Page 115 of The Tempted

After Vinny showed up at my doorstep begging me for money, telling me that his dealers were after him I decided I needed to take matters into my own hands. I couldn’t subject my child to this kind of behavior. You may think subjecting him to the mob isn’t any better but I have no choice when it comes to that. Anthony and I are consciously staying away from one another to give Luca a fair shot of rising above the mob. It seems only fair he gets the same from his own father.

They say addiction is a disease but I fear it runs deeper than that for most people. I don’t want my son to grow up battling the same inner struggles his father did. Since Luca was born, Vinny hasn’t attempted to see him or be his dad, making the decision to keep him away from Vinny easier. I’ve been a single mom, doing everything for my son without the help of a man. There is no need for Vinny to be a part of his life – not in the condition he’s in any way.

I dropped the baby at my mom’s as I always do before going to work. The difference being I took a personal day today to straighten this shit out for the last time. I rang the bell, not even sure, if I was at the right place, this was the last address I had for Vinny before he went to rehab. I breathed a sigh of relief when he answered the door for it quickly to be replaced by a gasp.

“Oh my God,” I said, raising my hand to cover my mouth. Vinny’s face was badly beaten, swollen, cut, black and blue. His arm was in a sling and his bare torso wrapped in gauze. Apparently, I was too late and Vinny’s drug dealers had caught up to him.

“Adrianna, please just go,” he groaned.

“What happened?” I ask ignoring him.

Vinny exhaled pushing open the door and turning around to walk back into the house, taking tiny steps. He made very little motion not to cause his battered body anymore pain. I followed him inside closing the door behind me, taking in the disarray of the house.

“Look I won’t bother you anymore for money,” he said, struggling to sit down on the couch.

“It’s best if you just go.”

“Who did this to you?” I asked, helping him sit down on the couch. When people turn bad, the loved ones in their lives forget the good in that person. Vinny’s habits overshadowed the good man he was deep down inside, the man he was when I met him. He tried his hardest to bring me out of my depression, even got me to smile on more than one occasion. It wasn’t his fault that my heart belonged to Anthony, or that I’d never get over my first love, but he sure tried hard to be the man in my life. I will always be grateful to him for my son but I can’t string him along any longer than I already have. I want him to get help more than anything and straighten out his life, but I know you can only lead a horse to water.

He sighed, lifting his face to peer at me through his swollen eyes.

“I had a run in with your…whatever it is you call each other.”

The first person that went through my mind was my father. It was no surprise to anyone close to me that my father and I had a broken relationship.

“Anthony Bologna, Bellini, Mr. Italiano, whatever the fuck his name is.”

My eyes widened, and I stared at Vinny in shock. “Anthony did this to you?”

Vinny remained silent as he stared at me. “The guy is a fucking animal,” he finally said.

“But there is no denying he loves you, even Luca.”

I fell into the chair beside Vinny at a complete loss for words and just listened to him talk.

“I had no right going to your house and asking you for money, especially since you are raising our son by yourself. You’ve never asked for a damn thing from me and here I am, the drug addict, begging you to pay my debts,” he explains, pausing for a moment.

“I deserved what he did to me.”

I lick my lips for lack of response before taking a deep breath and turning back to Vinny. “You need to get help, once and for all. Do you want to kill yourself? Is that it?”

“It’s not that easy,” he replies. “You think that I want this life for myself? I don’t know how to stop this vicious cycle. I’ve spent nine months in rehab and where did that get me? In a crack house the minute I got my hands on some cash.”

I studied him for a moment before reaching into my bag and pulling out the envelope. I played with the ends of the paper for a second before extending the envelope to Vinny.

“There is a check in there for twenty thousand dollars. I don’t know if that’s enough to cover your debt, but it’s all I have,” I took a deep breath. “I don’t even want to give it to you. I don’t trust you enough to pay the people you owe and not buy more drugs but that’s on you.” I pulled out another slip of paper and leaned over placing it on the coffee table, along with a pen. “I want you to sign a letter saying you will relinquish any rights to Luca. He doesn’t have your name, it isn’t even on his birth certificate. You would have a fight ahead of you to claim him but I don’t think you have it in you. I’m not asking you to do this because I hate you or even because I’m mad at you for last night. I want what is best for Luca and sadly, you aren’t that right now.”

I braced myself for a fight but it never came, Vinny placed the envelope back in my lap, grabbed the pen, and signed on the dotted line.

“I don’t want your money, A,” his voice sounding strained as he folded the paper with his signature and handed it to me.

“Thank you,” I whispered, watching him slowly lean back against the couch, a lone tear making its way down his face.

“Do me a favor?” He asked hoarsely. “When he asks about me, don’t tell him I didn’t want him. Let him know I loved him enough to spare him of the burden I am.”

“I promise,” I said softly, my eyes tearing as I stood. I gave Vinny one final glance before placing the envelope and the paper he signed in my pocketbook. “Get better, Vin. You are so much better than this,” I told him, knowing that my words were slowly moving through one ear and out the other.

---