CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Mick rang the doorbell as if he was aregular houseguest. Teddy stood besidehim, as if he was an ordinary joe dropping by too. But when Frankie DiGenova opened the frontdoor to his purposely modest house in south Philly, he knew at once there wasnothing ordinary or regular about that visit.
But he smiled the grandest smile hecould manage. “The Don is here!” he saidhappily. “How are you, Mick?” He opened his door wider and gave Mick a bigbear hug, although Mick inwardly cringed, and a kiss on either side of hischeeks. “It’s so good to see you again,my friend,” he said. “Come on in!” Mick walked on in.
“And Junior,” he said to Teddy as hegave Teddy the same hug and kiss treatment. “You’re getting as big as your old man. Look at the muscles on ya’!”
Teddy smiled. He was slightly better at putting on the facethan Mick was, but he wasn’t great at it either. “How you been, Frankie?”
“Ah, you know how it goes,Teddy. Problems all around. Always something. But I’m getting by. Come on,” he said to both men. “We were just sitting down to dinner. Molly! Molly! Fix them some food!”
Frankie escorted Mick and Teddy intohis dining room, talking nonstop as they went. His two chubby daughters, both seemingly around Teddy’s age in their latethirties, looked pissed that guests had interrupted their dinner even as Micksat beside the oldest daughter, and Teddy sat beside the youngest. But their mother, Molly, looking like EdithBunker, Mick thought, cheerfully said her hellos and hurried into the kitchento get plates for the Sinatras.
And they all sat down to dinner,speaking only casually, with Frankie doing all the talking. It wasn’t lost on anyone that Mick nor Teddyhad touched their food, but they all were mainly just listening to what Frankiehad to say. Which was a lot ofnothing. Until Mick, tired of thecharade, took out his big, fat magnum, and sat it on the table as if that wasreally what was for dinner.
Everybody stopped chewing. The sound of forks scraping plates ceased too.
“Why you wanna disrespect my dinnertable like that, Micky?” Frank asked him.
“Why you wanna snitch on me,Frankie?” Mick asked him.
Frankie looked shocked. “Snitch? What are you talking? I’m nosnitch!”
Mick quickly picked up his gun andplaced it to the head of Frankie’s oldest daughter, causing Molly and bothdaughters to scream. “Why did you snitchon me, Frankie?” Mick asked again.
“Pop!” Teddy said, amazed that hisfather would terrorize the daughter!
But Mick wasn’t playing. “Gonna tell me now, Frankie? Gonna tell menow you motherfucking cocksucker!” Hepressed that gun even harder against that daughter’s head. “Gonna tell me now?!”
“Okay!” Frankie yelled. Unlike Teddy, Frankie didn’t have high hopesabout Mick’s redemptive qualities. Hewouldn’t put shit past Mick the Tick. “Don’t harm my child,” Frankie said.
“Then talk, motherfucker,” Mick said.
“I had to do it, Micky,” Frank began.
“Why?”
“Everybody’s got a past. Mine’s messy, just like yours and everybodyelse in the game. I’m no better, I’m noworse. Why he had to pick me? And this guy, Micky, he’s got what you callreach out of this world. Even you can’ttouch him.”
Teddy looked at Frankie as if he hadlost his mind. “Pop can’t touch him?” hefound himself saying. “In your dreams!”
“Who is he?” Mick asked.
Frankie frowned. “He’ll kill us allif I say, Micky. He’ll kill my family!”
“Who?” Mick asked again, but as soonas he asked it, everything went south. Agun blast was heard so close it caused a ringing in Mick’s ear, and the bulletcaught Frankie in his upper jaw. He fellbackwards out of his chair to his death.
Mick and Teddy both jumped up withtheir weapons drawn and their chairs falling backwards too, and they looked atthe opposite end of the table. MollyDiGenova, Frankie’s longtime wife and the woman Mick always dismissed asanother airheaded Edith Bunker, stood with the smoking gun in her hand. Then she immediately shot her alreadyscreaming youngest daughter, and then her oldest. Shot them like she was saying hello! And then she put the gun to her own head,crying.
Teddy was astounded. “What the fuck!” he yelled.
Even Mick was stumped. But not so much that he couldn’t get intelbefore she did herself in too. “Who isthis guy?” he asked Molly, his face frowned.
“He’ll kill us all anyway,” shesaid. “Why should I let my family sufferwaiting for it to happen?”
“I’ll protect you,” Mick said.
“You can’t protect us from him! Nobody can!”
“Who is he?” Mick askedanxiously. “Just give me his name!”
But Molly wasn’t thinking aboutMick. She even smiled through hertears. “There’s an old song,” shesaid. “Ever hear of it? Got my name in it. My mother used to sing it to me.”
“Give me his name!” Mick yelled.
But Molly was too far gone. “Good Golly, Miss Molly!” she yelled outlaughing, and then pulled the trigger.
And Molly DiGenova, like her entirefamily, dropped dead too.
CHAPTER THIRTY
“Be good,” Roz said to the twins, whowere upstairs playing video games in the game room.
“Where are you going?” Duke asked ashe continued playing the game.
“To dinner,” Roz said.
“With Daddy?” Duke asked, and Jackielooked too. They both stopped playingthe game waiting for her answer.
Roz hated to disappoint them. They missed Mick too. “It’s a business dinner with an old friend,”Roz said. “It’s about business.”
“Oh,” Duke said. Jackie didn’t say anything. And they both continued playing thegame. Roz headed downstairs, to Charles’living room, where Billy Lancer waswaiting.
Billy stood up smiling when Rozwalked into the room. Charles and Jenayhad been entertaining him, although it was more like he was entertaining them with all of hisHollywood stories. They both stood, too,when Roz walked in. But they didn’t evenlook at Roz. They were staring atBilly’s reaction to Roz.
To say he was impressed was anunderstatement. “You look . . . simply irresistible,Roz,” he said happily, and Roz smiled. She wore a white skirt and blouse, a light-green cardigan to add thatpop of color, and flats. She calledherself dressing down. But to Billy, itonly elevated her elegance. “You lookadorable!” he added.
“Thanks, Billy,”
