Page 5 of Married to the Mafia

I lower my voice to a whisper. "The mafia. You're in the mafia, aren't you? Of course you are, it all makes sense. That's why you've got the police in your pocket."

"I'm a business owner, Rose, that's all. You're making it hard for me to do business and I'm offering a way for you to make it easier."

"By kidnapping me. No, thanks. I'm walking home."

"Suit yourself," he calls after me as I march off down the street.

I make my way back up to the shelter and it's like the demolition crew were never there. The parking lot is empty. I walk all around the place. No damage. Maybe he has kept his word after all.

I think about staying there overnight again but I decide to go home and see how dad is first.

Big mistake.

3

Rose

Rose

Dad’s not been himself the last week or so. Ever since I brought the casino chip home, he’s been subdued, but it got worse since those bodies washed up. It’s hard to put a finger on, but I know him well enough to know when something’s up.

At first I thought it might be the money. When I turned eighteen, he gave me a letter mom had written to me for the occasion.

It was strange hearing from her so long after she died. She said that she’d left me a safe deposit box with a nest egg inside. I went to the bank to open it, but all I found was a casino chip for Gianni’s casino up on the hillside.

Ten thousand, according to the writing on the chip. I tried to cash it in, but they wouldn’t even let me in the door. I’m too young. Story of my life.

Too young to get a job. Too young to date. Too young to do anything. Hence me taking the post at the animal shelter. To prove I’m old enough to take care of myself. I don’t need anyone else looking after me.

I asked dad about the casino chip, whether he wanted to go up there for me, but he just said it was my money, not his. Mom left it for me. He said it in this quiet voice and I remember thinking at the time he was probably just sad about mom.

She wanted to be here for my eighteenth, but she knew it wouldn’t happen. So she wrote me the letter and left me the chip.

I tried to talk to him about the bodies too, but he just shook his head, muttered something about me being too young to talk about that kind of thing.

I think he worries about me more than he lets on sometimes, thinks I’m still a dumb kid who needs looking after. I don’t. I’m doing just fine.

I get home determined to have a proper conversation about the chip. I can’t cash it in yet, so why did she give it to me now? Why not wait until I’m twenty-one? Or did she not know the casino wouldn’t let me in?

“I’m home,” I call out as I unlock the front door. There’s no response. I walk through to the kitchen and there’s a note on the counter. “Back in a few days. Love you.” It’s dated yesterday.

Dad never says love you. I know he feels it, but he never says it. Never has. So why write it in the note?

Something doesn’t add up, but what can I do about it? Call the sheriff and say I got a note from my dad saying he loves me. He will get the entire county out looking for Dad if I tell him that.

Besides, Dad goes off from time to time. Trips fishing upstate or into the city to visit the galleries and museums. He always comes back after a couple of days. I’m sure he will this time. So why am I worried?

I look at the clock on the kitchen wall. It’s noon. Howhas so much happened and the morning is only just over? I dig out my cellphone and send a group message to Caroline and Eddie. “Drinks needed.”

Two thumbs up come back at once. One from each of them. I don’t need to specify a time or place. They know I mean Larry’s bar and they know I mean right now. That’s the thing about having best friends. They know everything about you without you having to say it.

I freshen up and then head back out. By the time I get to Larry’s, they’re already there.

Caroline slides a glass of wine across to me. It feels strange drinking aged eighteen with the sheriff’s office right across the street, but Larry has never cared and no one has ever busted him.

There was a rumor he bribed the cops to leave him alone, but the last corrupt cop we had was Louie and he’s been dead for two years.

“So what’s up?” Eddie asks. “Aren’t you supposed to be locked up in choky? Doing a hard ten breaking rocks on the roadside? Chain gang, odd couple movie idea, escaping, life on the lam, all that kind of thing.”

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