Decaying Hearts

Chapter 17

   “Are you sure about this, Robert?” I said seriously, almost slamming the door behind me as we took our discussion to Robert and Nancy’s classroom.
   The room was a mess. Robert’s belongings were thrown every which way and Nancy’s stuff took centre stage as they lined the window ledge. Pictures of the pair from their younger days stood out in their damaged frames. Robert had been a handsome man, tall and sturdy with a strong build. His hair had been dark and overly gelled to the side and he had blue-grey eyes that were now simply just grey.
   Nancy had been beautiful. She was stunning with her natural fire red hair held together in tight curls around her neck. Her make-up was light and subtle excluding her lips which were contrastingly a bright red. The red lipstick highlighted the whiteness of her teeth and the brightness of her hair. In one picture, she wore a white dress with beautiful pearls that sat lightly against her collar bone. Stunning and a goddess of glamour, it was clear she lived a fabulous life.
   “He killed my wife.” Robert said simply with a darkness to his words. He had a hidden agenda that wasn’t quite that secret; he wanted revenge.
   “I know.” I said softly, before continuing in a hard, solid tone. “But you have the closest thing to a home here. Tony has made it more than clear that I’m not welcome here. Are you sure you want to risk your best bets of safety for revenge?”
   “Son, your still young and won’t yet understand. Once you meet the love of your life, after spending the best part of 45 years with the same person, you no longer establish home as a single place. Home becomes where ever she is. She was everything good and pure and safe. Nancy was home and my home was destroyed. So to answer your question young’un, I have nothing else to lose.” He stated simply with a tear in his eyes.
   “Then let’s get this show on road.”
   “What show? You two boys ain’t thinking about causing no bother without good ole Lenny, are ya?” Lenny hollered from the doorway, he was leaning casually against the door frame with his arms folded across his chest.
   “Lenny, I didn’t want to get you involved...” I started.
   “Boy, you heroic young’uns these days. Always thinking you can save the world on ya own. Listen here, how you reckon your gonna get in without being noticed? How’d you suppose your gonna find it?” Lenny lifted a sceptic brow.
   I looked to Robert who shrugged in response; I guess that was his way of telling me he had no idea where he was going. I certainly didn’t know where we were going.
   “Tony has made it clear he disapproves.” I state.
   “Lenny has made it clear that he his own man...” He chuckled at himself referring to third person. “I’m my own man, Josh, I’ll do what I like.” Lenny smiled mischievously.
   “Alright then, what’s your plane then, old man?” I smirked playfully.
   “There’s a good lad... this is what’s gonna go down.”
     After an hour or so, Lenny had a plan and boy, I was too damn nervous to hear whatever crazy shit came out of his mouth, but with the need for details I had decided to come clean to the fellas about Samia, mostly. I didn’t explain why we were separated, but I told them what they needed to know. Surprisingly, they understood. They understood my need to find, to hold on to the faint slither of life before. It was hope that one day everything would be okay. 
   “If we come charging through like banana crazed monkeys then we ain’t gonna last 5 minutes. We need to play it smart. At the front doors we’ll be hit by heavy fire. Machine guns are situated nearby on the roof, 3 I think. To get in unseen, we’ll go one by one.” Lenny started as he rambled forward into a detailed explanation of the plan we were about to carry out. 
  “How do you know all of this?” I gawped, in awe of Lenny’s military knowledge. “Were you some kind of spy in a past life?”
   “Not quite boy, just a Club Scout leader with an over-active imagination.” He smirked with a wink as he pulled out 3 grenades and a smoke bomb from his back pockets.
    “Lenny, you crazy ass son of a bitch!”