Chapter 5: Rage

Bang, bang! Two muffled thuds rolled along the corridor, followed by the heavy thump of bodies hitting the floor.  John glanced ahead, one eyebrow jerking up. Luciano had driven his elbow into the two men at the stairwell, dropping them where they stood. "Where did this punk crawl out from?" John bared a feral smile. "You dare stick your nose into my business?" Luciano had no patience for jokes.  John's fist was clamped around a girl's wrist. She was his aunt's daughter, his cousin, Nora Powell. "Let her go." His voice came low, and his stare turned venomous. "Who the hell are you, talking to me like that… Argh!" John never finished.  Nora seized her chance and sank her teeth into his forearm, hard. "Damn you, bitch!" John roared.  He whipped his hand and slapped her. The blow cracked across her cheek. Nora could not absorb a hit like that.  She flew sideways, slammed the wall, then crumpled to the floor.  Pain twisted her delicate features. Even so, she lifted her head and called to Luciano, "Hurry! Call the police!" "Call the police? Think that helps?" John clutched his bleeding arm, a neat line of teeth marks oozing red. Shame at being hurt by a woman boiled into rage. He raised his boot and drove it into her stomach. Nora screamed. Cold sweat slicked her brow. She could not straighten her back. John basked in it. "Stupid girl! I'll take you back and work you over slow…" He choked on the rest. A killing chill seemed to pour in from every direction, caging him. He turned. Luciano's eyes were bloodshot, his jaw clenched, teeth grinding. Fear pricked John's gut, but swagger was a habit he wore like armor.  "What are you staring at, punk? Keep it up, and I'll dig your eyes out." "Good. Very good." Luciano laughed.  He had just come home to find someone bullying his family. How could he endure that? "You got a death wish!" Three thugs at the doorway surged forward to block him. "Cripple him!" John grunted. They moved. Luciano was already there. His strikes came like a storm. Bang, bang, bang! No one even saw him move.  He seemed to stand where he was, yet the three goons reeled back, stiffened, then toppled flat on their backs.  Their faces looked as if a truck had rolled over them, a ruin of blood and pulp. In that breath, Luciano had thrown three punches, each landing square on a face. Each one carried terrifying force. "This…" John stared, aghast.  He was still checking his wound when Luciano had already flattened his men.  What kind of monster was this? Luciano walked toward him.  Fear climbed John's spine. He puffed himself up anyway. "Listen, kid, I'm warning you… Ugh!" Luciano's hand clamped his throat and hoisted him like a scrawny chicken. He slammed him into the wall. Thud! Bone crunched. Blood streamed from John's nose and mouth. Luciano smashed John's head against the wall three times before flinging him to the floor. "You… you're dead!" John slurred through split lips, head bleeding. "You dared mess with Mr. Bruno's business. Mr. Bruno will wipe out your whole family!" "Wipe out my family?" Luciano smiled, then glanced at Nora. "Nora, which hand did he use to grab you?" Nora sat on the floor, watching with satisfaction. When Luciano spoke, she faltered. Luciano did not wait for her answer. He seized John's arms.  He snapped both arms, joints popping out of place, and they hung limp. "Aaaah!" John howled in pain. "Which foot did he kick you with?" Luciano asked again. John writhed, teeth clenched against the pain. The question froze him. Terror hollowed him out. He gulped, then blurted, "Left..." Luciano's boot came down on his left knee without warning and landed with a hard thud. Crack! John convulsed, then shrieked even higher. His kneecap split. He almost fainted in pain. "Get out!" Luciano kicked John toward the stairwell. He stared at the two lookouts dragging themselves upright and said, "Take them and leave. If I see you again, it won't be this simple." The two had only taken an elbow each. In the time it took to catch their breath, Luciano had dismantled their crew. Their almighty John lay writhing like a dead dog. Panic hammered their ribs.  They hesitated, then scrambled to haul John away. "You… you're Luciano Griffith?"  Nora looked at him, voice trembling with disbelief. At last, she recognized him. Luciano nodded, about to speak. Before he could, her face fell. She turned without a word, stepped into the apartment, and went to shut the door. "What are you doing? I'm your cousin!" Startled, he wedged his shoulder into the gap before it closed. Nora's face burned with anger. "Get out! I don't know you. You're not my cousin!" He had not expected a reaction that fierce. He braced the door and raised his voice. "Stop it! You just recognized me. How am I not your cousin? I tutored you when you were a kid. One summer, you fell into the river and nearly drowned. I pulled you out, remember?" He felt Nora's strength ebbing behind the door. He pushed, and it swung open. She shot him a quick look, grabbed his wrist, and tugged him inside. He had no time to change his shoes before she pulled him into the apartment. It was spotless but tiny, a cramped two-bedroom just over six hundred square feet. Before college, Luciano had slept in that little living room.  The space hit him with an ache of familiarity. Then he saw a black-and-white portrait hanging at the center of the wall. His heart lurched. A bad feeling rose. "Nora, is that…" "You're asking me? I should be asking you." Nora's eyes were rimmed red as she turned to him. "If you're my cousin, how do you not even know my dad is gone?" "Uncle Roger is dead?" The face of a kind middle-aged man surfaced in his mind. Luciano went still. "I was born in this crummy place. A few years ago, we were supposed to move. Do you know why we didn't? Do you know why my dad died? It's because of you!" "Because of me?" Luciano blinked. Five years ago, when he got married, his aunt and uncle came.  Roger had said that after the wedding, they would move to a bigger place. Luciano had promised to cover the renovations. Back then, Nora was only thirteen, just starting middle school. Who did this? Rage surged through Luciano like a tide, dark and merciless.  His eyes turned cold with the will to kill.