Victoria Greene

James

1934

The new year had come in and out relationship stayed the same no matter how many times I begged him, I cried myself to sleep almost every night. I had tried ending it a few times but Mr. Luciano was a man who was very slick with words and always managed to get me to go back to him. I was also stupid for believing that I could change a man, however, I only realized that later. I had a day off and I was listening to some records in my apartment. He had bought me a record player for Christmas and some Italian opera records at the time I was convinced that this was a sign that he was thinking about committing to me because his music taste was what few people knew. He always pretended to like Jazz which was the most popular music at that time but honestly, he preferred Italian opera to calm him and help him sleep. He said it reminded him of his mother who he had not seen in years. I had never seen him so vulnerable and I was glad that he was finally opening up to me. My telephone rang and I picked it up.

"Hello". I said.

"Hi Victoria". A deep voice said.

"I'm sorry who's this?". I asked.

"It's me, It's James". He replied and I smiled.

"Oh hi, James". I said. James was a fella I had met on a night out with the girls. He was studying medicine at Morehouse College, he was the kind of man my parents would want me to be with unfortunately I only saw him as a friend.

"I have tickets to go see moving pictures, would you like to join me". He said.

"I'm not sure about that, it is pretty chilly". I said.

"I'll keep you warm". He joked and I giggled.

"Besides we will be indoors. Its a Chaplin picture, it will be fun". He said and I thought about it for a while. I had not had a good laugh in a while. I was always to busy moping over a man who refused to commit to me, so I decided to forget about him just for one night.

"Okay, give me an hour to get ready and you can pick me up from my apartment.

"Great. I will see you soon". He said and I hung up. I had planned to call Mr. Luciano later after his date with Galina but I guessed I would just see him the following day.

I could not stop laughing as James and I walked down the sidewalk with our arms linked. We had just come from a restaurant which we went to after seeing the picture. I had fun that night James was sweet and kind, a perfect gentleman unfortunately for him he was not Mr. Luciano.

"I can't believe he did that". I said throwing my head back laughing as James was busy telling me about what his friends got up to at college.

"Its all-male we bound to get up to mischief with all that testosterone around". He said and I smiled.

"Your parents must be of you". I said softly and he smiled.

"My old man worked hard for everything we have today". He said and I saw the look of pride in his eyes. James came from a middle-class family which was quite rare for Negros at the time and to top it off his father managed to stay afloat when the stock market crashed. We finally arrived in front of my apartment and we stood at my steps.

"Here we are". I said.

"Here we are". He smiled.

"Victoria, listen, I know you said you want to be friends but uhm. I can no longer hide how I feel about you". He said and I furrowed my brows.

"I want you to be my steady and perhaps one day my wife". He said and I gasped.

"James". I said.

"You don't have to answer me now". He rushed out.

"James I like but...". I said stuck on what to say.

"As a friend". He said in a defeated tone.

"I'm sorry". I whispered.

"It's okay. We can be friends". He said.

"Good night Victoria". He said.

"Good night James". I replied and he turned around to walk away but he turned back and kissed my cheek gently.

"Don't ever settle for less". He whispered giving me another kiss before he left me wondering what he meant. I opened the door of the apartment and was met with darkness.

"Where were you?". A deep voice said and I jumped dropping my handbag. The lamp went on and I saw Mr. Luciano sitting on the couch.

"You scared me". I said trying to calm my nerves.

"Why are you sitting in the dark?". I asked trying to sense of the situation.

"Ya haven't answered my question". He said calmly.

"I went out with a friend". I said picking up my handbag and putting it on the couch. He got from the couch and slowly made his way to me.

"Does this friend happen to be male". He said looking at me.

"Yes, I don't see the problem here". I answered.

"You don't see the problem?". He chuckled darkly and then he grabbed my face roughly bringing me closer to him.

"Ya were out with another man and ya don't see a problem!". He shouted and I winced, I had never seen him that angry.

"Well, you have other women!". I shouted back trying to keep a brave face.

"Yes, the agreement was I could have other people. Not you. I don't share". He said and I shrugged him off.

"I can do what I want and I can f*ck who I want and there's nothing you can do about it". I said and I watched him freeze in his spot he was quiet for a while before I felt a sharp pain on my cheek as I fell on the floor. My eyes widened when I realized what happened and I wiped the blood from my mouth. He took a lamp throwing it across the room.

"F*ck!". He screamed as he turned my coffee table upside down and broke another lamp.

"Did ya f*ck him?". He said looking at me and I felt the anger course through my body.

"That's none of your f*cking business!". I shouted getting back on my feet and he struck me again.

"Did ya f*ck him?". He asked again.

"F*ck you". I cried looking up to him. He grabbed my hair and brought me up to my feet as I cried in agony. His fist collided with my cheek as I dropped to the ground and my eyes rolling to the back of my head. I had never seen this side of him, this was not the man I fell in love with. This was the ruthless mobster and a part of me believed he was going to kill me.

"Did ya f*ck him". He said as kicked me.

"No no, I didn't I'm sorry. Please stop". I cried and his bodyguard rushed out from the other room and held him back.

"I think you need to go outside and cool down". He said opening the door and leading him out. He looked back at me lying on the floor.

"I'm sorry". He said giving me a sympathetic look before he left closing the door behind him. I had always wondered why they said that Mr. Luciano was a ruthlessly violent man until that night he had shown me a side of him that I could never forget.