Romeo of the Streets (17 page)

“No problem,” Sal shrugged, “like I said, if I see this mook I’ll let you know.”

Beyond the cop’s shoulder he spotted the familiar duo of Ferret and Eyeball sauntering towards him and, as he stared, the cop turned to follow his gaze.

Sal grinned, certain now that he was reading the young cop’s mind. “Those guys are students too,” he said, “sorry pal, you’ll just have to keep searching.”

They waited until the cop had left again (pausing more than once to glance suspiciously back at them on his way across the campus), before properly getting down to business.

“Why the hell weren’t you two in class this morning?” Sal asked, “I had to make excuses for you.”

The two soldiers stared at him. “You serious boss?” Eyeball said.

“Yes, I’m serious. If we’re to fly under the radar up here we don’t want to be attracting any undue attention. That means showing up to class and behaving like good, enthusiastic students.”

“Yeah,” Ferret chimed in, “but ain’t it already pretty suspicious, us just turning up to class like this halfway through the year? And how the hell are we even supposed to catch up with the rest of them anyway?”

“That’s beside the point,” Sal said, “if I tell you to be somewhere, you be there,
capice
?”

Ferret and Eyeball murmured their agreement and Sal sighed.

“Screw it, you’re probably right,” he said, “who wants to sit in a classroom all day when there’s money to be made? We’ll have a few words with Goldberg, see about getting a pass guaranteed. In the meantime, let’s go find that Guilianno piece of shit. We’ve got some work to do and it’s about time we put that little bastard to the test.”

They met Lou outside Flip N’ Chip’s where he’d been in checking his hours, and together the four of them walked back to Sal’s car. Lou seemed a little quiet today for some reason Sal couldn’t understand, not that it caused him much concern. The prick had been acting moody ever since that little tiff he’d had with his girlfriend in the cafeteria a few days back and Sal wished he’d just man the fuck up. The kid had had everything handed to him on a silver platter in his life and he still acted like a little bitch whenever things weren’t going his way. It made Sal sick. All the same, he considered, it might have had something to do with the Morelli guy too—Lou had been making excuses for the old man for weeks now and Sal had just about had enough of it. Now though, the matter would finally be resolved—whether through Sal getting his money, or Gino going back to the hospital for a spell—and Lou would be the one to make it happen.

“So what are we doing here Sal?” Lou asked from the backseat, where he was sitting beside Eyeball. Sal was taking the car back across the city towards the Orange Grove.

“We’re going to see your old friend,” Sal answered, “it’s about time we got this thing sorted out.”

Lou didn’t respond at first and when Sal glanced up at him through the rearview mirror he saw that the kid looked like he’d been sucking lemons. Good, he thought.

“Now I’ve been very patient with this matter,” Sal continued, “but the fact remains my young friend, that if I’d sent Dumb and Dumber here to do the job, I’d have had my money weeks ago, ain’t that right boys?”

Ferret and Eyeball merely muttered in reply, obviously not happy at the insult but unable to voice their misgivings due to the hierarchy of the system. Yes, Sal reflected, the life of a Capo had its perils but it was, at the end of the day, a rewarding one. He glanced sideways at Ferret as he drove the car through the busy city streets.

“And if you’re wondering which one is Dumber,” he said, “It’s you, Ferret. Eyeball, give him the thing.”

Eyeball reached down to the floor behind Sal’s seat and picked up the five iron golf club that had been lying there, passing it over to Lou, who had been hitherto flicking through the screen of his iPhone.

“This is what we used on him last time,” Eyeball said, eyeing Lou closely.

Pocketing his phone, Lou took the golf club into his hand, swallowing noticeably.

“Yeah, we messed him right up,” Ferret chuckled, “you should have heard him screaming—‘
Ahhh! Ahhh!
’—sounded like a damn alley cat.”

“Shut the hell up Ferret!” Sal commanded, “Don’t you know Lou and that old man go way back?”

“Sorry Lou,” Ferret said, “I forgot.”

“It’s ok,” Lou said, finally now speaking at last, “business first, right? That’s just the way it is.”

“Exactly,” Sal smiled, nodding to Lou through the rearview, “exactly. You think we take pleasure in this shit? Beating up on old men? Hell no—well maybe Ferret, but not me or Eyeball, right Eyeball?”

“If you say so boss.”

“I do say so. But business comes first. The rules are the rules and if we don’t lay down the law then we don’t get paid. And if we don’t get paid then we get the fellas from downtown calling round, busting our balls, wondering where all the money’s gone. It’s an us or them kind of situation we got here Lou and now you’re in on it too.” He made sure that the kid caught his eye this time as he glanced up at the mirror again. “Because if you don’t get the cash for us off
him
, then it’s
you
who’ll have to pay.”

Traffic was heavy that day and Sal was growing antsy in anticipation of the upcoming violence, having already spent so long behind the wheel. As they approached their destination things eased off a bit and he began to savor the images of violence and domination that he conjured for himself—a little taste of what was to come—gaining speed as he did so. Now at last he’d have his chance to test the mettle of the kid they called “Junior Lou”. Would he turn out to be a flake just like his old man had been? Now was the time to find out…

“Hey boss, ain’t that Romeo’s car over there?” Ferret spoke up suddenly, as they cruised down a narrow side-street on their way towards the Grove.

“Ain’t that what…?” Sal muttered, irritated to have had his thoughts cut off like that when he’d been gleaning so much enjoyment from them. “How the hell would I know? Lou, is that the guy’s car?”

“Uh, yeah,” Lou said, leaning forward and looking out the window as they passed Romeo’s Lexus parked up on the street outside a little diner.

“Well shit,” Sal said, “I guess it’s your lucky day. Now the
two
of you can get that old bastard’s money for us while the rest of us watch the show. Look out for a parking space boys, we’re calling our man back to action.”

The narrow street was pretty busy and Sal drove all the way to the end of the block without seeing another space, but he’d told the guys that he was co-opting Romeo to the mission so he resolved to find a way. It was never a good idea to appear uncertain or changeable in front of the troops—not when any one of them might get to thinking they could do the job better themselves someday. He turned the car around and made his way back the way they’d came.

As they approached the diner, cruising slowly down the street, the doors opened and Romeo Mancini stepped out, as grim-faced as ever in his black leather jacket and jeans. Just as Sal beeped the horn, someone else stepped out behind him—a seriously sexy little blonde dame in a smart navy suit and pumps.

“
Who the hell is that?
” Sal muttered.

As the car rolled past, Romeo looked up and the guys waved, Sal closely scrutinizing Romeo’s female companion. Romeo’s mouth fell open as they passed him. What the hell was he up to out here, Sal wondered?

“Yo!” Sal shouted through the open window, “We’re going to turn around. Wait for us and then follow behind!”

Romeo waved his agreement after them and they continued down the street looking for a place to turn yet again.

“Damn,” Ferret said, “who the hell was that chick? Romeo’s been holding out on us. Wasn’t he supposed to be getting involved with your sister or something Lou?”

Sal glanced back at Lou and saw—with more than a little relish—that the kid appeared even more despondent than he had been before.

“Nah,” Lou muttered, “you think I’d let that jackass near my sister?”

“Hey,” Sal shrugged, “your sister’s a good looking gal. I might be interested myself…”

The other guys laughed but Sal made sure the kid knew that maybe,
just maybe
, he wasn’t joking at all.

At that moment his phone rang and with one eye still on the road Sal whipped it out and brought it to his ear. It was Romeo and, just as he answered, they passed his car again and the kid pulled out onto the street behind them.

“Yeah,” Sal said, talking into the phone, “we need you for a little job, you and Lou… That’s right. Yeah. Now tell me this, you been holding out on us kid? How the hell did a mook like you bag a classy dame like that? Oh yeah? No shit? Well good for you. Ok, see you there.”

He hung up the phone and turned to the others. “Ex-girlfriend from back in New York, he says. She came down especially to see him. Lucky bastard.” He glanced back at Lou. “I guess your sister won’t like that much, eh Lou? Maybe she’ll need someone to comfort her...”

In the backseat Lou didn’t say a word for a moment, just gripped the five iron between his fingers and stared dead ahead.

“Hey Sal,” he said finally, “why don’t you let me and Romeo go in there alone for this one? All of a sudden I feel like knocking some heads and you guys should stay back in case there’s any trouble, watch out for the heat.”

Sal was impressed. He chuckled approvingly as he eyed the stone-faced young enforcer in the backseat. “Sure,” he said, “why not? Just make sure you save that anger for the old man and don’t go taking it out on Romeo for screwing over your sister. You two bastards make too much money for us for me to let you jeopardize it now. Channel the force kid, but use it wisely. That’s how we keep the cash rolling in.”

Lou said nothing and Sal took it to mean that he’d understood the severity of his orders. Sal’s word was the final word and anything else the kid would just have to suppress. With Romeo’s car directly behind them, he turned off down a smaller road, the geography of the city now feeling a whole lot more familiar. The Orange Grove was just up ahead.

Right when I needed her most it was time for Lisa to leave me. Rebecca, the girl who’d been my roommate before heading off to Italy for a few months as part of her exchange was due to return and now Lisa had to give up her room again. She was going to stay with her sister for a few days while she waited for her new apartment to be ready, because she certainly didn’t want to be around Lou at the moment and neither, for that matter, did I. Everything he’d promised her had collapsed in on itself—not only had he failed to keep his other life from infecting the one they shared, but now it had infringed on her more than ever before—and the worst thing was he’d seemed totally unapologetic about the whole situation, as if it was something that he himself had been powerless to prevent. I was so angry at him I felt like I never wanted to see him again and I certainly didn’t want to talk to him, although I knew that I had to—at least once—just to make sure Gino was ok.

After I’d left the cafeteria that day, the overwhelming instinct had been to call Romeo, to beg him to put my mind at ease by telling me that he wouldn’t let anything bad happen to Gino. If I couldn’t trust Lou, I felt like I
needed
to trust Romeo, I needed to know that somebody out there was looking out for us and wasn’t going to let anything bad happen. Why I thought that could be Romeo even then I had to admit to myself that I didn’t know. If Lou himself hadn’t been willing to put himself on the line for Gino’s sake, why did I think that Romeo would when he had virtually no personal obligation at all?

In retrospect, considering the way everything turned out, maybe I
should
have called Romeo and certainly that was what my emotions were willing me to do, but I couldn’t deny that logic dictated it was Lou alone who I should speak to about it. It was only a shame I didn’t want to speak to him—not then, not ever, and certainly not while he was still in the company of those animals from the Orange Grove.

I was halfway back to the apartment by the time Lisa caught up with me, her chest heaving with breathlessness as she hurried to reach me. In my anxiety I hadn’t realized how fast I’d been going and I suddenly felt guilty about leaving her behind like that, at the mercy of those other creeps.

“Sandy,” she said, panting, “I’m sorry, I had no idea...”

I looked at her for a second and then threw my arms around her, clasping her body close to mine and burying my face in her shoulder. “Jesus Lisa,” I said, “it’s not
your
fault.”

We went back to the apartment and even though Lisa had been due to start packing up that day, she stayed over with me for one last night together. I shared an extremely cold and functional telephone conversation with Lou in which he assured me that he would look out for Gino and make sure nothing bad happened to him (as if he actually had control over those other guys) and swore that he’d had no idea about the true nature of the accident until just a couple of weeks previously and had been doing everything he could to make it right since then. I told him I didn’t believe him (which was almost true, I certainly
wanted
to believe him, but I couldn’t be sure) and when he asked to speak to Lisa I hung up the phone. That night, all the joy and fun that we’d had together since Lisa moved into the apartment seemed like scenes from a different life. Now the atmosphere was more like that of an unexpected funeral—it was as if right before our eyes we’d watched something beautiful just wither up and die.