'I don't see anyone.'
'That doesn't mean he isn't there. He's good at this sneaking around stuff. He walks into Stiva's and chops off body parts, and nobody sees him. He came out of nowhere at the mall. He spotted me at Julia Cenetta's house and in the motel parking lot, and I never had a clue. Now I have this creepy feeling he's watching me, following me around.'
'Why would he be doing that?'
'For starters, Spiro told Kenny I'd kill him if he continued to harass him.'
'Oh boy.'
'Probably I'm just being paranoid.'
'Sometimes paranoia is justified.'
Morelli stopped for a light. The digital readout on his dashboard clock blinked to 5:58. I cracked my knuckles, and Morelli glanced over at me, eyebrows raised.
'Okay,' I said, 'so my mother makes me nervous.'
'It's part of her job,' Morelli said. 'You shouldn't take it personally.' We turned off Hamilton, into the burg, and traffic disappeared. There were no car lights behind us, but I couldn't shake the feeling that Kenny had me in his sights. My mother and Grandma Mazur were at the door when we parked. Usually it was the differences between my mother and grandmother that caught my attention. Today it was the similarities that seemed obvious. They stood tall, with their shoulders back. It was a defiant posture, and I knew it was my posture, too. Their hands were clasped in front of them, their gaze was unwavering, fixed on Morelli and me. Their faces were round; their eyes were hooded. Mongol eyes. My Hungarian relatives had come from the steppes. Not a city dweller among them. My mother and grandma were small women and had grown even smaller with age. They were dainty-boned and petite, with baby-fine hair. Probably they were descended from pampered, caravan-cosseted Gypsy women.
I, on the other hand, was a throwback to some plow-pulling, rawboned wife of a barbarian farmer.
I hiked up my skirt to jump from the truck, and saw my mother and grandmother flinch at the sight.
'What's this outfit?' my mother demanded. 'Can't you afford clothes? Are you wearing other people's? Frank, give Stephanie some money. She needs to buy clothes.'
'I don't need to buy clothes,' I said. 'This is new. I just bought it. It's the style.'
'How will you ever get a man when you're dressed like this?' My mother turned to Morelli.
'Am I right?'
Morelli grinned. 'I think she's kind of cute. It's the Monty Hall look.' I still had the package in my hand. I set it on the foyer table and took my jacket off. 'Annie Hall!'
Grandma Mazur picked the envelope up and studied it. 'Overnight mail. Must be something important. Feels like there's a box in here. Return address says R. Klein from Fifth Avenue in New York. Too bad it isn't for me. I wouldn't mind getting some overnight mail.'
I hadn't thought much about the package until now. I didn't know anyone named R. Klein, and I hadn't ordered anything from New York. I took the envelope from Grandma and peeled the flap back.
There was a little cardboard box inside. It was taped closed. I took the box out, and held it in my hand. It wasn't especially heavy.
'Smells funny,' Grandma said. 'Like insecticide. Or maybe it's one of them new perfumes.'
I ripped the tape away, opened the box, and sucked in my breath. There was a penis inside the box. The penis was neatly sliced off at the root, perfectly embalmed, and secured to a square of Styrofoam with a hat pin.
Everyone stared at the penis in dumbfounded horror.
Grandma Mazur spoke first, and when she did it was with a touch of wistfulness. 'Been a long time since I've seen one of those,' she said.
My mother started screaming, hands in air, eyes bugging out of her head. 'Get it out of my house! What's the world coming to? What will people think?'
My father left his chair in the living room and padded out to the hall to see what the fuss was all about. 'What's going on?' he asked, sticking his head into the huddle.
