Dead Dog in the Still of the Night (10 page)

‘Thought you didn’t want your old lady to know about the door?’ Tone said as he and Primo carried the repaired door from the hearse to the garage the next Saturday morning.

Primo spied his mother looking on in silence from the back door. ‘She’s paying for the repair,’ he said.

Tone smiled. ‘See, I told you. You should’ve told her up front, and then there wouldn’t have been any of this secrecy crap.’

Primo didn’t answer.

Tone nodded to the older woman and she lifted a hand in greeting then went inside.

‘I can’t stop thinking about the dog, Tone,’ Primo said suddenly.

‘You gotta let it go, mate. Like that saying says, you know, “let sleeping dogs lie”, right?’

Primo looked at Tone and shook his head. ‘Hard to do, Tone,’ he said. ‘I keep thinking about those kids, and how they could of found it and I think about what if it had been Beth.’

Putting his end of the door down, Tone straightened and looked hard at Primo. ‘Look, Prims,’ he began. ‘We did your brother a favour. It isn’t the best thing we’ve ever done, but hey, people have done worse, true? So, stop being such a girl about it. Let go of the dog, Prims.’

‘Ari’s sister came here. She came and stood in the front yard and went on about the dog,’ Primo continued. ‘’Course Ad didn’t bother coming out to face her. He left that to Mum.’

Tone whistled, then blurted, ‘Do you think she’s told Ari?’

Primo shrugged. ‘Doubt it. I see the way Ari struts about at work. No, if he knew, he would of come crashing through the front door.’

Tone gave a troubled laugh. Primo echoed it, uncertainly.

‘And you’ve told Ad about Ari, right?’ Tone asked.

‘Tried to, but Ad’s not listening,’ Primo said. He looked at the door leaning against the Fiat, waiting to be reattached.

‘We never should of put the dog there, Tone,’ he said. ‘I never should of gone through with such a stupid idea.’ He looked up at his mate. ‘It’s my fault. Ari being after Ad. Mum having to come face-to-face with Ari’s sister. The car. The shit with Maddie.’

‘Yeah, it was, eh. Your fault, Prims.’

Primo scowled. ‘Thanks.’

‘Anytime,’ Tone said and motioned that they should get back to work.

Primo leaned his weight into the door so that Tone could insert the first pin. It lined up perfectly.

‘My cousin is good or what!’ Tone chirped. ‘Brilliance runs in the family, obviously.’

‘I went to the house again. Thought Ad would be there,’ Primo said, ignoring Tone’s boast. ‘Guess he doesn’t have the balls to do that, either.’

‘Forget Ad being there or not,’ Tone said. ‘If Ari had seen you hanging around after he’s already warned you away, how would you’ve explained it?’

‘I thought maybe, after he let Mum take the brunt of Crystal’s anger, Ad would have had enough shame to actually go do something about it,’ Primo shouted at Tone. He punched the air. ‘But I was wrong, again. ’Cause he’s a coward and a cheat. Like the old man. He hid behind Mum. He let Mum wear it.’

Tone shook his head.

‘I don’t know what I would of done if Ad had been there,’ Primo said. ‘Turns out he was at the Nursing Home, harassing the old man. The supervisor called Mum to tell her Ad had been in to see Dad, and that Dad became really agitated, raising his voice, and crying. She said Dad kept asking why this man had come to yell at him. Seems Ad was getting stuck into Dad for something and Dad just saw this guy standing over him yelling and pointing and whatever.’

Primo drew a breath. ‘And I’ve told Maddie about the dog.’

‘Yeah, of course you did! Why not, eh? Good move that. Real smart. Are you out of your mind?’ Tone propped the door with the top of his foot and looked at Primo.

‘I took her to Dad’s workshop,’ Primo said. ‘I wanted to sell off all his old gear, use the money to go OS with her.’

Tone frowned. ‘I guess she was flattered. Know I would be, if someone sold off family stuff behind their backs just to take a holiday with me. So I guess you’ll go with her now, then?’

‘No,’ Primo answered. ‘I can’t sell the stuff. It was a pretty stupid idea anyway, when I think about it.’

‘You collecting stupid ideas like they’re gold medals, Prim,’ Tone said.

‘Maddie wants time out,’ Primo said slowly. He pursed his lips. ‘We had a good thing going though, for a little while.’

‘Yeah, you did,’ Tone said, ‘despite the fact that you’re too young for her, too ugly, and too stubborn. I guess, apart from that, it was a perfect match.’

‘Maybe when she gets back from Europe we can see how things are between us,’ Primo said, thinking out loud. ‘It’s not completely impossible we could get back together, eh?’

Tone made a face. ‘Dunno. I can’t say.’ He indicated with a nod that they ought to get back to the task at hand.

Slowly, Primo and Tone worked the door back into position, opening and closing it repeatedly to convince themselves they had realigned all the pins correctly.

Satisfied, they stood back to admire the little red car.

‘This is the last time you touch Bambino,’ Santo snapped at their backs.

Primo and Tone turned simultaneously. Santo was striding the short distance between them, chin up, eyes glinting. ‘You guys have no respect for what’s not yours,’ he fumed. ‘Lucky for you, little brother, that Mum saved your skin.’

Primo grimaced. How long had Santo been standing there? he wondered. How much had he overheard?

Santo circled the Fiat, examining it closely. ‘This, boys, is a fine car, a classic car. This isn’t some shit-box Japanese or Korean piece of slap-together tin.’

‘No, this is Italian,’ Primo said casually. ‘Like you, even if only Dad’s Italian, eh? Still, all class.’

Primo caught Tone’s horrified stare telling him to shut up.

Santo pulled up short and turned. ‘Meaning?’

Primo didn’t hesitate. ‘Meaning, Dad must have seen something in you and the car to want you to have it. You know, some connection maybe. To me it’s just a car, right? Like, I must be a throwback to Mum’s side of the family, because I don’t get it, about Bambino, you know?’

Primo saw Tone give him a quizzical glance and nodded faintly.

‘You boys can leave now,’ Santo ordered darkly. ‘Looks like the job’s done.’

Primo started walking but Santo stepped out and blocked his way.

‘You want to tell me what Ad did that’s got Mum so pissed off at him? I know you and him did something. So, come clean. What happened?’

Santo looked from Primo to Tone, then back again, his hands in his pockets like he was someone to be reckoned with.

Primo knew Santo was street-smart and cunning, with a black belt and little affection for his baby brother. It was a risk to stand up to Santo. Primo had stark memories of copping a beating off him on more than one occasion for the slightest transgressions.

‘Ad had someone shoot the bitch who caused him and Stella all that grief,’ Primo said without a hint of a smile. ‘He had her eliminated, her body dissolved in a vat of acid. Like in the old country, eh?’

Primo saw Tone’s face break into a wide grin behind Santo’s back. He willed Tone to stay silent.

‘Problem is, Stella’s found out and she’s not too pleased. Seems she wanted the slag’s head brought to her on a silver platter,’ Primo went on, staring fixedly at Santo. ‘You can see why Stella’s pissed, right? And Mum wasn’t too impressed, either.’

Santo snorted and slapped his hands together as though applauding a performance.

‘I like it,’ he said. ‘I don’t believe it, but I like it. Ad’s a gutless wonder and wouldn’t have the balls. He can’t even get his missus to take him back. Any
man
would of just walked in the house and shown his hand there and then.’

‘Well,’ Primo said and stepped away from Bambino, giving the car a final gentle pat. ‘That’s what I know, so –’

‘So, piss off, the two of youse,’ Santo cut in. ‘Go on, piss off.’ He waved both arms about, thrashing the air to hasten their exit.

When they were in the garden, the door to the garage slammed shut behind them and Tone said, ‘He’s a lunatic.’

Primo shook his head. ‘No, he’s no lunatic. But he
is
dangerous when cut.’

Tone nodded. ‘And people spread rumours about Dad having connections. Seems they don’t know Santo too well, eh?’

‘Some people know Santo too well,’ Primo said. ‘He’s Mum’s biggest failure, after Dad.’ He looked at Tone. ‘She’s told me so herself. He can smooth talk his way out of most things. What he doesn’t realise, Mum reckons, is that most things aren’t everything, and one day he’s going to be caught out.’

Adrian was by the back door, puffing furiously on a cigarette, staring at his feet when Primo and Tone approached.

‘Don’t think I can’t make Mum believe what you did with the dog,’ he said through clenched teeth, pointing the cigarette butt at Primo. ‘You’re both maggots. You and your stupid dead dog stunt.’

Primo didn’t hesitate in his stride. He brushed by his brother as though he wasn’t even there, Tone close behind him.

‘And don’t touch any of my stuff!’ Adrian called. ‘It’s packed the way I like it. I’ll move it when I’m good and ready.’

In the house faces moved across the flat screen TV in rapid-cut bursts, the resultant flickering light bombarding the empty spaces.

Adrian’s ‘stuff’ sat against one wall of the kitchen, stacked neatly.

‘Thanks for helping out with the door, Tone,’ Primo said. ‘I owe you one.’

‘One? Seems to me you owe me like a lot, eh, Prims. Alfie put a massive load of other work aside just to do this favour quickly for me.’

‘He did it because we handed over cash,’ Primo said simply.

‘Speaking of which, I’ll get you that two-fifty this afternoon.’

Primo shook his head. ‘Fifty. I owe you two hundred.’

‘Yeah, right, Prims,’ Tone said after a moment of awkward silence.

‘Hey, Prims, what if Ad manages to get your mum to believe that me and you put the dog there?’ Tone asked with concern. He took the can of Coke that Primo held out to him.

Primo didn’t answer.

Tone opened the can and took a long gulp, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and said, ‘You know I’m good as dead if my old man ever finds out. That’d be it as far as me running the shop, yeah. He just wouldn’t trust me, you know.’

Primo looked at his mate over the rim of the can he had lifted to his lips. He drank slowly, thinking.

It wasn’t just running the pizza shop that worried Tone. Primo knew Tone’s father well enough to know where his mate’s real concern was.

‘Yeah, it’d kill him, Prims,’ Tone said. ‘With all that shit whispered about how he’s some sort of underworld heavy.’ Tone let out a long slow breath. ‘He’s always hated that people think his business is a front for some shady stuff.’ Tone’s face tightened. ‘He wouldn’t cope too well with knowing what I did.’

‘We didn’t think it through,’ Primo admitted.

‘We?’

Primo frowned. ‘You didn’t exactly try talking me out of doing it. And if you hadn’t run it over, there wouldn’t have been any dog.’

Primo stopped and shook his head clear.

‘That was a stupid thing to say, Tone,’ he said, eager to claw back the comment. ‘The dog was my idea. It was just bad luck you’d run it over.’

Tone looked down, distractedly stubbing his foot into the concrete.

‘Hey, Tone,’ Primo said finally. ‘It’ll be okay. He won’t find out. Who’s going to believe Ad anyway after how he’s treated Stella and that Crystal, right?’

He dropped an arm over Tone’s shoulder and felt his friend relax. ‘You stuffed up trying to be loyal to a mate. That’s how it goes, yeah?’

Tone nodded gravely.

‘I’ve got homework to do, so piss off now, okay,’ Primo said with a forced smile.

‘Yeah, sure thing,’ Tony replied, his relief palpable. ‘I get it, yeah. Thanks, eh?’ He took a step then stopped, grinning over his shoulder. ‘Guess who’s coming for a ride in the Stiff Master?’ He winked. ‘I’ll have fries with that, eh?’

Primo smiled. ‘Good luck with that one, mate.’

When Tone left, Primo went to his room, shut the door behind him and lay face down on his bed. The world seemed to be crashing down on him.

There was no respite from the haunting image of the mangy carcass waiting silently in the dark to be discovered, a bloodied sign of pathetic desperation. And hours later, Primo’s school work continued to languish on his desk, academic success slipping further beyond his grasp.