Rely on Me - Elizabeth Knox Page 0,42
in shock. “No, my girl’s name is Riva. Can you show me a picture of this Taylor?”
Epifano chuckles, “Sure,” He takes his phone from the glass coffee table in front of him and scrolls through it. He turns his phone around and shows me a tanner man with jet black hair, beside Riva. She’s wearing a blush colored lace dress, her hair up in a fancy updo. Though, I see another arm wrapped around her neck.
“Can you zoom out?” I ask.
Epifano seems annoyed, but he does so. There’s another man beside her. “That is Taylor’s brother, Richard.”
“That woman you’re calling Taylor is Riva, my girlfriend. The man beside her is Taylor.”
“I don’t know what sort of joke this is, but I don’t find it amusing. Taylor, my Marco’s wife . . . she fell into drugs and started using. It killed my grandson.” The way he speaks makes me believe he’s certain of this. There’s no doubt in his mind.
I stare blankly at the man before me. “Your son is married to Taylor, that man. Riva was their surrogate and lost the child at thirty-eight weeks. Fuck, did he tell you this story?”
Ion glances in my direction, seeing how angered I’m becoming. “Ion, I’m not a fan of this . . . beast you’ve brought here.”
“He isn’t lying, Epifano. I’ve seen the proof myself. Finding the records here in America didn’t take long. Marco is married to Taylor Thompson, who is a gay man running for mayor in Baltimore.”
“What? What proof do you have?” Epifano sneers.
“I’ll forward the file over to your email.” Ion pulls out his phone and begins tapping away. “It’s been sent. You should receive it in a moment.”
Epifano scans over the phone in his hand, his expressions changing from fury to hatred. “My son is a coward, a liar . . .”
“And my girlfriend has been tormented, taunted, and terrified. What will you do about it?” I ask, unable to keep my emotions in check.
“I will deal with this mess, Mammoth. You don’t need to worry about that. My coward of a lying son will be punished extensively for his lies.” Epifano promises.
“How do I know he will? You are his father.”
“I do not appreciate being lied to, deceived, or tricked. No one who crosses me lives for long, even if he is my son. I could care less about his sexual orientation as long as he kept it out of my country . . . but this. This is inexcusable.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
One day you will tell your story of how you overcame what you went through and it will be someone else’s survival guide.
~ Brene Brown
Riva
Change. I guess I should start getting accustom to it. “You ready to go?” Mammoth asks the second he walks back into the Petrans’ house, which is the last name of Ion, Mariana, and Bianca. Ion walks in swiftly behind him, as well as the man who drove them to see Epifano.
“What happened?” I question, not answering him.
“We chatted. He’s dealing with it. It’s done.” Mammoth says rather quickly, not giving me any sort of explanation.
“Surely you’ll tell her more than that.” Boss grits.
“This isn’t any of your business, Tala.” Mammoth snaps in her direction.
Ion clears his throat, “Pardon my intrusion, but I did something for you and now I expect something in return.”
“What is it?” Boss asks him.
Ion chuckles. “Not you, Boss. Him. Specifically, his club.”
Mammoth turns to face Ion and I hear Ion whisper how they need to speak privately. Before I know it the two men have gone up the stairwell and are probably back in Ion’s study. Boss and I stay downstairs for another twenty minutes before Mammoth comes back down, and then we leave to go back to Queens.
Mammoth doesn’t tell me what Ion asked him, but I want to know. Curiosity killing the cat and all I suppose. Though, Mammoth has already done so much for me. I don’t know how I feel about him doing even more.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m so grateful . . . but it’s almost like he’s putting himself into debt with favors. I know enough about this life now to realize these favors will be dangerous, most likely breaking the law, and potentially could get him hurt. All of which I’m not a fan of.
Mammoth and I end up leaving Boss’ club, but I quickly realize we’re not headed back to Baltimore. Instead, we’re heading to Delaware. Our drive is a bit different but far more beautiful than heading