A Sin For A Sin

"I feel like a prisoner! You won't even let me go get the mail!" I yell at John.

"You're impossible! I'm trying to keep you safe." he yells back. We're standing in the kitchen. Dom is in between us, lounging against the counter, eyes going back and forth like he's watching a tennis match. The fight started over a snarky comment John made over not having any clothes because I've been borrowing them and me going over the edge because he won't let me go home to get my own clothes.

"You don't get it. I sit in this fucking dungeon of a house all day doing nothing. I'm going crazy here!"

"I understand you're restless, but I can't have you running around town with a crazy murderer out there who would kill you without thinking. Think about your own safety."

"If I stay in this house one more minute, I'll be thinking about your safety, or lack there of." I snap. He rolls his eyes.

"I've gotta go to work. We'll discuss this when I get home. Once you've calmed down and can think rationally." he says, stomping to the front door. I follow him.

"Don't you dare treat me like a child."

"Stop acting like one then." he slams the door behind him and I throw the deadbolt.

"That went well." Dom says when I re enter the kitchen.

"Shut up."

"He was right you know, you are a child." I glare at him, then pour myself a cup of coffee and stomp into John's bedroom and slam the door behind me, just to reaffirm what a mature adult I am.

I sit on the edge of John's bed and sip my coffee, trying to calm down enough to take a shower. Once I've showered, I feel a lot calmer, but still pissed off. I put on my only pair of shorts and a white tank top of John's, than top it off with a black hoodie of mine. I pull my blonde hair into a pony tail and then do my makeup in the bathroom. Just for added measure, I make the bed and clean up the dirty clothes that have been accumulating on the floor and put them in a laundry basket. When I'm done, I carry the laundry basket out to the living room and find Dom isn't there. I listen careful and hear the shower running in the second bathroom down the hall. A menacing lightbulb goes off in my head and I set the laundry basket down in John's bedroom and close the door. I quickly put on my flip flops and grab Dom's keys from the kitchen counter and quietly slip out the door. The dog is laying in front of it's house in the front yard, but doesn't make any movement when it sees me. I run to the garage and slip inside the side door. It takes me five seconds to find the garage door opener and as the door goes up I pray Dom is still in the shower. I get in his car and roll the engine over and slowly back out. I put the garage door down and quickly peel out of the driveway and speed away from the house. My heart is beating like crazy as I look over my shoulder at the house.

Once I'm far enough away from the house, I start to feel more confident... and hungry. I pull into McDonald's and order two breakfast sandwiches, a hash brown and a smoothie, then proceed to eat it all in the parking lot. It's noon by the time I've read a paper and put gas in the car. I do a drive by of the police station and then Frank's house, my parent's house and Dom's apartment. Carmine's apartment is on the other side of town and since he just got laid off, he's probably home and might spot me. I drive by the process office where I work. It's almost two thirty when I finally pull into my apartment parking lot. I feel so free and relaxed. No cell phone ringing, no John or Dom in my ear all day.

I walk into the lobby and take the elevator up to my floor. I find the key I gave Dom to my apartment on his key ring and hold it while I walk up to my door. When I get there, I find it's unlocked. I could have sworn that I locked it when Dom and I left, but in all the confusion and rush, I must have forgotten. I shrug it off and walk inside. As soon as I shut the door, I feel another presence in the room with me. I turn and see Eddie Gazarra standing in my kitchen with a gun in his hand. I freeze and my heart drops into my stomach. Fear takes over every inch of my brain. We make eye contact and then my eyes drop down to the gun.

"Take your hand off the door knob and walk slowly towards me, hands on your head. Any fast movements and I'll shoot." he says in a even, calm voice. I do as he tells me and he gives me a quick pat down. I let my hands fall to my sides as I turn to face him.

"What are you doing here, Eddie?" I ask.

"Looking for your brother. Where is he?"

"I don't know."

"You're lying. He was here."

"He was. We had a fight and I kicked him out."

"His shit is still here." he says, motioning towards the living room. I see both of Dom's black duffel bags, emptied and all of their contents scattered all over the room.

"He's not here. I don't know where he went. I swear." he observes me for a moment.

"Fine, if you don't feel like telling me where he is, we'll wait for him." I watch as he limps into the living room. I follow him and sit down across from him on the edge of the couch.

"What's wrong with your foot?" I ask.

"Sprained it walking in the woods."

"Is that where you've been hiding, the woods?"

"I spent some time there."

"Is that where Anna is?" I ask, cautiously.

"We're not talking about her, got it?" he snaps, pointing the gun at me.

"OK. Do you want some ice for your foot?" I ask.

"No." he glares out the window and I take in his disheveled appearance. He's wearing dirty clothes, and a week old beard shadows his face. His eyes are hard, tired, and crazy. He's shorter than any of the guys in my family, stockier, but still strong. He looks like a man with nothing left to lose and that's what scares me the most.

My heart is thumping in my chest and I feel like I'm about to have a panic attack. I lean forward and take some deep breaths with my eyes closed.

"What the hell are you doing?" he asks. I snap my eyes open.

"I was meditating, before someone had to disturb me. Jesus, it's not bad enough you're holding me at gun point, now you won't even let me meditate." I yelp, trying to act hurt.

"Christ, I'm sorry. Don't go all PMS on me." he says. I almost smirk, then go back to deep breathing. I figure as long as he thinks Dom is coming back here, he won't hurt me. John gets out of work at four thirty and gets home at five. Hopefully by that time, Dom will have discovered I'm gone. My fear is that they'll try to come in here like gangbusters by themselves and we'll all get killed.

Gazarra and I sit in the living room for an hour, before he finally gets up and starts searching my cupboards for something to eat. He finds a bag of chips and pulls a bottle from the pocket of his dirty jeans. He takes the cap off the bottle and takes a slug. I realize then that he's probably drunk. He quietly eats his chips and keeps drinking from the bottle. I look around my apartment and for the first time realize that he's been living here for God knows how long. If he was in his right mind he would figure out that no one has been living here and the chance of Dom coming back are slim to none.

"Why aren't you in Dom's apartment?"

"I was. I camped out in front of that place for days, and he never came or went. I heard that he was spotted with some broad in your parking lot, so I came up here." Damn Karen and her big mouth. The Lawrence gossip mill probably took that and ran with it.

We've been sitting here for close to two hours now. John gets out of work in a half hour. My best hope is that Dom discovered me missing and called the cops. But, knowing Dom, he'd rather search on foot than call the cops. John would call the cops, but I know I've still got an hour and a half before he could make that decision. Gazarra is still nursing his slim bottle, taking a deep slug every now and then. I glance over at the door and contemplate running. But I know that even drunk, he could catch me or even worse shoot me point blank. It's best to stay quiet and not piss him off and wait it out. After another twenty minutes, I start to think, what if Dom never shows up and I become disposable to Gazarra? Shit, can't think that way, not yet.

Before I can think about it, Gazarra stands up suddenly and takes the last sip from his bottle. He throws it across the room and it smashes against the wall, breaking instantly. I jump from the sudden noise. He turns to me with the gun pointed at my head. I realize that I've stood up and stepped away from the couch without even knowing it.

"Where is he?"

"I don't know. He's not coming."

"You better hope he shows up, sweetheart."

"Eddie, you need to turn yourself in. You're a cop. They can get you the help you need." I say.

"Shut up. I don't need them. I don't need anyone."

"It's better if you turn yourself in though. If they come in here, they could shoot you."

"Please, I'm a cop. They're not gonna do shit to me." the booze has gotten to his head. He's agitated and cocky. He's started pacing and waving the gun around. I'm looking at the door, planning on how I'm going to get around him and out of the apartment, when I see the door slowly start opening. I blink in shock. I glance up at the clock and see that it's five fifteen. Fear grips my heart then, knowing that whoever is on the other side of the door is someone I care about and whatever happens next is not going to be good.