When We Were Enemies: A Novel(96)
The word “whore” hurts more than anything he has done to me physically.
“Excuse me, signorina. Are you all right?” A heavily accented voice bounces off the walls of the locker room, and I recognize it immediately. Trombello.
“What the hell? This guy?” Tom says under his breath, and then speaks directly to Trombello, who stands by the swinging locker-room door. “She’s fine. You’d better get outta here, or you’ll be in for a lot of trouble, Padre.”
“Miss Snow. They call your name. Come to see.” He’s working hard to find the right words in English. I know what he’s trying to say, but Tom is irritated and confused.
“Can’t you see my wife and I are having a conversation? Get the hell out, or I’ll make you get out.”
“I not leave fino a che Miss Snow leave too.” Trombello’s fists are clenched at his sides, and the veins in his neck bulge. He’s always seemed a peaceful man, but now I see Antonio Trombello isn’t inherently passive or wary of conflict. He’s a man with strong ideals who chooses to contain his antagonistic instincts. But the aggression remains beneath the restraint, and it seems Trombello knows exactly how to release it when he needs to.
Tom lets go of my arm and steps toward Trombello. Reaching into his pocket, he withdraws a small rectangular object that flips open into a blade.
“I told you to mind your own business and get out of here, you greasy fascist dago.” I flinch at the nasty slur as though he said it about me as well as Trombello.
“Signorina. You go now?” Trombello asks without acknowledging Tom or his weapon.
“Hey, don’t you talk to my wife, you hear me?” Tom says, holding the knife up threateningly.
“I’m all right, Padre. You can go.” I urge him to leave with a trembling voice, hoping to save him from injury and save my husband from doing something I know he’ll regret when the heat of passion has worn off.
“Non è sicuro.” It’s not safe, he warns in Italian this time. “Per favore vieni con me.” Please come with me.
“Hey, hey! No. None of that.” Tom slashes at the air between them. “I get it. You have a little crush. You’re a priest, but I’m sure your little dick still works.” He gestures with the blade. “But she’s my wife, okay? Get the hell out of here, or I swear to God I’ll cut your throat.”
“Tom . . . ,” I start to reason, but he stops me, yelling loud enough that his reverberating voice feels like it will burst my eardrums.
“Shut up, Vivian. Shut the fuck up!” He waves the knife at me now, hurrying over to where I’m standing, holding my damaged wrist. I stiffen as he presses the knife against my throat.
“I’m sorry, Tom. I’m sorry,” I repeat over and over, but it doesn’t work. It doesn’t turn off his rage. The knife starts to dig into the delicate skin on the side of my neck when a loud thump and an audible “oof” send Tom reeling away.
Trombello stands behind him with a bat in his hands. He drops the makeshift weapon and takes my hand.
“Correre!” Run!
Tom writhes on the floor, the wind knocked out of him but seemingly fine otherwise. I take Trombello’s hand and rush for the door to the gym, but we don’t get far. Tom catches his breath and regains his footing. Using one of the wooden benches as a booster, he leaps across the tiled floor and tackles Trombello, who falls to the ground still holding my hand. I trip, and our hands break apart. Tom lands a blow on the side of Trombello’s head, and I scream, thinking he’s still holding the knife. But his hands appear empty.
Tom pins Trombello to the ground with both knees on his chest. The priest twists from side to side, trying to free himself but unable to budge an inch.
“Tom, stop! Stop!” I scream, tugging at the back of his uniform, but it’s like he can’t hear or feel anything other than his rage. He takes Trombello’s head in his hands and slams it on the hard floor, and my stomach turns. With or without a knife, he’s going to kill him.
I spot the bat on the floor a few feet away next to the open switchblade. I slide across the tile and confiscate the knife to keep Tom from grabbing it again. I can’t figure out how to close the blade, so I hold it in my injured hand and then pick up the bat.
I’m not strong and the bat is heavy, but if I don’t act now, Trombello won’t stand a chance. I swing as hard as I can with my one good arm, and the solid wood bat lands with a heavy thunk against the back of Tom’s head and shoulders. It’s not hard enough to cause damage, but he definitely feels it.
“What the . . . ?” He glares at me over his shoulder, touching the place where the wood met his skull. “Are you kidding me? Did you just hit me with that?”
Tom drops Trombello like a cat dropping a dead mouse. The priest’s chest rises and falls regularly enough that I know he’s still alive, but there’s blood on tile, and that can’t be good. I hold the bat up in front of me like a shield.
“That was stupid, Vivian. Really, really stupid.” He takes the bat from me with one yank and tosses it against the lockers with a crash. Trombello moans in the background. I switch the knife into my right hand and hold it defensively.
“Leave us alone.”
“Us? You and that dirty fascist are an ‘us’ now? I should’ve known when I met your father that you were nothing more than immigrant trash.” I want to bite back at his insults, but I’m too scared to speak; my hand is trembling, and if I had anything of substance in my stomach, I’d likely vomit. He lunges for the knife, and I slash at his hand, making contact.