Page 52 of The Enforcer

Tino wasn’t a fan of smokinganything, but he would’ve shot up heroin if they told him it was going to help.

Novawasa fan of smoking, but he said he wanted a clear head. So Carina was the one who sat there in the shower stall with him, her fingers in his hair just like his ma used to do, with long strokes as she pushed the sticky strands back from his forehead.

It took a real sister to light a blunt and hold it to his lips.

But it took a cosmic twin to smoke it with him until the world finally softened around him a little, and he started to believe there was still some beauty out there somewhere.

“I have a talent,” Carina said into the darkness, because the light was bothering Tino. The tip of the blunt glowed bright, and her voice was raspy when she blew out the smoke. “You want me to show you?”

“Yeah,” Tino whispered and then took a long hit when she put it to his lips. He held it in longer than Carina, desperate for it to erase more of the pain. When he blew it out, he watched as it danced in the rays of moonlight from the bathroom window. “Show me.”

For the rest of his life, Tino would never hear a version of “Ave Maria” quite like that. With Carina’s voice echoing off the tiles, as if they’d been designed just to make it sound more angelic.

When she spoke Italian, it was broken.

When she sang, it was magnificent. Flawless. The way it was supposed to sound, a psalm of beauty, art, and love. It was so heartfelt it was haunting, and Tino might have thought later he imagined just how beautiful it was.

That the drugs rose-colored the magic.

But he watched Nova, who sat bathed in blood and moonlight with his back against the bathroom wall. His arms were folded over his knees as he listened to this girl, who looked so much like him but wasn’t his sister, sing a prayer to the Mother for the three of them who were worse than parentless. Then he bowed his head, as if he needed a moment to let it really sink in.

The thing about Nova was, he remembered everything. Most of it he really wanted to forget, but sometimes something would happen, and Tino would see him take the time to appreciate the gift.

When Carina was done, Nova kept his head bowed, but he whispered, “You do have a talent, Carina.”

No sarcasm.

No ego.

Just an honest observation that no one, not even Carina, could deny.

“You wanna hear another one?” she asked both of them.

Nova lifted his head and looked at her with tears rolling down his face. “Sì, grazie.”

* * * *

When the first rays of early-morning light crept in through the bathroom window, Carina asked, “Why’s he so cold?”

Nova didn’t answer, just stretched out to lie next to Tino, whose head was still in Carina’s lap. They’d put a blanket over Tino sometime during the night. Nova pulled it up carefully, making sure not to brush it against Tino’s back as he whispered in Italian, “I’ll meet you,” and then took over running his fingers through Tino’s hair. “I’ll get Romeo out of prison, and I’ll meet you, okay?”

Nova sounded so broken, so lost, it was kind of hard to keep hating him, so instead Tino just said, “I love you, Casanova,” because hating him was too hard. It hurt too much, and he really didn’t have the strength to hurt any more.

He was so tired.

Nova burst into tears. He pressed his lips to Tino’s forehead, choking on his sobs as if anything else was past him.

“Why is he cold?” Carina asked again, her voice quivering with fear. “Why won’t you tell me? I know you’re freakishly smart. I heard my daddy tell my ma about it. So I know you know. Tell me why he’s cold.”

Nova pressed his forehead against Tino’s and said, “Because he’s in shock. He lost too much blood.”

There was a long silence before Carina sighed. “I have to go. The sun’s coming up.”

She got up carefully, but brought them a pillow and promised she’d be back soon. Then she was gone, and it was like the two of them sharing the bottom bunk back in their apartment. Up until now Nova wouldn’t let him close his eyes, wouldn’t let him rest despite the pain, but now Nova just sobbed.

Tino felt guilty, but he used Nova’s distraction to finally close his eyes. His body felt so heavy, like the weight of the world was crushing him into the shower tiles, and he was desperate for an escape.

He wasn’t sure how long he slept, or if he was even awake when Carina’s voice filtered back into his dreams. “Don’t freak out.”