but he walks away with an extremely large platinum parachute.”
“And he’s paying you a measly five grand? You should hold out for ten times that. After all, he’s asking you to put yourself in possible danger.”
“Except I don’t think anyone at Trimedia killed Philomena, and he never asked me to look elsewhere, even though he did say Tino Martinelli was at my disposal.”
“For what?”
“Protection.”
“He has the brawn, but even if you wanted to, how would you insinuate yourself into Philomena’s inner circle? You’re certainly not insane enough to drive down to Philadelphia to question her gangbanger friends, are you?”
“Definitely not.”
“Looks like Gruenwald just bought you a new car.”
A new used car but who’s quibbling? “The universe works in mysterious ways,” I said around a mouthful of vodka penne.
NINE
Cloris and I left the restaurant shortly after eight o’clock, and even though I first stopped at the bank to deposit Gruenwald’s check, I still arrived home to find Ira’s van parked at my curb. As I pulled into the driveway, I glanced up at Zack’s apartment and contemplated slipping upstairs to avoid Ira and his kids. The last thing in the world I wanted to do right now was deal with dinner guests I hadn’t invited.
However, knowing Mama, she was monitoring the driveway every few minutes, awaiting my arrival. I parked the Jeep and reluctantly headed up the path to my back door. Taking a deep breath, I forced a smile onto my face before stepping into the house.
My kitchen looked like the Tasmanian Devil had taken up residence. Dirty dishes covered nearly every square inch of the table and counters. Mephisto sniffed around the garbage that overflowed from the trash can onto the linoleum. Ralph pecked at a glop of something sticking to the seat of one of the kitchen chairs. How could Mama make such a mess when she’d ordered in a catered meal?
From the dining room, over a series of bleeps, dings, and swooshing noises, I overheard Alex, Nick, and Ira discussing the Mets’ slim chances of clinching the National League pennant. Either everyone else listened in rapt silence, was bored to death, or was too busy stuffing their faces with the pricey meal I hoped Mama hadn’t charged to the one credit card I’d nearly paid off from moonlighting at Sunnyside over the summer.
I scooped up Ralph and deposited him in his cage in the den. Then I returned to the kitchen, hoisted Mephisto into my arms and shut him in the den with Ralph. After taking another deep breath but not bothering with pasting on a smile this time, I marched into the dining room.
Seated around the table, I found Alex, Nick, and Ira continuing to discuss batting averages and pitching stats. Mama and Lawrence gazed starry-eyed at each other while sharing a slice of cherry pie a la mode. Lucille, head down, rapidly shoveled enormous forkfuls of the dessert into her mouth. A set of twin girls sat texting while a younger boy played a handheld video game. A half-empty container of Turkey Hill vanilla ice cream sat melting in the middle of the table.
No one seemed to notice me. I cleared my throat. “Good evening.”
“Nice to see you finally made it home,” said Mama, tearing her gaze from Lawrence. “These are Ira’s children, dear.” She waved in the direction of the boy and girls as she rattled off their names, “Melody, Harmony, and Isaac. Children, this is your Aunt Anastasia.”
I didn’t receive so much as a nod of recognition from any of them. Their attention continued fixated on their mini-screens while their fingers flew across keyboards and controls, each stroke punctuated by those bleeps, dings, and swooshes.
“Children, say hello to your aunt,” said Mama.
I glanced at my sons. Alex mouthed, “I told you so,” while Nick rolled his eyes. They previously had the misfortune of spending a day with Ira’s kids, and that in itself had been reason enough for me to keep
“And he’s paying you a measly five grand? You should hold out for ten times that. After all, he’s asking you to put yourself in possible danger.”
“Except I don’t think anyone at Trimedia killed Philomena, and he never asked me to look elsewhere, even though he did say Tino Martinelli was at my disposal.”
“For what?”
“Protection.”
“He has the brawn, but even if you wanted to, how would you insinuate yourself into Philomena’s inner circle? You’re certainly not insane enough to drive down to Philadelphia to question her gangbanger friends, are you?”
“Definitely not.”
“Looks like Gruenwald just bought you a new car.”
A new used car but who’s quibbling? “The universe works in mysterious ways,” I said around a mouthful of vodka penne.
NINE
Cloris and I left the restaurant shortly after eight o’clock, and even though I first stopped at the bank to deposit Gruenwald’s check, I still arrived home to find Ira’s van parked at my curb. As I pulled into the driveway, I glanced up at Zack’s apartment and contemplated slipping upstairs to avoid Ira and his kids. The last thing in the world I wanted to do right now was deal with dinner guests I hadn’t invited.
However, knowing Mama, she was monitoring the driveway every few minutes, awaiting my arrival. I parked the Jeep and reluctantly headed up the path to my back door. Taking a deep breath, I forced a smile onto my face before stepping into the house.
My kitchen looked like the Tasmanian Devil had taken up residence. Dirty dishes covered nearly every square inch of the table and counters. Mephisto sniffed around the garbage that overflowed from the trash can onto the linoleum. Ralph pecked at a glop of something sticking to the seat of one of the kitchen chairs. How could Mama make such a mess when she’d ordered in a catered meal?
From the dining room, over a series of bleeps, dings, and swooshing noises, I overheard Alex, Nick, and Ira discussing the Mets’ slim chances of clinching the National League pennant. Either everyone else listened in rapt silence, was bored to death, or was too busy stuffing their faces with the pricey meal I hoped Mama hadn’t charged to the one credit card I’d nearly paid off from moonlighting at Sunnyside over the summer.
I scooped up Ralph and deposited him in his cage in the den. Then I returned to the kitchen, hoisted Mephisto into my arms and shut him in the den with Ralph. After taking another deep breath but not bothering with pasting on a smile this time, I marched into the dining room.
Seated around the table, I found Alex, Nick, and Ira continuing to discuss batting averages and pitching stats. Mama and Lawrence gazed starry-eyed at each other while sharing a slice of cherry pie a la mode. Lucille, head down, rapidly shoveled enormous forkfuls of the dessert into her mouth. A set of twin girls sat texting while a younger boy played a handheld video game. A half-empty container of Turkey Hill vanilla ice cream sat melting in the middle of the table.
No one seemed to notice me. I cleared my throat. “Good evening.”
“Nice to see you finally made it home,” said Mama, tearing her gaze from Lawrence. “These are Ira’s children, dear.” She waved in the direction of the boy and girls as she rattled off their names, “Melody, Harmony, and Isaac. Children, this is your Aunt Anastasia.”
I didn’t receive so much as a nod of recognition from any of them. Their attention continued fixated on their mini-screens while their fingers flew across keyboards and controls, each stroke punctuated by those bleeps, dings, and swooshes.
“Children, say hello to your aunt,” said Mama.
I glanced at my sons. Alex mouthed, “I told you so,” while Nick rolled his eyes. They previously had the misfortune of spending a day with Ira’s kids, and that in itself had been reason enough for me to keep
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