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Jimmy Croaker showed up on Sunday at the Rossi mansion, and I met him at the door, leading him up to the guest room I’d been staying in. I laid down on the bed and then I unbuttoned my shirt and took it off so he could see the wounds. He removed the bandages carefully and tilted his head. “They look like they’re healing,” he said. “I think we can remove the stitches now.”
“Sounds like a great time. Always a blast when you’re around, Croak,” I joked.
He snorted out a laugh. “Yeah, no one ever calls me unless it’s a bad time,” he said, and I wondered what kind of personal life he led. It was interesting to think about if Croaker might have a girl (or a boy, I supposed) waiting for him at home. “How have you been feeling? Any fever or dizziness, excessive pain?”
“None,” I told him.
“And you’re off the oxy?” he asked suspiciously.
I nodded. “Haven’t taken one in a long while.”
He sighed in relief. “That’s good to hear. I’ve had too many guys get hooked after an injury.”
“Mine wasn’t so bad. Remember that stabbing back inside?”
“Jesus, I thought you were on your way to God,” Croaker joked, laughing. I’d been shivved by someone in the cafeteria and he’d nearly given me my guts for garters.
“This is better,” I said.
Croaker nodded in agreement. He slid the edge of a scalpel under the stitches and looked at me. “You ready?” He did it in one quick cut, and it barely hurt at all; that was, until he started tugging each individual stitch out with tweezers. It wasn’t nearly as bad as the stitching itself, though, so I just grunted and watched him finish. He made sure I wasn’t bleeding excessively and put on some fresh bandages, checking my temperature just to be sure. It was normal.
“You’re good to go, Rush,” he said, and I nodded, sliding him a stack of hundreds. I owed it to him after all he’d done for me. My next step would be to call Alessandro and tell him I had his money. I’d gone back to Enzo’s and he’d given me a huge bag of cash, telling me it was his payment for everything I’d done. Besides that, I could always get more. At least I could pay off my debts.
I called Alessandro after having dinner with Matteo and putting him to bed. “Rush,” he answered.
“I’ve got your money,” I said.
“Oh, I’m doing fine, how about you?” Alessandro teased. “You’re all business all the time, Rush.”
“Maybe so,” I chuckled. “I probably need a night out.”
“Then why don’t you come out with me?” he asked. “I’m on the way to a new club downtown right now.”
I thought about it for a moment. I hadn’t been with a woman since the last time Allegra and I had hooked up, and I hadn’t had a drink since that day with Enzo. I was all healed up, even had my stitches out, so why couldn’t I go out? After all, Allegra and I were “just friends.”
“Why the hell not?” I said. “Come pick me up. I’ll have your money.”
“Thanks, Rush. See you in a bit.”
I got dressed in a blue silk shirt and kept on my black slacks. I walked downstairs to meet Alessandro at the gate and ran into Allegra downstairs, reading in the foyer. “Where are you going?” she asked.
“Out,” I said flatly.
She frowned at me. “Outwhere?” she asked.
I sighed. “Is this what’s going to happen every time I go out?” I asked. “Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to stay here after all.” I’d been thinking about it lately, and maybe it was time to go back to Enzo’s. I didn’t say that to Allegra, though, not yet. I had to admit, I was hoping she was jealous about me going out, meeting women.
“Do you have a hot date or something?” she asked, and I fought back a smile. There it was. Shewasjealous, and not doing a good job at hiding it.
“Maybe,” I said mysteriously, and walked out to meet Alessandro at the gate.
Once I got in, I put his money in the glove compartment. Alessandro whistled. “That’s a lot more than I expected, you know. I would have just done it to be square.”
“I know, but you deserve it,” I told him.
“I’ll pay you back by getting you laid tonight,” he said with a mischievous glint in his blue eyes. Alessandro was a bigger ladies’ man than I had ever been, and he was a little reckless. I enjoyed hanging out with him, though, because he wasn’t reckless in the same way Ricardo was reckless. It was more fun, not as much danger. He just liked to drink and get laid, and he liked to fight, and that was really all I knew about him. I’d done him the favor because it was the right thing to do, and because I needed someone like him on my roster.
We arrived at the club and there was a huge line, but Alessandro spoke to the bouncer and he let us right in. I scanned my surroundings, looking for someone who looked like my type. I didn’t much like clubs, didn’t like the smoke hanging in the air or the swarm of people, but I knew it was a good place to meet women. Everyone here seemed too young, college-aged, and I didn’t see anyone interesting. I had a thing for bleached hair, though, the way Allegra had always worn hers, and there was plenty of bleached blondes.
