Page 103 of Bronx

I grab her wrist. “Karma, you’re not listening.”

“Let go.”

“Please, I love you.”

She yanks her arm away.

“Love? Please, no one loves me and you’re worse than Lev. You lied to my face, and you were going to kill the only person I had in this world and use me to do it. We have nothing more to say to each other. Our business is done.”

I can hear the faint sound of sirens growing closer and know they’re headed here, so I do the only thing there is left to do at this point and respect Karma’s wishes.

I leave.

35

Seven

It’s rare that my Mother makes an appearance at the tapas lounge our family owns, but she and my aunts are having what they call a “Mother milestone” celebration. My little cousin, Cash (Aunt Adriana and Uncle Stone’s son) graduated eighth grade and is moving on to high school. God help him. High school was full of a bunch of entitled assholes and I’m sure much hasn’t changed.

“Hi, Seven, my love.” My Mom knocks once then pops her head into the doorway of my office. I choose to use the back office of the restaurant as my home base because it’s relatively quiet and totally unassuming. “Are you working hard in here or hardly working?”

Technically, I’m the manager of the place, but really I work as a hacker with my Uncle Camden and will sometimes do web systems work for my Mom’s business on the side.

“I always have time for you, Ma.”

“Have you talked to your brother lately?”

Any time my Mother asks me that question, there’s no need to ask which brother she’s referring to. I speak to Knox all the time. It’s Bronx she’s asking about. No Mother wants their kids to be distant from each other, but I guess it’s even harder to watch her twin sons grow apart.

“No, Ma.”

Her face drops.

“Your Father mentioned that you may have had some words at dinner?”

“We always have words.”

Shit, I probably shouldn’t have said that.

“I wish you two would speak to each other a little more often. I don’t expect a grown man to call his Mother all the time, but it would be nice if at least the two of you checked in with each other.”

I wonder if she’s said the same thing to him. We may be twins, but her treatment of us has never been the same.

“He’s fine.”

“How do you know that if you don’t talk to him regularly?”

“The same way that you know, because Bronx is Bronx and he’ll always be fine.”

“Don’t you think it’s strange that he brought that pretty girl to dinner and then, pouf, nothing? It’s like he disappeared off the planet again. I was hoping that him bringing a girl over to the house was a sign that things were turning a corner for him.”

I can see a well of emotion filling my mother’s eyes. I hate to see her tear up, especially over my self-absorbed brother, so I change the subject quickly.

“So, who came with you today for the mom's milestone brunch?”

A smile appears on her face again.

“Oh, it’s Adriana, Sloan, Jade and a friend of Adriana’s from the bike shop.”