Here it goes again. During the lunch at Theo's house, Nina looked much more relaxed, but her moody and worried expression returned as soon as we began working the next day. Halfway through the morning, while I am making a bouquet for a customer, she receives a call she doesn't seem to expect. I pretended to pay all my attention to the client standing in front of me, but I give frequent careful looks to her while she talks at the phone; suddenly, she flinches as she listens to whoever is on the other end.
"How could I forget you? The flowers will be delivered on Matteotti Street. I will arrive in a few minutes. Have a nice day," she greets the presumed customer, taking off the apron, with a nervous voice. Then, she takes a rose and hands it to me, fidgeting with her hands as I get it ready. There's something strange in her behavior. Usually, she doesn't look so... Eager when she has to deliver an ordination.
"I can go deliver it, Nina," I propose to her, the flower in my hand finally ready to be delivered.
"No. I will go. It's close by," she replies, looking straight in my eye. "Don't worry, I will be fine!" She adds. Then, she takes the rose from my hands, grabs her purse, and leaves the shop in a hurry.
Some moments go by; I sit down behind the counter, biting my nails.
"Okay, I'm not believing that." I stand up, take a piece of paper, and write 'I will be back in ten minutes' on it, then I lock the door, stick the homemade sign on it, and set off after Nina, who's close enough to be seen but too far to notice me. Her destination, Matteotti Street, is a couple of turns away from the shop, just like she said. There, something strange happens: on that street, most of the alleys between the houses are dark and dead ends, yet she disappears in one of those.
"I was right after all..." I mutter, getting closer to the alley to eavesdrop on an eventual dialogue.
"...could you wait one more week for the rest?" Is the first thing I hear as I get by, a terrible suspect building in my mind.
There is a silent pause as if something quiet is happening.
"There is more than half of it...", answers a deep, male voice, "but you know it's not me who has to wait for the rest, it's 'La Cosa Nostra' that's waiting for you". Blood freezes in my veins. Unfortunately, I know Sicilian mafia's name too well not to recognise it, when I hear it. In that alley, Nina was paying a mafia man the protection money, without having ever told me about it.
"Please... I will make sure to pay the rest as soon as possible," she begs the man, her tone almost desperate.
"Well, there could be a way...", He trails off, "Are you willing to do anything?" He ask. Even without seeing them, I could figure the scene: Nina, desperate, facing a disgusting man with a grin crossing his face.
"What exactly do you want?" Nina asks back. The answer is obvious. He won't say that though, will he? He is outdoor, everyone could hear him at any moment, couldn't them? Yes, he will surely ask for something else, he couldn't go that far...
"One night. You will let me do whatever I want."
Well, it looks like he could go that far, after all. Did I hear right? Has he just said what I thought that a man with some leftovers of pride could never say? My mind goes completely blank, all I can think now is which part of his body would be satisfying to hit more. His stomach? His face, maybe? Yeah, his face will go; I'll hit him so strong his nose will either fold on itself like an accordion or pop out directly on his nape, like if he was a snowman whose carrot-nose was pushed in too much. I'm too busy fantasising about beating the soul out of the mafia man to hear the following words they exchange; all I am waiting for is Nina leaving the alley, leaving me free space to... Vent a little. Fortunately, she's so cloudy she doesn't end notice me as she walks back to the flower shop.
"Lucky day for me today, finally I'm getting some fun after a while!" Rejoices the mafia man, toying with Nina's money with a satisfied look. With a few, stealth steps, I get behind him, then I put one hand on his shoulder and turn him around.
"I know, right?" I say, before hitting his face with a direct left. He flies backwards, falling down, blood already coming down his nose.
"Tell me, Mr. Mafia man," I ask, getting closer, "Why didn't you ask me for a full night of fun? Not that I'm available, of course, but that's pretty rude of you!".
I grab his suit's collar and pull him till he faces me; I don't know how I looked from the outside but, given the fact that all I was feeling was a deadly cocktail of pure rage and murderous intent, my eyes shouldn't be properly comforting to see.
"Let's make one thing clear," I hiss, dropping the ironic facade I had on before, with a glacial tone, "she, is mine". I slam him against the wall and he spits out all the air he had in his lungs. I let go of his collar only to hit him again, this time in his belly; he bends in half, grasping for air, then he falls on the ground.
"Understood? You'd better have done so, or I won't stop so early the next time."
I look down at him, curled up on the ground, and notice Nina's money have fallen down during the beating. I pick them up and stuff them inside one of my pockets.
"I'm Alexey, by the way. You'd better bring some friends the next time you drop by, you know how the quote goes... The more we are, the more fun we have," I mock him as I drop a business card of 'Sunset Flowers', on which is printed my phone number, near him.
I leave the alley, and only then I notice that my phone is ringing: Nina is calling me.
"Nina..." I begin, interrupted by a "Where are you?" Thrown out in one breath.
"I just went to deliver some flowers, I will be back in a few minutes. Take a break and leave the sign on the door. See you in a bit," I answer almost systematically, my voice harsher and even more serious than usual.
"Okay, see ya!" She replies, than the call ends. I put my phone back in my pocket and take out the money Nina gave to the mafia man from the other one. I spend about a minute to count them, slowly walking back towards the shop.
"Damn, she probably emptied all of her bank to give that scum all this money... Oh, Nina, couldn't you just talk with me about it?" I ask to no one in particular, slightly annoyed. I fully understand the reasons behind this reckless act of hers, she probably hates to depend on me as much as she does right now, but I still can't forgive her for beginning her journey towards a longed indipendence with such a thing; most probably she doesn't remember accurately how dangerous it is to treat with mafia, reason for which she thought it was okay to begin from here.
The flower shop is just one minute away, so I put the money back in my pocket; while doing so, I rub my hand against the pant's fabric and flinch due to an unexpected pain. I inspect my hand and find out that my left hand's knuckles are slightly flayed because of the fists I threw to that man.
"Crap, I went too far..." I mutter, thinking about a solution.
"Know what? I think I will pop by the bank for a quick money deposit!" I tell myself, doing everything to meet Nina as late as possible. I text her telling that I will arrive a couple of minutes later since I met a neighbour and begin walking my way to the bank, gently massaging my left hand.
"I hope she won't notice it..." I whisper. I have no valid excuse to justify this kind of wound, and, to be honest, I'm genuinely scared to know how she would react if she got to know I had a fight.