Matilda

Chapter 1: “Please, open the door.”

Jackie Flannery climbed the steps of his apartment building, a cigarette in one hand and a brown bag wrapped bottle of whiskey in the other. Reaching his floor, he walked past a young girl as she hid the cigarette she had been smoking, without a second glance. He had seen her many times in the hallways and in the store downstairs just beside the building but he didn’t know her name for sure, not that he really cared, but he thought it was Matilda. He had even bought some shit from her father one time. He admitted she was cute. But she was 17. 'Jail bait.' Jackie said to himself. Plus he pretty sure she was Italian. The boys would have his nuts in a clamp if they found out he was making it with an Italian chick.

She glanced at him while he walked by. “Hi.” she said quietly, looking at him.

He turned to her. “Why did you hide the cigarette?” he asked curiously.

“This building is full of rats. I don’t want my old man to find out. I‘ve got enough problems.” she said, leaning back on her hands and swinging her legs over the edge of the hallway balcony.

Jackie furrowed his brow and looked closer at the girl, seeing a large bruise on her temple. She turned her head a bit, successfully hiding the bruising with her hair.

“What happened?” Jackie asked, even though he already knew the answer.

The girl and her family lived right in the apartment next to his and he heard her father constantly yelling and hitting someone. But that’s how it was in this part of the city. No one ever did anything to help another for their own safety. They stayed in their groups. It was a rare occasion that they did something for someone outside the group.

“I fell off my bike.” she said after a moment. Jackie looked down, then began walking towards his apartment again. “Hey,” she called after him. He turned around to face her. “Don’t tell my dad about the cigarette, okay?”

Jackie watched her as she picked it up again, then turned and walked to his apartment. Taking out his keys, he unlocked it as her apartment door open and a man in a tan suit walked out, listening to music. Inside he could hear two men talking; one angry, the other frantic. Matilda threw the cigarette over the edge, pulled out a pop and watched. He closed the door behind him with one last look at Matilda. Locking his door, he looked through his peep-hole and watched as two other men came out. He listened to them talk. Apparently he was just a holder for the shit he had been selling. Jackie shook his head and took a swig of his whiskey. He knew this wasn’t going to end well. The two men walked away, past Matilda and down the steps. Her father followed them over to where Matilda was, yelling down at them telling them to find out who cut their shit themselves, but Jackie knew as well as the other two men, that it had been Matilda’s father.

He looked down at Matilda and kicked her leg. He couldn’t hear what he was saying as he wasn’t yelling anymore. Matilda looked up at him and said something. Her father slapped her across the face and pointed at their apartment. Matilda stood up and ran into the apartment, slamming the door behind her.

“Stupid fuck.” he mumbled, then walked away from his door, taking another drink.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The next morning he woke up to yelling coming from Matilda’s apartment. He heard the sound of running footsteps and then the sound of a small yelp and the sound of someone being hit. There was a muffled ‘fucking bitch’, which Jackie assumed was Matilda’s sister hitting her again, then it was quiet.

He got dressed, ready to make a pick up today for his brother Frankie, grabbed his keys, gun, and bottle of whiskey, then walked out of the apartment. Walking past Matilda’s place, he stopped when he heard her father yelling at her again. He shook his head and broke into the whiskey early, then continued on his way.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Jackie was walking up the steps to his apartment when he saw Matilda again. She was standing at the railing, holding a hand under her nose and sniffing. He noticed blood dripping from between her fingers and he handed her a cloth napkin that he had always kept with him. She took it quiet, revealing the split lip, bloody nose and bruise.

“Is life always this hard?” she asked quietly, looking at him. “Or just when you’re a kid?”

Jackie stared at her a moment before answering. “Always like this.” he said, thinking about life in that part of New York. “Keep it.” he said, motioning towards the handkerchief.

“Hey.” she said as he started walking away. He looked back at her. “I’m going grocery shopping. You need anything?”

Jackie thought for a moment. There were some things, but she was too young to get most of them. “Just some milk.” he said finally. She smiled and started towards the stairs. “Thanks.” he called out and she waved a hand without looking back.

He watched her walk down the steps, a small smile on her face. 'Jail bait indeed, Jackie.' He thought to himself. He shook his head a bit and unlocked his door. Closing it behind him, he fell back into his chair, taking a large gulp of the beer he had grabbed from the kitchen. Grabbing his cleaning kit he sat up and began cleaning his gun, when he heard talking out in the hall. He reassembled his gun and walked over to his door, locking it just in case. He looked through his peep-hole to see the two same men from yesterday, only now they had more guys with them.

“Do you like Beethoven?” asked the man in the tan suit.

“I couldn’t really say.” said the other man that was there yesterday.

The man in suit took a large shot gun from him and cocked it. He shot the door handle and kicked the door open, waving one of his index fingers in the hair and walked into the apartment. He winced a bit when he heard Matilda’s sister screaming for her father and then the sound of the shot gun over and over again until it was quiet. He watched as more men walk into the apartment, leaving one to stand as look out. There were more gun shots and yells, then it was quiet again. The two men from last night started to exit the apartment but the look-out fired, drawing swears and yells from one of the men. The look out aimed his gun at the ceiling and the two men entered the hallway.

He watched the man in the black leather get a cigarette and hold it out for the man in the tan suit. He took it between his lips and the other man lit it for him. Going back inside, the look-out returned to the hallway. Jackie’s breath hitched in his throat when he saw Matilda turn the corner. He saw her face darken as she reached her apartment, but she kept walking. She closed her eyes as tears starting forcing their way out and rang his door bell. Jackie licked his lips. Why did she have to come to his door? She rang it again.

“Please. Please, open the door.” she said, trying to hold back her crying.

The look-out watched her, waiting to see if someone would open the door. The second time she rang the door bell, he pulled out his gun. Jackie licked his lips and looked down at the floor, resting his head against the door. The door bell rang again and he heard a soft, “Please…” as the tears started taking over. Could he open his door to an Italian? He heard footsteps and he looked through the peep-hole to see the look-out making his way over.

“Son of a bitch.” he said under his breath and unlocked the door, pulling it open.

He stepped aside and Matilda had to stop herself from running in. Closing the door he stared at the look-out, then locked the door once more. He turned to see that Matilda had leaned against a wall for support, trying to control her breathing. The shopping she had been holding had been forgotton on the counter.

“He was four years old…” she whispered, staring at the floor.

“Who?”

Matilda looked at him, tears staining her face. “My brother. He was four years old! What the fuck did he ever do!” She yelled. “He never used to cry! He’d just sit with me and cuddle! What the fuck did he ever do!”

Jackie watched her, unsure of what to do as she started crying harder and slid down the wall. She brought her knees to her chest and held her head in her hands, her elbows propped on her knees. He hated this. He never knew what to do when a girl cried. They never cried around him. And if they looked like they were about to, he’d walk away. He sighed, his shoulders slumping. He couldn’t walk away from Matilda. She’d just lost her entire family, which he knew she hated, so she must just be crying about her little brother. His fists tightened at his side. Yeah, he’s killed before, but why the fuck would you kill a four year old? It’s sick!

Walking over to her, he gently pulled her up and tensed when she threw her arms around his torso, burying her face in his chest. He looked around, wondering what to do with the crying girl. Sighing, he walked her over to the couch and sat her down. Taking a swig of whiskey from the bottle on the coffee table, Jackie went back to the door and watched as the men left the apartment.

Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair and turned to look at the girl on his couch, who was hugging herself and staring at the floor with watery eyes. He ran his hand through his hair again and let out a deep breath. 'Now what?' He thought.