Page 44 of Sal Gabrini: Man on Fire

They all looked at each other again. “They weren’t that crazy,” said Milo.

“What do you mean?”

“They didn’t take our wives or our children. Nothing like that.”

Sal was confused. “Then who did they take? Your cousins?”

“No, Sal,” said Palo. “They took my old lady.”

“Mine too,” said Milo.

“Mine too,” said Boomer.

“Your old ladies,” said Sal, “that happens to not be your wives?”

“That’s right,” said Palo. “You got a problem with that?”

“And I take it your old ladies aren’t your mothers?”

“Why you acting all sanctimonious all of a sudden, Sal Luca?” asked Palo. “We do what every mob boss does and you know it. You in the same boat we in. You ain’t no saint either.”

“Everybody cheats,” Sal said with disdain. “Everybody steals and kills. And now it’s open season. Now it’s payback time for all the shit we’re doing.”

“What are you talking?” Milo asked. “Payback for what? What we did to deserve this?”

“You came on my property, bringing this shit around my family, telling me they snatched your families when they snatched a piece of ass you don’t have no business having? Get the fuck out of here!”

“My old lady is a part of my family,” said Milo,” whether you wanna believe it or not. She’s a secret part, but she’s a part of my family!”

“We gotta get’em back, Sal,” said Palo desperately. “In a lot of ways, I would have preferred they took my wife rather than my old lady.”

Sal was disgusted. “Palo, what’s wrong with you?” he asked.

“I’m sorry but it’s true. I love her! I love her, Sal.”

“And they knew it. That’s why they took’em,” said Boomer. “They knew how we felt about’em.”

Sal rubbed his forehead. Some life he was living. In league with characters like them who had no character. “I’ll send you the photo,” he said, pulling up their cell numbers. “I’ve got every available man trying to get an I.D. on him now. You get your people on him too,” Sal added. “If you find out something, let me know.”

“But what we do in the meantime?”

“We wait,” said Sal. “I know you don’t wanna hear it, but that’s what we’re going to do. These fuckers aren’t playing. Today it’s your girlfriends, tomorrow it could be your children.”

They all looked somber when Sal told them that.

“Or us,” said Milo, and that sobered them up even more.

“As soon as I find something out,” Sal said, “I’ll let you know.”

They nodded. “Thanks for helping us, Sal Luca,” said Boomer, and they all began leaving.

“And guys?” They all turned back toward Sal.

“Don’t you ever bring this shit to my house again. You call me. You go to a safe house. We meet. Don’t bring it here. Do I make myself clear?”

They nodded. They needed him. They would kiss ass if they had to. And then they left.

Sal, exhausted and more worried than he let on to any of them, leaned his head back. Who the fuck was he dealing with, he wondered, and what did they want from him? Because he was convinced it was all about him. The tie-in with Markie and now what was happening to the bosses in his coalition proved that.

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