America's King of Poetry

Chapter 13 Infinite Loyalty

Abramo opened his eyes and felt a chill on his face, someone splashed water on him to wake him up.

He fainted and leaned against the refrigerator door, and saw Arthur sitting on the sofa facing him. He clenched his fist in one hand and held a gun in the other, leaning against the back of the sofa in a very relaxed posture.

Abramo thought of his father, the violent sailor, who would sit on the sofa to rest like this after drinking.He clenched his fist in one hand and held a wine bottle in the other.

He may have just had a fight with his mother, who locked the door and cried in her room, while my father lay there half drunk and half awake.I thought he was asleep, but if there was any movement, he would open his mouth and call "Luka, come here."

In the eyes of young Luca, his father is as strong as a lion. He is an ocean sailor and has been to Africa—South Africa and Ghana, and Northern Europe—Norway and Iceland.A stocky man with rare gray-white hair, Luca inherited his father's hair and his mother's eyes.

One day, my father was lying on the sofa after drinking as usual, with his fist clenched in one hand and the bottle in the other.Luka cautiously leaned over, trying to take out the toy pistol that was pressed under his father's buttocks.He thought his father would wake up, call out "Luka," and wrap him in his boozy arms.

No result.

Luca's father, who was as strong as a lion, died on the sofa because of a myocardial infarction caused by alcoholism.Luca was 7 years old that year, and he had a sister who was 5 years older than her.Since then, his father has become a memory in Luca's mind, an image that often appears in his dreams and often wakes him up in his dreams.

"Father?" Abramo murmured, the dead Vera was still in his arms, and his clothes were stained red with blood.

Arthur got up from the sofa, walked forward, and said in a slightly weak and hoarse voice: "I'm not your father, but I can be your godfather." As he said, he stretched out his clenched left hand and approached Abramo.Abramo looked up at Arthur, who seemed extremely tall.His voice was weak but majestic, as undeniable as a father's order.

Abramo's hand was soaked in blood. He stretched out his hand tremblingly, pinched Arthur's little finger with his index finger and middle finger, leaned closer, and lowered his head to kiss on the knuckles.The blood on Abramo's hand stained Arthur's hand.

It was Vera's blood.

The stagnation in Arthur's chest and the churning feeling in his stomach finally disappeared. He let out a long sigh of relief and sat back on the sofa again. He felt a little tired and sleepy.

Russell and Abramo's two poems and spiritual links made Arthur feel a little regularity.The numbers on the cards are related to the so-called sequence. The higher the sequence, the greater the effort on Arthur.Arthur himself was Sequence 9, Russell was Sequence 8, he just felt dizzy; and Abramo was Sequence 7, which made Arthur vomit directly, unable to hear him finish.

However, Arthur felt much better when Abramo read the poem for the second time.He could feel that the sadness brought about by Vera's death eased the hindrance caused by the sequence difference.Or, death itself is a kind of sacrifice, through which Arthur and Abramo can touch each other.

For a moment, Arthur saw Abramo's father, the sailor who sat dead on the sofa.And Abramo became a child in his eyes, and that wonderful intimacy prompted Arthur to comfort him.

"Let's go?" Russell reminded.

He was the one who woke up Abramo by pouring water on him just now. He reminded Arthur that he must leave as soon as possible. The police will come later. Once he enters the scene, many things will be unclear.

Arthur nodded, got up from the sofa, looked around the messy living room, and the dead Vera.

He still underestimated the viciousness of the struggle between the gangs, and he didn't expect that another group of people would also want to kill Abramo.Moreover, the method used was quite ingenious. The killer was placed on the engineering maintenance vehicle, fired at the house from the window, and then drove away immediately.This car should be forged or modified. Anyway, in the United States, there are more cars than people.

This is enough to see that the person who wanted to kill Abramo spent a lot of money, but in the end it fell short.The killer did not expect that in addition to Abramo, there were two other killers in his home, reminding Abramo to let him escape.Of course, it is also possible that the killer knew about the existence of Arthur and Russell, but they did not expect that they did not kill Abramo.

Or, he wanted to kill Arthur and Russell as well.

Abramo had already got up from the ground. He arranged Vera's body, took a rag from the kitchen, and quickly wiped the place where fingerprints might have been stained.Arthur saw that he was very skilled in his movements, and he looked like an old hand.It's just that he's not a killer this time, he just doesn't want to be fingerprinted.

Then, Abu took off the blood-stained coat and underwear, took a new set from the hanger in the room, put on a new one, and packed the bloody clothes in a bag.Then put away all other clothes and belts related to him, and there will be nothing related to him in this apartment.

After cleaning up quickly, Abramo made a cross on Vera in the living room. The poor girl, he said softly, "I will kill the guy who does this, for sure, Vera."

"We'd better not go out through the main entrance, because we will be seen by many people. We are from... from the roof." Abramo is familiar with the lines near the apartments. The apartments here are connected to each other.They could run to the building next door and go down there without attracting attention.

Abramo and Russell took Arthur upstairs one after the other, opened the wooden door on the roof, the wind was blowing, followed by the faint sound of sirens, and the police were coming here.Arthur followed Abramo to the edge of the building, stepped over the fence, jumped over a distance of more than one meter, and reached the apartment building opposite.

But the door on the roof of the opposite building was locked, and Russell took out his gun and fired a shot at the lock, breaking the lock, and the door opened.Russell's pistol was equipped with a muffler, but the sound of the gun was still louder than Arthur had imagined. He couldn't help asking: "So the sound is so loud with the muffler installed? I thought it was the same as on TV, just a biu sound."

"The function of the muffler is more to prevent the gunshots from deafening your ears when used in the city, rather than to prevent other people from hearing them. The TV shows are all lies. Theirs are more like air guns, and powder guns will not be so quiet." Abramo answered Arthur's doubts.He is different from Russell. Abramo himself is a talkative person. After establishing the "link", he has an inexplicable urge to talk to Arthur.

His dead father, had been a very silent man.

If Arthur knew that he was being regarded as a father, he would definitely be very helpless. How could there be a son older than himself?But Russell and Abramo are both older than him, but they both call him godfather, which has nothing to do with age.

From the top of the building down to the first floor, some people have gathered downstairs in the red-walled apartment building.Shards of glass and window frames were strewn about, and the air still smelled of gunpowder.Abramo took Arthur and Russell and left through the side door. After opening the door, there was an alley. Abramo was going to drive his car. If the police came later and found the car of the black boss in Jersey here, he would inevitably be suspected.

Arthur told Abramo to drive to the parking lot of a nearby community hospital and wait for him there.

Arthur and Russell ran to the parking lot quickly, and Abramo followed him a minute later.The two got into Abramo's car. In the car, Abramo solemnly called Arthur "Godfather" and said, "I know everything."

"Have you ever died?" Arthur's first question left Abramo scratching his head.

Russell in the back seat rolled his eyes. It seemed that Arthur thought that the soul of every poker link was a resurrected person...

Abramo shook his head and said, "I don't understand what you mean, I... I'm still alive, I'm very glad, but Vera is dead."

Arthur knew that he was wrong, and asked again: "Then, how do you feel? After reading the poem just now?"

Abramo nodded, the expression on his face was full of joy, as if he had taken a stimulant, and said: "I feel, I feel that the missing part of my soul has been found. At that moment, I feel that I am complete. Those things that have troubled me, such as troubles, anxiety, and inexplicable depression, all disappeared. I saw my father. He passed away when I was very young. Drinking, having a heart attack, sitting on the sofa, and dying."

"You thought of your father?" Arthur said, thinking that he really regarded me as his father.

"Yes, yes..." Abramo held the steering wheel, but the smile on his face gradually froze.

Memories are surging in his mind, he is like a captain directing a ship to sail in the waves, avoiding hidden reefs and strong winds, hoping to reach the other shore.But where is the other side?The torrential rain obscured the line of sight until a ray of sunshine shone in, and the dark clouds gradually dissipated.

"Who was going to kill you just now?" Russell in the back seat couldn't listen to the nonsense of the two, and asked, this was what he was most concerned about.

Abramo's thinking was interrupted, and he said: "I don't know, but I guess...it's unlikely to be Gigendi or Masino, it may be...I need to verify it. Also, I'm going to pick up my daughter now, go home, and ensure the safety of the family. When things are settled together, I will confess everything, and then please allow you to accept my infinite loyalty."

As he said that, Abramo took out a note and a pen from the storage box, and wrote a phone number to Arthur, "This is my pager number. You can contact me if you need it. It is best to use a public phone. I will use a public phone to reply to you." Abramo was worried about being monitored by the police, so he was very cautious, and only used pagers and public phones to communicate with other people.

Arthur took the note, patted Abramo on the shoulder, and said, "I'm going to solve my problem now. See you later. There are many things waiting for us to do, Captain." Arthur realized that if Russell was the shield to protect him, then Abramo was his sword to expand the territory. From the moment he gained Abu's loyalty, his conquest in New York and the United States began.

The two got out of the car and left, and Abramo said goodbye to them, feeling extremely clear in his heart.

Sirens were already blaring all around, and the police had cordoned off the red-walled apartment, and they were always late.Abramo and Russell's car passed by the apartment without attracting any attention, and then parted ways at an intersection.

Abramo drove the car to the door of his mother's house. When he got out of the car, he took out a towel and wiped the blood on his hands.He was going to find a place to burn the bloody clothes and other clothes on the car.Walking to the door, Abramo knocked on the door, and his mother's voice came again, "Who is it?"

"Mom, it's me, Luca!"

"Today is so fast... wait a minute!"

After waiting for about a minute, the old lady opened the door, looked her up and down, and said in a strange voice, "Oh, what did you do again? Why did you change your clothes? Did you fall into a stinky ditch?"

Abramo ignored his mother's sarcasm and said, "Where's Paula? I'm done with my work and I'm going to take her back."

The old lady waved her hand and said, "When did you become a fast gunner?" Then she turned around and shouted into the room, "Paula! Paula! Baby, your father is here. He is anxious to take you away, and he doesn't want you to stay with me for a while."

"Wait a while~ I'll clean up and I'll be down right away!" Paula's voice came from upstairs, telling Abramo to wait for a while.

Abramo just stood opposite his mother at the door, and the old lady had no intention of inviting her son to come in and sit down.

Abramo looked at his elderly mother. Her youthful face had long since disappeared, leaving only ugly vertical and horizontal wrinkles and those wolf-like eyes. Looking at her regardless of her mother's identity, she was simply an old witch.

Abramo leaned on the door frame and suddenly asked, "Mom, how did Dad die that year?"

The old lady was taken aback by this sudden question, her eyelids twitched, and she frowned, "Why are you asking this? You know, alcoholism, heart disease."

Abramo stared at the old lady. The old lady's eyes flickered inexplicably. She felt that her son today was a little different from usual.He had never worn the clothes on his body, because Vera bought them for him, and he didn't wear them in front of his family.So there is a sense of strangeness.

"Mom, I remember that day, did Dad catch a cold? What medicine did you give him?"

The dark clouds shrouded in memory are gradually dissipating, more and more golden sunlight shines in, and the other shore is in front of us.

Hearing her son's words, the old lady shook her head repeatedly. She trembled and shook her hands and said, "I don't remember. What can I remember after so many years? After your father died, I have been a widow. I brought you and your sister up, and I worked three jobs at the same time! I paid for you and her to go to school, raised you up, and watched you get married. Now I am the only old woman left. You start to mention your father. That sailor, the alcoholic! Who raised you, who is it?"

At this time, there was a sound of going downstairs, Paula put on her clothes, packed her things and ran over.Seeing what her father and grandma were talking about, she stepped forward and whispered, "What's the matter, dad, why don't you let dad in, grandma?"

The old lady still squeezed out a few tears. She wiped the corners of her eyes, stepped forward and hugged Paula, "My little baby, your father doesn't want to come in. He is busy and never has a moment to spare. Letting him in is a waste of his time."

Abramo asked Paula to go to the car first, leaving him and his mother.After seeing Paula getting into the car, Abramo stared at his mother with the same wolf-like eyes, and leaned closer and said in a low voice: "Mom, after Dad died, I lived like a walking dead. You didn't fulfill your responsibilities as a wife and mother. I know why Dad drank alcohol. Today I am born again. I will not pursue the past, but I will not come to see you again, and neither will Paula. Goodbye, Mom."

Listening to her son's cold words, the old lady clutched the door frame tightly with her fingers, and said in a sharp voice from her throat, "You are like your father, a bastard who is not as good as a pig or a dog, bastard!" Then, she slammed the door shut without a sound.

Abramo stood at the door for a while before returning to the car. Paula looked at him with wide eyes and asked, "What's the matter, Dad?"

Abramo smiled slightly and said, "Say goodbye to grandma, and wish her good health, let's go home."

(End of this chapter)