Page 102 of Because I Need You
“Both are very possible,” she agreed. “Nevertheless, I did not want to be a mother. I stuck around for a long time. You have to give me credit there. I stuck around and pretended every single day that I was happy just being a housewife. Every day until they hit their teen years, and then I couldn’t take it anymore. Joe begged me not to go. He kept asking what he should tell the kids.” She let out a laugh. “That was what he was worried about.”
“One of you had to be,” I said, even though I knew what a monster Gio’s dad had turned out to be in her absence.
“Personally, I think they were better off without me.”
“Can’t argue there.”
She laughed again. “You really are something. I can see why my son likes you.”
I didn’t bother saying what I wanted to, which was that she knew nothing about her son. I needed her to keep talking.
“So, yeah, I’m not sure what bullshit story Joe made up for me, but he did, and I fled.”
“Fled?”
Her eyes widened slightly, as if I was missing something. “Do you really think Joe was just going to let me go? After everything I knew?
“So, you fled from him.”
“I did. I went down to Miami, stayed there for a while, then went back home.”
“And now you’re the Queen B of Barranquilla,” I said.
“No.” She smiled. “I do like the way that sounds, though. It’s not very often that I’m seen out. I do everything behind closed doors, quietly, to not get caught. Joe wanted me to come back. He called every day at first, then every week, asking me to come back, but I was done with this life. I was done being in his shadow.”
“And now?” keep talking, keep talking, keep talking.
“And now, I’m back to claim my throne.” She smiled wide.
“You mean the seat my father left vacant?” I asked. Her eyes flashed suddenly. Surprise, excitement, I couldn’t be sure. I continued, “I heard you have to be Italian to be in that little club. And not a woman.”
“I’ve heard a lot of things in my lifetime. It hasn’t stopped me from getting what I want,” she said. “They can keep their stupid little seats and their stupid little all-boys-club. I’ll still control what I need to control. They already lost.”
I had nothing to say to that. I didn’t know as much about any of this as she did, and I didn’t want to. I wanted to get out of here. I wanted to see Gio again. I wanted to go home.
“So,” she said, getting out of her chair. “How ’bout we play a game?”
“What kind of game?” My eyes widened as I looked up at her as she walked closer to me.
“The kind where I silence you and put an end to all of this.”
My heart bounced in my chest. “You don’t have to kill me.”
“I don’t.” She walked even closer, and I caught a whiff of her perfume. It was flowery and gentle, the complete opposite of her. “But I might. I haven’t decided. We’ll see how this plays out.” She crouched in front of me and gripped my cheeks so tight I had no choice but to open my mouth. “Do you know where I make the most of my money?” she asked. I tried to shake my head, but her grip was too tight on my cheeks. “Selling women. Usually they’re much younger than you, inexperienced, stupid. Probably a lot like your little middle schoolers, but I’m willing to make an exception.” She smiled then brought her other hand up to put a pill in my mouth. I gagged and moved my tongue, trying not to swallow it, to spit it back out. She looked at me hard. “The only thing you gain by doing this is that you’ll taste it more. Either way, you’re taking it. Would you rather me inject you? Because that can be arranged.”
Tears filled my eyes. I should have just taken it. I should have been okay passing out for the millionth time, but my hatred for this woman grew by the second. I hated her as much or more than I hated my own mother. I hated everything she’d done to me, to Gio, to his sisters. I hated that she was involved in sex trafficking and showed no regrets about it. So, instead of taking the fucking pill. Instead of swallowing it like I probably should have, to avoid being shot, I head butted her as hard as I could. She stumbled backwards, landing on her ass. I knew she wouldn’t be disoriented long, so I pushed against the wall and got myself up, running toward the door they kept using. My hands were still tied. I wasn’t sure how far I’d get or what would happen, but I needed to try. I needed to at least fucking try.
