Vendetta

Leonidas was pacing back and forth, I was holding the door knob, preventing him from entering the other room; he was impatient, he wanted to go to the other side; I did not let him, first he had to calm down and become cold to do the interrogation, but he was not succeeding.

-That bastard murdered my wife, Ulises. Let me in! -He grabbed me by the shirt.

-Give me your gun and I'll let you in.

Several minutes after the discussion, we went inside. The room was a little dark and dripping from the ceiling; the only light illuminating it was from the pole on the street corner. I reached for the switch to turn on the bulb.

-Let's get this over with," said Leonidas, rolling up his sleeves.

-First take the rag out of his mouth, otherwise he won't answer you anything.

Leonidas hit the light bulb and it acted as a luminary pendulum. The interrogation began with a few blows to Hadrian's face and ribs.

Half an hour later, he stopped. His knuckles were stained with blood and sweat was dripping from his forehead. He walked over to the window and said to me:

-Do me a favor and take that thing out of his mouth.

-I don't think it will do any good. The way you left him, he won't even be able to answer you, he won't even be able to talk. You will have already punched him to death.

-Cof, cof! Are you finished, Leonidas? -said Adriano.

-Detective Leonidas to you, you bastard," she reached over to punch him in the ribs.

-Why do this, detective? The damage is done.

-Shut your mouth, you will only answer what Leonidas tells you. Is that clear? -I said.

Leonidas left the room and returned with a chair. He placed it in front of Adriano, sat down, took some Marlboros out of his shirt and lit a cigarette.

-So tell me," he took a puff on his cigarette, "why did you do it? She wasn't part of the game.

-You helped kill the boss, did you think his son was going to stand by and do nothing?

-I was hoping you'd come for me. You didn't have to drag my wife into this! -He sank the cigarette into Adriano's neck.

-He said he had to do it. His father was already done, so he wanted vendetta. You know what that means, don't you?

-Fucking Italians! The vendetta... Then I'll go for the son too. But before that...

-If this is vendetta," I told him, "he and the others have to die too. Plus him.

-Me?

-It was you who murdered my wife!

-Why do you think that? You're more lost than anything, Leonidas. Think about it. Why would I kill your wife, what would I gain from it?

-We saw you walk out the front door of the building that night, put on your hat and walk toward Chinatown. I followed you," I said. When you arrived with the Chuangs, you sold Mrs. Hortense's pearl necklace.

-I walked into the building and found your rose in my apartment. You're the only one of your brothers who leaves it behind when he finishes a job. Too bad it wasn't there when you murdered her, otherwise... I would have put a bullet through you from my Nambu!

-Yes, Adriano. Then I saw you celebrating in Ottis' bar that victory with all your brothers.

-You bastard! -said Leonidas.

I couldn't stop him. He pulled out his Nambu and shot him in the left leg, then dropped the gun and began to hit him again and again until he got tired.

-That's too much, isn't it? -I said.

-Shut up, Ulysses! This is vendetta and I'll go after all his brothers and Luca Ricci's son. What are you laughing at? -What are you laughing at, you bastard!

Adriano didn't stop laughing, no matter how many punches Leonidas threw at him. I thought it was because he was tired enough to give good blows, so I kept hitting him, but he still kept laughing.

-That's right, what are you, Ulysses, his lackey? Ja. I left your house Leonidas, I also went to Chinatown to change your wife's necklace, yes. I also went to celebrate the vendetta with my brothers, but you're nowhere near the truth. It wasn't me who killed your wife.

-Then who did it? -Leonidas fired a second shot, now at the right arm.

-Didn't I tell you this was a vendetta? Listen well to what you are saying, Leonidas. We couldn't kill your wife, no. That job had to be done by Mr. Ricci's son. It was him who killed your wife and gave me the necklace to sell to the Chinese. He knew what time you would arrive that night, so he finished the job and told me to wait for you so you could watch me leave the building; he also knew you would lock me in a room like this to kill me. You don't know anything about us, Leonidas.

-Son of a...!

-If it was that bastard, why let him capture you? -I asked.

-Because now he's out of their hands, you know? Ja. He did it so you couldn't go after him," he spat on Leonidas' shoe. He's probably in Sicily by now. You won't be able to do anything to him there, the whole family protects him. And this is a small price to pay for what you did to Luca Ricci. Ja.

Leonidas reloaded the gun and shot Adriano straight in the forehead; then he left the room cursing the vendetta and Luca Ricci's son.