The Past Never Stays Where It Should
Chapter Two
Carmela sat in the middle of the bed she shared with Danny and pulled her knees up to her chest. As tears ran down her face she thought about the past.
She had first met Danny in high school through her older brother Tony and their cousin Mikey. It was the summer before their senior year while Carmela was a year younger than the boys.
FLASHBACK
A sixteen-year-old Carmela walked into the kitchen of her family home in Richmond. Sitting at the kitchen table were her brother, cousin and a guy she had never met before.
"Hey C", Mikey smiled at her when he spotted her.
"Hey Mikey", she replied as she walked over to the refrigerator and took out a soda. She turned and stared at her brother over the kitchen counter then rolled her eyes.
"I'm Carmela by the way. My brother seems to have forgotten his manners – not that there were many to forget in the first place," she smiled.
"Danny", the unknown boy said with a smile and a nod.
"Well it's nice to meet you Danny." Carmela beamed.
"Likewise." he replied with a grin.
END OF FLASHBACK
A few weeks later and the couple started dating. In the months before the boys were to graduate from high school they started hanging around with Sonny Sassone and the Tanglewood Boys. At first they were just playing baseball together but the boys were getting dragged in even deeper.
FLASHBACK
The three boys sat huddled around the kitchen table in Carmela and Tony's house and were having a heated conversation.
"I can't believe you even took the damn bag from him Mikey! Now he expects us to do somethin' with it," Danny hissed.
"I had to D! Sonny wouldn't get off my back about it until I said yes," Mikey explained.
"What are we gonna do with it then?" asked Tony calmly.
"We could always flush it – tell Sonny we sold it all," Mikey suggested.
"And where are we gonna get the best part of 2G from in three days?" Danny asked.
"I don't know man. We could –-" Mikey stopped himself when Carmela and her friend Sasha came in the back door. Sasha looked at the three boys suspiciously.
"I don't like this C. They got to be up to somethin'. I ain't ever seen them this quiet", she said loudly as she sat beside Mikey and stared at him.
"Would you quit staring girl? You're makin' me uncomfortable!" he cried.
"You're uncomfortable? Well it just makes us feel all warm and fuzzy when we walk in and all conversation stops!" Sasha replied.
Danny moved over to stand beside Carmela at the kitchen counter.
"I wish those two would just get it together and put us out of our misery," she mused as Danny wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and rested his head on her shoulder.
"That's quite a scary thought", he laughed. He looked down at his watch and sighed. "I guess I better go. My dad wants to hit the road as soon as my mom finishes her shift".
"Okay. I hope your grandma's doin' better", Carmela smiled sympathetically.
"Thanks", he kissed her softly on her lips, "I'll see you guys on Friday", he said as he moved to the door.
"Think about what we were talkin' bout D, aight?" Mikey said, raising his eyebrow. Sasha turned to look at him again. "What!" he cried as they all bust out laughing.
END OF FLASHBACK
Danny didn't come back that Friday. His grandmother took a stroke late on Thursday night so his family had to stay in Providence with her. Carmela could tell that something was going to happen that Friday night. Tony and Mikey had been acting strange since Danny had left and when they found out he wouldn't be back their moods had darkened.
FLASHBACK
Carmela sat in the living room of the house watching TV when Tony came in and sat next to her. She watched him from the corner of her eye as he fidgeted with the zipper on his jacket. Something was up but before she got the chance to ask him anything a car horn honked outside.
"That'll be Mikey", Tony said as he stood up, "C, you know I love you right?"
Carmela frowned, "Yeah Tone, and I love you too."
"Good. I just wanted to make sure you knew", he kissed her on the forehead and walked to the front door.
Carmela stood up and looked at her brother.
"Tony, what's goin-", she started.
"Bye", he said before disappearing out the door.
END OF FLASHBACK
Carmela had sat up waiting for Tony to come home. Finally when her parents returned from the family restaurant at 2.30 they chased her off to bed but she couldn't sleep. She sat on her window seat and watched the street below for any sign of Tony or Mikey. She must have dozed off because the next thing she remembered was her mother waking her and it was light outside.
FLASHBACK
Carmela looked at her mother and she knew something was wrong.
"Mama what's wrong?" she asked, her brow creasing. Her mother burst into tears and pulled Carmela to her in a tight hug. Still half asleep she looked to her father who was at her bedroom door, he too had tears running down his cheeks.
"What's going on?" Carmela asked as she pushed away from her mother and looked into her eyes.
"Tony and Mikey... they're … they're … dead", her mother sobbed.
"No … No!" Carmela shook her head violently.
"The police are downstairs. They need to speak to you Ella", her father said softly as he walked towards her.
That afternoon Carmela sat on the steps of the front porch and put her head in her hands. She had spoken to the police and answered all their questions. Phone calls had been made and most of the Taglieri clan were assembled in her living room. Every time she walked past a cousin or an aunt they would shake their head or mutter something about Tony and Mikey being with God now. She couldn't stand it anymore and had escaped outside to the warm sunshine that seemed to mock her family's grief. She had only been sitting there for half an hour when she heard a car pull up and someone got out, she didn't have the energy to look up, expecting it to be another relative.
Suddenly she was engulfed in a hug by a very familiar body. Her brain took a couple of seconds to recognise that it was Danny then she hugged him tight, never wanting to let him go.
"I'm so sorry I wasn't here earlier. I'm so, so sorry", he said as she sobbed into his shoulder.
"They're gone Danny. We're never goin' to see them again, never", her tears continued to fall as she tried to calm her breathing.
Danny pulled back and wiped away her tears with his thumbs.
"It's okay. They're gonna catch who did this and they're gonna go to jail for a long, long time. I promise", he whispered as he hugged her again.
END OF FLASHBACK
That night Danny had stayed with Carmela and explained that Sonny Sassone of the Tanglewood Boys had forced Mikey to take a bag of cocaine and sell it. Mikey tried to refuse but Sonny wouldn't have it. They were to meet at the local park on Friday night to give Sonny the money. Mikey, Tony and Danny had decided not to sell the drugs but to give them back to Sonny and tell him to stay out of their lives. Danny assumed that Sonny hadn't liked that so he had killed Tony and Mikey. Unfortunately there was never enough conclusive evidence to prove that Sonny Sassone or any of the Tanglewood boys had killed them so no one was ever charged with the murders.
By the time Danny went to bed Carmela was already asleep. He crawled into bed and lay behind her, wrapping his arm around her waist.
"I won't let Sonny ruin our lives again. I promise", he whispered.