All Chapters of After They Watched the Video, They All Turned on Me: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

The first was my brother, Marco.That morning, I told him I'd asked for a divorce two days earlier and Enzo still wouldn't let me leave. My brother didn't tell me to think it over. He only asked whether the men at the gate had laid a hand on me.Enzo headed the Mafia family that controlled our small Italian town, and every guard at the estate answered to him. I waited by the door with my luggage. When Marco arrived, he parked his car sideways across the gateway.Marco took my suitcase, tossed it into the trunk, then opened the passenger door for me. "If anyone tries to stop you today, I'll put them down right here."When he saw the little blue jacket in my arms, his voice softened. "Bring it. You can sort everything out once we get to my place."It was the jacket Leo wore when he was three and a half. After he disappeared, I held on to it every time I begged for answers, and I wouldn't let go even on the day of the funeral. My brother didn't tell me to leave it behind, so I held it tig

Early the next morning, the storage room door finally opened. I instinctively turned toward the wall, afraid they'd come to drag me away again."Irene, it's me."My grandfather crouched beside me and wrapped his coat around my shoulders. At the sound of his voice, I finally turned to look at him. He reached down to help me up, but the moment my fingers closed around his coat, I started shaking so badly my teeth chattered."Why are you so cold? Did they lock you in here all night?"I nodded and tried to stand, but pain shot through my side. When Grandpa's hand brushed the swollen area, his face hardened. He spun around and brought his cane down hard on the guard's arm."You were told to watch the door. Not to lock her in here and leave her to die."The guard backed away, not daring to retaliate. Grandpa called his driver over, and together they helped me out of the storage room. I kept my head down as I walked between them, clutching Leo's little jacket to my chest.When I was little, I

Leo slid off the bed and took two steps toward me.I didn't want to scare him by lunging again. I held on to the door frame and just raised the little jacket. He reached out and touched the sleeve, then wrinkled his nose. "That hasn't fit me in a long time. I don't want to wear it.""You don't have to." I took his hand. "I'll buy you a new one."His palm was warm. His fingers were longer now, but he still reached for my index finger first. I lowered my head until my forehead touched his, my nose brushing his soft hair. Only then could I say his name. "Leo."He tilted his face up to look at me. I said it again, and my tears fell on the back of his hand. He flinched, but he didn't pull away. I loosened my grip on his hand but couldn't bring myself to let go, afraid that the moment I did, he'd be gone.A week before the fire, he'd told me his sleeves were tight. I'd promised to take him shopping for his birthday. I brought the clothes home later, but I never even took the tags off. Every

Enzo grabbed Viola's wrist and forced her hand down."Do you know what you're doing?""I do." Viola couldn't pull free, and her voice rose with every word. "For eighteen months, I took care of your son. I kept him hidden because you asked me to. And now that everything's falling apart, you're going to stand there and blame me for all of it?"Marco stepped between them and pulled Enzo back. "Let's talk this through. We're family. Can't we work this out?""Let her finish." I gripped the back of the chair, cutting my brother off before he could smooth things over again.Viola backed up to the table. Her fingers were shaking so badly it took her two tries to unlock the phone. She opened a photo first and held up the phone for us to see.Leo lay wrapped in a blanket in the back seat of a car, soot still in his hair and his lips parted. Viola's old leather bag sat next to him. The photo was dated the day of the fire.Half his little foot stuck out from under the blanket. I stared at it and s

It wasn't until I got to the hospital that I found out two of my ribs were broken.The doctor treated my injuries and put a brace on my left wrist. Even breathing hurt. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw my grandfather raising his cane again. But the nurses always warned me before touching me, and little by little, I began to relax.When the police came to question me, I instinctively sat up, only to wince as pain shot through my ribs."He's going to show you the video." I clutched the sheet. "After you watch it, are you going to send me back?"The officer had me lie back down and gave me a moment to catch my breath. He didn't ask me to defend myself over the fire. He started with what had happened tonight. "Who had the gun? Who stopped you from leaving?"I said Enzo's name. Then he asked who had hurt my wrist and my neck. I looked down at my bandaged left wrist. It took me a while to answer.He told me to focus on getting treated first. They could take my full statement later. I watch