Angelina excused herself from the conversation she was in and went into the ladies room to check her make up. When she walked back out she saw her father.
"Angel!" He smiled.
He was a big man, a little overweight, but a loveable family man none the less. She walked up to him and hugged him.
"How do you like it?"
"I love it!" He smiled. "Did you set this up all by yourself."
She nodded. "Yep."
For once she felt like she was in a regular family, not "The Family" until she looked around and saw all them men in expensive suites, the women wearing incredibly expensive jewelery, and whenever she hugged one of the guests, she felt the cold metal of a gun underneath their jackets. It was her life, and she had to get used to it.
As she sat down and began to read, Speranza saw something move in her peripheral vision. She looked up and saw a familiar face waving from the window. She got up and walked to the window. “Uncle Fingers? Uncle Fingers!!” she smiled and leaned out the window to hug him. He had introduced her to the mafia, and they were good friends. He was a short balding man who always looked angry accounting he had a large crinkle down the center of his forehead. He said it was from being in the mafia so long. “Enzy! Long time no see!! What have you been up to lately?”
“What have I been up to? You’re the one who disappeared three months ago! Hang on, let me come outside.” She laughed as she walked to the door and over to her friend. “Lets go get something to eat” she said patting him on the back. “You can explain yourself over dinner.”
“It was like this.” Uncle Fingers began his story when they had ordered. They were sitting in a shabby diner and it was a little loud. He continued. “I walks into his office, Mr. Connerolli, see? And he turns around in his chair and says to me… ‘Fingers? I want you to take a vacation’. And I says to him, cause you don’t usually get vacations in this kinda business, see, so I says to him ‘Why boss? I ain’t done nothing wrong’. And he says to me ‘Who said you did? But I notice that crease in your forehead is getting bigger by the minute, so I want you to take a vacation’.” He stopped as if his story was done.
“Just like that?” Speranza said looking confused.
“Just like that.”
“Uncle Fingers, just cause I’m sixteen don’t mean I ain’t got a brain.” She said looking indignant.
“Course it doesn’t. Who told you that?” Uncle Fingers said innocently. Speranza grinned at him and laughed. She still had the feeling that he wasn’t telling her something but she didn’t press it.
“Well, so what are you doin’ lately? You know…for Mr. Connerolli.”
“Well, still the same stuff, pretty much funky odd jobs. Just had an… encounter with Freddy the Fryer,” she said, choosing her word carefully, so as not to fret Uncle Fingers. It didn’t work.
“What!” Uncle Fingers said, jumping up quickly. “Freddy been giving you trouble?”
Speranza scowled “Sit down. Its no big deal. I handled it.” She didn’t like it when people thought she couldn’t take care of herself.
Seeing the look on Speranza’s face, Uncle Fingers slowly sat down. “Sorry, Enzy. But I know Freddy. He ain’t the most ‘civilized’ guy.”
“So I’ve noticed. Anyway, I smoothed things over. If you want, you can come with me to go back and see him again tomorrow.” That worked. Uncle Fingers calmed down and smiled at the waitress as she delivered their food. He poked at it and said “Okay, sure.”
<<That was gonna be my next part. Actually, that is my next part.>>
Home for Speranza was a small apartment in the worst side of town. She walked down the small alley that lead to her building, avoiding a man who was muttering to himself and ripping up a piece of paper, and stopping to drop a few coins into a homeless women’s soup can. She reached the building and went inside. Music was blaring and the air was hazy. She walked slowly up the stair, tripping over a young boy who was asleep on the steps. When she got to her apartment she walked in and flopped onto her bed. She was asleep before she could turn out the lights.