Romeo of the Streets by Taylor Hill Read Free Book Online

to him that was a miracle that he wouldn’t let anyone destroy.
    “Not much to tell,” Romeo said, “the old guy fell down some stairs, he’s in hospital now.”
    Lana cocked her head, looking him up and down with a predatory grin on her shiny apple-red lips. “And you were the knight in shining armor, come to the rescue, were you? Romeo, Romeo—wherefore art thou Romeo?”
    “Give me a break.”
    “Keep it together Romeo, remember who she is. If you want to blow off some steam with a woman I’m sure something could be arranged… Not this one though, Sandra Guilianno’s off limits.”
    Romeo stared at her coolly. Yeah, he thought, I bet you’d like to “arrange” something like that Lana and guess what? It’s never going to happen.
    In the distance the shift bell at the rubber factory screeched icily into the night and Romeo looked at the gold-plated gangster-style watch on his wrist. “I have to go,” he said, “Keep it real Lana, I’ll see you around.”
    “Yeah, you too cutie,” Lana called after him as he climbed back into his vehicle.
    He started it up and drove away across the concrete wasteland, well aware that Lana was leaning against her own car in the background, watching him thoughtfully as he left.
     

 
     

     
     
    The next morning I was there at the hospital bright and early to see Gino wake up and, just like Romeo had said, I was well-rested and thinking clearly enough to face the uncomfortable conversation that awaited me once the initial pleasantries were out of the way. (I had to hand it to Mancini, if I had stayed there all night like I’d wanted to I would have been a zombie by now, while Gino slept like a bonny Italian babe all through the night. I guess Lou’s new friend must have had a lot of experience hanging around hospitals at a time when all decent folk should be in bed and, truthfully, I couldn’t figure out why that alarming fact seemed almost attractive to me now, rather than repellant.)
    “Ok Miss Guilianno, you can see him now,” the nurse said and opened the door to Gino’s room to allow me to enter.
    “Thank you,” I smiled, rubbing the sleep out of my eyelids from behind my glasses as I stood up. “How is he?”
    “See for yourself,” she smiled and I stepped tentatively into the room.
    The room was lit by three big windows, through which the bright early-morning sun shone in a way that caused the clinically-white walls and floor to almost sparkle in reflection. Gino was in the second bed from the far wall, sitting up with a tray placed over him with his breakfast on it. In his gown he looked impossibly frail, but his face when he turned to greet me, thankfully, was as lively and animated as it ever was.
    “Sandra, my girl!” he said, “my savior, no?”
    Don’t get me wrong, I was delighted to see him smiling, but considering the gravity of the situation I couldn’t help but feel a little surprised at his good cheer. Sometimes it seemed like all the men in my life lived their own ones almost entirely free from responsibility, while I, with each new mistake they made, took on more and more every day.
    “Well,” I smiled, “Romeo was the savior. I just found you. He was the one who saved us.”
    “Romeo, eh?” Gino nodded, a crafty twinkle entering his eye, “Lou’s friend? The tough guy? Well I’ll have to thank him, but maybe you can do it for me—you’ll be seeing him first, no?”
    “I don’t know Gino,” I said, trying to brush him off, “he’s Lou’s friend.” I knew exactly what the old coot was getting at and I wasn’t having any of it. It was bad enough not knowing how I felt inside myself, without other people pushing him on me on the outside too.
    “Eh,” Gino shrugged, “you young ones act like you’ll have forever to make up your mind about these things. You never realize what you stand to miss by waiting too long. Trust me Sandra, I know…”
    I stared at him closely, a mixture of love and frustration welling up in