ATONEMENT Read Online Free PDF

her face and scare the girls. Why Domingo ?”
    “ Yo , back off me ‘ Fonzo . I don’t need you in my face. I get enough of that shit at home.”
    “ S he’s probably calling you out on your crap. Be a man and take it or leave!”
    Domingo screwed up his face and angrily replied, “ M an, don’t tell me how to handle my wife. Who the hell do you think you are?”
    People passed, glanced curiously at the men but continued on their New York way. Alfonzo displayed a mocking grin, “ Godfather to your kids or did you forget, cuz ?”
    Domingo scoffed, “Don’t mean shit.”
    Alfonzo gr ew incensed. Domingo needed to be taught a lesson. Being a father should mean you protect your kids, not emotionally or physically abuse them , s ame goes for the wife. Men like Domingo got under Alfonzo’s skin. He found them despicable cowards . In Alfonzo’s eyes Domingo had fallen to an all-time low!
    Alfonzo chuckled in disbelief and look ed away for a second to keep from decking his cousin in the face. He questioned his hearing, “ Don’t mean shit , is that what you said ?”
    “You heard me.”
    A thick vein protrud ed from Alfonzo’s forehead and mandible. Domingo was asking for it. Family, was everything, didn’t he understand? “It might not mean shit to you but I take the role seriously. I guess you thought I’d be an uninvolved godparent , like these fucking by-standers, right? See, I actually care about what happens to those girls . It’s an obligation I take seriously.” Irate, Alfonzo thrust a fist to his chest, “ I’m the guardian you appointed to look in on their well-being, when you mess -up I’m gonna ’ put you straight , if you abuse them then I’m child protective services, pendejo !”
    “I didn’t touch my kids!”
    “No, you hit their mom and in my book it’s equally offensive !” He stepped chest-to-chest to his cousin, “ Why don’t you swing at me , pretend I’m your wife if it gives you courage. ”
    Domingo didn’t move. Alfonzo bumped him and Domingo shoved back, “ Yo , w hy you tripping?”
    Alfonzo seethed, tapping a finger to his cousin’s forehead, “Because you don’t get it. Tho se girls love you and y ou poisoned their innocence . W hen th ey grow up and some douchebag smacks them around they might think it’s normal. After-all, daddy hits mommy. Do you get it now, is it sinking in your thick skull that you never…ever strike a woman or child you low-life sonovabitch?”
    Alfonzo deliberately insulted him in public, drawing out the anger, bringing it to the surface . He wanted to leave a lasting impression on his cousin and make him understand there are choices in some situations and on this topic of domestic abuse there were no compromises. Domingo should’ve w alk ed out the d oor and cooled down; instea d he lost control and turned the girl’s sense of security into fear. Their sanctuary was now unguarded, and Alfonzo wasn’t okay with it. He would take up post and bust his cousin’s head if it came to it. One thing’s for sure, when it came to family, he’d never sit idly by and do nothing !   
    Domingo retreat ed because he didn’t want to fight Alfonzo . “Chill, primo.”
    “That’s what you should’ve done , chilled .”
    “ Yo , step off , I ‘ aint playing , yo ! ”
    A lfonzo advanced, “ Oh now you’re exercising restraint , it’s a little late don’t you think?”
    Domingo stopped walking, “I ‘ aint scared of you primo !”
    A lfonzo quickly removed his suit jacket and t ossed it to the ground . “Good, don’t be scared and take your shots. I’m in your face nagging, isn’t that what you said Teresa does ? She got on your case b ecause you were out all night. Doesn’t sound like nagging to me, sounds like a woman tired of being disrespected ! ”
    Domingo shoved Alfonzo, “ Yo , f uck you!”
    Alfonzo answered back with a solid blow to Domingo’s mouth. He bust his lip in the same place he struck Teresa. Domingo’s head