“I’m not going to stop until I find out who the motherfucker is who put Ray in the hospital.”
Kenny felt as if he’d been dunked in a frozen lake when he registered the venom in Frankie’s voice. There never had been a question as to their loyalty to one another; Kenny knew he would willingly give up his life for his blood brothers, and it was obvious they would do the same for him.
He’d stopped questioning himself why he, Ray, and Frankie had remained friends for so long. Their personalities were as different as their appearances, yet it was as if they were of one mind. Kenny was quieter, more reflective, while Frankie tended to be vocal and volatile. Ray was the dreamer, romantic, and pragmatic; the one they could go to with their problems and get honest feedback that wasn’t judgmental.
“Don’t you think you should let the police do that?”
Frankie shook his head. “Do you really think the police are going to put any energy in finding out who beat up a Puerto Rican kid who was in the wrong place at the wrong time? Get real, Kenny. If Ray had been some rich White kid from Jersey, they would have every cop in the Bronx looking for his attacker. I know people who have their way of finding out things the police overlook, so it’s only going to be a matter of time when we find out what sonofabitch beat up our brother.”
Frankie found a parking spot a block from the hospital. When they approached the admissions desk, they were informed that Ray was in ICU, and right now, only family was permitted to see him.
“We are family,” Kenny said, challenging the woman. “Page Nurse Delores Torres and let her know we’re here to see Ramon. Our names are Kenneth and Francis.”
“You can wait over there,” she said, pointing to a row of plastic chairs, “while I call Nurse Torres.”
Fifteen minutes later, the former Army nurse met them in the reception area. Delores hugged Frankie, then Kenny. “Come with me.”
“How is he?” Kenny asked her once they were in the elevator.
“Not good. He came out of surgery a couple of hours ago, and there was extensive damage to his skull and one of his eyes. He has a broken ankle, ribs, a collapsed lung, and a ruptured spleen.”
“What are his chances of survival?” Kenny questioned, giving Ray’s sister a long, penetrating stare.
“Right now, it’s sixty-forty. We’ll know better once he’s able to breathe on his own.”
“How did you know to call me?” Frankie asked Delores.
A hint of a smile parted the lips of the pretty brunette. “My brother couldn’t stop talking about his blood brothers, so when you guys came to Ray’s graduation, he gave me your phone numbers, because he wanted me to call you. Papi is planning a party on July Fourth to celebrate Ray going to medical school, and he wants to invite my brother’s friends.”
“How are your parents taking this?” Kenny asked Delores.
“I told them not to come tonight, because I didn’t want them to see Ray like this. I tried to downplay his injuries and said he was in a hit-and-run accident and that he would have to stay in the hospital for a couple of days.”
“You know all hell is going to break loose once they see him,” Kenny told Ray’s sister.
“I’ll deal with it when it comes. I’ve had more than enough experience dealing with parents when they come to a VA hospital to see their sons for the first time with missing body parts. It will be the same with my parents.”
The elevator doors opened, and they followed Delores down a hallway to the ICU. Kenny thought he was prepared, but when he saw Ray in bed, his head and face covered withbandages, his vitals monitored by machines, and the sound of the ventilator helping him to breathe, he felt his knees buckle, and he had to hold onto the wall to keep his balance.
He closed his eyes for several seconds and when he opened them, he saw that Frankie’s reaction was similar to his. Frankie stumbled for a chair, sitting down heavily as tears streamed down his face. That’s when Kenny lost it completely, breaking down and crying without making a sound.
They’re dead. Whoever did this is a dead man. I will kill him with my bare hands.Kenny wanted to stop the voices in his head, but they continued to taunt him, and after a while they left him alone long enough to get up and walk out of the room. He was back in control when Frankie finally joined him.
“Whoever did this to Ray is a dead man walking,” he said to Frankie.
“If he knows what’s good for him, he better leave the country before my people find him.”
My people. Kenny chanced a sidelong glance at his friend. He’d never heard Frankie utter those two words. It was as if he were the head of a mob family who had people working under him, willing and ready to do his bidding. And to his knowledge, the D’Alessandros weren’t involved in any mob or criminal activity. Or were they?
It wasn’t his concern one way or the other, but if Frankie knew people who could ferret out who’d assaulted Ray, then Kenny was all for it. And Frankie was right about the police not putting any great effort in trying to find out who had beat up a Puerto Rican kid whose name would be added to the list of the city’s crime statistics for assaults.
“Kenneth, I hope you’re not going to sit around the house all day doing absolutely nothing when you should be looking for a job.”
Kenny stared at his mother. He’d tried explaining to her hedidn’t want to leave the house until Frankie called to let him know they’d found Ray’s attacker. “I’ve mailed out résumés to different city agencies, and now I’m waiting for someone to call me. And I have a job. I still work at the restaurant.”
“Why didn’t you say that before?”
“You didn’t ask.”
