Now You Die by Christiane Heggan

Author:Christiane Heggan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: MIRA Books
Published: 2013-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

Twenty-Seven

Prison gave Vince Scolini the willies. In all the years he had been visiting his brother Frank, he had never gotten used to the smell, the filthy walls and the sound, an eerie kind of shuffling the prisoners made when they were being escorted into the visiting room.

Unlike his brother and his father before that, Vince had never wanted any part of the business. Studious and hardworking, he’d had other aspirations, and he had achieved them, in spite of his father’s constant pressures.

Vince liked his job as a sportswriter for the Philadelphia Sun. Younger than Frank by fifteen years, he was just a boy when his brother was hauled off to jail, but he remembered that morning as if it was yesterday. Mostly he remembered his mother’s anguish when two federal agents had clamped the cuffs on her oldest boy’s wrists. She had died ten years later. A widow by then, she had begged Vince to look after Frank, even though he was in prison. “Promise me you’ll always look after your brother,” his mother had pleaded from her deathbed. “Always protect him.”

Vince adored his mother, and although he wasn’t sure what he could do for Frank that his henchmen couldn’t, he had promised to always be there for him. Surprisingly, Frank had been a model prisoner, patiently waiting to come up for parole. Already turned down twice, he remained optimistic. “The third time’s the charm,” he often told Vince.

Faithful to his promise, Vince had visited Frank every week, bringing him books, cigarettes, shaving cream and anything else the guards would let through. Every now and then Vince’s wife would bake Frank’s favorite brownies, which Frank graciously shared with his jailers. The gesture earned Frank a few perks that made life behind bars easier.

Today, Vince had come empty-handed. He had been too preoccupied with what he had found out to think about bringing a goody bag.

At last, the door opened and Frank walked in. He wore the standard orange suit and shuffled toward the plate-glass window that separated the prisoners from the visitors. Short and bald, he no longer deserved the nickname that had once fitted him so well—Frank the Whale. After losing close to a hundred and fifty pounds, he had decided to keep the weight off with a workout program he had devised himself and now taught to other inmates during the morning recess. His dedication to “bettering the system,” as he put it, had earned him brownie points galore, from the prisoners as well as the administrative staff.

“Hi, Frank.”

“Hi, little brother.” Frank sat down. “What’s up?”

“Not much.”

Frank’s eyes squinted to mere slits. “Really? Then how come I’m not believing you?”

Vince had never been good at keeping secrets from his brother. Or maybe Frank was too good at reading people.

Vince turned his head, just enough to see the door in his peripheral vision. The guard had left them alone. That was one of the perks Frank enjoyed and he never missed a chance to tell Vince, “They’re not bad guys.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.