Third Tally

Posted on Saturday, 6 February 2021 - 6:08pm by Lieutenant JG Adrianna Eberhardt

The Baciami siblings were out, celebrating. For the first time in months they were all in the same place, which meant ditching the partners, children and parents, going to a bar and getting completely and utterly wasted until last orders and then bullying the landlord to keep the bar open until daylight. It had become a strange ritual that seemed to grow as the group aged. What once started as a sleepover all in the same room had blossomed into the rowdy, grappa infused 24 hours and counting.

The night so far was going well and the grappa was flowing without hesitation. Between the eight of them, seven (maybe eight-- they were almost seeing double) bottles were now smashed on the floor. Adrianna was laughing hysterically over some nonsense that one of her brothers had said. She clicked her fingers, rather rudely at the barkeep, in a non verbal demand for another bottle for the table.

The conversation then turned to Giovanni, as it was his turn to add a dramatic monologue of his recent adventures for the business. His over-acting and bellowing voice, with an occasional tipsy slur of words had the group memorised and intrigued, "so then, I get back and Papi pulls me into his office. He says 'my son, my eldest, son, my choice to hand my position to you is near but, you sister has more passion, more drive. Gawd, I wanted to tell him, Ade! Gawd I wanted to tell him so bad!!!"

Adrianna turned a little pale and she seemed to sober up. He was going to blow this for her. All those months of hard work, the secret calls, the not so fake, fake relationship, all this to be blown because of a jealous, drunken brother. She went to say something but Giovanni continued, "I wanted to say 'she's a girl! She can't do that role!'." The group erupted with laughter.

Adrianna laughed along, her being the only girl had often come up as the punchline for many a sexist joke. It didn't phase her. If anything, she found it funny. It was never said out of spite, only with tongue in cheek. The woman relaxed, downing another drink.

The conversation continued, but not long after, paused in favour of a pee break. Adrianna made her own excuses to take a step outside as the alcohol was hitting her a bit harder. She'd never been able to keep up with her brother's, but she'd always given it a good go.

The Italian autumnal night air was still fairly warm and she enjoyed seeing the star speckled skies above Rome. Her apartment above the coffee shop could be seen from where she stood and she did debate running in and grab a jacket as no doubt the temperature would fall further.

"Ade?" Giovanni stepped outside after a few moments, breaking her train of thought.

Adrianna looked to him and offered a smile, "I won't be long, I was just considering getting a jacket."

Giovanni nodded and gestured for them to walk that way. She did a quick signal to the group inside to say they'd be a minute and soon looked back to her. "I'm sorry, I meant to put you on edge for the sake of humour," he offered.

"It's fine," she replied in a slightly bitter tone, "what are you going to do as Don?"

Giovanni had plans -- big plans -- but wasn't about to let her know. "I'm going to make it better," came his cryptic reply. He wasn't lying, but he did want to keep his motives for helping her a secret.

"You? You're the next Don?"

Both siblings turned around to see a tall well-weathered man looking rather shocked. The siblings remained quiet, unsure of whether his question had positive or negative connotations.

"You? No! Adrianna Baciami is already flirting with Starfleet, she will make Baciami repetual. Not you, Giovanni. You will kill us all and dance on our corpses," the man spat on the ground.

Giovanni had a temper, and it was being pushed to being released. There was more to this than met the eye. His hand snapped up to surrender.

The man knew about her dealings. Perhaps he didn't know that Giovanni was the reason for that. Equally, this man couldn't go around spreading those rumours or they would all wind up dead at the mercy of their father. Adrianna looked confused at Giovanni then looked back to the man and saw why. Phaser.

When in times of critical decision, sometimes choice can lead to dangerous outcomes. When the choice is between danger and danger, the decision becomes a conscious impossibility, whereby in the heat of the moment fight or flight and the subconscious force your hand in response. The man flinched and Adrianna jumped in front of Giovanni.

***

Adrianna woke up once more, gasping and feeling around her chest. She got even more anxious as her hands felt knotted with the bed sheet. The woman screamed in frustration. The woman had forgotten how that time had ended, she had often skipped it out and considered them two different time periods.

Her own screams of panic and frustration seemed to wake her up more and she came to her senses. Breathe, she told herself then actioned as dictated.

"I should have let him shoot you."