Page 54 of Teddy Sinatra: Go Your Own Way
“Oh he needs more than that,” Roz said as she got up and began heading back inside the house. As soon as she left, they laughed.
“They fuck more than rabbits,” Marco said.
“I don’t know where they get the energy,” said Big Daddy.
But Teddy and Nikki said nothing. Their energy was right up there with Pops and Roz, they thought.
But after more conversation, as Reno and Sal joined them, too, the crowd eventually thinned to just Teddy, Nikki, and Marco. And Marco took another sip of his beer and then looked at his father and his stepmother. “I apologize,” he said.
“It’s not an apology if we don’t know what for,” Nikki said.
“For not staying in touch with you guys like I should have. For being caught in my own feelings and figuring Pops didn’t wanna be bothered with me so why should I bother him. That didn’t work out so well for me.”
Nikki smiled. Teddy just sat there. But Nikki knew him. After a few moments of silence, he spoke up. “I’m not trying to hurt you. I want to help you. I’m your father,” he said and then looked at Marco. “I take that role seriously.”
Marco appreciated that. “Yes sir.”
“You’re a member of this family, but you’ve got to act like it. We’re tightknit. We come together no matter what. Look how long the Gabrinis stayed around here. Look at Big Daddy. Monk Paletti’s ready to come if we need him. Brent and Bobby and Tony and Donald and Ashley and Carly, and Bonita: All of Big Daddy’s children are ready to come if they were needed too. That’s the kind of family we are. Even me and my old man get into it more than most. But we come together too. Pop is the first person there when I need him and the last person to leave. I want to be that person for you. But you’ve got to let me.”
Marco was touched. “I will, Pops. I will.”
Then he stood up, and Teddy stood up, and they hugged each other. Nikki was touched.
“Now apologize to my wife for throwing her under the bus,” Teddy said.
Nikki and Marco laughed. But Teddy didn’t crack a smile. Which made Marco realize he wasn’t kidding. “Yes, sir,” he said. And looked at his father’s wife. “I apologize, Nikki, for throwing you under the bus. Although in truth, I don’t think it was that serious. I think I threw you under a car a little bit, but definitely not a bus.”
Nikki shook her head. And then she and Teddy both laughed too.
But then Mick opened the French door. “I thought you were sleep,” Teddy said.
“We got eyes on Denny Bengino,” Mick said. And he didn’t have to say anymore. Teddy, Nikki, and Marco took off behind him.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
“Turning a corner on two wheels in this tank?Really Uncle Mick?”
They were in another one of Mick’s big Escalades, this one pearl-white, and he was speeding down long stretches of rural highway outside of Philadelphia trying with all his might to catch up to the elusive Denny Bengino. Denny was in an SUV, too, and had been spotted by some of their guys, but he lost them. Mick was able to track him based on where his guys said they last saw him, and the chopper Mick put in the air were providing the aerial views that kept him in close proximity to Denny’s Infiniti SUV.
But Reno Gabrini was fit to be tied. He was on the front seat, beside Mick, and he saw up close and personal how just on the verge of total out of control Mick was driving. And he was driving with one hand.
“Are you nuts?” Reno was blaring out as Teddy, Nikki, Sal, and Marco, all seated on the second and third rows, were laughing. “You’re gonna kill us if you don’t slow your ass down, Uncle Mick!”
“I know what I’m doing, Reno,” Mick said, still driving with one hand even has he turned those wildly sharp corners. “I’ve been driving since I was eight. I haven’t wrecked yet.”
“That’s agotdamn lie,” Teddy said. “All those wrecks you’ve had, Pop!”
“See, you have had wrecks!” Reno blared.
Mick laughed.
“Just slow down, Mick, okay?” Reno was still insisting. “You’ve got visuals on the man. That chopper won’t lose him. What are you risking our lives for?”
“Ah shut your trap, Reno,” Sal said. “That’s what you get for wanting to be the big man by sitting up front with Uncle Mick. And for that arrogance your ass is going through the windshield first. Your ass gonna soften the blow when our asses fly through.”
Reno looked back at Sal as they were laughing. “You know how ridiculous you sound?”
“You know how ridiculousyousound?” Sal shot back at him.
