Epilogue II

We moved to La Hacienda. It was the safest place to wait for events to unfold. At least until our last move against the CIA was made. It didn’t take too much time for the unavoidable consequences.

Hanna sent a copy of all the documents she had concerning Phoenix Ltd. and its illegal activities over the last ten years to every prominent newspaper all over the world. She provided the media with enough evidence to arouse more than confirmed suspicions concerning the implications of the CIA in the corporation’s business through the weapon trafficker Reynaldo Casamajor, aka ‘The Cuban’.

It was mayhem.

Resignations, suicides, accidents and trials made the headlines for months. Every member of the administrative council of fucking Phoenix Ltd. died, including William and Francis along with every single fucker that knew something valuable about the matter.

The old fucker was being transferred from Lompoc to Leavenworth when the prison transport crashed and everybody on board died. It figures. The CIA doesn’t make mistakes and even though William didn’t exist anymore for them, the old fucker still knew a lot of shit that would have caused more scandals. So the three letters nipped the problem in the bud.

Francis was found floating inside the swimming pool of his dad’s mansion in Palm Springs. The forensic report said it was an overdose.

They came after us, of course, but they found themselves face to face with the Cartels and their own army of ex- CIA fuckers. The Zetas. The bloody war that had started the very same day that we flew to Joyland got worse. So ‘El Padrino’ reached a deal with the fucking CIA.

The drug lord would share part of his cake with them and in exchange they would forget about those that were now under his protection. They accepted the terms of the new agreement because at the end it all comes down to money. Not to mention that Phoenix Ltd. was just one of the many corporations the CIA uses for its business. They didn’t care too much.

‘El Padrino’ sent Santos’ corpse back to Italy, to his family, along with a report describing in detail each and every injury that Santos caused to Crystal and Sara. The Italian Mob buried Santos’s body in his family mausoleum and moved on. Nevertheless they sent a guy to negotiate a new deal with the Arellanos organization to introduce their drugs to the US using the infrastructure of the Mexican Cartels. ‘El Padrino’ agreed.

Miguel Angel Felix Arellano died two weeks later in La Hacienda with Hanna holding his hand. He finally lost the long battle against his most lethal enemy, cancer. His mortal remains rest in the small graveyard close to the little village that is located inside ‘El Padrino’s land, right next to his wife and his son, Hanna’s father.

The Mexican government declared one week of mourning in memoriam of Miguel Angel Felix Arellano and almost all the Mexican authorities came to his funeral, presenting their last respects to ‘El Padrino’ and saying their condolences to his family, including his nephews and his granddaughter.

Hanna had told him that she didn’t want to become part of the organization but ‘El Padrino’ made sure that Hanna received a slice of his cake. We weren’t going to take the money but the drug lord told us to do something good with it.

After the mourning week the Arellanos’ brothers asked for a meeting and Ricardo and I went. They wanted to know what we were going to do from now on. We were very clear; we didn’t want to have anything to do with their business. They agreed with us and we reached one of those ‘verbal contracts’.

We keep our mouth shut, we stay out of his business, and they leave us alone, making sure no one will try to kill us as long as we stay in Mexico. And that was that. Said and done.

The SEALs found Ramón in the course of some training they were carrying out; that was the official version anyway. To everybody, the military elite group was testing some new tactics when by chance they found Ramon’s body. But it was all a coordinated undercover operation. The result was they got Ramón back to US and his SEAL fellows buried him with all the military honors the skinny fucker deserved.

Afterwards, we knew that someone had sent troops to Joyland and that they had destroyed all trace of the complex, devastating the place.

Then we learned that Reynaldo’s club, La Cueva, has been set on fire and the place ended up reduced to ashes, along with the recorded tapes that the fucker had in his office. It seems that someone forgot to put out a cigarette butt. When the insurance company closed the investigation, they determined that the fire had originated inside the dressing room of the dancers. It seems that those four women were not done yet and the next thing that burned was the Cuban’s yacht, wiping away any trace of our presence in both places.

So, once things calm down and the Arellanos organization restructured after the loss of its leader, we moved to Playa Del Carmen, buying two houses in the same area.

Of course the area around our house is constantly patrolled by men from the Cartels and from time to time we hear about some shooting that took place in Tijuana, Sinaloa or some other place controlled by the Cartels. But that’s the way things are around here. No one gives a shit anymore.

Ricardo and I opened our garage and we became partners. We also bought an apartment for Mia because Hanna and I needed our own space.

After a couple of months, Hanna contacted Brian, the guy that Mia had been dating, and he moved to Mexico too.

I didn’t like the idea of Mia living with him one damn bit, but I shut my mouth and pretended everything was fine with me. I had already messed enough with my kid sister’s life and I didn’t want to upset her more than I have already done. Mia deserves to be happy after all the shit that she went through, not even complaining at all. Besides I still had to deal with my own shit.

I went to see Kenny Linder before we moved to Mexico. It wasn’t easy but I talked with him and asked him to forgive me, thanking him for what he did. At the end, his testimony in the trial against William was crucial to send the old fucker to prison.

Not even the old lawyer could find a way to discredit Linder because the jury believed every single word he said. They didn’t have a reason to not do that. The man didn’t get anything telling lies much less considering that I had beaten the shit out of him.

Linder forgave me and offered me his condolences for my dad’s death. I had never felt so ashamed in my damn life. Who would have thought the man I hated for years was going to give me a lesson about how to be a better person.

I visited the graves of my parents with Mia one last time and we both said ‘good bye’ to them and to Vince and Jesse. Our lives were about to start from point zero.

However, the worst was still to come.

Hanna and I moved in together and at the beginning it was really hard. We both had nightmares and we used to spend most nights up, talking. I think we talked with each other more than we had done with anyone else before. We ended up crying in each other arms almost every time. It was fucking hard but we found a way to deal with all the shit we went through.

Nevertheless it took us almost a year to be able to make love without Hanna going through a panic attack or myself seeing Snake or Reynaldo raping her.

The physical wounds healed and we learnt to live with the psychological ones. However, the nightmares didn’t stop and I doubt they will do so in the future, but at least they are not as frequent as they were at the beginning.

We married on the beach surrounded by our family. Every single person that meant something for us was there. We didn’t want a huge wedding but something simple and nice.

Ricardo, Elaine and the kids that were messing around at the beginning of the ceremony until Ricardo shot them a glare. Mia and Brian. Jasmine and Jenn with their respective brand new husbands, Taylor and Matty.

Ricardo told me that those two fuckers were from New York and that he had done business with Matty’s father on a couple of occasions. I didn’t like that Taylor fucker one damn bit though, mostly because I caught Hanna giving him the once over as she was giggling with Elaine, Jasmine and Jenn.

Renee and Lydia found that they were in love with each other and they raised the temperature a couple of degrees each time they kissed. Those two still meant business and caused more than one hard on among the guys.

Sean came with his girlfriend, a beautiful chick with a smart mouth and a killer ass, named Kash, and even Big Sexy showed up with two stunning chicks at each side of his big frame. He was the only fucker wearing black leather and a black bandana in the middle of the damn beach though.

We sent invitations to our wedding to Harrison and his wife Leah and to Pette and Martha. The old black man refused respectfully, saying that he didn’t feel healthy enough to travel anymore but Pette and Martha came, and we found that Martha was pregnant, again. Their kids allied with Alejandro and Marcos and the four of them caused more than one mess. But it was worth it. Watching them running all over didn’t hurt as much as Hanna and I thought.

We did the same with Lester but his girlfriend told us that he was locked in Lompoc, again. Some shit about importing luxury cars and tax evasion. I knew that fucker wouldn’t stay out of trouble. Those damn stats were right.

It was one of the happiest days in our lives and we immensely enjoyed the chance to replace the bad memories with new, better ones in the company of those same men and women that had shared such dark moments with us.

It was about damn time that Hanna and I were able to have some kind of peace of mind with our family and friends.

——————

Playa Del Carmen. Quintana Roo. Mexico.

Two years later.

“Ok, try it again.” Ricardo says, furrowing his brows in concentration as he emerges from under the chassis of the Dodge. One plastic cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth; he quit smoking a couple of months ago.

Ricardo went to his last medical exam and the doc told Elaine that Ricardo should quit smoking because his lungs weren’t like they used to be anymore after the bullet went through one of them, and she took it seriously.

Elaine bought him a box of those plastic cigarettes to help him to break the habit. But Ricardo said ‘fuck that’ and one day Elaine caught him red-handed, smoking secretly. So she came up with a new deal.

Now instead a day per inch it’s a day per cigarette.

Needless to say, the first time Elaine left big dark guy out in the cold for two days, Ricardo started to puff those plastic cigarettes like nobody’s business. But he’s still considering the idea of paying back the doc for it.

I grin a little and, closing my eyes for a second, I turn over the ignition, making the Dodge finally roar to life after our fifth attempt.

“Yeah!”

Ricardo laughs hard.

“¡Coño! I never thought I would hear this damn car making that sound, bro.”

“Hey! Watch your mouth, man! You’re talking about my dad’s car, brother.” I scold him, pretending to be mad, making him laugh even more. “Stop laughing, fucker, and get in the fucking car so we can test it real good.” I add, grinning like a loony.

Ricardo shakes his head, grinning and with that he circles the car, getting in.

“Show me what this baby can do, man.” He teases me, laughing as he straps in.

I laugh with him, feeling my heart about to explode with excitement and anticipation as I press the accelerator, hitting the gas. Closing my eyes, I can almost hear my dad’s voice saying ‘well done, son’ and all of sudden I feel myself swallowing hard against an invisible knot that came from nowhere.

I open my eyes, blinking and glancing up one last time I smile sadly. I know my dad is proud of me.

Ricardo gets comfortable as I speed, driving directly to one of the secondary roads that are around to race a little before dinnertime.

Tonight Mia is coming for dinner with her husband, Brian. Hanna was right; the fucker looks like one of those surfers and Ricardo calls him ‘Snowman’. I still think the same thing as Elaine though, his name sounds like one of those serial killers but he’s some kind of programmer that works with computers and stuff like that.

I always have the time of my life each time he shows up and Ricardo is around. Big dark guy loves to scare the poor fucker and he even went all assassin mode the first time Mia introduced him to us.

I left him alone with Ricardo to go grab some beers and Hanna called me to ask me something. When I came back Brian was even paler and I thought he was going to faint from fear any second.

Ricardo and I still laugh our asses off thinking about that day.

I remember that I asked Ricardo if he had told him some shit like ‘if you break her heart, I’ll break your neck’, and Ricardo replied that it hadn’t been necessary at all. He only had to pull out one of his shivs and had started to play with it absently between his fingers as he explained to Brian five different ways to gut a man without causing him a fast death.

I would say that Brian got the message because Mia looks happier than ever before in all her life. I bet the fucker is working his ass off not to hurt her at all. I don’t think Brian will be able to forget about Ricardo’s words, ever. No wonder.

Ricardo quit his ‘jobs’, sort of. From time to time he still vanishes for a couple of days, but his absences are less frequent. And big dark guy is still as scary as always.

We drive back to the house, enjoying the view. Playa is one of the most beautiful places at dusk I’ve seen in all my life.

“Mia told me that she has some great news for us. I seriously hope she’s not pregnant too, man, because I have already enough shit dealing with Hanna’s hormones.” I say, glancing at Ricardo as he grins a little. “I don’t need more pregnant women going through tantrums around me.” I add, grinning to myself.

“So you found out the twins’ sex?” Ricardo asks me, arching a brow.

“Yep, two girls.” I reply, thinking about Hanna and I crying like two babies when the doc gave us the great news this morning.

We already decided the names for the girls though. Lena and Crystal.

“Coño, bro, you’re so fucked.” Ricardo teases me, grinning.

“Don’t tell me, man. I’ll be at a clear disadvantage for the rest of my life.” I groan, sighing hard. “Three women busting my balls each time I forgot to close the fucking toilet lid? Now that should be used as a way of torture.” I sigh, rolling my eyes.

Ricardo snorts. “Don’t start bitching, Toretto.” He replies, grinning as he keeps puffing his plastic cigarette. “Wait until you have to change diapers and give feeding bottles at three in the morning.” He chuckles, grinning wickedly. “Now that’s a torture, man.” He adds, laughing hard.

I frown deeply, looking at him. “Well, fuck you.” I reply but I can’t stop the goofy grin from spreading on my lips. Secretly I’m dying to be subject to that torture.

“Later.” He winks at me. “So what are we having for dinner? I’m starving.” He adds, puffing on his plastic cigarette.

“Stew.” I deadpan causing Ricardo snaps his head, looking at me.

“Who’s cooking?” He asks, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

I glance at him, biting my tongue hard to stop the laughter from bursting out as I park the Dodge at the driveway of the house.

“Do you really want to know the answer to that question?” I ask him seriously. In response Ricardo growls loudly, muttering obscenities under his breath.

“Ok, I’m not hungry anymore.” He says, getting out of the Dodge. “Sides I remembered I gotta do something.” Ricardo adds, chuckling.

I knit a brow, staring at him as I get out of the car.

“Hey! You’re not getting out of this that easily, bro. If I can do it, then you can too.” I reply, grinning. “We’re in this together, man, besides we are a couple of tough motherfuckers, aren’t we?”

Ricardo rolls his eyes, sighing hard. “Ok, but you better have ready tons of pussy beer so we can get wasted ‘cause we are not that tough, coño!” Ricardo jokes, making us burst out laughing as we head towards the kitchen, ready to grab some Coronas.

Dinner won’t be ready yet, so I figure we still have time to get drunk enough before we have to face our scariest experience. Good thing Hanna and I have dozens of numbers for take out because sure as hell we will end up ordering pizza or something like that.

There are things that will never change, ever.

——————

A new day is breaking and at least a dozen bright colours are scattered all over the sky. Ochre, reds, oranges, pinks, yellows, blues, greys. So many colours and so many tones that it’s difficult to distinguish which ones predominate. All of them are noticeable and at the same time none of them raise above the others overexposing its presence.

I’ve lost count of how many dusks I’ve been watching since we moved to Playa, but I’m still waiting to see two that are the same, that looks similar. It’s a daily event that should turn into a boring routine but that’s far from reality. Every day is different, unexpected and unique; one of a kind. Like my life.

I recently started to sketch again because it still calms my nerves, especially after Hanna goes through a tantrum, bitching about some nonsense shit. I usually take a seat in the back yard, with my drawing pad and my pens, and I almost always end up drawing Hanna’s eyes. Those beautiful green eyes with their grayish spark around the pupils.

A deep contented sigh passes my lips as I gently tighten my hold around Hanna’s naked body. She fell asleep last night before I had the chance to show her everything I had in store for her.

I should have figured out she would end up that relaxed after one of my massages, so I ended up jerking myself off in the shower, alone, and that wasn’t part of my plans at all.

Slowly, my left hand draws lazy circles over Hanna’s rounded belly as my lips spread in a huge grin. Our two little girls, Lena and Crystal are right there, growing a little bit more each day.

I can’t fucking wait to see their faces and to cradle them in my arms. I bet they will be as beautiful as their mom. My two daughters, and twins no less!

My huge grin turns wicked as I picture Ricardo and I scaring the shit out of those little fuckers that I’m sure are going to be prowling around my door. Damn! Big dark guy and I are going to be more than just busy.

Good thing they will have also two big brothers to protect them because I have no doubt that Alejandro and Marcos won’t let any skinny fucker come close to my baby girls just for the hell of it.

Older brother. My smile turns sad when I think about our first baby. Dominic. I’m sure that he will protect them too. Lena and Crystal are very fortunate because they already have their own guardian angel watching them. Dominic will be always our first baby and we will always carry him in our hearts.

Hanna and I will make sure that Lena and Crystal won’t share the same fate Magdalena and Crystal shared and we will also make sure that the girls know about the women they were named after. We won’t tell them the naked truth, of course, but we want our daughters knowing about them all the same.

Hanna purrs a little in her sleep as she stretches her back and her hand squeezes my right hand softly. She’s awake.

“Morning, sexy mama.” I tease her, kissing her shoulder. In response Hanna giggles, pressing her entire body against mine.

“I fell asleep…” She whispers as she lifts our hands, kissing mine. “I’m sorry, baby.”

I frown a little hearing her voice, it sounded tinted with guilt. “Don’t be sorry, Hanna.” I whisper, tracing the outline of her shoulder up to her neck, sucking the sensitive skin below her ear. “You were exhausted and you needed the rest…” I add, nipping her earlobe.

Hanna moans softly, rubbing herself against me causing my dick to jump, demanding attention. I press forward a little, needing to ease the sudden ache. Hanna laughs softly and then she sucks my thumb, her wet tongue swirling around.

I close my eyes for a second, grinning. There was a time when this very same move made Hanna tense, shaking in fear. Not anymore.

I gasp as my dick hardens even more. Damn! If she keeps sucking my thumb, pretending it’s my dick, I’ll be done in a second flat and this time I’m coming buried in my wife’s body.

I bury my face in her hair, inhaling deeply this new scent. That mix of lilacs and cinnamon is still there but now there’s a new aroma; something almost wild and primitive that makes me so damn hard that it’s almost painful.

“Love this new smell, Hanna, baby.” I whisper as my hand slides down her rounded belly. It’s not a little bump anymore but a beautiful, sexy as hell, huge bump. “It turns me on so badly I think I’m gonna die, beautiful.” I breathe, playing with her soft curls, they are already wet.

“Must be the hormones…” Hanna moans again, getting a little more comfortable as she rests one leg upon my thigh, stroking my leg up and down with hers. “They make me want you so badly it hurts, Dominic.” She whispers, spreading her legs apart to give me more room.

Damn! I fucking love those damn hormones. They are a pain in my ass some times but damn! They also make Hanna horny almost 24/7.

I slid my middle finger, tracing the outline of her labia, stroking the wet hot flesh all the way up, circling her clit and back down in a slow motion. My lips, sucking her earlobe, nipping her neck making Hanna soaking wet in seconds.

“Oh, my God…” Hanna breathes, turning her head to meet my gaze. “Make love to me, now, Dominic.” She groans, moving her hips to make me increase the pressure.

“That’s what you want, Hanna, baby?” I whisper, a breath away from her lips. “You want me to make love to you?” I ask her as I keep teasing her with feather sweeps all over her sex.

“Dominic…I’m pregnant so don’t tease me if you know what’s good for you.” Hanna whispers, her eyes flickering to mine. “I need to feel you inside me now, baby…” She adds, rubbing her lower back against my dick.

Fuck! Hanna knows what she wants and she definitely knows how to get it.

I capture her lips in an open mouth kiss as slowly I slide one finger inside her warm opening, stroking in and out gently. Hanna moans against my mouth, kissing me back, sucking my tongue as I add a second finger, speeding up a little, stroking her g-spot.

Hanna tenses slightly as she pressed her back against my chest and releasing my lips she lets out a soft cry, part in pleasure and part in frustration.

“Dominic…” It’s a warning but I can’t help myself. I want to pay her back a little for leaving me out in the cold last night. “You’re playing with fire here.” She grabs my butt, digging her nails in my skin.

Fuck! No more games.

“Are you ready, Hanna, baby?” I chuckle as I remove my fingers and grabbing the base of my dick I slid down a little onto the bed, angling my hips.

“I’m always ready for you, Dominic.” Hanna whispers breathlessly.

My arm circles her thigh, holding her to me as slowly I thrust up and forward, entering her in one leisurely but firm move, burying myself to the hilt and going motionless.

“Fuck!”

We both say it at once, closing our eyes for a second. Damn! This feels so fucking good. Hanna’s inner muscles are gripping me tightly and I notice her pulse all around me.

“Hanna…” I hiss as I shut my eyes, holding back my release.

“Dominic…” Hanna whispers, resting her head against my shoulder as her hand caresses softly my arm up and down. “I love you, baby.”

“I love you, Hanna.” I whisper, leaning my head forward, capturing her lips in a searing kiss.

She kisses me back with such passion I feel her all the way into my very soul making my soft hair rise all at once. I open my eyes, breaking the kiss for a second, to look at her eyes as I slid out slowly, stroking in.

Hanna’s eyes flutter close briefly before she meets my gaze, shivering. Her eyes are sparkling like stars, holding my gaze as I keep stroking almost all the way out just to get back in, keeping a slow gentle rhythm.

That’s how we make love; our bodies are not only connected but also our souls. The feeling is so strong it’s almost electrifying as we keep looking at each other eyes. That’s how we did it. This is how we healed.

We love each other; we’ve always loved each other. Since that night at the races when our gazes met for the very first time. She fell in love with my eyes, just like I fell in love with hers. We hadn’t met yet and we already belonged to the each other.

Hanna was always my woman and I was always her man. Even when we were apart there wasn’t anyone else for either of us.

We went together through hell and back and we survived because our love has been the only constant thing in our lives since the day fate made us cross paths.

Now as we make love, slow and gentle or hard and fast we look at each other eyes and we know our fates were sealed before everything started. No matter what we did or how we ended up being together. We both know without trace of doubts that if all the events that took place wouldn’t have happened we still would have found each other.

I always believed in God but there was a time when I didn’t believe in miracles. Not anymore. I’ve finally reached what I had always wanted, what I’ve always dreamt about, and even though the ride was hell, now I know that it was also necessary.

I’m still not the man my dad always expected for me to become, but I’m a little closer each day. I came a long way to find what I was looking for without being aware that I always had it.

So here I am, making love once more to the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in all my damn life. The only woman who gained my heart and my soul and showed me I was worth dying for. A woman that is perfect as a result of her imperfections, Hanna.

Rudolph Valentino, idolized as the great lover of the screen in the 1920s, once wrote down a list with the ten attributes of the perfect woman.

Fidelity. The recognition of the supreme importance of love. Intelligence. Beauty. A sense of humour. Sincerity. An appreciation of good food. A serious interest in some art, trade or hobby. An old-fashionable and wholehearted acceptance of monogamy. And courage.

It would have been easier to write my wife’s name down.

Hanna Toretto.

THE END

NJRD March 2007