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That wasn’t a bad thing. Being a lawyer for this family would be a tough job, one with trenches dark enough and deep enough to strip the shine off even the world’s most honest and earnest person.
Rudy wasn’t that perfect, but he still had an innocence about him worth preserving.
“Sorry to hear that, kid,” I offered honestly. “Better listen to your pops. But don’t forget, you only live once.” I figure I owe it to the kid to give him a little advice. Leave it to him to decide what to do with it.
Rudy goes back to twirling that damn sign, and I head inside where I see Donny’s fat ass waiting for me. He’s sitting in one of those metal bistro chairs that makes up a four-top. He has classic Italian looks, with slicked-back black hair and a large nose. He’d be a good-looking man if his figure didn’t reveal that he spent every lunch and dinner sampling every item on the shop’s menu.
“Declan!” his deep voice booms when he sees me come in. “Come, sit,” he urges, kicking out the chair he’d been resting his swollen ankles on. “I saved you a seat.”
It’s not that I don’t like the guy. He just isn’t my kind of people. But to be fair, no people are my kind of people.
“What do we need to discuss?” I ask as I sit, cutting to the chase. I have places to be, and people I need to plot to kill. I don’t have time for this shit.
“Always in a hurry. Why don’t you stay a while? Marty’s making me a veggie pizza. We can share a slice while we catch up.”
“Veggie?” I ask. “I thought meat lovers was more your style.”
Donny pats his round stomach and chuckles. “Marleen has me on a diet. She said I need more fruits and vegetables.”
I nod. “Somehow I doubt she meant veggie pizza.”
He shrugs. “Hey, gotta be more specific. I can’t read minds.”
I can’t help but laugh a little. The man is incorrigible. But I know Marleen. She’s not going to let that shit slide, and he knows it, too. This is probably his last-ditch attempt at freedom before she slams down the hammer and then it’ll be salad city.
“In that case,” I say, taking pity on the guy, “I’ll take a slice to go.”
This gets a raucous laugh out of him. “I should have expected that, Dec. You never sit still for long. One slice to-go it is, then. I’ll have Marty wrap it up. You catch that, Marty!” he bellows, and Marty, in his droll tone, responds with a “yes” from the kitchen.
“The discussion?” I remind him, now that all that’s out of the way.
Donny’s expression grows serious as he regards me. “Yeah, we got something we need to talk about.”
I’m starting to think he has a problem with something I said or did, and I think back, trying to pinpoint what this could be about…when I hear someone—no, several someones—singing in the back.
The singing gets louder as they grow closer, and it only takes seconds before I recognize the tune and groan internally. “Donny,” I say as a warning, but it’s too late.
Donny is grinning like a freakin’ Cheshire cat, and he can’t stop laughing as he joins in. The entire Costello family emerges from the kitchen, Marty, the cook, and Rachel, Tony’s daughter, at the front, carrying a single-tier birthday cake nestled inside an open pizza box. They lay it down on the table in front of me. Rudy enters the shop and joins his family in a circle around Donny and me, and they finish up the most off-key version of “Happy Birthday” I’ve ever heard.
“Make a wish!” someone shouts.
I blow out the candles, my only wish to have this whole thing over ASAP. I don’t do celebrations, and I have no idea how the hell anyone here knows it’s my birthday.
There’s a lot of clapping as the smoke from the candles dissipates, and everyone takes turns surrounding me to hug and congratulate me on being another year older. As the cake is cut and dished onto paper plates, Tony appears from the back and claps me on the shoulder.
He’s not nearly as big as Donny, but as his brother and with only two years separating them, they look nearly identical. “Happy birthday, you sorry son of a bitch,” he boasts. “Had to hear it from Charlie, who just happened to find it in your record when he was giving you your cut yesterday. If I’dda known sooner, I woulda thrown you a party.”
“Precisely why I didn’t tell you sooner, Tony,” I say with a friendly smile as I rise and return the hug I know he wants to give me.
“You’re a hard man to pin down, Declan,” he accuses, “but you’re one of my best men. Enjoy some cake then get outta here. I know you’re itching to get back to whatever you were doing before Donny brought you in.” He winks and turns to go mingle with the rest of the group.
Tony didn’t get where he is by being a flake. He’s observant, and he knows his men like he knows the business. And he makes it his job to keep us as satisfied as his clients. Hence the cake. I don’t particularly like cake, and it fucks up my diet, but I’ll eat a few bites because it’ll keep everyone happy. Plus, it shows I appreciate the intention behind it, even if I don’t buy for a second that Tony wouldn’t put a bullet in my head in a heartbeat if he thought I had done something to cross him or someone in his circle. He’s just not a man to be fucked with.
It’s a quality I understand and appreciate.
After a couple of bites, I take my foil-wrapped slice of veggie pizza and thank everyone for the good time, then I head back to the store where I’ll wait for Glenn to finish his shift.
Six
