Page 9 of Tammaro DeLuca

The question took me off guard, and I didn’t know if I wanted to answer. This was more personal than I wanted to be with him.

“He wasn’t a father. More like a partner or even a boss. Looking over my shoulder to make sure that I was doing things right. It was all about money with him. He stopped being a father long before he pulled me into the business. I found out about your mom because my parents got into an argument about ‘the other woman’. That’s how I found out that my mother was the mistress. Did he ever hit yours or did he save that treatment for only mine?” I asked him, more out of curiosity than anything else.

“No, he treated her like a queen. He never let this life touch her. She knew what he was into, but he didn’t let it inside the house. It was almost as if he felt like it would tarnish her somehow.”

“Too bad he didn’t feel that way about both of them. Mine had to earn her keep or get cut off. No wonder the three of you are spoiled shits.” I scoffed before getting out of the car and walking to the front of the car, waiting for Massimo.

“I won’t compare our lives. Understand that you’re not the only one that had it bad, though. It was just different from what you pictured it to be.” He approached the door, but a guy blocked us from entering.

“Cecil needs to meet with you later. He’s had something important come up and he’s not here.”

“Why didn’t he call and save me the fucking trip, then?” Massimo asked.

“Don’t know. He’ll let you know when he’s good to meet again. Not now though.” The guy shook his head.

“Tell your boss that I hate having my time wasted.” Massimo got in his face, not backing down. “The next time that we meet, he’s coming to me. No more favors.”

“Don’t get cocky.” The man reached for his gun and Massimo shook his head.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you. This is his fuck up. You mean nothing to me. I’d have no problem with killing you and leaving the body right here as a message not to fuck with a DeLuca. Beni’s the calm one motherfucka, not me. Pull that gun and it’ll be the last fucking thing you do, capeesh?”

The man looked between the two of us and removed his hand without drawing the gun.

“Tell your boss what you want to, but understand, this minor scene has just cost him. You might be dead after all.” Massimo said before turning and walking to the car. I backed away, not letting that careless minion out of my sight.

“Fucking pussy.” Massimo said while getting into the car.

“Me or him?” I asked once inside.

“Both, if you were afraid of him. He was a fucking decoy for whatever was going on inside that warehouse. There’s no way that only one man should be outside. Whatever trouble Cecil is in, it ain’t got shit to do with me. Dead or alive, we’re still getting what we want.”

He reversed out of the lot and sped off. He went to check on a few different spots, and to show me the restaurant that he’d gotten Beni to let him run.

“What do you think? Hmm? Should I sell it and get something else? Or bring this motherfucka up to code?”

I got out and did the one thing I’d learned was necessary to do in real estate. I looked around. Three doors down was a corner store with a lot of foot traffic. Kids, parents, neighborhood thugs, and even folks in business suits. The space next to it was vacant on both sides. There was a tax office beside that and a clothing store next to that. Across the street was a decent sized grocery store. The traffic on the street was constant and the walking people on the street was a good sign that people weren’t afraid to be over here.

“Why’d it close?” I asked.

“Pop stopped paying attention to it. Food wasn’t his thing. I think it has the potential to be a way to have clean money coming in.”

“Who owns the spaces on either side that are empty?” I asked before peeking into the windows of the empty places.

“We will if I open up this place. They’re vacant, but I told the owner that I wanted them if I can make it make sense.”

“What were you thinking?”

“Italian food. Dine-in. The side on the left is where the kitchen is located. I was thinking if I bought that side, we could serve pizza by the slice out of there with a walk-up window. On the other side, ice cream. There are a lot of families in the area.” Massimo said.

I was thinking something similar, that they needed to be something that was good for the families that I kept seeing wandering by.

“You’ve got it all figured out. I don’t think I need to say anything else.” But then I thought about what he said. I measured the distance of each store front by the number of steps I took. Buying all three was going to cost a hell of a lot. “I think you should buy the old restaurant and the one on the right. It's larger. And the hostesses can help with moving food. Or, depending on how everything is set up, let the designer know your plan and they might make an even better design. The walk up idea is epic, so maybe make that a priority in the plan.”

“I see you. Alright. Thanks, man.”

I nodded and looked at the space from the car. This was going to Massimo's. His own dream and something that had nothing to do with the family. I looked up at the name of the restaurant.

“You're changing the name, right?” I asked.

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