He wiped the snot from his nose with the back of his hand. And then he finally looked his small, red eyes straight into Gemma’s big, brown eyes. “They have a warrant out for my arrest. But I didn’t do it. They locked me up already for something I didn’t do. I spent five years in prison on another man’s crime. Now they want to imprison me again? You’ve got to help me, Miss G.”
Gemma couldn’t believe it. Not again! But just like before, she believed him. God help her, but she believed him! “What do you want from me?”
“I want you to go with me to the jail, so I can turn myself in. I need you to be my lawyer.”
“We lost the case before, Shaun.”
“But not because of anything you did or didn’t do. You worked your butt off for me. It was the crooked system that convicted me. I need you, Miss G. You’re the only person in this world who ever believed in me.”
Gemma exhaled. She knew he was going to have an even steeper hill to climb after that rape conviction. Jurors were going to deem him guilty of something, why not this murder? It seemed impossible that he could beat this rap. And she also knew, if she agreed to handle a messy murder case during her pregnancy, Sal was going to beat her ass.
But a man’s freedom was at stake. A good, decent kid who turned wrong and never had the chance to turn right again. She didn’t see where she had a choice.
“Sit down, Shaun,” she said, pulling out a legal pad. “Give me the details and I’ll see what I can do to negotiate your surrender.
Shaun smiled, relieved, and sat down.
CHAPTER FIVE
Casino owner Reno Gabrini ended his cellphone call when he saw his cousin enter the restaurant and head for his table. And just looking at him made him smile. Because Sal would always be Sal, he thought, as he watched Sal strut into the restaurant decked down in his double-breasted suit and jewelry, looking like the mob boss he was purported to be although he’d deny it to his dying day. Reno knew Sal had east coast operations, substantial ones, but he never knew just how deep his power ran. And given Sal’s penchant for keeping it all undercover, he probably never would.
Sal sat across from Reno at the table. “They aren’t here yet?” he asked.
“Not yet, no,” Reno said, still smiling. “You’ve got mob written all over you. You know that, Sal?”
“What mob?” Sal asked as if he was shocked. “I’m a legitimate businessman over here.”
Reno smiled. “Yeah, sure. And I’m Mary fucking Poppins.”
Sal laughed. “You aren’t so innocent yourself,” he pointed out. “You inherited your old man’s territory. If I’m a boss, what does that make you?”
“By the time my old man died his territory was about as weak as your sense of style,” Reno responded. “There was nothing to inherit.”
“Yeah, right.”
“Fuck you, Sal.”
“Fuck you, Reno.”
Reno smiled. They’d be lost without their banter. “Trina tells me Gemma’s law firm was vandalized yesterday. What was that about?”
“One of her ex-clients did the job.”
“You found his ass?”
“I found him.”
“You took care of his ass?”
“What you think? Yeah, I took care of his ass.”
“So what gives? Did he say why he did it?”
“Money,” Sal said. “But it was a blind payoff. He doesn’t know who hired him and I don’t know either. But my men are working on it. I’ll find out.”
“Need any manpower from my crew?”
“No, I’ve got it covered. But thanks.”
“No problem,” Reno said. And then he leaned forward. “I wanted to talk to you before the girls got here anyway,” he said.
Sal looked at his cousin warily. Not that he didn’t trust Reno. He trusted Reno with his life. But every time Reno wanted to talk to Sal, it ended up being about some bullshit error he made, or some boundary he didn’t realize he’d overstepped. “So talk,” Sal said.
“Why you got to say it like that?” Reno asked.
“Like what?”
Reno gave up.
“And what do you mean about my weak sense of style?” Sal asked as he noticed Reno’s clothing. Like himself, Reno wore only the finest imported suits. But unlike himself, Reno wore his badly. It was only midday and already Reno’s suit looked like it was something he picked up from a swap meet. “You look like you slept in that suit,” Sal added.
“That’s because I’m a hardworking man. Unlike you, I’m no fucking mob boss. I don’t have flunkies doing everything for me. I have to do it for myself.”
“Yeah, sure, Reno. You’ve got a staff of thousands at the PaLargio. I think I’ll withhold my contribution to your poverty fund today.”
Reno smiled. And then got serious. “Trina thought it would be a good idea if I gave you a few pointers,” he said.
Sal was stumped. “You giving me pointers? What the fuck you gonna give me pointers about?” Reno and Sal’s brother Tommy were only a few years older than he was, but they sometimes treated him like he was still a kid.
“Oh, nice. Nice attitude, Sal.”
“Okay, I apologize. I apologize, alright? Just tell me what it’s about?”
“It’s about fatherhood,” Reno said. “It’s about dealing with a pregnant wife. That shit.”
To Reno’s surprise, Sal’s look of abject resistance began to fade.
“I know a thing or two about all of those topics,” Reno said.
“And I don’t know shit,” Sal added.
Reno smiled. “That’s what Trina seems to think.”
“So what you got to tell me?”
“What semester is Gemma?” Reno asked.
Sal frowned. “What semester? She’s not in school.”
“Don’t you know anything, Sal? There’s three semesters in every pregnancy. Three months each. Each three-month group is what you call a semester.”
“What is this fucking school?” Sal asked. “They never told me anything about any semesters.”
“Well I’m telling you about it. There’s three. The first semester is the most crucial one. Miscarriages can happen then.”
“I thought they could happen anytime,” Sal said.
“They can. But it’s more crucial early on.”
“Oh, okay.”
“Have you signed up for Lil’ Mars?”
Sal frowned. “What’s Lil’ Mars? Out of space shit?”
Reno shook his head. “You’re hopeless, you know that? Lil’ Mars are classes you have to take to learn how to breathe.”
“I already know how to breathe.”
“Not you, Sal! Gemma needs to learn.”
“Gemma already knows how to breathe too. Why she need to take Mars classes if she already knows how to breathe? And why are they calling it Mars like the planet?”
“It’s Lil’ Mars,” Reno corrected him. “Like little Mars, not the big shit. And I figure it’s because having a baby is like out of this world.”
Sal shook his head. “That makes no sense, Reno. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Reno frowned. “What do you know? I know more than you. Ever thought about reading a fucking book on pregnancy, Sal?”
“Like I got time to read a book! Besides, I tried to read plenty books on pregnancy. They write that shit like it’s in Japanese or something. I couldn’t figure it out. Everything I know my doctor tells me, so I’m good. I’m fine.”
“So you think you know a lot?”
“I know I know a lot,” Sal shot back.
“Okay, big shot,” Reno said, folding his arms. “What about contractions? How you gonna handle those?”
“What do you mean handle them?”
“What are you going to do, know-it-all,” Reno said, “when she has her Hicks whatever?”
Sal frowned. “What hicks whatever? What are you talking about, Reno?”
“Her hicks. Her whatayoucall Toni Braxton Hicks. Her contraction
s?”
Sal was lost.
“Yeah, you know a lot alright. A regular Einstein sitting over here.”
“So how am I supposed to handle these Toni Braxton whatevers?” Sal asked. “And what does Toni Braxton have to do with it? I thought she was a singer.”
“Let me school you, alright?” Reno said. And then launched into schooling Sal without waiting for a response. “You have to know when her contractions are normal, and when they’re saying the baby’s coming. You have to go to those Lil’ Mazda classes, so you can help Gem breathe right and stay calm when the baby comes.”
“I thought it was Lil’ Mars classes,” Sal said.
“It is.”
“You said Lil’ Mazda classes.”
“I did not!”
“What the fuck? You did, Reno! You said Lil’ Mazda classes. Like the car!”
Now Reno was lost. “Like what car? What the fuck are you talking about?”
Sal shook his head. He should have known better taking “pointers” from Reno of all people. “Whatever,” he said.
“What do you mean whatever?” Reno asked. “I haven’t finished.”
“Yeah, what else you got?”
“What else you want to know?”
“Just tell me what you know.” Then Sal thought about it. “I have a question.”
“Finally he has a question. But that’s good. What is it?”
“What about making love? How hard can I go at it? When do I have to stop?”
“That would be your question,” Reno said. “Nothing about the baby. Nothing about the pregnancy. You just want to know how hard you can fuck her.”
“Just answer the question,” Sal said.
Reno exhaled. “You can do it like you always do it as long as she’s healthy and there’s no complications. There are no limits.”
Sal nodded. “Yeah, that’s what the doctor said.”
“I mean,” Reno added, “you don’t want to kill the woman. You don’t want to have her hanging from the ceiling upside down, no shit like that.”
Sal laughed.
“But the regular shit should be okay,” Reno said.
Sal nodded. “Finally you make some sense.”
“Fuck you.”
“What about the baby?” Sal asked. “When the baby gets here, what do I do? Maybe I can come over one day and use Sophie as an example.” Sophia was Reno’s youngest child.
But Reno frowned. “Use Sophie as an example of what?”
“You know? How to put on a diaper and shit. Maybe I can put on one of her diapers.”
“Diapers? Are you nuts? Sophie doesn’t wear diapers anymore! What are you talking?”
“She doesn’t?”
“No, she doesn’t! Babies get out of diapers when they’re something like two months old or something. Geez. You don’t know anything, Sal!”
Sal ignored Reno’s putdown. He had too many questions now. “What about food?” he asked. “I know they suck on the tit, but that’s all they eat?”
“For the first week that’s all they eat. Milk only. They say breast milk is the best milk. But after that, something like two weeks later, they start giving them what they call the baby food. You know that mush in a bottle?”
“Yeah, I seen it around Tommy’s house before.”
“Yeah, that. They give the babies the mush.”
“Then what?” Sal asked. “How long do they stay on the mush?”
“For another week,” Reno said. “After that they can eat anything they want.”
That didn’t sound right to Sal. “Anything?” he asked.
“Anything. Steaks, burgers, pasta. You name it.”
But Sal was still doubtful. “I don’t know about that, now Reno. I never heard of no three-week old baby eating no steak. They don’t even have teeth!”
“They gum it,” Reno said. “Sometimes Trina would break it up for them, but for the most part they do it themselves. Babies are very resourceful people. They gum the shit out of that steak.”
Sal looked askance at Reno and continued to give him the eye. He knew nothing about babies, but he knew something was wrong with Reno’s pointers.
“Ah, the queens have arrived!” Reno said gaily as he rose to his feet.
When Sal looked and saw the two African-American women heading toward their table, and when he saw that glow his own wife exuded, he forgot about Reno and his nonsensicalness. He rose too. Gemma had changed into a pair of sky blue, flare-legged pants, a hip-length open vest, and a loose-fitting cream colored blouse that contrasted beautifully with her dark skin. She walked with such an elegance about her that Sal often found himself looking away to see if other men were favorably assessing her. Now, like always, they were. It used to bother Sal. He didn’t like other men ogling his wife. But now it didn’t matter. He knew she was his.
Sal not only pulled out a chair for Gemma, but he went and met her halfway. He even placed his hand on the small of her back and kissed her on the lips.
“What a gentleman you are, Sal,” Trina said. “You come and greet your wife when it’s a miracle mine stood up.”
“Don’t even try that,” Reno said as they arrived at the table. “I always stand up for your old ass.”
Trina laughed and allowed Reno to pull out her chair for her. Reno leaned over and gave her a kiss. Then he and Gemma hugged. After Sal helped Gemma to her seat, both men sat down too.
“How are you feeling?” Sal asked Gemma.
“I feel good,” Gemma said. “We’re on verdict watch.”
“Which case?” Sal asked. “That drug possession case?”
“No, the prosecution managed to get a continuance on that case. My embezzlement case is on verdict watch.”
“You and all of these cases,” Sal said. “You work too hard.”
Gemma didn’t respond. She knew once he found out she had accepted a murder case, all of his protestations about her working too hard was going to rise to an even nastier level. She needed to preserve her energy for that battle.
The waitress arrived to take their lunch and drink orders, with Sal ordering juice for Gemma as she checked her phone messages. Everybody ordered some form of sandwich and then they all settled down into small conversation.
“You two rode together?” Reno asked the two ladies.
“We arrived at the same time,” Trina responded. “We met up outside.” She looked at Sal. “So how did it go?”
Sal didn’t get it. “How did what go?”
“The talk. The pointers Reno were supposed to give you, father to father-to-be, so you’d know what to expect?”
“It went terrible,” Sal said.
Reno frowned. “What terrible? I gave you pointers.”
“Pointers my ass!”
Trina and Gemma were surprised. “Well what did he say?” Gemma asked.
“He called himself schooling me on semesters and Toni Braxton and Mars and Mazdas and gumming food and I don’t know what the fuck he was talking about.”
“Toni Braxton?” Gemma asked.
“Mars and Mazdas?” Trina asked. Then they both looked at Reno. “What did you tell him?” They asked in unison.
“What I was supposed to tell him,” Reno said. “I’ve got three kids. Sal has Rudy, but Rudy was a grown man when Sal met him. He knows nothing about babies.”
“And you know next to nothing,” Trina said, “if you told him that crazy stuff he said you told him.”
“What crazy?” Reno asked. “I told him what to expect at the various semesters and when it’s safe for the baby to eat anything he wants. What’s crazy about that?”
Trina looked at her husband and shook her head. “They’re called trimesters, Reno. Not semesters!”
“And when can a baby eat anything he wants?” Gemma asked smilingly, certain, given Reno’s perception of things, that it wasn’t going to be quite right.
“What do you mean?” Reno asked.
But Sal knew what she meant. “He said by the time
the baby is a couple weeks old, he can eat anything he wants. Steaks, burgers, corn on the cob, you name it.”
“I didn’t say a word about any corn on the cob,” Reno said as the women laughed. “What are you talking?”
“What are you talking?” Sal asked. “With your so-called pointers.”
“Oh, Sal, don’t be so hard on him,” Gemma said between laughs. “He was only trying to help.”
Reno smiled. “Thank you, Gem. I knew you were the sensible one.”
Sal frowned. “Ah, forget you, Reno!”
“Forget you!” Reno shot back. “I was just trying to prepare your ass. Raising kids isn’t an easy thing. It’s going to be tough. It’s the scariest thing I’ve ever had to do.”
Sal and Gemma both looked at Reno. And suddenly all of the laughter and playfulness and pulldowns faded away. Because they both were scared too about what bringing a child into this world, a Gabrini heir, truly meant. They knew Reno knew what he was talking about now because his family’s protection was all on his shoulders.
Reno saw their fears. “It’s a very rewarding experience,” he sought to reassure them, “but I can’t lie to you. It’s tough. Bringing another Gabrini into this world is like bringing a kid up to a buzz saw. It can go either way.”
“Your kids are turning out fine,” Sal said. “I mean, Dominic is trying to be an exception, but we’ll keep his ass in line. You have to be pleased how they turned out. And Tommy and Grace has a good kid too. It seems to be working.”
“It works,” Trina said. “And we’ve been truly blessed. But real talk. It’s tough.”
The waitress arrived with their drink orders. When she left, Sal leaned forward. “It’s the danger factor that keeps me up nights.”
Gemma looked at her husband. She suspected he harbored those feelings, but this was the first time he had verbalized them.
“It’s wondering if I can protect my wife and child from all of the craziness I have to protect them from,” Sal continued. “All the enemies out there. All the plots and schemes. I just don’t want to get it wrong. I can’t get it wrong.”
“You won’t, Sal,” Gemma said, placing her hand on his. “You have a big heart and nobody cares more. That’s all we’ll need.”
Sal Gabrini: Just The Way You Are Page 5