“Obviously no one’s living here, but do you think there might be something I could snack on until the groceries arrive?”
“Probably. You can go and see what you can find. I’m about to call my uncles. My other brother and cousin will probably be on the line too. You can stay with us if you’d like.”
She glances toward Alejandro and Joaquin. “I can go back upstairs if that would be easier for you. I’m not a fluent Spanish speaker, but I might understand some of the things you say.”
“If we need to discuss anything we feel isn’t safe for you to hear, we’ll switch to an Amerindian language that’s indigenous to the part of Colombia where my family originated a couple hundred years ago. There are probably only about five hundred people in the world who speak the language these days.”
“Oh, okay, that must be useful.”
She’s trying to be tactful. It is. It has its purpose. She heads into the kitchen while I go back into the living room. We decide to use my phone to callTíoEnrique. Conveniently, Pablo and Javier are at his house right now. It’s not unusual for them to be there in the early morning since we take turns with who comes over to work out in our home gyms.
Ourtíohas the largest gym in the family. It takes up most of his basement, so we hold meetings down there while we work out. I’m certain Javier and Pablo knew we’d call to check in since Alejandro and Joaquin traveled last night. We get through our greetings when Liesel returns to us. She shakes her head as she sits on the sofa beside me.
We go through a quick round of introductions after I addTíoLuis—Pablo’s dad—to the call. He’s in Colombia right now dealing with someone problematic. As he finishes greeting Liesel, I hear somebody’s voice in the background. ThenTíoMatáis introduces himself. He’s Alejandro’s father.
I can tell their kindness surprises Liesel. I’m certain she probably expected them to sound ruthless and gruff, which they absolutely can and do most of the time, but never around womenand children.TíoEnrique was always the fun uncle who gave us sugary treats at our sports games.
In a fucked-up turn of events in New York syndicate life, kids from the Four Families—Mancinellis, O’Rourkes, andDiaz—used to play on the same teams or they’d compete against each other. It began with peewee and little league. The Kutsenkos and their Andreyev cousins didn’t arrive until middle school and high school, just like my brothers and I didn’t move to the States until around the same time.
We played high school sports with them. The others didn’t go to elementary school together because of the way school district lines were drawn. However, we all went to high school together with the exception of Pablo and Juan—that fucker.
I hate that he died, but I don’t miss him. They grew up in New Jersey, but they still played club sports with us through high school. All of our parents took turns providing snacks andTíaMargherita—Pablo’s mom—used to bringtres lechescakes to games whenever a kid had a birthday party.
TíoEnrique used to get in trouble with mytíosfor spoiling us. They’d give him a hard time because our mothers would give my othertíos“the look.” They didn’t have to say anything to convey their displeasure and their expectation for their husbands to remindTíoEnrique not to spoil us.
My mom was the fun police growing up. She was the one who’d stuff ourpiñatasfull of little boxes of raisins and stickers when everybody else’s parents let them have candy in theirs. I don’t mind the walk down memory lane because, despite losing my father at such a young age, most of my memories are happy ones of a raucous family that loves to tease each other and never needs an excuse to get together to eat.
As I consider the little Hisham told us and what we’ll likely discuss, we’ll get into things that mean we really need to switch toMacaguán.
“Liesel, we’re going to talk about other syndicates and their businesses. It’s not safe for you to hear this. We’ll switch languages, but we don’t want to be rude. Is there a TV up in the bedroom, or do you want to look for one somewhere else?”
Her expression tells me her answer before she says anything. “No, I don’t mind. I’d rather stay here.”
I was holding her hand, but now I wrap my arm around her shoulders. If it wouldn’t make her feel uncomfortable in front of my brother and cousin, I’d curl her up on my lap. She leans heavily against me and sighs. I stroke her hair, and I feel her body relax as my family and I pick up the conversation inMacaguán.
“Tío, do you think we should talk to the others?”
Everybody knows I’m addressingTíoEnrique even though my two other uncles are on the call. The others are the leaders of our rival syndicates in NYC. We aren’t making progress on our own, so I may need to eat an entire humble pie and ask for help.
“It’s definitely looking like we’ll need to from what Hisham shared with you.”
Pablo jumps in with a question. “Do you think we should wait to hear from him again and see if he discovers anything else?”
“He said he’d get back to theniñosby mid-morning tomorrow. Maybe we make Maks and the others a last resort. However, we could start fucking things up and seeing who responds. I could start pulling out of investments or teasing ones that’ll never happen.”
It doesn’t matter how old we get, my parents’ generation still calls all of us boys.TíoMatáis’s suggestion is sound. It’s the strategy we’ve used plenty of times to bait people. The Mancinellis, the O’Rourkes, and the Kutsenkos do the same thing.
We wind up agreeing to hold off for a little while longer before speaking to the heads of the other syndicates. We alsoagree we won’t send any money to Gunter’s captors. They haven’t retaliated against the fake million-euro deposit, and they haven’t demanded more. They may not even know it was a phony transaction and are satisfied for now. The less complicated we can make this, the better. If they don’t need placating, then there’s no reason to bring up their demand again.
I suspect it’s never been about the six million euros. If it were, they wouldn’t send body parts. They’d go into the Schlossbergs’ accounts and merely take whatever they want since they’re already laundering money through Liesel’s. It’s the intimidation to keep control. I don’t want to say it aloud, but I fear Gunter’s kidnapping came about because they got nervous that my family’s involvement with Schlossberg & Sons signaled an impending loss of control. That we’d investigate the company’s financials and discover what’s been going on.
By the time the call ends, I know Liesel’s fallen asleep against me. The doorbell rings, and she doesn’t even shift. Alejandro heads over to greet the guy who brought us groceries. Unfortunately, I have to extract myself from Liesel since the man doesn’t speak English. I ease her to lie down on the sofa before going over to thank the guy. He explains there are some meals already prepared and hot. That’s a huge relief to all of us.
However, it only takes a moment for the three of us to realize a European-size trip to the grocery store will never feed us for as long as this food is intended to last. We usually work out two times a day. I haven’t since I’ve been away on this trip. I’ve only gotten some runs in and a few trips to the hotel gyms, but we all devour at least three to four thousand calories a day.
I go and rouse Liesel. She’s so fucking beautiful when she’s drowsy. We head into the kitchen and pull out the food. Once we’re seated around the table, Liesel speaks up. From her tone, I can tell this is something that’s been worrying her.
“Jorge, what if people followed us from the hotel?”
