’t know what Frankie’s deal is with Alannah, man. He never liked that I was spending time with her, even though you have a fiancé, and every capo has a wife, including him. I don’t understand why he’s so bothered by me seeing her, but it doesn’t even matter, Tommy. You and I both know I wanted Abram dead before I started spending time with Alannah.”
“Do I know that?” he chimes in. “As far as I can remember, you saw Alannah right after we left the sit down with Abram. It was on the same day.”
“Oh come on, Tommy. I sent you to go see Alex before I went on my first date with Alannah. Remember that? You know that’s the truth, so don’t let whatever Frankie’s saying get in your head. You know me, Tommy. I’ve always been all about The Family, and my relationship with Alannah has never affected that, and it won’t. I’ve known her since I was eleven, and I know I can trust her. So, there’s no need for all this drama. No matter how you look at it, Abram’s dead, and if we want to make a move to acquire Lumiere Place, we still can. This is a fucking win for us, so that’s all I’m focused on, and when you get back on your feet, it’s gonna be business as usual with us.”
Tommy knows me and I know him, so I can tell from the look on his face that he knows I’m telling the truth. The situation with Abram would’ve happened whether Alannah was in St. Louis or not. Her presence here only made things harder once Abram saw he could use her against me.
Tommy starts to nod his head, and his face finally starts to go back to the smile he had when I came in earlier.
“You’re right about that,” he says, still nodding. “You told me to set up the Alex thing before you went out with her. That’s true, but I’m telling you Dominic, Frankie wasn’t too happy about whatever conversation the two of you had the night I got shot.”
“I know, but you had just got shot. Tension and emotions were high that night, and shit got a little heated. I tried to apologize to him, but he wasn’t trying to hear it. In all honestly, he should be happy. He was on my ass about Abram still being alive, and I killed him that same night, so he should be good.”