in. “Depending upon the demand, my pal Don can usually finagle a coupla chairs on the floor. Sometimes he gets box seats.”
“ You shoulda been there last night,” Angelo exclaimed. “The game was tied with less than two minutes left in the third period. Then, Sillinger makes this shot.” In imitation of a hockey puck gliding over the ice, he slid his hand over the tablecloth. “Beautiful. Just beautiful. You oughta go with us sometime, Gianna. We even got Hayley over her ‘all Yankees, all the time’ fixation to attend once. She had a blast.”
Yeah, Hayley had gone into great detail about that trip, bringing Gianna to belly-aching laughter with her descriptions of a night with the ROMEOs.
Before they left Setquott Beach, Angelo stopped at the supermarket to buy a five pound pound bag of unshelled peanuts. Once at Nassau Coliseum, he insisted she stuff the nuts in her purse to get them past Security. After they found their seats, the five men polished off the entire bag, letting peanut shells fall on their laps and the floor because, “that’s what the cleaning crew gets paid for.” Cups of beer flowed like water from Niagara Falls, and when the nuts finally ran out, the men turned their appetites to hot dogs.
During the game, they cheered every punch thrown by the players, booed every call the ref made against the home team, and got to their feet to argue with another fan about a questionable penalty charge. At the end of the night, before taking Hayley home, they made a run to the nearest drug store for antacids and Tylenol. Throughout the evening, poor Hayley wound up acting like a den mother at a Cub Scout jamboree. She broke up arguments, mopped spilled beer from shirtfronts, and then chipped in for gas for the ride home.
Thanks, Gianna thought, but no thanks.
“ Can we get some of those little flat breads, Gi?” Curtis asked, bringing her back to the here and now.
“ You bet.” Gianna headed for the kitchen.
Curtis grabbed her hand. “And a house salad? With dressing on the side? Balsamic vinegar and olive oil, if you’ve got it.”
“ Are you on a diet, Curt?” Number four, retired police officer Patrick O’Mara, asked.
“ Yep.” Curtis circled his round belly with the flat of his hand. “I need to lose a few pounds. I even started working out.”
Sol Fuchs, the last of the red-hot ROMEOs, chortled. “Sounds like Curt’s got a new lady friend.”
All five of them were unattached, widowed or divorced. After all, Angelo always said, “What wife would allow her husband to go out without her three times a week?” Not to mention the many golf excursions, pilgrimages to every major sporting event from baseball to wrestling, and other field trips the ROMEOs took on a regular basis.
“ Nah.” Still holding Gianna’s wrist, Curt lifted her hand to his lips. “This lady here’s the only girl for me. What’s the date of that wedding again, Gianna? I’ll make sure my best suit’s cleaned and pressed for the occasion.”
With a gentle tug, Gianna pulled her hand away. “Umm…”
“ You?” Angelo scoffed, puffing out his barrel chest. “Why would she take you when she could go with me?”
A quick hand wave and Sol sneered, “Please. Neither of you can dance worth a damn. I, on the other hand, used to teach at Arthur Murray.”
“ Yeah,” Mike added with a snort. “In the forties. Trust me, Sol, dancing’s changed a lot in the last sixty years.”
Sensing a crisis brewing in this United Nations, Gianna attempted to halt the speculation before fists flew. “Actually, I’ve—”
Too late. Curtis plucked ice from his water glass and tossed a cube at Mike’s nose. In retaliation, Mike balled his napkin and pitched the white paper, missing Curtis and hitting ten-year-old Gabriella Tullo’s head.
With a shocked gasp, Gabbie whirled. “Hey!”
The men broke into guffaws of laughter while Mike effused red-faced apologies to the entire Tullo family.
When Mr. Tullo
“ You shoulda been there last night,” Angelo exclaimed. “The game was tied with less than two minutes left in the third period. Then, Sillinger makes this shot.” In imitation of a hockey puck gliding over the ice, he slid his hand over the tablecloth. “Beautiful. Just beautiful. You oughta go with us sometime, Gianna. We even got Hayley over her ‘all Yankees, all the time’ fixation to attend once. She had a blast.”
Yeah, Hayley had gone into great detail about that trip, bringing Gianna to belly-aching laughter with her descriptions of a night with the ROMEOs.
Before they left Setquott Beach, Angelo stopped at the supermarket to buy a five pound pound bag of unshelled peanuts. Once at Nassau Coliseum, he insisted she stuff the nuts in her purse to get them past Security. After they found their seats, the five men polished off the entire bag, letting peanut shells fall on their laps and the floor because, “that’s what the cleaning crew gets paid for.” Cups of beer flowed like water from Niagara Falls, and when the nuts finally ran out, the men turned their appetites to hot dogs.
During the game, they cheered every punch thrown by the players, booed every call the ref made against the home team, and got to their feet to argue with another fan about a questionable penalty charge. At the end of the night, before taking Hayley home, they made a run to the nearest drug store for antacids and Tylenol. Throughout the evening, poor Hayley wound up acting like a den mother at a Cub Scout jamboree. She broke up arguments, mopped spilled beer from shirtfronts, and then chipped in for gas for the ride home.
Thanks, Gianna thought, but no thanks.
“ Can we get some of those little flat breads, Gi?” Curtis asked, bringing her back to the here and now.
“ You bet.” Gianna headed for the kitchen.
Curtis grabbed her hand. “And a house salad? With dressing on the side? Balsamic vinegar and olive oil, if you’ve got it.”
“ Are you on a diet, Curt?” Number four, retired police officer Patrick O’Mara, asked.
“ Yep.” Curtis circled his round belly with the flat of his hand. “I need to lose a few pounds. I even started working out.”
Sol Fuchs, the last of the red-hot ROMEOs, chortled. “Sounds like Curt’s got a new lady friend.”
All five of them were unattached, widowed or divorced. After all, Angelo always said, “What wife would allow her husband to go out without her three times a week?” Not to mention the many golf excursions, pilgrimages to every major sporting event from baseball to wrestling, and other field trips the ROMEOs took on a regular basis.
“ Nah.” Still holding Gianna’s wrist, Curt lifted her hand to his lips. “This lady here’s the only girl for me. What’s the date of that wedding again, Gianna? I’ll make sure my best suit’s cleaned and pressed for the occasion.”
With a gentle tug, Gianna pulled her hand away. “Umm…”
“ You?” Angelo scoffed, puffing out his barrel chest. “Why would she take you when she could go with me?”
A quick hand wave and Sol sneered, “Please. Neither of you can dance worth a damn. I, on the other hand, used to teach at Arthur Murray.”
“ Yeah,” Mike added with a snort. “In the forties. Trust me, Sol, dancing’s changed a lot in the last sixty years.”
Sensing a crisis brewing in this United Nations, Gianna attempted to halt the speculation before fists flew. “Actually, I’ve—”
Too late. Curtis plucked ice from his water glass and tossed a cube at Mike’s nose. In retaliation, Mike balled his napkin and pitched the white paper, missing Curtis and hitting ten-year-old Gabriella Tullo’s head.
With a shocked gasp, Gabbie whirled. “Hey!”
The men broke into guffaws of laughter while Mike effused red-faced apologies to the entire Tullo family.
When Mr. Tullo
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