JК
The Gate House :: Demille Nelson
Страница: 26 из 490He had none of the commanding presence of his father, but neither was he a weenie trying to fill Pop’s handmade shoes; Anthony was the real thing, but not yet a finished product of his environment. Also, I had the impression he was toning down his inner thugishness for my benefit. And that meant he wanted something.
Finally, he said, “I ask around a lot about my father, from his friends and the family, and they all have these great things to say about him, but I thought since he really respected you… maybe you could give me some… like, something about him that his paesanos didn’t understand. You know?”
I know that people want to hear good things about their dearly departed from those who knew them, and clearly the boy idolized his father, so the alleged purpose of Anthony’s visit was to hear John Whitman Sutter – Ivy League WASP – say something nice and grammatical for the record. Then why did I think I was on a job interview? I replied, “I knew him for only about… oh, six months.”
“Yeah, but-”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Okay. And maybe think about how I can repay you for what you did.”
“What did I do?”
“You saved his life.”
I didn’t reply.
“The night at Giulio’s. When someone shot him. You stopped the bleeding.”
What in the world was I thinking when I did that? I mean, by that time, I was sure that he was screwing my wife. Not only that, it’s not a good idea to interfere with a Mafia hit. I mean, someone – in this case Salvatore D’Alessio – paid good money to have Frank Bellarosa clipped, and I screwed it up. So under the category of “no good deed goes unpunished,” Frank, after he recovered, hinted to me that his brother-in-law, Mr. D’Alessio, was not happy with me. I wondered if Uncle Sal was still annoyed. Or maybe, since my wife killed Frank afterwards, all was forgiven. Maybe I should ask Anthony to ask his uncle about that. Maybe not.
“Mr. Sutter? You saved his life.”
I replied, “I did what anyone who was trained in first aid would have done.” I added, “You don’t owe me anything.”
“It would make me feel good if I could return that favor.”
I clearly recalled Frank’s favors to me, which were not helpful, and I was certain that Anthony’s favors also came with a few strings attached. So, to nip this in the bud, and make myself perfectly clear, I said, “As it turned out, all I did was save your father’s life so my wife could kill him later.
Finally, he said, “I ask around a lot about my father, from his friends and the family, and they all have these great things to say about him, but I thought since he really respected you… maybe you could give me some… like, something about him that his paesanos didn’t understand. You know?”
I know that people want to hear good things about their dearly departed from those who knew them, and clearly the boy idolized his father, so the alleged purpose of Anthony’s visit was to hear John Whitman Sutter – Ivy League WASP – say something nice and grammatical for the record. Then why did I think I was on a job interview? I replied, “I knew him for only about… oh, six months.”
“Yeah, but-”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Okay. And maybe think about how I can repay you for what you did.”
“What did I do?”
“You saved his life.”
I didn’t reply.
“The night at Giulio’s. When someone shot him. You stopped the bleeding.”
What in the world was I thinking when I did that? I mean, by that time, I was sure that he was screwing my wife. Not only that, it’s not a good idea to interfere with a Mafia hit. I mean, someone – in this case Salvatore D’Alessio – paid good money to have Frank Bellarosa clipped, and I screwed it up. So under the category of “no good deed goes unpunished,” Frank, after he recovered, hinted to me that his brother-in-law, Mr. D’Alessio, was not happy with me. I wondered if Uncle Sal was still annoyed. Or maybe, since my wife killed Frank afterwards, all was forgiven. Maybe I should ask Anthony to ask his uncle about that. Maybe not.
“Mr. Sutter? You saved his life.”
I replied, “I did what anyone who was trained in first aid would have done.” I added, “You don’t owe me anything.”
“It would make me feel good if I could return that favor.”
I clearly recalled Frank’s favors to me, which were not helpful, and I was certain that Anthony’s favors also came with a few strings attached. So, to nip this in the bud, and make myself perfectly clear, I said, “As it turned out, all I did was save your father’s life so my wife could kill him later.