“1 ordered your breakfast,” he said. “Fresh orange juice, a dozen dollar pancakes, one egg over easy,
no meat. Your system needs a break, I?m sure. She?s bringing your coffee now and I got some great
vitamins here for you.”
“If I eat all that, I?ll die,” I said.
“Cot to keep up the old strength.”
“There are enough vitamins here for the whole room.”
He ignored the complaint. “Vitamins do great things for the brain,” he said.
Mazzola did vitamins like a speed freak does amphetamines. He was also fighting a losing battle with
his hair. He spent an hour every morning weaving what few strands were left over a pate as bald as a
kitchen table. To compensate he had grown a beard which made his dark Mediterranean looks and
intense brown eyes more intimidating than usual. He slid a handful of vitamins across the table to me.
“These are yours,” he said. “This stuff?s from China. Incredible, has all kinds of—”
“Cisco, I?m not into vitamins, okay? 1rn into coffee and a little booze, an occasional lay, rare steaks,
wine, mashed potatoes and gravy..
He looked like he was going to throw up.
“I?m not into vitamins and weird herbs.”
“In two days you?ll notice an improvement.”
“If I got a good night?s sleep I?d notice an improvement. I was tip half the night thanks to the sudden
departure of half the Tagliani clan.”
“We?ll get to that,” he said, digging in to his breakfast, a plate of health food that looked like it had
been dredged from the bottom of a swamp.
“Besides,” I said, “I read where overdosing on vitamins makes your hair fall out.”
He looked up, aghast.
“Where did you read that?”
“In the paper. One of those health columns. Rots out the roots of the hair.”
I tried to keep the gag going but I started to laugh. He leaned back in his chair and narrowed his eyes.
“No more jokes about the hair, okay? Do 1 yoke about your knee?”
“It?s my ankle.”
“See, you?re touchy about that.”
“I?m not touchy about it. I happen to have shifty ankles. Great wheels, shifty ankles; otherwise I
wouldn?t be here, I?d be a retired millionaire football player living in Tahiti. On the other hand, you
only have about four strands of hair left, although I?ll say the beard helps.”
“Fuck you,” he said. “Fill me in.”
