Dion's Redemption

Dion’s Redemption By J.D. Walker Twenty Years Ago “You ungrateful, conniving little b***h. After all I’ve done for you and your useless brother.” The sneer on my uncle’s face was as ugly as ever. I’d stolen a bag of Fritos and gotten caught by security at the grocery store. They’d let me go after finding out who my uncle was—the very same uncle who seemed to think I was still his verbal punching bag at the ripe old age of eighteen. The only reason I ever did petty stuff like this was to annoy the piss out of him, anyway. I knew I’d get away with it. After all, he owned this frickin’ town. “Oh, I should be grateful, Uncle Pano? What the f**k for? You don’t care about us. We’re an inconvenience. And Dimitry? You treat him like crap just because he’s different. One of these days, I’m leaving this place, and I’m taking him with me. You won’t have a damn thing to say about it, and you won’t be able to stop us.” So, I was a drama queen. Believe me, I had every right to be. Pano Doukas laughed, a cruel sound that always cut through me, no matter how much I wished it didn’t. “I’d like to see you try, Dion. You’re just like your father. A waste of space and too weak to do what’s necessary. You’ll never amount to anything, and you’ll never get out of this town, not while I live and breathe. I own you, boy.” “You’ll see.” I left his study with a swagger, refusing to let him get to me. As soon as I was out of sight, I hurried to check on Dimitry and make sure he was all right. Sometimes Pano’s goons picked on him if I wasn’t there to protect him. s**t, he was just fifteen years old and wouldn’t harm a fly, though he did have a temper, like me. People sucked. I ran up the wide staircase to Dimitry’s room and knocked on the door. “Dimitry?” No response. I knocked again, then turned the knob to enter his domain. Dimitry was lying on the bed, head bopping and eyes closed as he listened to music with headphones. I sat beside him and touched his arm. “Hey.” His eyes popped open and then he smiled. After pulling off his headphones, Dimitry punched me lightly in the shoulder. “I was worried when I heard you got into trouble today. Again. Are you okay?” I shrugged and lay down beside him. “Yeah, no big deal.” Dimitry Doukas could be willful and generally a pain in my ass, which I supposed was typical of little brothers, whether or not they were born with Down syndrome; but he was my family, and I loved him. He tended to fret when I did something stupid, which was often. I didn’t know why I did half the s**t I…Well, I knew why. I got so angry at Uncle Pano, and at myself about being stuck here. But I couldn’t leave until I figured out how to take care of Dimitry and me outside of Pano’s sphere of influence. I protected Dimitry as much as I could, but there were times the anger in me built up so much, it needed release. So, I stole something, broke the neighbor’s windows, smoked pot. Anything to get relief from the turmoil boiling over inside me. Mom had died giving birth to Dimitry, and Dad had been a useless wreck after that. He’d shot himself when he couldn’t take Pano’s bullying anymore, leaving D and me at my uncle’s mercy. f*****g sucked hairy balls. There had to be a way out of this place. There had to. * * * * Present Day “You need to get your head out of your ass, or I’ll do it for you, understand me?” I said, knowing the threat in my voice would not to be ignored. “Yes, Boss,” Mo replied, then quickly left the room. I slumped back in my old leather chair and stared up at the ceiling. How did I manage to get saddled with such nitwits? It shouldn’t be that hard to toss out a seventy-five-year-old tenant who hadn’t paid the rent in four months, should it? I wasn’t running a halfway house here. This was a business, and it needed to make money. There would always be some poor sap out there who needed a cheap, no-frills apartment to live in. I owned plenty of those. I’d been called a slumlord before, but there was running water, the heat worked, and the elevator ran in the buildings. Maintenance was as good as I could make it, considering my limited resources. What the f**k more did people want from me, the Ritz? As if they owned the f*****g corner on misery. I knew all about misery. I’d heard every sob story in the book about why the rent was late, or the place had caught fire, or whatever. I didn’t care. If a contract was signed, then not paying was a breach, and I wasn’t having it. My cell phone buzzed. I took it out and checked the screen. Dimitry had texted me to say he was looking forward to seeing me on Saturday. I sent back, Me, too. Thinking of him always filled me with pride and pain. The things I’d had to do in the past…But those days were long gone. I thought about Dimitry. He was smart as a whip. As a kid, I’d catch him deliberately baiting some of Pano’s goons and I’d have to tell him to stop it. He didn’t always listen, though. Those were fun times…not. I shook my head at the memory. Sure, he had his struggles, but over the years, Dimitry often called me on my s**t, the same way I did him. He could always tell when I was hiding something from him. It was the way he looked at me, his eyes clear and probing. He never said anything about it, but I thought he was often sad at the way things had turned out for me. Dimitry always asked if I was happy whenever I visited. My standard answer was “yes”. I’d sold my soul to the Devil years ago, and I was still paying the price for it, emotionally. I took a deep breath and told myself it didn’t matter. Dimitry was safe now, and that was the only thing that got me through each day. I’d do anything for him, and a long time ago, I had done just that.