A TWIST OF FATE
Chapter Sixty-Seven
Fabri whistled to himself as he climbed the
stairs to his apartment above the restaurant. He could smell the delicious
scent of the kitchen below, just starting to prepare for the evening. It
reminded him of how hungry he was. He pulled off his cap and walked through the
door expectantly, knowing his friend was due to arrive today.
"Jack!" he greeted his friend
warmly. "How are you my friend?" he asked him, shaking his hand
vigorously before going over to Maria and giving her a hug.
"And how are you, too?" he asked
his wife playfully. Maria just smiled.
"So Jack how are things eh? It is good
to see you again. You sorted things out?"
"I sorted some things out," Jack replied
cautiously.
"Darling, we have another guest
too," Maria told her husband.
"Another guest?" asked Fabri
glancing round to see if anyone else was there.
"Yes, Jack has brought a friend with
him."
Fabri turned and looked at Jack, slightly
puzzled.
"You have brought a friend with
you?" he repeated.
Jack took a deep breath.
"I brought Rose with me."
"You brought her with..." Fabri
cried out, amazed at his friend's stupidity. How could he have done this after
all they said? And brought her to his house?
"Yes," Interrupted Jack, watching
the expression on Fabri’s face change. "Rose came with me."
Fabri threw his cap onto the sofa.
"I told you Jack. What did I tell
you?" Fabri threw his arms up into the air.
"I know what you said Fabri," began
Jack. Maria joined in too.
"You knew about Rose, Fabri?" she
asked.
"Yes."
"You didn’t tell me."
"I thought Jack was going to sort it
out." He turned back to Jack. "You were supposed to end this stupid
game of yours."
"I don’t understand." Maria was
puzzled.
"Neither do I," raged Fabri.
"Look," answered Jack. "I
don’t want to cause any problems, you two mean too much to me for that. I’ll
get Rose and we’ll go now."
"You will do no such thing," Maria
told him. "Fabri?" she asked her husband for reassurance.
"What have you got yourself into now
Jack eh? Haven’t you already had enough of Hockley’s brand of
hospitality?"
"Fabri!" Maria squealed sharply. As
she watched the expression on her husband’s face turn blacker, she became more
afraid.
"Fabri you would not be so uncharitable
as to ask your friends to leave?"
"She is married to someone else,"
protested Fabri.
Jack hung his head sadly. He knew Fabri would
not be too happy, but he hadn’t expected this outburst. He couldn’t attack
Fabri as Fabri was his friend and he was only speaking his mind and beliefs.
Their friendship meant more to Jack than that. Yet he had to defend himself and
Rose and their actions.
"She left him Fabri. She made her mind
up herself. She couldn’t take his cruelty anymore."
Fabri just looked away.
"It’s true Fabri. He threw her down the
stairs and nearly killed her. She was having a baby too and she lost it. She
has run away from Philadelphia and has nowhere else to go," Maria
explained.
"So you conveniently asked her to come
here with you."
"There isn’t anything going on between
us Fabri. Rose asked for help. Her husband was about to have her committed to a
mental home. I couldn’t let him do that to her."
"It's nothing to do with you!"
Fabri shouted. He leaned closer to Jack.
"Don’t you realize what you have done?
You have set yourself up for something far worse than a mental home. If you
wanted to be a hero, why didn’t you let Rose go there and you could have sorted
out something later." He began to curse in Italian. Jack wasn’t sure what
he was saying, but from the look on Maria’s face, it wasn’t pleasant.
"Do you know what will happen if Hockley
catches up with you now? He will kill you; do the job properly this time. If
you are lucky he’ll have you charged with kidnapping his wife and you will go
to jail for the rest of your life!" Fabri threw his arms up in the air
again.
A movement in the corner of the room caught
their attention and they turned. Rose stood there with her hat in her hand. She
looked at them all for a moment, and then walked calmly over to where the bags
still were. Picking up her bag she said quietly, "I will leave now. I
never intended for any trouble especially not between friends because of me.
Thank you for your kindness Maria. Good night Mr. di Rossi."
With great dignity she turned and left.
"Rose, wait there, I’m coming,"
shouted Jack, not taking his eyes from Fabri’s.
Maria started sniffing, closed to tears.
"I can’t let Rose go alone," he
explained quietly. "I’m too involved now."
Maria rushed over and hugged him. "See
you later," he promised.
Turning to his friend he simply said,
"Fabri," and picked up the bags.
He closed the door behind him and was glad Rose
was out of the way and could not hear Maria’s cries as he left.