Page 83 of Street of Dreams
“I love you too.” As Mac hugged Jake tightly, high on both the custody hearing and the surprise wedding, small arms snaked around the both of them.
“Is Mac my brother now?” Ben asked.
“Yeah. He is.” Jake cupped Ben’s shoulder and brought him over to Mac’s parents. “You know who these two people are, right?”
Ben nodded. “Mac’s mom and dad.”
“That’s right. I’ve been thinking. Maybe they’d like to be your grandparents or something. Since you don’t have any, and they don’t have any grandkids.” Jake gave Mac’s ma one of his most charming smiles. “That OK with you, Ma?”
Her hands went to her cheeks, and she smiled all the way up to her eyes. “Aye! I love this wee one!” She leaned down to Ben’s level. “Do ye like sweets? I made a lovely clootie this mornin’.”
Before Ben had a chance to answer, Mac’s da patted Ben on the shoulder. “Yer a fine laddie. I can teach ye the bagpipes.”
Ben giggled and looked up at Jake. “I don’t know what they just said. But it sounded funny.”
“You’ll get used to it,” Jake said. “Would it be OK if they take you back to the house and we’ll meet you there in a few minutes?”
Ben nodded, then took Mac’s ma’s hand and smiled up at her. “Did you say something about sweets?”
“What’s going on?” Mac asked Jake.
“There’s one more thing I gotta do today, then I can move forward and never look back.”
Jake stood across the street and stared at a house filled with bad memories. Other than the construction fencing that surrounded it, it looked exactly the same as the day he left. He took nothing except his clothes and Ben’s drawings that hung on his bedroom walls. Everything else could rot. Part of him couldn’t believe that he was back here, but this would be the last time he’d set eyes on the place. The last timeanyonewould set eyes on it.
“Are you sure you want to be here? On today of all days?” Mac asked, taking Jake’s hand. “Isn’t it conjuring up ill feelings? It’s our wedding day. I don’t want you to be sad.”
Jake forced a smile. “I’m not sad. I need to be here. This is the last piece of my past. The final thread that needs to be severed.”
“I’m glad to see it go,” Henry said.
“Me too,” Danny agreed.
The four of them slowly joined hands as they watched the wrecking ball take down the front wall of the house with a devastating boom. The bricks crumbled and fell to the ground, sending a ball of dust into the air. Jake sucked in a deep breath at the destruction, which filled him with immense satisfaction, and he squeezed Mac and Henry’s hands a little tighter as the wrecking ball swung toward the house again.
The second strike took out the side wall and exposed the interior. Part of the living room stared back at Jake, and flashbacks of the day Bruce almost killed him filled his head and made his stomach queasy. He squeezed his eyes shut, almost sorry he came back here. But then a stack of bricks came down and covered the living room, pummeling its contents and burying the horrible memories.
A succession of deafening crashes took down the rest of the building in a matter of minutes.
“It’s gone,” Danny said. “Good fucking riddance.”
It was unexpected from Danny. More like something Henry would say. Jake leaned forward to look at his brothers. Danny had tears streaked down his cheeks. Henry’s face was red, and his eyes were wet.
“I fucking hate him,” Henry said, his face contorting with anger. “I’m so fucking glad he’s dead.”
Jake felt as if someone just kicked him in the gut. He hadn’t realized that the twins were dealing with so much resentment and suppressed feelings. He wished he’d talked to them more about what they were going through. Maybe they all needed counseling. As a family. He wrapped his arm around Henry and extended it all the way to Danny, fisting Danny’s sleeve and pulling them both toward him. “We don’t ever have to look at that fucking God-awful place again. Now we got closure. C’mon. Let’s go home.”
Home was still in South Side, only in a much nicer section, where people took care of their property. Thanks to Salvatore Finestra’s promise to clean up the neighborhood, coffee shops and small businesses opened, bringing with them a barrage of hipsters. Some of the longtime inhabitants didn’t appreciate the invasion of bearded, tattooed entrepreneurs who lived off their trust funds, but it raised the economy and provided legitimate work for those struggling with unemployment.
Boarded up storefronts now thrived with businesses, and it revitalized the neighborhood. It provided the Finestra Family with high-dollar income from agreeable store owners who were happy to pay for protection against the neighborhood thugs. It also fattened Jake’s pockets and provided him with enough cash to purchase a four-bedroom, three-bath, two-story home for him, Mac, and his three brothers, which they moved into a few months ago.
As Jake, Mac and the twins stepped out of the car and walked up to the front door, Mac paused to look at the cars in the driveway and in the street. “Those are Carlos and Gary’s cars,” Mac said. “And Skylar’s. Everyone’s here.” He turned to Jake. “What’d you do?”
“It’s our wedding reception.” The timing of the demolition provided the perfect distraction for Mac’s mom and Skylar to decorate and prepare the house. It was a new beginning for all of them.
“But how’d you know I was going to say yes?” Mac asked, with a quirk of his brow.
Jake guffawed. “Of course, you were gonna say yes. You love me.”
