Chapter 5 - Victor's Version
Victor came to his father's apartment at seven with takeout noodles and the steady confidence of a son who had gotten away with trouble all his life.
“You look terrible,” he told Sal.
“You blocked Ben's truck.”
Victor set the bag down. “The guy refused a favor and started shouting about police. I had to show him that choices have consequences.”
“You had to show him?”
“Don't make me the only bad guy. This used to be your business.”
That landed. Sal had spent decades using men like Victor to keep awkward conversations away from his own polished shoes. He'd learned to call intimidation leverage. He'd learned to sleep through it.
“Let the truck go,” Sal said.
“That's your answer to everything now? Nora comes back for one night, and suddenly you're a saint?”
“She didn't come back. You forced her to come.”
Victor's face changed. Not guilt exactly. An old grievance finally uncovered.
“She gets to leave, marry a mechanic, and tell everybody we're monsters. I stay here, keep the place running, clean up your messes, and I'm the one you look at like a criminal.”
Sal had no quick answer because parts of it were true. When Nora stopped taking his calls, he'd depended on Victor even more. He'd told himself his son wanted the responsibility.
“Ben isn't a lesson,” Sal said. “His truck is how he earns a living.”
“Then he should have thought of that before he refused.”
Sal pushed the untouched noodles aside. “Release it by noon tomorrow.”
Victor stood. “You can call whoever you want. The gate won't open on a verbal order. The security company has a contract, and the truck's listed under a dispute. It's going to take a paper trail.”
“You wrote the paper trail.”
“Yeah. Because you taught me to.”
When Victor left, Sal stayed at the table until the food was cold. He could call his lawyer and fight his own son's paperwork. He could buy Ben a new truck. Neither would undo what Rosie had seen.
He called Nora instead.
“I can pay for the damage,” he said.
“I'm not asking you to buy my family's silence.”
“That's not what I meant.”
“Then help us get his truck back without making another threat.”
May you like
He agreed. When the call ended, he realized he didn't yet know how to do it.
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