Page 30 of Dionysus
“Say her fucking name!” he had now stood.
“Bianca!” I shouted back. “She didn’t do anything we told her. She-she came out here and got involved in things that neither you nor I would approve of. Sergio, you don’t understand.” I cried.
“What the fuck that got to do with my brother!” Mr. Jackson shouted.
I could see Sergio coming my way. All I could do was close my eyes. “She was stripping and met that damn boy!”
“Dionysus!” Mr. Jackson yelled again.
Tears began pouring from me so much that when I opened my eyes, things were blurry. “I sent Frankie to check on her, and he was killed. I couldn’t bear it. So, I had Felipe follow him, and he told me Dio had done it, and I couldn’t understand why Bianca wanted to be with someone who killed her uncle. Then I found out he didn’t do it, and it was too late.”
“Felipe, ah?” Sergio chimed in. “Jour lover? Bianca’s real father, jes?”
My eyes widened as I shook my head because there was no way he knew that. I had killed Felipe just so he wouldn’t tell him. How did he know? I didn’t say anything because what could I say? Clark stood and turned toward me. “Finish the fucking story!” He roared so loud his voice bounced off the walls.
I felt attacked. My back was against the wall with no way out. My stomach dropped, and my body stilled. “I tried stopping her, but she ran. She was gone for days Sergio,” I wailed. I wiped my tears as I finished. “She went to that club,” I paused, looking at Mr. Jackson, who had anger building up in him. “Horace, I mean Boogie, told me where she worked, so I went. Sergio, I saw her dancing for money, she was showing her body, and Dio was there, and I-I lost it.”
Mr. Jackson stood coming toward me. “Bitch you shot my fucking brother! Over your ass-shaking daughter!”
Sergio moved quickly and extended his arm in front of him. “You will not touch her,” he said calmly.
A bit of relief left as my lips trembled. “Horace, he shot him as well, I-I was out of my head, and I pulled the trigger. The bullet hit,” I paused. “Hit her too,” I began sobbing. “I hurt my baby,” I cried as I looked down at my hands that were shaking badly.
When I glanced up, my glassy eyes couldn’t determine who was who. Mr. Jackson’s voice came in so loud, so broken, it continued to break me down.
“Let me tell you about the boy you shot. He’s eighteen. His birthday is in two weeks. He’s a little troubled, but he has a heart. The boy you shot is suffering from something much deeper. His father committed suicide, and his mother is sitting in a mental facility. The boy you shot graduated top of his class. The boy you shot has people who love him. You not only tried taking him away from the people who love him, but you also put a bullet in your child. You’re supposed to be a mother. You’re supposed to understand. Instead, you’ve done something I’ve done so many times, and it has never worked out for me, and that’s thinking about yourself. Lady, whatever happens to you at this point is warranted. I will not pray for you because a nigga like me has no sympathy for someone who doesn’t love their seed.”
There was nothing I could say. I had no rebuttal, no comeback at all. What I had done had been eating away at me since the night I saw that bullet hit Bianca. All I wanted was some form of satisfaction, but instead, I got a weight of guilt and blood on my hands. I had prayed every night that God would bring my daughter back. Every time myphone rang, I prayed for progress, but every day there was nothing.
Sergio’s eyes burned into mine before turning to the two guys. “There are not enough apologies I can give to take back what happened to jour family. I even understand the chaos in the hospital because if it were me, I would have done the same thing, maybe worse. I want to offer jour brother something that would take care of him for the rest of his life.”
Clark and Mr. Jackson held out their hands together. “Money can’t change what’s done,” was the last thing I heard before watching them disappear into the foyer.
I quickly jumped up, grabbed my purse to leave, when Sergio’s cane stopped me. “Ju betrayed me. Ju lied to me.”
“I- Sergio-I,” I stuttered as I took steps backward.
“No!”he shouted.
He dropped the cane, rushed forward, grabbed me by my neck, and slammed me down onto the table. The grip he had around my neck became tighter. “Thank ju, for taking care of Felipe. He told me everything.”
I began trying to wiggle my way out of his grasp, but the amount of anger Sergio had in him meant there was no out. He shook my neck, making my head slam against the glass table. His eyes were red, and tears welled in them. “I gave ju everything. Ju gave me nothing. My daughter is not my daughter and ju fell in love with Felipe. I will never forgive ju.”Tighter.“Never!”Tighter.
I sucked up any piece of air I could get. I clawed at his wrist, his face, and his arms.Tighter.My eyes were bulging from my head.Air suck.I was dying.
“I told them to take her off the machine,” he said as his tears landed on my face. “Bianca is gone all because of ju.”
Piss slowly ran down my leg. He had taken my baby off the ventilator. My daughter was gone. I didn’t even bother to suck in another piece of air as my eyes fluttered. Sergio’s grip had become so tight that I could feel my bones in my neck crack. I closed my eyes and prayed that God would forgive me.
More piss, another bone crack, and one last breath.
My life was no more.
“Who’s Dionysus?” Keith asked.
I raised on my elbows as my eyes met his. How did he know about Dio?
Keith scratched his nose. “I heard you say that name the night you were crying.”
