ASCENSION (7 page)

***

A
LFONZO
worked in the home office as Sal frolicked beneath the desk with his toy cars. They’d returned from the construction site and he was going over the blue-prints to make some minor changes. He planned to head over to the
barber after his son ate lunch then stop in to talk with the architect about the addendums
right after the conference
.
He checked his watch and frowned. Th
e day was going by rapidly.
The videoconference was scheduled for eight o’clock Central European Time. This gave him another hour to peruse the quarterly statements and
update the shareholders during their semi-annual meeting. Usually, he flew to Italy for these meetings but right now he needed to remain home and be the attentive family man.

His wife simply didn’t understand there were obligations once ignored opened the door to dissension. The
group of shareholders were
men loyal to his father
and
required continuous pacification. –
S
o
,
he coddled them, sent extravagant gifts to their wives and children on birthdays
along with sizable
donations to their favorite charities
. He c
ontinued to honor his father’s agreement in matters of politics and
social affairs. He did these things
and more
because it was the only
way to ensure his family’s
protection. They were men who possessed egos as large as their bank accounts and grudges without end. His uncle and Alberti assisted in navigation through their customs as well as represent
ation when
compatriotism
were
warranted.
D
espite his wealth and
familial association to Luzo Palazzo, Alfonzo
remained an outsider
in the eyes of the men
; a fact he never forgot.

“F
inished yet
p
oppy
?”
A little voice asked from beneath the desk.

“In a minute,
hijo
.”

“Wh
at you doing
it’s
taking long
?
”
His son
whined
.

“
Adding.”

“
M
ommy
uses a
callugator
.”

Alfonzo smirked at the mispronunciation, “It’s called a
cal
-cu-la-tor
.”

“
C
al-q-later
.”

“Okay, that’s better.”

“You said we can go outside again.”

“We
are,
tranquilo
.”

B
lue almond shaped eyes with a hint of hazel opened in astonishment
and the boy blurt out, “You
tranquilo
.
M
ommy’s
fun.
If you use a
cal
-q-later
we can go play
!”

Alfonzo’s eyebrow raised in astonishment at the boy’s candid
ness.
“You’re right, p
oppy’s
no fun right now but when I finish working we’ll do something fun, okay
Sal
?”

Sal shrugged
, “Franky plays cars
and videogames
with me.”

Alfonzo
frowned
at the mention of Franky’s name
.

“Why you making that face?”

Alfonzo’s face relaxed.

“
Is that a tat-to
o
?”

“Yes,
hijo
.”

“
I want
one
.
”

“When you
’re
a man you can get one.”

“I’
m a man.
You said so. You said I’m the man of the house when you’re not here.”

A
l
fonzo’s lip twitched in amusement. He
did say
that,
di
dn’t he? “Yes, that’s what I said but what I meant
is
you’re to take care of mommy when I’m not home. Be a big boy and do what she tells you.” He tried to explain but hearing the words aloud
were
confusing even to him.

“Then you lie
d
.
I’m not a man.
”

“
I didn’t lie. You’ll be a man
soon,
right now you’re a big kid
.”

“I’m a
lmost a
man, s
ee, feel my muscle.”

Alfonzo threw up his hands in exasperation and
slid to the floor. He touched the boy’s arm and nodded, “Yeah,
I feel your muscles, now feel
mine
,
this
is
what a man’s feel like
.”

Once h
e flexed his bicep
Sal’s eyes widened in
astonishment at the huge lump protruding from his father’s arm, “It looks like a camel hump. I s
aw
a camel
on TV.”

“Camel hump, I’ll show you a camel hump.”
Sal squealed when Alfonzo began to roll with him across the carpet.
They wrestled
playfully
until Alfonzo allowed Sal to pin him
down.

“I got you
p
oppy
. You
were open
!” Sal proclaimed victoriously.

“Uh-uh,” Alfonzo feigned injury and defeat, “
you win.
” The truth was, Alfonzo needed to
take a
p
iss
.

Later,
Anita
came to
collect
the boy for lunch and he was able
to
concentrate once
more. He rolled
up
the blue-prints and placed them in
a protective
tubing
then
leaned back in his seat. The building
he visited this morning
was a surprise
gift
for his wife
; a headquarters for her charity foundation which awarded scholarships to college bound students who lost a parent or loved one to tragic circumstances. He was proud of her and
sought to
show his appreciation
. Getting the building
finished
before her
birthday in a few months
was proving to be a difficult task
.

He
sighed, slid forward in the chair to
switch on the computer and logged in. The server responded within seconds and he was able to visually see the conference room. The secretary noticed his virtual presence, walked to the screen and greeted him in Italian.
“Buon
g
iorno signore
.”

“Buongiorno,
S
ignora Conti. Are the reports ready?”

“Yes, yes.” She answered in heavily accented English.

“Good.”

“Everyone will arrive shortly. Is there anything you need of me?”

An assortment of refreshments and pastries were set on
the
serving
table near the window. A stack of embossed black folders with the company logo were piled on the conference table awaiting distribution. Apparently
, he interrupted
before she had an opportunity to place
each
one in front of
the
empty leather seats.
“No, grazie.
When everyone arrives please inform me so we can begin.”

“Yes, of course.”

He let her
return
to work and went to
have
lunch with his son
before the meeting commenced
. Twenty minutes was enough time to
fill his stomach and deal with
a
sullen
group of Italian men.

It was evening when Selange and
Shanda burst through the door
carrying several shopping bags followed by a very angry Franky.
Their boisterous entrance awakened Alfonzo from where he
crashed on the sofa
after
an afternoon out with his energetic son. Sal
slept soundly across
Alfonzo’s
bare chest
with an
arm over
his father’s face.

Alfonzo sat forward taking care not to wake the boy.
The women
passed the living
room
laughing
. His wife waved then scurried up the stairs with her
spoils.
Franky
s
tood in the center of the hall with a scowl. His boss’ red rimmed eyes absorbed his sweaty appearance and asked, “
Everything
good?”

Franky
was pissed
.
They’d ditched him in the mall and he was escorted from the premises as if he were a criminal or something. To make matters wors
e
the little bitch Shanda told the saleswoman he’d been following them throughout the mall exposing
himself
.
He was taken to the security office and after a lengthy explanation followed by a preliminary investigation to corroborate his story he was allowed to leave, with a
lengthy
apology.

Imagine
the
frustration of being accused of being a pervert? If he hadn’t shown his identification and mentioned who his employer was
they would have put his ass in
jail.
The last thing he wanted to
do is
explain
this to Alfonzo. He didn’t want Selange held
responsible for the action
s
of her wild friend.
If Selange hadn’t called to tell him
they were at the beach he’d still be searching all the
store
s
in the mall
and downtown for them
.

Franky
shrugged,
“Yeah
, everything’s good. I’m going
over to
the guest house
to get a shower, it’s hot out there
.
”

Alfonzo mumbled then lay back down to catch some more
z’s
.

***

A
t dinner
Shanda
rec
ount
ed the
prank at the
mall
to
Alfonzo’s chagrin.
He
rais
ed a stern brow a
t
his wife. No wonder Franky looked disturbed
. He excused himself and went in search of the bodyguard. He found
Franky eating dinner out in the
guest house with Vincent
. Alfonzo
took a seat at their table.

Franky put down his fork, “Hey, I guess you heard, huh?”

Alfonzo’s blue eyes smoldered, “Let’s get something clear. Anything like that happens again and you don’t tell me immediately not only are you fired but I’ll break your fucking jaw!”

Vincent hadn’t stopped eating. He enjoyed seeing the young man exercise his authority. He was just like his old man back in the day.

Alfonzo rose from his seat and departed as quietly as he came. Vincent smirked, “So what happened?”

Franky lost his appetite and got up from the table with his
unfinished meal, “Nothing.”

“Didn’t seem like nothing to me.”

“I said it’s nothing!”

Vincent
’s malicious
laugh
was meant to irk the younger man
, “Nothing ever gets in the way of me eating
, so I guess whatever happened soured your
appetite,
friggin
’
punk
-ass!
”

Franky looked at the older man then walked away to dump his food.
He wasn’t in the mood for Vincent’s wisecracks. He hadn’t met the other Serano brother but from what he heard Vincent was the nice one. Right now he was too angry to verbally spar with the
man, he just wanted this evening to end and
get the fuck out of there!