“Settle up and come on,” my dad said.
Arturo’s jaw dropped. “But—”
My dad looked over at Monty. “Monty, get up from the fucking table, take the cards, and get the fuck out.”
Monty didn’t hesitate. “Yes, boss.” He gathered up the few cards he’d started dealing out and stood up from the table. He glanced at Arturo. “Sorry, boss.” Then he took the deck of cards and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Arturo picked up his glass of whiskey and downed it all in one shot, then chucked it across the room, shattering it against the wall.
“Brat,” I said under my breath.
My dad stormed across the room, took Arturo’s jacket by the collar, dragged him up from the chair he was in, and chucked him in the direction of the glass. “Go pick it up.”
“It’s in a million pieces,” Arturo grumbled back, wavering to the side a bit. “I’ll call someone to come clean it.”
“I said fucking pick it up, Arturo, or I’m gonna shove your face in it!”
Arturo turned around, trailing a chain of swear words under his breath as he stumbled over to the wall where the glass had shattered and bent down to pick up the pieces. He only got a couple off of the ground before he bent over too far, crashed into the wall, and crumpled to the ground.
My dad rolled his eyes and walked over to the card table, slamming himself down in the chair Arturo had just been in. He folded his hands together and dropped them to the table with a heavy thud. “I thought I told you two not to let him drink anymore.”
Callista shrugged. “He only had one glass while I was sitting here.”
“I stopped trying to track his shitty habits years ago,” I tacked on.
Arturo was one of those kids who didn’t participate in any recreational drugs or drinking as a teenager, so when he finally became an adult and started to experience those worlds, he lost his ability to control himself. He wasn’t an addict by the traditional sense because he could go days, weeks, even months without drinking or doing drugs, but then he would binge until someone stopped him when he started up.
For the fact that he already had a mean streak, when he was drunk or high, he was twice as bad. If I’d had any inkling when he invited Callista and me to play poker that he was drunk, I never would have agreed to play, but by the time I realized he was just hiding it well, it was too late. Twin intuition is a bitch, especially when it allows one twin to hide his bad habits long enough to trick the other past the point of no return.
Unfortunately, things like mental illness or addictions weren’t ever dealt with in a family like mine. They happened, and that person either stopped and got better or didn’t and died.
With a nod of his head at my chips, my dad said, “How much did you win?”
I spilled the chips into one big pile. “I lost track around two grand.”
One of his meaty hands dug into his pocket. “I’ll pay it.”
“No, it’s fine. Last time I collected from him after we gambled, he tried to stab me. After that, I decided we wouldn’t bet for real money. I mean, he thinks it’s real, and if he ever won, I’d pay him, but he never wins,” I explained.
With a sigh, my dad pulled his hands back out of his pocket and nodded at the cash that wason the table. “What’s that?”
A grin made its way to my face as I started to fold up the money. “Oh, this is Callista’s money,” I looked over at her. “She’s normal, so I don’t feel bad taking her money.”
Callista rolled her eyes at me. “Ass.”
Glass clattered as Arturo dumped the shards he’d managed to collect into a trash can, and then a few minutes later, he returned to the table and sat down. No one said anything, but when he reached out for the bottle of whiskey on the table, my dad reached across and slapped him across the face.
“Are you fucking dumb? You can’t even stand up. You’re done.”
“I’m fine,” Arturo replied, reaching again for the bottle, but Callista snatched it off the table and set it in her lap. “Fucking give me that back.”
“You’re done,” she snapped back at him.
“We got business to discuss. Can you handle yourself, or am I gonna have to kick you out?” my dad asked.
Arturo crossed his arms with a huff like a kid that had just been denied cany. “I’m fine.”
“I was gonna take this down into the business room, but sincesomeone’soff his ass, we’ll discuss here. Now that Denise is officially in the Costa household, we need to figure out what the next steps look like for us. Once we’ve iced Illiana, word will spread fast. We’ll have to claim Chicago and get our inroads out to take on the other families. We’re down the Binachis and Varassos, so that’s good.”
