Mobster's Girl (10 page)

“You are going to be broken up into groups of
four,” the teacher, Mr. DeRobbio announces. “This will be your
group for projects. This is a hands-on class.”

Vito chuckles and waggles his eyebrows at
Maria. Mr. DeRobbio casts him a warning look and continues. “Today
we are going to break down into our groups and do an activity.”

“I can think of a few activities,” Vito
smirks.

Maria slaps him on the arm, giggling.

“Stop it.”

Other kids in the class chuckle too. The
teacher definitely heard Vito this time but won’t say anything.

“Break up into groups of four. Choose
wisely
.” As Mr. DeRobbio says this, he gives a pointed
glance at Megan. Vito immediately stands up and drags his stool
towards Megan and me. Maria watches. Vinny Maranzano’s kid, Joey
comes over.

“Hey Tonio. Can I be in your group?”

“Sure man.” I say.

“Me too,” Maria says moving towards me.

“Uh, Maria. This group is full.”
Is she
stupid?
We have four. Megan’s face goes pink. Maria eyes her up
and down.

“What about me?” Maria whines. “Who am I
going to go with?” Her face scrunches up and she folds her arms
across her chest in a pout.
Like I need this fuckin’ drama.
What am I, the freakin’ organizer? I know she is not going to stop
so I call over Alessandra’s friend, Sophia.

“Maria needs a group.” It’s all I have to
say.

“Come on Maria.” Sophia says. Then she walks
Maria over to her group. She already has four. Sophia shoves out
some kid I don’t know. The kid gets up and walks to another group.
I can tell Maria is seething as she stares at me from across the
room.

I didn’t get to talk much to Megan. Well, I
did but not the conversation I wanted to be having with her-like
learning every little thing about her. The groups had to label a
diagram of a car. We only had five minutes then Mr. DeRobbio
lectured the rest of the class.

Sitting next to Megan is distracting. I have
no fucking clue what the teacher was talking about. I want to reach
out and stroke her hair then rub the pad of my thumb across her
pink lips.

DING DING!
Thank God, the bell rings.
I wait for Megan to pack up her stuff.

“What do you have now?” I ask her.

“English.” she says.

“Hey, is Louie in your class?”

“Yeah, history too. He seems to be in my
classes every year.” Megan says as I take her hand. I see a slight
flush rise to her cheeks. I feel a stab of jealousy.

The hallway is loud and bustling. More gawks
follow us as we walk. I peer down at Megan. Her face is smooth with
a smattering of pinkish freckles. I have to control myself from
shoving her into an empty classroom and kissing every freckle on
her face. The more I spend time with her the more breathtaking I
find her.
I’m in deep shit!

I haven’t stopped thinking about the other
night. I am walking hand in hand with Megan and my hard-on inducing
thoughts when a young girl comes up to us. It’s Megan’s sister. The
flaming red hair is a dead giveaway.

“Hi!” She is bouncing on her toes.

I see Megan roll her eyes.

“How’s the start of freshman year going?”
Megan asks her.

“Great! So far my classes are a breeze.”
Megan’s sister is stealing glances at me and grinning.

“Hi,” I say to her because she’s just staring
at me.

“Hi,” she says giggling.

Out of what seems like nowhere, Vito pops
up.

“Hey Dude,” I turn to him. He doesn’t say
anything; he just flanks my right side. My attention goes back to
Megan and her sister.

“Okay… see you later Erin.” Megan says as we
watch her sister walk away with lively steps. “Sorry. My sister is
a little excited.”

“About what?” I ask.

“About you.”

“Me? Why?”

Megan flips her hand against her forehead in
an exaggerated motion, “Antonio Delisi asked you out! Oh my God!”
Obviously, she is making fun of her little sister. Vito snorts and
walks away.

Megan’s animated expression makes me laugh.
Se is so sweet and smart. This is the most relaxed I have seen
her-except, when she was with that chooch. My hand clenches into a
fist at my side remembering her care free smiles.

Alessandra calls out to me, “Tonio! Wait up.”
Both Megan and I turn as San bounds over to us.

“Hi, Megan.” She says smiling. Then she
whispers to me.

“Did you hear about Johnny Nero?” I don’t
know what is going on but from the way people are mentioning his
name this morning I doubt it is anything good considering he still
owes my Dad $500 in juice money. I give her a look and shake my
head slightly giving her the message, n
ot now.

Alessandra is one of my smarter friends and
she catches on right away. Just like she caught on about how I feel
about Megan.

San eyes us curiously. Her appraising stance
makes it as though she can flush out all our secrets.

“Megan, some of my friends and I are going to
the mall Saturday. Do you want to come?”

Megan’s face is shocked at the offer but she
says, “Antonio and I are going out that day.”

“Wow, great! Well, I have to get to History.
Bye.”

The rest of the day flies by. I am standing
by my car smoking when I see Megan and Erin walking down the
sidewalk. Raven is sitting in her car-probably waiting for them.
Megan sees me and smiles and her sister whispers something to
her.

“Can I give you a lift?” I ask as they
approach.

“Um, well.” Megan says.

“Oh please, Meg?” Erin begs. “I’ve never been
in such a nice car, please?”

“Let me go talk to Raven,” she says looking
torn.

She is back in a minute and Raven’s car
leaves the parking lot. Erin is jumping up and down giggling. I’m
not used to giggling little red headed girls.

I open the passenger door for Megan and Erin
is giddy. I shut her door for her and she is squirming in the
backseat. Ugh
, kids!

When I get in the car, Megan is scolding Erin
to sit still.

“How fast does this go, Tonio?” Erin
asks.

“Buckle up.” I tell her and rev the engine.
We pass Vito and his Caddy. I wave. He doesn’t wave back but is
staring into the backseat of my car. When we reach the main road, I
gun it. Erin squeals in delight. Megan is clutching the door handle
and arm rest.

“This is so cool!” Erin shrieks.

The drive to their house is shortened by my
exceeding of the speed limit.

“Thanks for the ride, Tonio. That was
awesome!” Erin says as she clamors out of the car.

“You okay?” I ask Megan.

“Oh yeah, much better now that you aren’t
risking my little sister’s life,” she says sarcastically.

“It wasn’t that bad.” I tell her.

“Uh huh.”

I reach out and peel her hand off the armrest
and bring to my lips to kiss it. Her face is surprised and
inviting. I lean in to kiss her sweet lips. I breathe in a scent of
cherries. I wonder if it’s her lip gloss or something. Megan leans
in closer to me to deepen the kiss. It takes an effort but I
restrain myself. I want to flip the switch to recline the seat and
cover her with my body. Reluctantly, she pulls away.

“My mother may be watching. I should go.
Thanks for the ride.” She is flushed pink. I jump out of the car
wanting to be a gentleman and open her door. We stand facing each
other and she lightly kisses my cheek.

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

I only have a couple of hours before the
meeting tonight. Thoughts of Megan swirl around in my head. I can’t
wait to take her out Saturday. It’s been a long time since I felt
this kind stirring anticipation. I swing my car into the driveway
and my Dad and Donny are talking by the side door. My father
motions me over.

“Eh, Tonio, good day today?”

“Yeah Pop.”

“Donny and I wanted to tell you. Don’t worry
about Johnny anymore.” He clasps my shoulder. “We’re all set.”

“Why?”

“You don’t need to think about it. Johnny’s
been clipped.”

“You take care of him, Donny?” I ask. I knew
all the talk of Johnny today had to be that he was dead but the
initial words from my Dad sent a nasty jolt through me.

“Nah, I don’t do that. Yous know that. Now,
about those other chooches from last week. We gotta collect. We’re
leaving after the meeting.”

I turn to Pop, Johnny’s death pushed to the
back of my mind, “What about school?” I really didn’t give a fuck
about school. I was more pissed about not seeing Megan in
class.

My Pop pats my cheek, “You’re a smart boy,
you’ll be fine.”

I arrive at the meeting at Gino’s. Everyone
is gathered around the table. I sit down next to my Dad.

I spot Dino down at the other end of the
table. The skin around his eye is swollen with a blackish tint. He
is staring at me. I glare back at him. My blood boils just thinking
about what an asshole he is. Pop starts speaking.

“Sommersville is not playing by the
rules
. Their crews have been spotted around town. My Tonio
and some of your own sons were jumped last week.”

“Eh, what the fuck is their problem?” Mr.
Maranzano asks. The room is quiet while everyone waits for an
explanation.

“We’re not sure. Donny is looking into it.”
Pop motions for Donny to speak as he reaches for his wine
glass.

“Sommersville is getting too close.” Donny
starts, “They are showing up all over. Shit was stolen out of the
chemical warehouse by the docks.”

Shit!
Sommersville is getting
ballsy-my friends and I getting jumped and a break-in.
Fuck!

Zing-thwack!
Donny clasps his side and
hits the table sending papers soaring and wine flinging like
droplets of blood. Pinging sounds ring out. Without thought- my
body leaves my seat and connects with my Dad’s hurling him to the
hard floor. Chaos erupts. I feel his gun against my side under his
suit jacket. I reach for it. In a split second, I quickly crawl on
the floor holding the piece in my hand-adrenaline surging.

I move to Donny on my way to the window where
the shots are coming from.

“I’m okay, Tonio.” Donny rasps, “Get those
fuckers…” He winces out. I don’t think, I move.

At the window I crouch, Mr. Maranzano and Mr.
Ferretti are huddled on the carpet already popping up in succession
to exchange shots with the intruders. Others at the meeting are
lying low. Red fills up my field of vision-it’s not blood I see but
rage.

“I’m going outside.” I murmur to them. I
check the clip and scurry across the floor to the back door. I find
Dino lying flat on the floor of the kitchen as I make my way
through.
Fuckin’ pansy!

From low down, I push the back door slowly
making sure no one is there. I knew these assholes wouldn’t get out
of their car.
Never lifting myself higher than a door knob, I sneak around the
building constantly searching and scanning for attack. I see the
black Escalade that has bullets exiting- its windows lowered only
to slits. They must have brought a special vehicle-bullet proof
glass.

The shots coming from the restaurant are
doing nothing but making plinking noises and webbed cracks. The
only way to puncture through is with a long succession of shots in
one spot.

I get up close enough to the edge of the rear
bumper. I peer in the darkened glass. They are so fuckin’ stupid.
No one is watching behind them. Four people are smashed up to the
windows facing the restaurant. I only have a few more seconds
before these fuckers drive away.

As low as I can get, I point my gun close to
the glass and fire six shots firm and fast in the same spot. I
don’t dwell on the fact that one of the bullets could ricochet and
hit me. The fifth bullet penetrates and the sixth one flies. The
car jerks forward as the driver stamps on the accelerator. Instead
of gunshots, the noise of screeching tires fills the air and the
smell of burnt rubber assails me.

Fanabola (fa na bowl a): Shit!

Megan:

My instincts were right. My mother was
watching me from the window of our living room. When I walked in,
surprisingly she went easy on me. She only asked about my day.

While I’m getting ready for bed my phone
buzzes on my nightstand. I flutter a moment hoping it’s Antonio.
It’s only been since after school that I’ve seen and talked to him
but I sort of miss him. It that possible-I mean it has only been a
few days since we started seeing each other. Can someone really
grow on you that much? I look at the screen and my heart falls a
little. It’s not Antonio; it’s Troy.

“Hey Troy!” I push some extra exuberance into
my voice. After our last few conversations, our relationship has
become very strained.

“Hey Meggie!” Troy laughs, “Meggie,
Meggie.”

This doesn’t sound like Troy at all. I’m
immediately on alert.

“Troy, you okay?” Concern fills my voice.

“I am great. Fab-u-lous-es.” Fabulous is
completely slurred. This is so not like Troy.

“Have you been drinking? Are you okay?” I
panic a little. “Troy?”

He doesn’t speak. “Troy?” I try again.

“Hmmm?”

“What is going on?”

“I’m missing my girl.” His voice drops. He
sounds depressed.

“What girl?”

“Have you always been this stupid or is it
just `cause you’re hanging with Delisi?” He sounds mad.

“What?!”

“Are you still my best friend?” he asks
sounding sobered.

“Of course.”

“Will you still be my best friend after I
tell you this?” Troy asks quietly.

“Tell me what?”

“Answer me.”

“Do you have fun with me?”

“That’s a question Troy and you know the
answer. Come on what’s wrong?”

“I thought… I thought….” I was losing him
again to the alcohol. “I thought… I was gonna marry you,” drives
out of his mouth.