Alfonzo (18 page)

They knew something…he frowned…they know who I am.

That night he left the room, traveled to an overnight pharmacy bought feminine products to avoid suspicion a
long with
sunglasses
, gauze and Betadine
.
He tossed the bags on the bed
and set about
changing the dressings.
He looked down at the large neatly stitched wound and scowled. If the Diaz punk was not dead, he’d finish him for free!

The cell on the bed rang and he sat down
and
star
ed
at the number.
Evan…again.
The man was becoming a nuisance. He answered, “Yes?”

“
You haven’t checked in
, don’t you want to know where your car is?
”

“
Yeah, why not
.”
Obviously, Evan watched too many of those spy movies. Dumbass!

“You left your black Ford unlocked on the corner of
S
ixty-fourth
D
rive and
O
ne hundred and eighth
street
in Forest Hills.”

The line went dead.

Evan Graham was
a simpleton
eager to be rid of him now that the job was
done,
although he hadn’t received confirmation the kid was actually dead. Freddie threatened to expose him if he didn’t pay and the
rich
spineless
social climber
succumbed. The eyes revealed the soul of a man and Evan’s showed cowardice, a man
easily intimidated.

The
balance of the
money better
be
there, all of it
!

He slipped on a long sleeve shirt, put
on
a cap
, sunglasses and stepped out the door
to collect the remainder of his fee.

Alfonzo
walked barefoot to the kitchen clu
tching the telephone to his ear.
Selange had
asked,
“How
are
you feeling?”

He loved hearing
her
sweet voice. “
Bueno
…good, but I’ll feel better when I see
you tonight.”

“I don’t want you driving way out here
. I
’
m coming for you
.”

He smirked, “Yeah, chica. You’d do that?”

She wasn’t an expert at flirting. He could tell as she searched for a witty answer. “You
’re still not one hundred percent. I don’t want you to get into an accident or anything.”

Alfonzo took a Heineken from the fridge, “You’re not driving home if it’s late
, though. I’m accustomed to dropping my women off at their door,” he snickered because he knew she’d blush and he wanted her to, “and sometimes I put them to bed
.”

Her sweet voice said,
“We’ll cross that bridge
if
we get to it.”

He leaned against the counter as he popped the cap
smiling.
If
, hell there wasn’t any doubt about putting her to bed. It’s merely a matter of how soon. But for now he’d play along, she had his attention and that’s always a good sign.
“So where
are you taking me
?”

Se
lange teased, “You’ll see when we get there.”

He wanted this girl so damn bad. She kept him on edge. Having a girl plan a date left him
on unfamiliar turf
but it was kind of cool
.
He
only wondered if he should bring along protection, the lethal type.

“
Cool,
tonight it’s your way, next time it’s mine.”

She laughed, “Don’t worry…you’re in competent hands.”

He gulped the beer and mumbled, “Umm…I hope so.”

Nah, tonight…
me…her…no piece…no
business
only pleasure
!

At eight o’clock she arrived at his place looking sexy in a black gown with a white ribbon sash around her thin waist. Her hair was pulled
tightly into a fashionable ponytail
displaying her striking
cheekbones and feline eyes.
She looked like an exotic princess, classy, regal and super sexy.
“Whoa…you look gorgeous.” He complimented
from
the door
way
then
leaned forward impulsively to
g
i
ve her a lingering kiss.

He
glimpsed a car passing, its occupant familiar.
Detective Winoski.
Was he under surveillance or police protection?
After tonight he planned to find out. T
his evening
he
simply wanted
to have a good time. If the police were
following then there was no need to bring fire power, right?

She smiled against his mouth, “
Ummm
,” then stepped back to check him out from head to toe.
He wore a midnight blue tailored suit, white custom designer shirt with
a fashionable
full collar, silk light blue tie which
complimented his blue
eyes
then
she did a double take…
are those real diamond cufflinks and is that an authentic
Jean
Richard watch? Holy crap…if it’s real it costs over a hundred and twenty thousand for the Paramount Tourbillion.
Wow, Alfonzo
has impeccable taste
!

“You clean-up nice,” she commented, not wanting to boost his already huge ego
although
he
looked fabulous
and smelled really good
. He wore expensive clothes
effortlessly and possessed a
confident Latino swagger that caused her heart to accelerate.
This is how my mom must’ve felt with Al.

Alfonzo didn’t
smile,
he’d received more enthusiastic reception from
women.
He hadn’t anticipated such a lukewarm
response
especially when he sought to impress her.
The white designer shirt with
the
stylish
o
versized collar cost eight hundred dollars.
The entire outfit
not including his watch and cufflinks
set him back three grand and all she could say was,
‘
you clean-up nice
’
.

From the grim set of his mouth she surmised he was not pleased with
her tepid
compliment
.
She smiled internally
at his conceit
. Me
n this handsome craved praise but she wasn’t going to be the chick
to
dol
e
out compliments
simply
to stroke his ego.
He had to
earn
them
.

“Let me grab my keys,” he said quietly then walked into the living
room, snatched his key fro
m a side table then returned to the foyer.

His ego is bruised. Poor baby!
She seized his hand eagerly, “We have to hurry. I don’t want to be late.”

His
spirits lifted.
This girl surprised and elated him
but he had to play it cool, she was nothing like the other chicks
.
She wasn’t easy to impress and didn’t need or want anything from him.
He
decid
ed to
be suave and
not move too fast
; he’d
get to know her and see where it led
.

They
were in Brooklyn a short time later and
entered
the
B
rooklyn
A
cademy of
M
usic
. Her surprise date was
a
performance of
Verdi’s II
Trovatore
. The people climbing the stairs were dressed similarly in stylish attire.
Refined, cultured, lovers of classical musical.
Opera wasn’t his thing but he’d feign interest if it meant spending time with her.
He suffered through the performance
and
almost fell
asleep if not for the piercing high pitched sound emanating from the woman on the stage.
He applauded at the appropriate moments and stood as everyone cheered, encore.
During the long orchestral performance
he
watched her proudly. She caught him staring several times and blushed.
When it
ended he was ecstatic
to
finally
get her alone.

T
hey descended the wide stairs and she asked,
“So, did you like it?”

Alfonzo
had stopped to
check his text messages
; there was one from An
tonia
:
69 miss u
.
He typed back
:
ttyl
@work
.
He apologized to his date
then
put away the cellular and gave Selange his full attention, “I’m not a fan of opera, but
being with
you made it palatable.
What the heck is II
Trovatore
anyway?”

“It means troubadour
, you weren’t paying attention were you?”

He smiled, “You were distracting me.”

She cocked her head to the side
and grinned
, “You’d rather go catch a game, right?”

“True.”

“Okay, then take me to a game. If you can sit through opera I think I can manage baseball
, b
asketball
, s
occer
,
fútbol
or whatever.”

“Really?”
She was at his side, beautiful
and
intoxicating. He clasped her hand, “I’m glad you’re smiling.”

She nodded, “Me too.”

His fingers interlocked with hers.
Alone and away from his boys Alfonzo surprised her.
They reached the car and he let go
of
her
hand to her quiet
disappointment. She liked the feel of his hand;
it was
strong, warm and protective.

“
Hungry?
”
He
asked then
pointed, “
We’re not far from Junior’s, l
et’s
stop in.”

Junior’s cheesecakes were
the best in Brooklyn.

She
entered the car then waited for him to join her before pulling off in the direction of the famous eatery. T
hey parked
and
out of nowhere it began to drizzle. When they were feet from the door
the rain began to fall
heavily
and they
scurried inside laughing.
He ordered a pineapple cheesecake and smiled as she poked his arm.
“Hey, you didn’t ask if I like pineapple.”

A few patrons stared at the
attractive well-dressed
couple.

“
Lo siento…
I’m sorry…what do you
want
?”

“I want a
strawberry
cheesecake.”

“Anything else, how about a chocolate cheesecake I hear it’s the best?”

His eyebrow raised and she smiled at the double entendré. “I heard that, too.”

He revised the order to include strawberry and chocolate
,
the
n
asked for individual slices and double Frappuccino’s for them to have now.

T
hey moved to a table to savor the smooth creamy concoction
and hot drinks as the clerk readied their take-out orders
.

Alfonzo leaned back in his chair, “
I know you like opera, strawberry cheesecake what else do you like
?”

“I like watching cartoons.”

He laughed.

“
What about you aside from sports, which is obvious
?”