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“Yo, Colleen!” Luca called out. “Where’s the damn grub!”
“Be patient, you idiot,” I said.
He laughed and Simon punched him in the arm. Steven shook his head, grinning, and leaned over to kiss me.
“Having fun?” he asked.
“Your crew is a bunch of animals and I hate them,” I said.
He laughed, kissed me again, and slapped my ass.
“Go take them some burgers before they start rebelling.”
I grinned at him and walked over. The guys cheered as I put the plate down on the long plastic table with its plastic table cloth. I had to move the mustard bottles and the bowl of plastic forks, and the guys barely waited for me to pull my hands back before they fell on the food.
I stepped away from their table and looked around. There were ten more tables set up all along the block, and each table was full of people. Some were from Steven’s crew, but a lot of them were local Point Breeze people, most of them former Club members. They were the people Steven took care of, single moms and old women, mothers of dead sons, people that had been ripped to shreds and slowly put together again through Steven’s generosity.
Soft jazz music played through speakers set off to the side and a herd of kids went running past. I watched them with a smile and put a hand on my own belly before turning to head back toward Steven.
But I stopped myself as an old man in a wrinkled cardigan and a black cane came hobbling over to me followed by two men in black suits.
It was Don Leone. I hadn’t seen him in a couple of years, and he looked even more frail than I remembered, but it was him.
He beamed at me. “Beautiful day for a block party,” he said.
I nodded my head respectfully. “Thank you, Don. I didn’t know you’d be here.”
“Steven invited me, and I thought I’d take a look and see how my Capo was doing. Seems as though this neighborhood is well in hand. And from what I’ve seen in the numbers, quite profitable.”
“We’re doing what we can, Don,” I said.
“We?” He laughed. “I had a feeling you had a hand in it.”
“Just the local politics,” I said. “Steven does everything else.”
“I’m sure.” Don Leone smiled and looked around. People were eating in groups, talking and laughing. There were coolers of beer and soda, plenty of chips, and a table with sides and desserts that families had brought with them. Steven stood at the grill, banging out burgers as fast as he could, wearing a white apron over his slim fitted navy suit.
“You know, Don Leone, I never properly thanked you for agreeing to help take care of these people,” I said. “Without the money Steven’s been paying to them, there would be a lot of angry families struggling to get by.”
Don Leone gave me a shrewd look and inclined his head. “I must admit, it was an odd request,” he said. “But it was the correct move. In every other neighborhood we’ve taken over throughout the years, there was always a year or two of unrest as the residents got used to the new way of things. But here, there was almost nothing. A short purge, and then quiet. I must say, it was smart, if expensive.”
“I hope it’s not too expensive,” I said. “And in a few years, perhaps we can come up with some new deal.”
He chuckled and nodded. “You’re a smart woman,” he said. “Steven was right to marry you.”
I glanced down at the sparkling diamond ring on my finger. “I hope so,” I said.
“Well, send my regards to Steven. I shouldn’t stay long.”
“You’re not going to speak with him?”
Don Leone shook his head and smiled at me. “No, dear. I came to see you.”
I blinked at him in surprise. He reached out a hand and I took it. We shook gently, and he inclined his head.
“Have a nice day,” he said, and turned.
I watched him go, completely taken aback.
Luca walked over and stood next to me. “That was the Don,” he said. “What did he want?”
“Just to talk to me.” I shook my head, at a loss.
“Look at you. Mobbed the fuck up.” He grinned at me. “And soon you’re going to have a bunch of little mob babies.”
“Yeah, yeah. Go eat more before the others finish it off.”
He laughed and walked back over to the table. I stood there for a moment and surveyed the party one more time, my hand on my stomach. I was four months pregnant, and soon I wouldn’t be able to hide it anymore, not that I really wanted to.
It was just nice to be treated normally for a little while, but soon the women of the neighborhood would be stopping over every day to offer me advice, home remedies, all that sort of stuff. I looked forward to it, but for now, it was nice to be normal.
