Page 24 of Working for the Mob

Comprehension fell on his face and he let out an “Oh.” The tension dissipated from his body as his shoulders relaxed and he opened his jaw. “Sorry. I forgot myself.”

He slumped in his chair and looked away, out of the window. Who could get under his skin like that, besides me? He practically runs the city.

Do I ask him about it? No. I had already tried that and it didn’t work.

“I’m hungry,” I said, instead. “I need food or I’m going to get light-headed.”

He leered at me across the table. “Do you have any money?”

“Just the remnants of what you left us,” I said. “I haven’t gotten paid yet.”

“I know,” he said. A man of many words, Art Necci.

He stood up, opened the door, and left. His footsteps pounded down the stairs; I couldn’t tell whether I was relieved or sad he left. My stomach gurgled again and I raced down the steps after him.

By the time I reached the bottom of the stairs he had already crossed the street, headed in the direction of the café. I rushed after him, narrowly avoiding a car, and caught up just as he entered the café.

“You could have waited,” I said as he held the door open for me and threw him a nasty glare.

He shrugged. “You got here just fine.”

An energetic buzz greeted us at the door. Although we arrived at the tail end of the lunch hour, most of the table still remained full.

Jamie didn’t spare us a glance once we walked in, but Lucy waved enthusiastically. Art pulled me behind the counter and took a sandwich out of Jamie’s display. He took a half and offered me the other.

“I don’t like ham. Can I have a turkey instead?”

“The turkey is running out,” he said, and pointed to the turkey sandwich display, which held considerably less sandwiches than the ham. “You can pay for a turkey sandwich, or eat a ham for free.”

I had plans for every cent in my pocket and didn’t have enough to spend on a store-bought sandwich. We still needed to stop at the supermarket that afternoon to buy a few things I forgot. I swiped the ham sandwich and grumbled an insincere, “Thanks.”

“If you can find a table, you’re welcome to eat in the dining room. If not, then feel free to eat in the back,” he said. The last place I wanted to spend my lunch hour was the dingy storeroom behind the shop.

“Where are you eating?” I asked his deaf ears, as he left.

I glanced at Lucy and Jamie, who rushed to meet the needs of a customer. Lucy gently nudged me out of the way to access the display case.

“Did you already eat?” I asked her, as she pulled out a turkey sandwich.

“Yeah, we ate right before we opened for lunch. Jamie said we’ll take another break after we close at two, before we clean everything.”

She went back to her customer and handed over the sandwich.

I backed behind the counter at the sight of Virginia Brighton through the café windows. I held my breath as she strutted down the sidewalk, with her nose in the air. Luckily, she never looked in my direction.

What I said to her had gone too far. She didn’t deserve to be humiliated in front of the whole town like that, even after everything she said to Lucy.

Now that she was gone, I surveyed the floor for somewhere to eat. The only open seat was across from the grump mob member himself. I shook my head, went out the back of the store, and ate leaning against the grumpy mob member’s car. He would probably flip if he saw me. He wouldn’t want me to scuff his hood.

Once I finished, I opened the door to the back and froze when I heard Art’s voice in the middle of a conversation. I paused, and listened.

“They essentially said that they’re going to increase the price of all their goods by fifty percent. That includes flour, produce,andbaked goods,” he said. Was this what he was so angry about earlier?

“And this is after they negotiated to be our sole distributor of flour for the whole town?” Jamie’s voice asked.

“That’s the current setup. Do you know of any other bakers in town we could use?” Art asked.

“No. That’s the only one. If we have to pay that much more from the baker, then we’re essentially done. We can’t raise our prices any more. Our customers can’t afford it.”

---