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Brood of a New Age

41.

It was after eleven when all the noises in the house finally died away and Graziella ventured out of her room and out of the house. She feared that Nashville had flown away because she was over an hour late, but as she took the last steps of the fire escape to her new meeting place, he awaited her.

"Why are you-" began the strange being that was her best friend, but he lost the rest of his question because she threw herself at him and hugged him tightly. At once she began to cry.

"What?" asked the boy. "What's wrong? Did bad men-"

"No." sob "No, Nash. Nobody did anything to me. Hic Or did. But... please let me hug you now. Please let me cry. Just... a few minutes. Just until midnight. Then I promise I'll be stronger."

The young gargoyle didn't know what to say in response - except, "Okay." He had a dozen questions. But none crossed his lips. He himself was too disturbed by Graziella's behavior. He wanted to ask her questions to somehow ease her grief, to solve her problems or to make whoever was responsible for her tears pay bitterly. But he knew she would tell him everything when she was ready. So he just moved her to the edge of the roof where he could sit down, pulled her onto his lap, and let her cling to him and cry softly.

Shortly before midnight, Graziella probably had no more tears.

She was no longer clinging to him, but he had put his arms and wings around her because they were sitting at the edge of a five-story building and he didn't want her to be afraid, even though he would NEVER have let her slip off his lap. He had enjoyed the last few minutes- despite the many question marks and the worry about his girlfriend- and was ashamed of the happiness he felt because she had hugged him of her own accord. Because she had put her head on his shoulder, soaked his shirt with her tears and generally sought solace in him. Even now, her scent wafted around him in a wonderful manner, even though the additional fragrance of her sadness made his nose itch.

He pulled a handkerchief from his pants pocket and let the girl blow her nose. Graziella looked up at him gratefully. Nash was filled with concern at how worn out the child looked. And amazed at how beautiful she was even in her deranged state.

"Are you feeling a little better?" he asked softly.

She nodded. "Yes. A little."

When she realized that he didn't ask the most important thing because maybe he didn't dare, she gave the answer herself.

"My grandma... died today."

"Oh." He said. And was silent. And thought. And continued to be silent.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he then asked carefully. And Graziella talked.

.

.

Sonny sat on the shaded patio feeling a bit like Graziella Dracon's personal guard dog. Something that didn't bother him at all. The girl was slumped in the cushions, asleep. If that was possible, and despite her exhaustion, she looked in one of her silly ribbon dresses and so utterly motionless even more angelic than usual anyway.

No wonder she was tired. Even more tired than normal. He had heard that her grandmother had died. He felt sorry for her and hoped the wives would be stuck inside watching TV for a long time so no one would bother Graziella. She didn't even wake up to the other children, of whom Alessio and his older brother were once again the loudest.

He had never met his maternal or paternal grandparents because his dad's had died when he was little and his mom had moved from Louisiana to New York when she was a teenager. She had only said that her family came from a little shithole between Lost Lake and Jug Lake - which in on its own sounded like incest. And although Sonny sometimes wondered if it would feel good to swim in the certainly warm water there, he had no need to contact that part of the family. He already disliked the relatives he knew, and he hardly thought the fists of his hillbilly swamp toad relatives would feel any better than his father's when they found out what he was like.

After a sharp look at the future mini-gangsters, who this time didn't turn the area around the pool into a battlefield but just split up to play badminton, (at least for ten minutes until the boys would come to the conclusion that this game was way too "soft" for real men) Sonny went into the house to get something to drink for himself and Graziella. It was impossible to sneak past the wives at his size and despite the competing TV program on, he felt at least his mother's non-loving, piercing eyes at his back as he filled two glasses with ice cubes, poured water and topped it off with just a sip of sweet iced tea.

He came out in the second and closed the patio door as a clearly aimed shuttlecock hit Graziella in the face. It didn't hurt her, even a firmly hit shuttlecock didn't leave a bruise but she scared distraught out of her sleep. Sonny heard Alessio's cackling, gleeful laughter shared by other children. The girl looked bewildered at the shuttlecock in her lap, rubbed her cheek, and hadn't even arrived in the here and now when Sonny had put down the glasses, done the three steps onto the lawn, and stormed toward Alessio. The other children made room for him - not out of respect but because he could have easily swept them aside and no one wanted to be touched by someone contaminated with AIDS.

Only Alessio raised his head with a vicious grin. He knew Sonny wouldn't hit him. He had never hit him before. He didn't even hit his sister when she was annoying him - something Alessio and the other boys didn't understand. What was the point of having little sisters if you couldn't smack them sometimes. But this time it was not against Sonny. It was against a poor foreign girl who couldn't sleep because of dead grandmothers, thoughts about Gargoyles and Quarrymen and now also because of a ten year old asshole who thought he was the best thing to happen to the family since Teflon Don. And that made Sonny really angry. He grabbed the shuttlecock racket Alessio was holding, cracked it on his knee and threw it away. The other children emitted indignant or frightened sounds but Alessio - completely unimpressed because of his own supposed invulnerability (an assessment shared by many stupid kids who were far too well off) - began to rant.

"Oh, now I'm scared! Because of that stupid shuttlecock. Don't be such a poof."

"If you screw up otherwise, Alessio, I don't care. But don't you dare let me see you intentionally send one of your toys in Graziella's direction again."

"Ohhhh," Alessio blurted. "Is she your girlfriend?" Behind him, the other kids made smacking smooching noises, his own sister the loudest. Sonny narrowed his eyes as the other boy continued to speak quietly, spraying venom. "Of course she's not your girlfriend. Because you don't play for the team, huh? Trying to suck up to Tony's imported kid. You're good enough as a water boy for her. But ONLY that. You can only bark and not bite."

"Alessio" Sonny hissed threateningly, amazed that the dumbass in front of him even knew a word like imported but would have loved to shove a shuttlecock deep down his throat. But he wouldn't. He wasn't allowed to. Alessio was dirt and he knew he could break the boy as easily as he had just broken the racket. But just BECAUSE he knew that, he couldn't freak out. And his hesitation only spurred the cocky leader of the gang on even more.

"You are SO useless Sonny. You're already fourteen and you don't do anything for the family."

"Not even running errands," Fabio agreed, apart from Sonny the oldest in the bunch. His younger brother crossed his arms and flashed a mischievous grin.

"I know why. Because his dad is ashamed of him."

"Don't push it, Alessio."

"What are you going to do? Beat me up?"

"That would be way too easy."

"You're way too soft for ANYONE to be afraid of you. You probably wear your mom's string tanga and high heels every day."

Sonny, teeth gnashing, turned away under the explosive laughter of the other children. The younger kid's words hurt him. But he could live with it. They were all just kids. Kids who were trying to push his buttons the best they could. He wouldn't do them the favor of letting them push.

But like most kids and self-centered brutish adults, Sonny's lack of reaction to the attacks didn't go over well. In an exuberance not experienced before and full of unfounded confidence in his superiority over the gentle (or at least gentler) giant, Alessio pushed him so that he fell on his belly and bellowed;

"Fight back, you stupid faggot!"

Sonny jumped up, had not yet raised his arm to punch the four years younger boy when Alessio was suddenly hit by a stick which pushed him backwards and made him fall into the pool. Alessio came back up splashing water and saw Graziella standing at the edge of the pool with the hand skimmer in her grip. Her face showed sheer hatred.

"You're going to leave him alone, you stupid little asshole!" she yelled but her tone was calm as she did so, her way of speaking menacingly slow and clear despite her accent and something in that voice and her wild stare made Sonny take a step back. But it didn't work on Alessio who started again to rant.

"Are you crazy!? Don't interfere! You're just a girl and you have to stay out of it when boys fight!"

"So!" she hissed, baring her teeth. "I am a girl. Nice job of paying attention, genius." Behind her, Paola and Sonny's sister giggled. "I'm a girl but I've beaten up bigger boys than you in Italy - in front of the whole class. So you better watch what you say. "

She stared at Alessio for a moment. He was wet and kept himself in the middle of the pool, maybe afraid that she would hit him again with the plastic stick of the hand skimmer.

"You have no idea!" he then shouted, pointing at Sonny and trying to present cogent arguments in his favor. "Why are you defending him? My dad said he's a pervert and a fag and will be kicked out of the family if he stays that way!"

"I don't give a shit if he's a pervert and a fag," Graziella repeated the words, which had been unfamiliar to her, but she didn't let on. She pointed the end of the stick at Alessio and he winced.

"YOU'RE the asshole right now, and I'll tear you a new one if you don't behave around me - and around HIM." She turned away, pressed the skimmer into the hand of the puzzled looking Sonny, and was about to walk into the house as gracefully and dignified as she could. Until she heard Alessio's voice behind her.

"No girl's gonna tear me a new ass. You motherless, grandmotherless PUTA!" he spat, and that was a word Graziella knew all too well. She whirled around and jumped into the pool, almost on top of the shrieking Alessio. The princess dress, handpicked by the crazy aunts, puffed up like a balloon because of the water and briefly took away her vision before the layers of fabric soaked up water and then were an extra weight. But since she was throwing herself at Alessio, he had to carry the weight.

And then she hit him with all her might. Under and above water- accompanied by the screams and wails of the other children. Alessio kicked, tried to keep himself above water, but was pulled down again and again by Graziella. He hit her cheek with his fist, making her want to scream, but the pain was almost washed away by the rage. She continued to punch his head and every place she could reach. In his desperate effort to drag her away from him, he only got to grab fabric panels of her dress. Graziella heard the fabric rip and didn't give a shit. Because Alessio was so mean to Sonny. And so mean to her. And because he didn't take her seriously because she was younger but mostly because she was a girl.

She was angry with Alessio but the blows that were hitting him now were not only for him. They were for the men who seemed to treat their wives/girlfriends nicely but somehow treated them nasty at the same time. They were also a little bit for her dad, who didn't live near her, kept sending her over here, and for the fact that by now Graziella didn't even want him to love her that much anymore because he was somehow disgusting despite his weird words yesterday. And most of all, she was not hitting Alessio at that moment, but all the people who hated gargoyles and wanted to hurt them without knowing them (like Alessio and his whole family did). The thought that her best friend would someday meet a Quarrymen, or even Alessio when he got his hammer scared her so much- but most of all it made her angry! She didn't want to be the crying girl holed up in bed. She wanted people to respect her so she could help others, like her dad had said. She wanted that even though she was just a girl. She wanted to help the weak whether they were big black boys or winged creatures with claws. She wanted to be that kind of person - different from everyone around her.

Suddenly big hands grabbed her. Graziella and Alessio had approached the edge of the pool unnoticed during their unequal fight, in which Graziella had been able to land many more punches than the older boy, and now she was pulled out of the water by Sonny's arm. She looked at him with poison-spraying eyes. But his look melted her anger. Disbelief and ... what was that other thing.

Behind her, Alessio spat water and tried to climb out of the pool.

Graziella jerked away from Sonny and bent down to the boy, who was so startled by her renewed approach that he plopped back into the water. He looked at her wide-eyed, pale with shortness of breath, but his nose thick and bloody and also marked in other places on his face from her beating and fingernails.

But Graziella had no intention of lunging at him again. Instead, she did what she had already seen adults do.

"Watch out," she said calmly although she was still a little out of breath. "I'll tell you something, Alessio, and because you're an idiot, I'll tell you veeeery slowly. I," she pointed to her chest, "I'm Graziella Dracon. My dad is the boss of your dad. He's the boss of EVERYONE here. So in the future when me or Sonny are around you will shut your stupid pie hole or you will go feed the fish in the Hudson. Are we clear?" She stared at him intensely. And then saw the boy who had just been so mischievous nod obediently. Then she stood up and turned to the rest of the throng of children. They were quieter than Graziella had ever seen them, huddled together almost trembling like frightened puppies.

"Did everyone hear what I said?" she asked coldly. And Paola nodded.

Sonny held out his hand to her, almost pale enough to have her own tanned skin tone.

"Come on Graziella. Let's go inside, I have to explain to my mom somehow-"

"I'll explain it to her. You're not saying anything, Sonny," she said, walking past the boy who was two heads taller than her and whom she had just defended. Her dress was ruined. Wet and heavy. Her head, hands and knuckles hurt. And she tasted blood in her mouth. But she had never felt better or stronger. That's why she wasn't afraid when she went into the house.

"Aunt Bunny?"

"Yes, sweetheart," she purred absently, turning away from the screen. And the glass that fell from her hand as she jumped up and shattered on the coffee table made everyone else look up, too. At the drenched child with the wild soaking wet hair, the torn dress dripping all over the carpet and the bruise on her cheekbone that was already throbbing painfully and would surely swell soon.

"Sonny, you little-" she raised her hand to strike her son, and he ducked his head. But Graziella shoved his mother back harshly.

"Stop it! Barbara!" she said in the same tone with which she had just spoken to Alessio. Calm and cold. And this time it had the same effect, even on the adults. They paused and listened.

"Alessio called Sonny a faggot. And I kicked his ass." Giulia gasped at her choice of words and Graziella narrowed her eyes in delight. She liked how horrified everyone was. Because she wasn't a good little doll, after all.

"I beat up Alessio and we ended up in the pool. I'm Graziella Dracon. And I will not allow Sonny to be insulted anymore. Not by ANYONE." She emphasized the last word very clearly and let her gaze glide over all those present.

"Sorry Francesca about Alessio. But he deserved it and I hope he learned his lesson. Otherwise I'll beat him up again. Besides, he shouldn't call girls puta anymore. Now go out there and take care of him. He's bleeding and wailing, I think."

Like a startled chicken, Francesca jumped up and fluttered out of the room to her naughty chick. Then Graziella walked across the room toward the kitchen where the phone was.

"I'm going to call someone to pick me up. And Barbara?"

The tall woman looked at Graziella as if she were a ghost. "Yes? Yes, Graziella?"

"If I don't see Mister Glasses in Manhattan, I want you to tell him not to hit Sonny anymore. I don't want anybody to hit him anymore. If I'm allowed to come here again, Sonny will be here. If you don't want me here anymore I understand. Then I will send a car to take him to Manhattan for a couple of hours. And do I see another bruise on him or does he tell me about it-". She didn't know how to finish the sentence. What was she supposed to threaten with? She was a child. But right now she felt very big and powerful. For the first time in her life she felt like her own boss. And that was an indescribable feeling. Better than ever before. Better even than when she had beaten up Roberto. She glanced back at the living room - and realized that there was no need to finish the sentence. Because the wives' limited imagination was apparently running at full speed, imagining what Graziella DRACON could do to them.

Graziella made the call. She didn't recognize the man's voice on the phone, but he had been instructed and would pick her up in half an hour. Graziella looked again into the living room - it was deserted. Probably all the wives were out in the garden to see how badly she had beaten Alessio. She didn't feel like waiting in the house. She grabbed her backpack from the coat rack in the hallway and went out to sit on the stairs of the entrance. Sonny was already crouching there. Probably he was afraid that he would be blamed or beaten for not taking enough care of the children.

The girl sat down next to him on the steps warm from the afternoon sun. Here her dress would dry. On the other hand. It was ruined. And even if it wasn't - she would never wear that rag again. She would never wear anything like that again unless she wanted to. She was Graziella Dracon and she had power. If not yet over others, then over herself. This realization was VERY early for a child her age and should have frightened her. But she was comfortable with it.

Sonny seemed briefly surprised to see her here. But he slid aside without a word and let her sit down. Together they looked at the street ahead. A dull block in Hoboken. Higher-priced, often well-renovated townhouses but nothing special. As much sleepy suburban flair as was even possible this close to Manhattan. Cars drove by slowly. Children on bicycles, a woman who walked her dog and gave the unequal pair on the doorstep a long glance and then - New York-typically - looked in the other direction. This is how Graziella liked it. They should all mind their own shit. She leaned back on the stairs despite the throbbing pain that crept across her temple where Alessio had scored his best hit and despite the heavy dress clinging to her body, and enjoyed every second here in the half-shade of the trees lining the street.

"Why?", Sonny finally wanted to know.

"Why not?" asked Graziella, and the tall black boy turned his head toward her. She gave him a smile and he smiled back.

After a small eternity in which no one bothered the two children, a car finally stopped in front of the house. Graziella rose but Sonny was faster and held the back door open for her.

"I'm not a princess. And not my dad. You don't have to do this, Sonny," she said a little huffily.

"I don't have to. But I wanted to. Not because I think you're weak but because I think you're strong." He leaned a little toward the child so the adult at the wheel couldn't hear him.

"No one has ever fought for me before. If you ever need my help, with anything. Then call me."

"How long does the offer stand?"

Sonny thought about it for a moment, then flashed the widest grin Graziella had ever seen on the serious boy.

"Forever. Boss."

Graziella Dracon laughed out loud, got into the car and slammed the door. Sonny watched the car drive away until it was out of sight. Then, still smiling contentedly, he went inside to get his beating.

.

.

Maria - clearly already informed of what had happened in Hoboken while Graziella was on her way to Manhattan - had looked at her cheek.

"Why?" she had asked, and the sorry look on her face had made Graziella feel sorry. But WHAT she had done, she wasn't sorry for, and she said so.

"Sonny is family," she had said. "I'm not going to let him be called a faggot. He's my friend." The last one had been a lie. She had only one real friend in America. But she had no problem lying in front of adults because that was a lie that would protect Sonny. Nashville had protected her and even without claws and fangs she could do the same for others. She had tried and it had worked. Nashville had shown her that even children could protect others. Of course, Graziella was no Gargoyle, but it still felt great to protect someone.

Maria had looked at her with tears in her eyes, but then nodded and sent her to her room to shower, change, and do her homework. Later, she had brought her a delicious sandwich, the edges of which were cut in the shape of a heart. There was nothing more to say about that.

.

.

When there was a knock at the door a few hours later, Graziella knew it couldn't be Maria. Graziella lifted her head from her homework and was surprised to see her dad standing there. He was leaning casually in the doorway and didn't seem annoyed at all. In fact, he was grinning rather widely.

"Well, Dolly?"

"Hello, Tony," she said.

"I heard what happened today." He came in and plopped down on her bed. "My daughter beat up an older boy," he said cheerfully as if it was all a big joke to him. Graziella turned around in her swivel chair. He noticed the dark discoloration and swelling on her temple, which would surely be more noticeable tomorrow. But otherwise, the child looked like a ten. Even ... more at peace with herself than before. Her voice was fluent and more confident.

"Do you know what the other kids call him?`Do you know how the wives talk about him?"

"About Sonny? Honestly, I don't really give a shit."

"You said sometimes sheep have to be sheared to keep parasites from settling in. I've been shearing sheep that you didn't have your eye on. If you want to punish me for it now, I'd understand."

"Me? Punish you? You beat up a boy who is older, bigger and stronger than you. You almost drowned him I'm told."

"That ... is probably an exaggeration," Graziella said, and Tony grinned.

"Probably?"

She grinned back. "Probably."

"Hey, girl. Who knew you'd take your old man's advice to heart like that. That was really badass."

"I was protecting Sonny. I was protecting the family. It was just the right thing to do," she summed up with unwavering pride and a grandeur that was strange for a child. The sentence sounded perfect and yet somehow wrong coming from someone with Dracon blood. Tony scratched his neck thoughtfully before he got his next words together.

"Yeah... sometimes you have to bring the thunder when it comes to disputes within the family. Well spotted. You can't please everyone all the time. Sometimes you have to bite that everyone knows you have teeth. In the family and outside, the others have to know."

"Who are these others?"

"Well. Other people like ... business partners. Or competition in the biz. Or even the cops."

Graziella's expression turned serious.

"My grandma already told me before I came to America that you were in prison."

"Why shouldn't she have said that anyway? Half the world has been in jail in America. That's what keeps the whole system alive. Always keep all the cells occupied or even overcrowded. And what successful businessman hasn't had lawsuits on his record or been in Sing Sing? Ask Xanatos and Trump."

He grinned broadly because, of course, he knew Graziella would never get to these bigwits to ask.

"What were you in jail for?" The kid impressed Tony again because she didn't seem at all uncomfortable with the subject. She just seemed ... cautious. And inquiring. As if she was looking for information because she had not yet made her judgment about him (as a person? as a father?). And he surprised himself because for once he DID give a shit what someone who was no threat to him at all thought about him. Tony sat back in a no-big-deal gesture.

"There were disagreements with the competition. What exactly, I'll tell you when you're older, it's too complicated for you right now. But it's good to know you're not afraid of people bigger and stronger than you."

"Alessio wasn't stronger than me. I beat the shit out of him."

"Ha! - where does such a pretty mouth get such words?"

Graziella pointed toward her windows. "I hear your employees when they talk in the courtyard."

"Does that disturb your sleep? Do you want me to muzzle them?" asked Tony Dracon the girl only half-jokingly, and the child flattened herself very unladylike in the swivel chair and her smile reminded him of himself in a startlingly sympathetic way!

"Don't do that, Tony. I've never learned more than from that babbling," she said flippantly and Tony laughed harshly before he could steady himself and look at her for the first time without spotting a failed assassination attempt. He looked at Graziella in an amused way. Yet there was a new quality in that look. A touch of pride.

"A tough little gangster chick you are ... But why did you do it? Why for Sonny?" he asked more seriously.

Briefly, Graziella wondered if she should tell her father that Sonny was her friend. That it didn't matter if he looked at the wrong smut magazines or was a fag or a pervert. But she decided to keep it shorter and in a language her father spoke. After all, he seemed to respond well to that so far.

She raised her head proudly, sparkled at Anthony Dracon and said:

"Sonny is my right hand. We have each other's backs."

For a moment, she was stared at again. Graziella couldn't even estimate these kind of looks and the seconds she was given these kind of looks today, there were so many of them. But Tony was the first to follow this look with a loud, almost hysterical laugh. He put a hand over his eyes and laughed so loud that it could probably be heard throughout the house. Then he stood up and smoothed his burgundy suit.

"My daughter - boss in her turf and already with a right hand man. All right. I like that."

Graziella didn't know what to say to that. That's why she didn't say anything. Tony wandered back to the door. Where he turned around again.

"Dolly? "

"Yes?"

"Only I give Glasses orders. Only I. But ... he won't ... punish Sonny anymore. Not like this anymore."

"Good," Graziella said. "Thanks, Dad."

Anthony Dracon faltered for a moment. Again, he looked back at her. And grinned.

"Good night," he said.

"Good night," his daughter returned.

The first scene with Nashville was missing in the previous chapter - but I don't think that disturbs much.

And again, a wonderful father-daughter moment. Worryingly, the child is becoming more and more like him (or like his poisoned environment). WHAT becomes of it, you could read in Souls of the Night (which you have read of course ^^). If not - Bad! Shame on you - shoo shoo into the corner and read the chapter Clash of Dynasties (chapter 95)!