13
TATI
It’s only been about two weeks since my meltdown at the old Mercer Department store and I feel like a switch has been turned on in my brain. I wasn’t giving Marla’s whole crusade to find my brother’s killer too much weight until after I found out about this pregnancy. Somewhere between the late hour of the night and my ending up there, I just kept wondering what Nicki might say if I told him about this predicament. Would he be pissed at me for screwing his mentor? Probably. But in the end, he’d find a way to help me.
I’ve been feeling like I’m twisting in the wind with nowhere to land. It sucks.
I guess the upside is that Viktor and I have been talking more. I’ve been asking him to take me places every few days, mostly just so that we can talk without being monitored. We’ve been walking through the park together, having ice cream and coffee, or rather, I’ve been having those things with him sitting with me while I enjoy them. Along the way, I’ve been trying to connect with him. Trying to see him past the wall he has up.
It’s a pretty thick wall. He barely gives me anything, really. This man is supposed to be my baby’s father?
Today, I’ve decided to take full advantage of my door remaining unlocked during the daytime hours. Somehow, my father has decided not to punish me too severely for my latest transgression. I’d love to say that it’s because he’s going easier on me, but I think it has more to do with the fact that Viktor actually stood up for me when he brought me home that night. I honestly think it broke his brain a little.
But whatever punishment that he has for Viktor, he doesn’t seem to be worried much about it. Or at least, that’s not what he’s showing me. I wonder if he worries about anything.
It’s close to lunchtime and I’m not interested in whatever is going to be brought to me to eat. My father has been relying on bland bologna and salami sandwiches lately, and I don’t know if I’m getting serious cravings or not, but I’m really not interested in eating anything like that today.
Down the stairs and toward the kitchen I go. As I walk down the hall, I hear talking… and I smell Viktor’s cologne. The scent of sweet musk stops me in my tracks as I wonder why he’s been summoned.
Maybe my father has decided to take his pound of flesh for standing up to him. The thought of turning around and walking away occurs to me. After all, what can I do if he decides to shoot him in his office? I doubt he’d stop if I begged him.
My feet are moving forward almost against my will. I want to know why he’s here, at least. I need to know.
The door of his office is slightly ajar, so I hunker down and peer through the crack. Viktor is standing in front of my father’s desk, his hands clasped behind his back as my father talks.
“It’s the one thing we can’t abide. You know that.”
Oh, no.My heart starts racing as I try to think of some way to distract him from hurting Viktor.
“I understand,” Viktor says. “Rats in the house have to be exterminated.”
Rats? Oh…There’s a snitch. Okay, so, my father has a job for him. I start biting my nails as I think about that. He’s asking Viktor to kill someone for him.
“The target will be in front of Community Bank tomorrow between noon and three,” my father says. “I expect the job to be done swiftly without any fanfare. You think you can handle that, being that it’s in public?”
“Of course. It’ll be an easy kill.”
My stomach turns when I hear him say that. I stand up and carefully walk away from my father’s door.
I know that Viktor is an enforcer for my father. I’ve known that my entire life. And while I’ve never had to address that job in any kind of up close and personal why, I’ve always had an understanding about it.
I stop at the stairs and sit down, my hand going to my stomach automatically as tiny sobs start to build in my chest. What’s wrong with me? Why am I upset about Viktor doing his job? I don’t know what a good father is supposed to be. I never really thought that hard about it, I guess. Now, I’m questioning it and myself. Now…
Now, I don’t know.
I hear the door open down the hall, so I stand up. I should go back to my…
No. Maybe I can find out what’s what from him now.
They both walk through the living room. The moment that they both see me, I see two different reactions on their faces, my father’s mild disgust that I’m not in my room and Viktor’s slight surprise that I’m out and about.
“Tatiana,” my father grumbles. “Is there something you need?” He glances at his watch. “It’s almost lunchtime. I was about to have something brought up to you.”
“Is it okay if I go out for lunch today?” I ask as sweetly as I can. “I’m in the mood for a change of pace.”
Viktor’s face is unreadable, but he doesn’t say anything. Father glances at him and says, “All right. Viktor?”
“I will take her,” he says. He glances at me in my yoga pants and oversized T-shirt. “Are you ready?”
