Man of the House(112)

“A lot of guns,” I commented. “Not that weird though, since we’re supposed to be in a war.”

“We?” she asked.

“You, whatever.”

She shrugged at me. “Just wait.”

I sighed, a little frustrated. Louisa wasn’t the best conversationalist in the world, and so we sat there in silence just watching the road. I didn’t know what I was looking for, but I figured I’d know it when I saw it.

After a few minutes of waiting, I caught sight of a large semi-truck coming down the road. It slowed and turned up toward the compound’s gates. All of the men down there were suddenly on high alert, their guns pointed and ready.

“What’s happening?” I asked.

“Watch.”

“Is this normal?”

She shushed me, and so I watched as the truck pulled up to the gate. It stopped, and for a second, nothing happened.

It was a tense second. The men with guns stared and the truck simply sat there, unmoving. Finally, the driver’s door opened and a man climbed out. I couldn’t see him from this distance, but quickly the Italians swarmed him, pulling him aside.

What happened next happened fast. The Italians tore through that truck, checking every single inch of it. They went through the back, the front, the bottom, the top, every single inch of it. Meanwhile, the driver just stood there and watched passively, smoking a cigarette.

“So it’s a shipment,” I said. “I bet the mansion gets them every day.”

“Not just any shipment,” Louisa said.

“What’s in it?”

“You’ll see.”

“Why are you being so mysterious?”

She stared at me. “Because I want you to see and to understand.”

“Okay,” I said softly. Louisa was strangely intense.

Although then again, she was always strange and intense. Right now she was just being both at the same time.

Finally, the men finished searching the truck. Someone got up front and began to drive it up the road while the driver simply began to walk away.

The men let him go. He got to the main road and just kept walking, eventually disappearing from sight.

“Come on,” Lou said.

She quickly started walking back the way we’d come, but this time going the long way. We followed the tree line toward the mansion, not walking out in the open. Up ahead, I watched the truck pull around toward the back of the building, and I knew where Lou was taking me.

A few minutes later, we were crouched not far away from the truck. I watched them slowly unload the contents without any comment.

The truck was full of guns. Lots of guns. And not the sort of guns you could buy at some store, but military-looking guns. Serious firepower was being unloaded from the truck, thousands and thousands of dollars worth of guns and ammunition and who knew what else. Most of it was packed away in crates, but it was clear what was inside.

After a few minutes of watching, suddenly my heart skipped a beat. Rafa and Vince appeared from inside and began giving orders, inspecting the goods.

Vince. He was involved with this gun thing. These guns must be for the war, for killing my family members. I felt anger welling up in my chest.

“Why are you showing me this?” I asked Louisa.

“You should see it.”

“But why?” I snapped. “What does this prove?”

“You should understand what’s happening.”

“I get it. There’s a war.”

She pointed. “Those guns are meant to kill your family, and they might get my family killed. I want you to see it.”

“And do what?” I asked her, angry. “I can’t do a thing about this.”

“No, you can’t.”

“You want me to turn myself in to my family? I won’t do that.”

“I know that.”

“Then what do you want?”

She stared at me. “I want you to see.”

Before I could yell at her some more, she turned and simply walked away.

I stared at her back as she slowly disappeared behind some buildings, frustration running through my chest. I had no clue what she wanted or what her motives were, but there was nothing I could do. I couldn’t control my family, much less the Italians. I couldn’t stop them from killing each other, and showing me those guns did nothing but upset me.

I’d thought Lou was my friend. I’d thought she was on my side. But that was stupid. All of these people were my enemies in some way or another. Nat had warned me that people were angry with me, but I had never imagined Louisa would be one of those people.

But Lou didn’t seem like the type to purposefully try to hurt someone.

None of it made sense, and it only hurt me to see Vince unloading those guns and checking them, probably imagining himself killing my family members.