Before you head this, have you read ‘This Has To Stop’
Paula drove aimlessly through the streets of Brooklyn, her father’s careless face etched into her mind.
“If the junkies on the street wanna get fucked up, then that’s on them.” The words echoed in her head, making her want to turn the car around, head back to the safehouse, and give him a piece of her mind.
It was like he didn’t even remember Ronnie.
Pulling over she shifted the car into park, the tears beginning to fall. He would have been thirty in a couple of months had it not been for his suicide.
Her heart slammed against her chest as she thought back to the bone-chilling scream of the maid ringing through the house. He’d just gotten home from rehab and seemed quite optimistic. The week before Pauly had been fussing over everything. Normally when they had a party, Pauly’d give the maids a budget and request lots and lots of alcohol but this was different. He was involved in everything from the budget to the appetizers. That was the first time Paula had ever seen her father in an apron.
When Ronnie got home his family, and a few friends, were there waiting with open arms. They had dinner and watched a movie before Ronnie’s friends decided to leave and give the LaVines some space.
That night Paula and her brothers spent all night up, talking and laughing with Ronnie. He seemed the happiest he’d been in a long time. And then the morning came.
Paula and her oldest brother, Leo, were in the living room, watching some shitty straight-to-TV movie when they heard their father scream. His cry shook the house and caused Paula and Leo to jump up and race up the stairs.
Being that he was six foot seven, Leo was upstairs long before Paula. Standing in the doorway, he blocked her from being able to go into her older brother’s room. She tried to move him but it was no use; Leo was a brick house.
“Paula go back downstairs.” He said, his voice cold and monotoned.
This chilled Paula to the bone. Leo was always a gentle giant. Much like his father, his voice never exceeded a certain volume except in the case of excitement or needing to be heard.
Normally she would have pressed on and fought to see what caused the blood-chilling scream from her father; But, she didn’t. Instead, she went downstairs and sat on the couch.
Back then Paula had a very active imagination; as she sat on the couch, her mind raced with horrible reasons as to what caused her father to cry out. She wanted more than anything to race up those stairs and figure out what was going on. But alas, she decided to listen to Leo and stay downstairs.
When the cops showed up, she knew it was over. Leo was halfway through medical school and was known to perform miracles with just a standard first aid kit. If this was bad enough to require the police, then Ronnie was a goner.
Paula held it together as the cops took Ronnie’s body away. She held it together as they lowered her second favorite brother’s casket into the ground.
A simple bummed knee cost him his life. He fought and slayed his addiction, only for it to come back bigger and stronger than before and claim his life. And now, after all the grief, after nearly dying from the heartbreak the death of his oldest son caused, Pauly was going to flood the streets with the same shit that got his son.
Paula felt sick.
Before she even knew what she was doing, she pulled out her phone and found Dani’s name. The phone rang twice before the other woman’s voice rang through the phone.
“Are you busy right now?” Paula asked.
If you had to guess, what do you think is going through Paula’s head right now? Who do you think Paula’s on the phone with? Tune in next week to find out. In other news, if you like this chapter, make sure to hit that star. You can support monetary the site by buying a cup of coffee. Or you can simply follow RBN on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
Thank you-Ceph
