Carlita dropped the bottle of cleaner on the counter and hurried over. “I can handle this from here.”
“No need. I was just leaving.” The man stumbled backward, never taking his eyes off Luigi until he was a safe distance away. He pivoted and dashed out the door.
Luigi waited until he passed by the front window before turning to Carlita. “Hey, Mrs. G.”
A heavy sigh escaped Carlita’s lips as she wondered how many other potential customers Luigi had scared off. “Hello, Luigi. How’s the apartment?”
“It’s great.” Luigi put his gun back and then returned the pawn shop’s gun to the case. “It’s nice and quiet. Almost too quiet. It’s takin’ me some time to adjust. There ain’t much action around here.”
“Which is a good thing, right?”
“Yeah. Right.”
“I thought I would stop by to invite you to our family’s Thanksgiving dinner at the restaurant.”
“Sure. I would love to come.”
“Good. I should get going.” Carlita smiled as a customer walked in the door, and Luigi made a beeline for him.
She cast an anxious glance in his direction and joined her son, who was still standing in the back. “I’m not sure working at a pawn shop is Luigi’s passion.”
“No.” Tony shook his head. “I’m puttin’ out some feelers to see if anyone in the area is looking for security detail.”
“Have you checked with Dernice?” Carlita asked. “As far as I know, Elvira is still gone. She might need an extra hand with the security company.”
“I planned to stop by there but haven’t had time.”
“I’ll ask her. I’ve been wondering if she’s heard from Elvira.” Carlita patted his arm, watching as Luigi lead the customer to the jewelry case. “He’s trying. We have to give him credit for that.”
She told her son good-bye and then exited the pawn shop, making her way to Ravello’s where everything was running smoothly. In fact, all of her businesses were running smoothly. Ravello’s was turning a tidy profit. The pawn shop was making money. Carlita’s apartments were all occupied.
The restaurant had opened for the day, and there were already several diners inside. Carlita greeted a couple who were seated near the entrance on her way to the kitchen, where she checked inventory levels before returning to her apartment.
Mercedes’ bedroom door was ajar, and Carlita found her daughter seated at her corner desk, squinting at her laptop.
“Knock. Knock.”
“Hey, Ma.” Mercedes swiveled around. “You get a chance to check on Luigi?”
“I did. I’m not sure he’s a good fit for the pawn shop. He’s scarin’ potential customers off.” Carlita told her how he pulled out his semi-automatic and trained the weapon on the wall. “I thought the guy was gonna hit the floor.”
She pointed at the computer. “How’s the new story going?” Her daughter had recently finished writing her mafia series and was working on a new one, this one set in Savannah and nearby Tybee Island.
“It’s moving right along. Vinnie gave me a few pointers, but I’m thinking I need to make a trip to Tybee for research.”
“Our Vinnie?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ve been meaning to call and check on that new grandson of mine.”
Brittney and Vinnie’s first child, also named Vincent, had arrived on Halloween eve. As soon as they got the news, Carlita and Mercedes had hopped in the car and driven north to New Jersey to meet the newest Garlucci family member.
During their brief visit, Carlita saw firsthand exactly how deeply her son had become entrenched in the Castellini family business. Despite her misgivings about his choice of employment, Vinnie seemed to love the prestige of his job as the casino’s manager.
He and Brittney had recently completed renovations on their spacious penthouse, located on the casino’s top floor. Their new home was ultra-modern with high-end finishes, imported Italian marble floors throughout, not to mention every conceivable high-tech security feature.
Baby Vinnie was the spitting image of her son and deceased husband. The visit flew by, and Carlita was sad the morning they packed their bags to head home.
Vinnie promised he, along with his wife and new son, would make the trip to Savannah for Christmas, giving his mother something to look forward to.
“The baby is good,” Mercedes said. “We did a facetime chat. He’s so stinkin’ cute.”
“Christmas is too far away.” Carlita’s throat clogged as she thought about how much she missed her children and grandchildren.
“It’s okay, Ma. They’ll be here before you know it. Don’t forget, Paulie and his family are comin’ down too. We’re gonna have a full house.”
“It will be wonderful to have the family all together again.” Carlita’s cell phone chirped, and she shifted her gaze. It was a text from Pirate Pete, confirming their date for Saturday evening. She tightened her grip on the phone as she tapped out a reply.
“Who is that?”
“Pete. He’s confirming our Saturday night date.”
“Ma’s got a date,” Mercedes sing-songed.
“Shush.” Carlita waved dismissively. “It’s no big deal.” The phone started to ring. It was Pete calling. “That’s him now.”
“I wanted to remind you that you’ll need to bring a warm jacket and wear comfortable shoes.”
“I will. You sure you can’t give me a hint about where we’re going?”
“And spoil my surprise? You’ll find out soon enough.” Pete changed the subject. “How’s it going with your new tenant?”
“Okay.” Carlita stepped out of her daughter’s bedroom and wandered into the living room. “I’m not sure having Luigi work as a part-time pawn shop employee is a good fit for him or for us.”
“I might have a job – a one-time security gig – coming up.” Pete explained that a group of insurance salesmen were in town for a convention and had booked his pirate ship for an
