Chapter 12: Three Words

Sal's car pulled off Van Brunt Street at 6:14 in the morning. Four of them stood on the sidewalk in the snow in pajamas. Nico waving with both arms like a man landing a plane. Benny with the painting pressed to his chest. Gio filming, obviously. Matteo in Gio's arms in dinosaur pajamas, one hand up, not moving — and somehow that was the one that broke me. Five men lived in that building. Only four on the sidewalk. I told myself I wasn't going to look back. I looked back. We got four blocks...