Black and Blue

By Kara Gheldof

A Black Donnelly's fanfiction

Background: The Black Donnelly's is a TV show that hasn't come on the air yet. I just discovered it about a week or two ago and watched the pilot online. Apparently it was supposed to come on the air about 12 different times this past year but kept getting pre-empted for something else, which is a damn shame because that pilot is the best one I've seen in years. It's been like crack to me, seriously. This fanfic gives away MAJOR SPOILERS for the pilot, so if you don't want to know before watching it, please go to YouTube and watch it first (type "The Black Donnelly's" in the search bar. There are five parts to it, each about 8-10 minutes long but it's well worth the watch, I swear).

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Summary: This is really just an excerpt from midway through the show. Missing scenes, I guess, which suppose what happened in between the scene where Jimmy and Tommy get in a fight at the bar and when Tommy gets picked up by Huey Farrell. Again I shall say MAJOR SPOILERS for the pilot. You've been warned twice now.

Not that it matters, but it helps me to keep it straight when I picture them in flashbacks. This is what I assume the boys' ages to be, give or take a year here and there, of course.

Jimmy – 27

Tommy – 25

Kevin – 24

Sean – 21

Black and Blue

"If you have that much pain… Jimmy, why don't you just jump off the roof?"

Tommy Donnelly mulled over his words as he waltzed down the dark, empty streets of their neighborhood, still angry over the encounter that had just taken place less than half an hour before. The night was not explicitly cold, but it was brisk, and as he walked with his fists jammed in his pockets, his breath came out in puffs of air before him.

Even while he was saying them, Tommy had regretted his words. He knew Jimmy was messed up, he knew that Jimmy needed help, and that he needed to stay away from their little brothers. Jimmy had always been their ringleader, their captain of mischief, and they had always looked up to him, even today, which was ironic considering they all had about a foot on him now…

True, they had always followed Jimmy loyally even when they shouldn't have… but how could Tommy form an articulate argument for abandoning their oldest brother when it was he who had made Jimmy that way?

Every day Tommy kept his secret from those he loved. It grounded him, a massive weight on his shoulders that he wasn't always able to bear. Some days he wanted to let it all out, h wanted to tell the truth—to Jimmy, to everyone. He knew Joey Ice Cream already knew—Tommy had seen him that day, the day of the fair when he'd almost killed his brother. Their eyes met as the car rolled past, for the briefest of seconds that would lead to a silent bond they'd kept for almost 15 years. Tommy couldn't believe Joey had kept the secret. At first, back when it had just happened and Jimmy was still in the hospital, Tommy had assumed that Joey was too shocked to tattle, and for awhile he wondered if Joey had actually seen him at all, but one silent exchange between them and Tommy realized that Joey had kept his secret, respecting the bond between brothers that dictated Tommy should tell Jimmy himself.

But Tommy never did tell the truth.

All these years and Tommy could never work up the gall to tell Jimmy the truth about that day—who was really driving the car. He kept his shame to himself and unbeknownst to him, elevated his guilt beyond imaginable levels when it would have been so much easier to absolve himself of it in the first place.

None of this he knew when he was young. It never occurred to him that it would be easier to rid himself of the lie. He was just a kid, and at the time, the lie was easier to maintain.

And so Tommy threw himself into a private retribution. From that day forward he never committed another crime. He dedicated himself to atoning for his dark secret by doing good things for others, especially his brothers. The three of them never suspected a thing, or so he thought. Tommy supposed they all figured that with Jimmy injured, Tommy felt it was his duty as second-oldest to take charge of the family when they needed him to. It was a long and painful recovery for Jimmy and in that time, Tommy completely reformed himself, becoming the veritable 'saint' he was today. After awhile, hardly anyone remembered the old Tommy, the bad seed heading down the path to juvenile hall along with his brothers. All that remained was their protector.

Tommy tried his hardest to protect all of them, he really did, but Jimmy was becoming increasingly difficult to manage. He'd never given up the criminal life, and had, in fact, only increased his criminal activity. Back when they were in high school, Jimmy had started smoking weed a lot, and Tommy put up with it because he knew it dulled the pain in his leg that Jimmy didn't like to admit existed. After awhile, Jimmy grew out of the weed, but if tonight was any evidence, he obviously hadn't grown out of his drug habit. Tommy couldn't believe his eyes when he'd seen Jimmy shooting up in the bathroom. He'd worked so hard to get clean after high school, only to screw it all up again.

It was easy enough to protect Jimmy when he was only hurting himself, but when he got Kevin and Sean in trouble, which he did frequently, Tommy had to draw the line. A few years back, when Jimmy was not long out of high school and without a job, he had an idea to boost some cars from this dealership to 'earn' some extra cash. He, Kevin, and Joey planned to steal three of the more valuable cars on the lot. Little Sean wanted to come to, even though he was only 13 and didn't know how to drive, but Jimmy let him come anyway.

Tommy hadn't known anything about the whole plan—he was out all night studying for an important calculus test the next day that he needed for a scholarship. He was gonna go to Harvard, maybe think about becoming a lawyer. It seemed funny to him, even at the time, but he figured he'd put in a good many years making up for his infamous joyride—it was about time he got out to do something better.

Tommy was all ready to forgive himself, until he got home from his study session and found a note waiting for him on the counter, scribbled out by his mother to meet them at the hospital. The heist had mostly gone over without a hitch. Kevin and Joey lifted their cars and disposed of them quietly, but Jimmy had gotten in a minor chase with the police when they picked up on him, and after he lost them, he had crashed into a tree—with Sean in the passenger seat.

Jimmy said it wasn't his fault. His leg had been acting up again, during the chase, and completely unexpectedly, it seized up and he didn't hit the breaks fast enough. There was a reason he wasn't supposed to be driving, Tommy had maintained, and Jimmy said he knew, but he thought he could handle it that night. Sean wasn't seriously injured, but one broken leg and a minor concussion were enough to throw all of them off balance. Sean was their baby brother, and whenever he was in trouble, it put all three of them in an agitated state of fury that didn't show itself often.

Jimmy had lied to the doctors and their mother and told them Sean got hurt when he fell off a skateboard ramp. Sean played along with their story—he wasn't even bothered by the incident. Once Jimmy ruffled his blonde hair and told Sean that chicks loved scars, Sean forgot the whole thing had been Jimmy's fault to begin with. Once again, Jimmy was savior and all of his misguided schemes were forgotten.

Well, Tommy had a hard time forgetting, but he also had a hard time placing all the blame on Jimmy. If it hadn't been for his bad leg, Jimmy would have made it out and Sean never would have been hurt at all. In some way it was Tommy's fault all of this had happened. He made Jimmy the way he was. How could he blame anyone else for something he created? It was no one's fault but his own…

Or at least that's what Tommy'd told himself for so long, but enough was enough. Jimmy's latest scheme put him way in over his head, and Tommy was done trying to fix everything. It was impossible to save a sinking ship when you only have a pail, but at least he could get Kevin and Sean away before they went under with him…

Speaking of, Tommy had made his way back up the block where the Firecracker Lounge was located, without realizing he had come full circle. It was past midnight, and he knew Jimmy was out making the drop. No amount of guilt tossed his way would ever dissuade Jimmy Donnelly from screwing up his life, but Tommy hoped his words had gotten through that tough exterior nonetheless…

Reluctantly, Tommy shuffled up the street—his anger mostly vanished, but a deep-seated frustration boiling beneath the surface—and pulled open the door to the bar. To his surprise he found out that his hopes were not entirely dashed. Jimmy was absent, but sitting on a stool at the bar, a Coors to his left and a deck of cards before him in the classic Solitaire formation, Kevin remained, alone and unusually quiet.

He lay down a few more cards, surveying the pattern before him, then slapped the deck down on the table with a sigh and gathered the cards messily. Without glancing up at Tommy he said, "third game in a row I just lost, would ya believe it? There's nothing at stake and I can't even get lucky." He began to shuffle the cards and lay them out for another round.

"You didn't go with Jimmy," Tommy responded, more of a question than a statement.

"Nah, he wouldn't let me," Kevin started another game, shifting cards around the bar. "Say what you will about him, Tommy, but he's not entirely stupid. Joey's gonna help him instead."

Tommy walked behind the bar and grabbed a beer, cracking it open on the counter. He took a seat next to Kevin and set the beer down on the countertop, then proceeded to bury his head in his hands with a beleaguered sigh.

There were a few minutes of baited silence with nothing but the sounds of the streets outside before Tommy lifted his head again and spoke. "Jimmy needs some help, you know."

"Tommy, I didn't know about the drug thing. I swear," Kevin responded. "If I had known I would have tried to stop him, but he kept that to himself—"

"I believe you," Tommy interrupted. "Don't worry. Even if you did know I wouldn't expect Jimmy to listen to any of us. But even before the drugs—he needs to stop. He's barreling towards something bad—I don't know when he's gonna get there, but I have a feeling it's gonna be soon. This is his worst idea ever. Everyone knows you guys got Louie. Everyone knows it's Jimmy behind this…"

"He was only trying to help me," Kevin said quietly. He hesitated, then, "I know Jimmy's got some crazy ideas, but he concocts 'em with the best of intentions. I got into debt. I owe Louie the money. Jimmy's only doing this to help me."

"There are other ways, Kev'. You gotta believe me. There are other ways to save yourself than by getting yourself in deeper. You know that, right?"

Slowly Kevin nodded, understanding. "Yeah, I know that… So whattaya think we should do?"

Even if he'd had an answer, Tommy never would have been able to give it to his brother because at that moment their conversation was interrupted by the shrill ringing of the phone. Tommy and Kevin both glanced up at it and Kevin cocked an eyebrow. "Who would be calling at this hour? We're closed."

Tommy muttered something Kevin didn't hear and stood to answer the phone, which was behind the bar. On the fourth ring, Tommy picked up and said, "Who is this?"

Though he was sitting five feet away from the phone, Kevin could hear every horrifying word that came through the receiver. It was a girl's voice, one that Kevin couldn't place, and she sounded hysterical.

"Oh my God, oh my God… please help me! Jimmy, is this Jimmy? Oh God, oh God…"

"Who is this?" Tommy demanded again. "What's going on?"

"Is this Jimmy?" The girl repeated.

"No, it's Tommy."

"Tommy, please, please, you have to come help him. There's so much blood, oh my God…"

Tommy felt his stomach turn over and that sinking feeling he experienced all too often in his young life. Feeling he already knew the answer, Tommy asked, "I have to help who?"

"Tommy, what's going on?" Kevin interrupted, pushing back the stool and standing, but Tommy held up a hand to quiet him and turned away, demanding into the receiver to know what was going on.

"It's me, it's Joanie," the girl sobbed and for the first time Tommy recognized the voice of the girl he'd been flirting with from school, the girl he lost to his baby brother just earlier that day. "I was out with Sean, and—oh my God—these guys came and he tried to push me away but they were beating him up and I thought they were going to kill him so I—I jumped in, but he's bad, Tommy, he's real bad. He talks about you guys so I figured—I didn't know what else to do! Please come help him!"

"Where are you?" Tommy said coldly, his eyes glazing over.

"Just a block away, on the corner of Lessing. Please, hurry!"

Tommy dropped the phone; it lay dangling by its cord close to the floor, unheeded. Tommy hopped over the bar and made for the door, Kevin close on his heels, still utterly confused as to what was going on. There was no explanation, but no words were needed. The pair took to the street at full speed, running for the corner Joanie had specified. They saw her standing, nearby the payphone, and kneeling by a crumpled form near the curb. All other sound seemed to be drained out by a noiseless static that invaded his senses. Nothing else existed; nothing else mattered.

Shouting his name, Kevin and Tommy crossed the distance in what seemed an eternity, sinking to the pavement next to his beaten body. Joanie was sobbing hysterically and Tommy pushed her away—a little more roughly than he intended, but he would worry about apologizing later.

"Sean? Seany… oh my God…" Tommy muttered, taking his baby brother's bloodied face into his lap and stroking his hair. Sean didn't stir at any of this, but grappling for a pulse in his neck, Tommy found one and shouted at his other brother, "Call an ambulance!" When Kevin didn't respond right away, grasping at his brother's wrist desperately, Tommy shouted it again and Kevin jumped up and ran off to find the nearest building.

Tommy could hear Kevin in the background banging on a dry cleaner's shop door to be let in, but his vision was focused on his baby brother. Sean lay curled up on the pavement in a fetal position, what was visible of his body already showing signs of deep purple bruising, and his foot crammed at an unsightly angle. Blood oozed from several wounds on his face and Tommy tried desperately to wipe it away.

"You have to hold pressure to it!" Joanie insisted, trying to intervene but Tommy shrugged her off. He didn't mean to be so dismissive, but he couldn't help it. Some animalistic motivation took over, and he didn't want to let anyone touch Sean but himself. Joanie backed off and sat quietly watching until Kevin returned and knelt at Sean's side once more.

"The dry cleaner's calling the paramedics. They should be here any moment." As if on cue the flare of sirens rose in the distance, signaling their approach. "How is he?" Kevin asked worriedly, studying Sean's face.

"I don't know," Tommy choked back a sob, trying to be strong. "I don't know… come on, Seany, stay with us…" Tommy clung to his limp figure until the ambulance pulled up alongside them. Kevin had to pry him away so the paramedics could get at Sean and as they stood there together, everything appeared to be a blur to Tommy. When they packed Sean up on a stretcher and put him in the back of the ambulance, Tommy wanted to go, but they said they could only bring one person and the girl was bleeding. Tommy hadn't even noticed she was injured but when he looked and saw the bruising on her cheek and jaw, he felt bad he had treated her so roughly. She gave them a sad look as the doors closed and they were ushered off into the night.

Tommy stood still for some moments before Kevin called out to him cautiously. The older brother realized then that this was all revenge—a reaction to Louie's kidnapping. The Italians had taken the situation into their own hands by taking it out on someone who didn't deserve it. And if that's what they did to Sean… they would probably murder Jimmy…

A wave of nausea interrupted Tommy's dark thoughts and he found himself emptying the contents of his stomach into the nearest trash bin. Wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his jacket, Tommy saw the blood—Sean's blood—and tried to erase the emotions that it evoked. He turned and looked at Kevin, whose comforting hand was placed on his back for support. The younger brother's face was red and tear-stained, but spoke volumes. They needed to find Jimmy and they needed to tell their mother about her baby boy.

"How are we gonna tell mom?" Kevin asked meekly. "She's gonna kill us."

The pair split up, Kevin for home and Tommy for the Firecracker Lounge to locate Jimmy. When he got back to the bar, it was as empty as he'd left it. He was about to head downstairs to check for his brother there, but when he saw the door wide open, the chair empty, and the telling bloodstains on the wall and floor, he knew that the situation had just gotten worse. Jimmy already knew what had happened to Sean. Somehow, he already knew, and he had retaliated in kind, which meant that he'd just made the situation exponentially worse than he had ever imagined.

How did things go so wrong in one day? How did they get to this point?

With a thousand thoughts vying for space in his worried mind, Tommy did the only thing he could do to help Jimmy. He cleaned the room, scrubbed at the bloodstains, removed all evidence of Louie's presence, and burned anything with blood on it in the dumpster outside. It was while he was heading back in that it occurred to him to call Huey Farrell. Farrell would help them out, surely. He always looked out for the Donnelly brothers, like nephews. Their relationship may be tenuous at times, but if anyone could smooth this out without hurting another member of his family, it would be Farrell.

Tommy picked up the phone, which was still off the hook, the dial tone buzzing endlessly back at him, and dialed Farrell's number. The mob boss picked up on the second ring. "Hello?"

"Yeah, Huey, it's Tommy."

"Tommy, what's the matter? I'm with my wife. Why are you calling at this hour?" Farrell didn't sound either annoyed or concerned, but a mix of both showed through.

Tommy scrunched up his forehead and massed his temple. "Look, something bad… happened tonight and I think Jimmy may have screwed up real bad. Some of Sal Minetta's crew beat up Sean real bad. He's at the hospital right now and I—I don't know if he'll make it, Huey."

"God, Tommy, I'm so sorry," Tommy could hear in the background as Farrell's wife interrupted and he explained to her what happened. Following her gasp of surprise, Farrell's voice returned. "And what happened to Jimmy?"

"Well, Jimmy's gone missing… and so has Louie Downtown," Tommy finished hesitantly and the pregnant silence the followed told him that Farrell understood.

"I'll be at the Lounge in 15 minutes. Don't go anywhere," Farrell counseled and promptly hung up the phone. Resignedly, Tommy hung up the receiver and walked around to the other side of the bar. He noticed his beer, abandoned from earlier and sat in front of it but he didn't pick it up. Instead he sank his head into his hands and felt hot tears within moments.

Suppressing a sob, he muttered to himself, "God, Jimmy… what the Hell am I gonna do with you?" Unable to see past the hopelessness towards a solution, he stood, pushed the stool back in, and walked to the door to wait for Farrell.

end