Note: Chapter 10. I don't know why I am writing this story so fast but I refuse to look a gift horse in the mouth.
Updated 10/4/14
Big mistake
Once we were outside I realised just how screwed we were. We had to get Anna to safety and we had to do it quickly, but we didn't have any transport. And we couldn't exactly take her to the hospital anyway, not like this. The only safe place to take her at the moment was our apartment and that was all the way on the south-side. The problem was that I could think of only one person with a car at that moment who would help us.
"Shit! We're gonna have to call Rocco!"
I exclaimed as we stepped out onto the street. I noticed Murphy holding her a little tighter as he went through our options in his mind. I could see it on his face, when he came to the same conclusion that I had. He simply nodded before looking down at Anna to make sure she was alright. I indicated the park near the house with my head and Murphy nodded again.
As we walked I took the phone out of my pocket and dialed Rocco's number. There was nothing that we could do to protect him or his sister from Lorenzo anymore. All that mattered was getting Anna fixed up, and it was about time that Rocco learned his sister's secret. My heart was pounding as I waited for him to pick up. It was the middle of the night, but I knew his phone would be on.
"Hello?"
He sounded groggy and half asleep, but he was there.
"Rocco! Rocco you need to listen to me. You need to get in your car and drive around to the park across from your sister's place alright?"
I didn't want to scare him too much, but some of my anxiety must have come through in my voice, because he was suddenly wide awake.
"What? What the fuck is going on Connor? Is Anna alright?"
I didn't know what to say to that, but I had to say something. I didn't want him panicking and calling Lorenzo to find out what was going on.
"Rocco. You need to stay calm. Your sister is alright, but she is hurt. We don't have the whole story, but we need to take her somewhere we can patch her up. So please just get in the car and meet us. We can talk about it when you get here, or better yet Anna can explain it to you."
I could hear him moving around on the other end of the phone probably putting some clothes on and grabbing his keys. He must have read something into my words because he stopped silent for a moment.
"Why do you have to take her away from her place? Did that bastard do something to her?"
I tried to keep myself calm as he leapt to exactly the right conclusion. I had to keep calm because we needed Rocco to stay calm so that he could help his sister.
"Please Rocco, just get here as quickly as you can. Anna needs your help."
I heard him rushing out of the door. And then the line disconnected. Sighing I stepped into the shadows with my brother and looked down at Anna in his arms.
"So do you want to tell me what that was all about?"
I asked, indicating the scrap of paper she still held with an iron grip, even though she had passed out. I looked from it to Murphy's face noticing that he couldn't look me in the eye. I knew that he had done something stupid, and I had my suspicions of what it could be, but I wanted him to tell me. I had heard the endearments he had used when he spoke to Anna and I felt the change from the last time we had seen her. The name Grace pointed to the fact that they had been exchanging notes. It was the literal translation of her name. As did Grasta, the same translated into Gaelic. And the piece of paper seemed to confirm that, even though I couldn't see what it said, the shape of the words was as familiar to me as breathing.
"What did you do?"
I asked quietly, and I saw the sad look cross his face before he opened his mouth and told me all about it. As we waited there in the dark for Rocco to pick us up, he told me it all. About the notes, their emotional affair, everything. But I couldn't bring myself to chastise him. The guilt on his face told me how much he was already suffering and I didn't want to add to that.
When the familiar car approached I stepped out of the shadows and waited for Rocco to pull up beside me.
"Where is she? Where is she? Is she alright?"
Murphy stepped out of the shadows as Rocco got out of the car.
"She's here Rocco. She's unconscious at the minuet. Open the door will you."
Rocco jumped to open the door. He tried to take his sister from Murphy, but my brother wouldn't let him. Instead Murphy got into the car with Anna still in his arms. Rocco then tossed me the keys before climbing into the back after them. I would have protested, but we didn't really have time to argue so I got behind the wheel and put the car into drive.
Despite the urgency we all felt I forced myself to park where Rocco usually parked. It was a bit of a walk, but I didn't want anyone to come looking for Anna. When I got out of the car and opened the back door Rocco was muttering italian to his unconscious sister while Murphy stroked her matted hair. I didn't catch all of the words, but I did catch 'baby' 'sister' and 'please'.
"Come on. We are going to have to walk from here."
Murphy nodded silently, but then hesitated before passing Anna to her brother and getting out of the car. I knew that it was more about distracting Rocco from his anger than the thought of walking all that way, but I didn't say anything. From the look on Murphy's face it was one of the most difficult things he had ever had to do, passing her on to another man. Even if it was her brother.
Once we finally made it to the apartment Rocco put her carefully down onto one of the beds while I started collecting the first aid supplies. He was still muttering quietly to her as he put her down. It was only then that we really got to look at how injured she was and it took us all by surprise, but especially Rocco.
"What happened to her?"
He said it quieter than I had been expecting, but the anger was still there bubbling under the surface.
"We don't really know Roc."
I said, because really we didn't. We knew who was to blame, at least we had guessed. But we would have to wait to hear Anna's side of the story. But Murphy had run out of patience.
"Like fuck we don't!"
Now that Anna was safely away from that place, my brother didn't feel the need to keep himself calm. I attempted to calm him with a hand on his shoulder, but he shrugged me away before kneeling down to wash some of her wounds, with the cloth he wrenched from me. He was still angry, I could see in rippling under his skin, but his voice was much softer with his concentration on the wounded woman.
"No Connor, it's time he learned the truth. I don't care what Anna says, that bastard almost killed her this time."
Rocco was quiet for a moment. So quiet that I edged towards the door intending to lock it so that he wouldn't do anything stupid. But when he finally spoke, again he took me by surprise with how quiet his voice was.
"What do you mean, 'This time'?"
He looked between us for a moment and I could see the cogs moving as he put it all together. But still I knew he wanted us to deny it. I couldn't stand the scrutiny for long closing my eyes against his searching gaze. Again it was Murphy that answered.
"She didn't want you to know. She didn't want you to get yourself hurt because of her."
Rocco couldn't stand it any more and moved away from his sister to pace out his agitation.
"How long... No wait I don't want to know... How long?"
That was one thing we didn't know. Anna had hinted at it, that it had started not long after the wedding, but we didn't know for sure.
"We don't know for sure."
I said, watching him carefully, for any change. I made sure to keep myself between him and the door, just in case.
"But you have some idea?"
He moved back to his sister's side, and just stood there, looking down at her sadly.
"Best guess we have is just after they were married."
That was the moment that Rocco, Funny-Man David Della Rocco, crumbled. His legs collapsed and he was crying into his sister's shoulder. That was when it truly hit me how young they had both been when it had all started. There was only a year between them. Anna had been 16, and Rocco 17, when she had first met Lorenzo Yakavetta. Within a few months Rocco had a job for life. Moving up the ladder, not much, but enough to keep him close. And two years later, by the time that she was 18, Anna was married. She had made the biggest mistake of her life when she was practically only a child.