Chapter Fifty One
What Goes Around Comes Around
The limo drove off in ferocious speed, as it drove Virginia tried to remain calm as Angel, but given that she held his hand so tightly it only made it apparent that she was scared.
“Israel why are you doing this? I am your brother….why? How could this not be over?”
There was no response following Angel’s comment, he closed the internal window that separated the front area from the back, and it wasn’t what his reply would have been what was scary, but his utter and complete silence. A person with so much rage and toxic venom inside as Israel is a terrifying thing to imagine, but what might be brewing in the subconscious and not verbally expressed is worse.
“Angel I thought you said he was locked in an insane asylum….how did he…?”
“I don’t know, I don’t understand ….maybe he escaped? Or got released…”
“that’s not possible! He tried to commit a murder, how can he be released….Angel I am so scared, why is this happening to us on our wedding day?”
- Virginia mumbled about to break down in an attack of hysteria
“Everything’s going to be ok, I’ll protect you no matter what….he won’t hurt you, and I’m sure it’s me the one he wants…”
“He probably still harbors resentment for the failure of our marriage and blames you…..God this is all my fault, I never should have initiated anything with him”
Angels cell phone rings, he reaches his tuxedo jacket to get it….
The window rolls down,
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you…..” Israel warns with a grin on his face, visible by the reflection on the overhead mirror on top of him
“if I don’t pick this up, people will begin to wonder where we are….Israel we just got married, we have a flight to catch, people will suspect if I don’t pick up…”
Very intelligently, Angel tries to find a way to talk on the phone and ask for help
- “you know what, you are actually right buddy, why don’t you pick up….Ooh and please put it on speaker phone so that we can all hear the boring conversation, and please follow my instructions, or ill have to blow your wives fucking brains out….Capiche?”
Angel pressed the speaker phone button and picked up the call,
“Hello…” Angel answers
“Ooh, and by the way, please don’t try to send any funny text messages crying for help” Israel adds.
“Angel my friend how are you?” the mysterious voice on the other end asks, obviously a man, with a recognizable accent
“Who is this?” Angel asks with no clue as to who that could be
“You forgot about me already my friend? Well don’t worry I have not forgotten about you”
Angel looked at Virginia perplexed and puzzled, she was just as clueless as he was…
“Time is up” Israel shouts from the front seat, discretely
Suddenly a baby starts crying in the background of the other end of the phone…
It sounded familiar
“you know Angel, she truly is a beauty….just like her mother….so funny, I often thought she would have my color………”
It was at this point that Angel realized who it was.
Added to the stress and the worry of being kidnapped by Israel headed to an unknown destination, now Flora was in the hands of her dangerous biological father.
In the background it was notable that he was in an airport
“FLIGHT 213 WILL BE BOARDING IN 45 MINUTES” a voice said
“You know Angel, I really want to thank you for taking care of my child, but she’s with her real daddy now, so I relieve you off your duties…”
“Bomani WAIT!!!!!”
And the connection is broken after Bomani hangs up
“wow, tonight really isn’t your night buddy, your losing your wife and your daughter ….and both on your wedding day….its sublimely poetic don’t you think?’ Israel implies with venomous malice, even joy.
It was at this moment that Angel was about to break down and lose control, his facial expression conveyed anger and fear as well as Virginia who know feared for Flora’s life.
Suddenly it began to pour, the skies had been cloudy all day with signs that it may rain, now at almost 12 midnight it began to pour and rain uncontrollably
“Israel where are you taking us?” Virginia asks no longer masquerading her fear
“Patience my gorgeous blond, we are almost there….ever been to the Bronx?”.
The car parked right in front of a very quiet low class neighborhood, in front of an abandoned building under construction.
Everything was a blur, how had Israel escaped? How did Bomani get released from jail? Is Fabio alive, or was he heart in a struggle to protect Flora?
So many questions, and all Angel had was a black strip of thoughts in his head.
He held Virginia’s hand tight, tears of fear ran down her cheeks, her hand was shaking, her palms sweaty. Israel opened the door with the gun pointed at Virginia…
“don’t even try anything or I’ll blow your head off”
Virginia got out, her dress got immediately wet by the intense fall of the rain,
Angel followed after them while Israel walked towards the abandoned building with the gun pointed at Virginia. The abandoned building had broken windows and the only light was provided by a few lit light bulbs, Israel walked behind Angel and Virginia with the pointed gun and ordered them to go up the stairs up to the fourth floor.
Virginia and Angel, both holding hands stood by the corner.
“Israel, our daughter is in danger, whatever vendetta you have against us can be repaid later, but please let us go….the life of an innocent child is in the hands of a criminal”
I pleaded to Israel
“if compassion and over sentimentalism were my strongest traits I don’t think I would be here” he replied, then he added
“Listen closely, I don’t give a fuck about your child, I only care about making you both pay for humiliating me….”
“what are you tal…” Virginia cuts in about to lose control
“don’t talk unless you’re spoken to you common whore!!!! You distasteful slut!! You fucking concubine!!! Telling me our marriage couldn’t work because you were still in love with this fucking fag!”
“why are you still holding resentment for something that happened years ago….Israel I’m sorry, I was as honest as I possibly could be, you didn’t deserve to be lied to…I never meant to hurt you”
“you are just like mother! YOU PREFERED HIM OVER ME!”
“Israel ….please…this is irrational, I know deep down inside a part of you knows that’s not true…mother loved us both, equally” I replied in an attempt to remind Israel of our past with mother
“You fucking sinner…..how can you stand in an altar of God, how can you stand in a church marrying a woman when all your fucking life you’ve been sucking cock!”
Israel took his gun and pointed it at Angel
“well if sucking is your thing…here…suck on this...” Israel placed the gun on Angel mouth
“open your fucking mouth!!!”
He screamed, the veins around his forehead and his neck were popping out and his eyes were like that of a bull ready to slay his prey.
Meanwhile time was running out, for Bomani was still in the airport with Flora.
As to how this was legally possible, is something that is not present in Angels and Virginias heads.
The rain continued to fall, the full moon’s light was enough to illuminate the sky, everyone at the ceremony was wondering where the bride and groom were.
Israel had his hostages while Bomani had his, the power of three was about to get reduced. That’s the thing about karma, you can’t escape it, that’s the thing about lessons, they show up unannounced simply ready to test you in every single way.
Just when you think it’s over, it seems to just be the beginning.
Though Angel and Virginia had love for one another they were unaware that their actions would eventually catch up to them, now with common enemies who had the sole purpose of destroying them they have but each other to simply make it to the end…….the thing is, this time is not about them anymore, there is an innocent life at stake, a pure soul that just entered this world with no fault for the mistakes of their parents, Flora, but what mistakes had her mother made that this child was paying the price? And then it’s easy to see that despite the difficulties that life presents us it is always confusion and misunderstandings that make it all worse.
The rain continued to fall, the hours of the night passed by one by one, and the lives of many were at stake.
Angel knew there was little time left, his daughter was in danger and somehow he had to protect her, but how?
“Israel, you know the one you want is me, let her go and do with me whatever it is you want…you have me here already, kill me and this can be over”
“and let her walk away to alert the cops? You just don’t fucking get it do you!”
“Israel she had done nothing wrong, please just…”
“Nothing wrong you say? -
So marrying me to get over you and divorcing me because she still loved you was not wrong?”
Virginia pleads for forgiveness…..
“you really think I’m crazy don’t you? You still don’t get it….when we were in that roof and I was about to shoot you and that fucking fagot, I knew I had no way out, I was surrounded….how else was I supposed to avoid jail if not by pleading insanity….so I made sure I put up an act that showcased what a nut job I was and there, I got an out of jail card” Israel laughs
“True it was hard…and it did require too much patience, but I’d knew I’d be worth the wait.”
I knew time was being wasted, and that every minute gone was an advantageous opportunity for Bomani to run away with Flora. I made Kathleen a promise, that I would protect that child’s life with my very own…and if I die trying then so be it.
“First with mother, then with Virginia, and you couldn’t stop there, you had to have Fabio too!! Dear brother, if I were as crazy as you think I am I would hot have been so elaborate in my escape, difficult but I managed”
Sirens began to make themselves noticeable, suddenly Israel and both of us hostages were able to see through the window that a troop of cop cars were waiting, Israel looked terrified feeling his time was up, that’s the thing about a psycho in the middle of a manic episode, their work is sloppy and their trail are marked for a chase.
“even if they kill me or take me to jail I’m not leaving without dragging you both with me…I would have accomplished my mission” Israel states continuing with malice and venom, with a tone of hate and anger
“how could you have so much hate in your soul? How? You had every opportunity to make of your life whatever you wanted from it, how could you let it sink to this? You are drowning in a mess of a life Israel, why?”
Angel looked at his brother, this time without pity nor anger nor fear, but with genuine sadness that a soul so close to him had sunk so low….
“you are my mother’s son, even at times like this I can’t possible hate you” he tells Israel
“I want so bad to help you brother, let me help you please, there is still time”
Israel’s eyes begin to get watery, his facial expression showed much confusion and his eyes only looked like that of a lost soul
“you, you had it all…you had it all…..NOT ME!!”
“you’re wrong Israel, I had nothing, I was no one, it was all apparent that I was happy but inside I was empty, you have no idea the price that I had to pay to be here today. I guarantee you that whatever I did to you, my debt has been paid, If you knew the lessons life had to teach me for me to change maybe you wouldn’t hate me so much Israel”
Somehow Angel’s words were penetrating Israel, Angel noticed so he continued…
“you want to make me suffer…..well take your pick- I‘ve suffered enough for one life time, I got hit by a truck, I almost died, I got diagnosed with a terminal disease that will eventually and slowly deteriorate me, I had to engage in clandestine affairs that were slowly destroying me inside trying to fill the loneliness and lack of purpose in my soul-only to find true love now after so many years and loose it to you along with my daughter? I lost my best friend whom I had to watch slowly die and now I’m responsible for a life, I was homeless until I was luckily rescued and every day is a new challenge that life presents, a life I had to learn on my own how to get ahead because that family name we once possessed is nothing now, that fortune we were heir to dissolved into air, and all though life gets complicated I don’t fill my soul up with hate and anger, you know what I do instead? I pray, I look to God for guidance, I seek forgiveness, I try with every fiber of my being to change into a better person…..and you think I took something from you? You tell me now what have I taken that leaves me indebted to you?”
Israel stood there, silently looking at Angel, a tear dropped from his left eye, he lowered his gun and looked at Angel
“How could you not hate me? I tried to kill you before, I ruined your wedding day and all through our childhood I mistreated you and made your life miserable….even before you were born I hated you, I’ve drowned in a poisonous pool of envy… how can you stand there telling me you don’t hate me?”
I simply looked at him straight in the eye
“because even though it took me a very long time to understand it, hate and anger are not the way….” I turn to Virginia and grab her hand
“…love is”
Israel broke down and cried, he kneeled on the floor and released the gun, he looked at Angel and felt embarrassed and ashamed, he then got up and ran down the stairs leaving Virginia and Angel in the empty room and when he go to the main entrance and witnessed all those cops waiting for him he walked two steps forward and gave himself in. Virginia and Angel witnessed from the window when Israel was taken inside of the police vehicle cuffed, the commissioner went up to the room where Angel and Virginia were taken hostage and informed them Israel had confessed to everything. Virginia hugged her husband.
“your brother, he’s not…well…..he’ll be facing charges for attempted murder, kidnapping, assault and escaping, will all those charges he’s looking at life in prison”
Said the commissioner
“yes he’s not well, but in the end he did the right thing, will he receive any kind of help…psychologically I mean?” I ask
“we can look into that sir” the commissioner replied
“our daughter is kidnapped in JFK airport, please we have to rescue her we have to go now!” Virginia pleaded, and the commissioner took them himself to the airport in his car.
The commissioner had cops all over the airport, off coarse Bomani was wise to have a private jet waiting for him to leave with Flora, luckily right before Bomani boarded the jet the commissioner pulled up with his vehicle in front of the jet, Bomani turned around at the officers demand and took a few steps down from the ladder that was ascending him to the jet, he had Flora in his arms, she cried and cried so loud everyone could hear her, I got out of the car and ran to Bomani
“give her to me, you’re surrounded what’s the point?”
Bomani looked at me, still in the ladder with Virginia by the commissioner who had his gun pointed at Bomani as well as 10 other police officers who surrounded the jet.
By now it was already 6am. The sun was almost out and the cloak of night was gone.
“She is mine!!! My blood runs through her veins, NOT YOURS!” Bomani screams to me like a desperate man longing to be heard
“it may be your blood in her veins, but it was her mother’s last wish that I take care of her…. look at you, you’re a criminal and you want to raise this child?”
And Bomani laughs
“raise her? I don’t want to raise her you fool, I can care less for this baby, but since Kathleen is not here herself to pay for what she did to me then her daughter will!”
“what has she done to you? It was you who lied, it was you who used her to steal medicine and sell it in the black market it was you who…”
“IT WAS ME WHO SHE THREW IN PRISON!!!”
“what?” I reply stunned and shocked
“years ago when she was a defense attorney in court, it was me in the opposite side of the courtroom….it was me who went to jail because of her”
“all this time you….you….”
“all this time she had no idea who I was, cleaned up with a different name and a different job in another setting she never recognized me, she never realized I was that negro she put away….you know Angel, prison did teach me a thing or two….and it surely didn’t help having so much time to myself to feed this desire for vengeance”
I looked at him with astonishment, fear, and wondered how I would take Flora from him without hurting her, at this point I was no longer dealing with a psycho in the middle of a break down like my brother, a sloppy fool with so much hate it was self destructive and blinding, this man however, was not sloppy….on the contrary he was skillful and intelligent, truly terrifying and even worse…justifiably and understandingly in his own right to be so angry…unfortunately my focus was placed in saving my daughter from this mad man not psycho analyze him…I also noticed this surrounding was far more advantageous than the previous one for I was backed up by the cops, I had an opportunity to save Flora and I would use it wisely….if only I figured out how…
“every day in that prison cell I swore she would pay and when I was given a second trial I appealed and was released, but I swore that woman would pay and now she will”
“this is your daughter we are talking about here, you said it yourself YOUR own blood, how can you be so cold towards an innocent child, Kathleen is already dead LET HER REST IN PEACE!!!”
“step away from the jet” the cops warned Bomani
Bomani wouldn’t listen and turned around, quickly one of the cops shot his leg counting on me to rescue Flora in a quick move.
Bomani almost fell, but I was able to grab Flora preventing a fall from Bomani’s arm, Bomani fell to his demise on the steps.
He thought he had a chance to escape as he crawled to the door of the plane, he realized he was surrounded but wanted to try and get away any ways.
Virginia ran to me and held me while I carried baby Flora who repeatedly cried, I looked at the sky
“Thank you for saving her God, Thank you”
Virginia cried,
They were finally saved. The danger was over.
But it would take time to heal from such a traumatic experience; luckily they now truly have each other to move forward and all the time in the world to do so.
It was a miracle Bomani did not succeed in taking little Flora away, as well as it was that Israel came to his senses at the very last moment and realized he was making an irreversible mistake.
They say that what goes around comes around, they say that the mistakes we make in life eventually catch up to us, they say that in previous lives we did things that we are paying for now in this life.
I had learned long ago what karma is, it comes back to you and reclaims payment and that our actions have an equal or opposite reaction, that the result is a consequence that forces us to look back and make us realize we did it all wrong.
I always knew Kathleen was ambitious, I always knew she had a streak to win and never look back and I always knew she had the cold heart to overcome any obstacle that laid in front of her even if that implied destroying others in order for her to get ahead.
After all this was over I learned Bomani’s hate had to originate from somewhere and so I researched Kathleen’s old files in her home, old newspaper articles from that case, and I when I found the truth I was shocked.
Bomani was an innocent man Kathleen sent to jail for the sole purpose of not losing a case. Now I understand her sudden desire to leave her career behind, for how could she be happy after what she did? The guilt was slowly killing her inside.
She was a good woman.
She was my best friend.
And regardless of her mistakes I will always love her.
Her mistake however, almost cost Flora’s life. Her mistake almost cost me my life.
I needed to make amends with Bomani. He was a crazy man, but I knew that all Kathleen did was awaken his dark side by making sure he rotted in a prison cell.
As to whether she intentionally wanted his destruction, or simply did it because it was her ‘job’ to do so we’ll never know.
I understand now why she didn’t want to be in Africa, for she saw the face of the man she help put away in every person there.
It was not fear for her life that plagued her and tormented her,
But guilt.
One thing I did know, and that was that I was ready to leave New York once and for all with my family.
What goes around does indeed come around; unfortunately it doesn’t always come back to us, even worse….
It comes to prey on the people we love most.