The Toil and Trouble Trilogy, Book One

by Val St. Crowe

  * * *

  I try my best not to think about any of it for the rest of the day. Not my traitor mother. Not why my mother wouldn’t have a death certificate. Not what my father has to do with all of this. It’s too much. I have other things to worry about. Vincent, for instance. Selling charms, for instance. The play, for instance.

  The day proceeds just like any other, except for the fact I’m running from my own thoughts. At the play that night, I load up my guys with charms and send them out to sell. I stay backstage and play cards with Toby, the kid that plays Fleance. I try not to notice the scratches on Brice’s face from when he was locked in a basement in the city last night. I try to just pretend that everything is normal, but I’m reeling. I’m freaked out. I’m forcing myself to function.

  The actor who plays Malcolm comes back in from having a smoke outside. “You’re Olivia, right?”

  That’s weird. This guy is a professional, with his Equity card and everything. Why is he talking to me? “Yeah.”

  “Some guy is out back. He wants to talk to you. Seems like it’s important.”

  That’s even weirder. I thank the actor who told me and go outside. There’s a little spot behind the theater where the actors who smoke usually go for cigarette breaks. One of my guys is standing out there. His name is Josh. He’s been working for the Calabrese family for a few years. I like him, especially because he’s always telling stories about how he’s used his “special skills,” as he calls them. Josh is a whiz with explosives. He’s breathing hard.

  “What’s going on?” I ask him.

  “The police showed up,” he says. “We all had to scatter. We saved the merchandise though.” He opens his suit coat to show me that all of the charms are still there.

  “The police?” Is this a coincidence? Or is that lady from earlier out to get me? What does she know exactly? “You think they knew we were selling magic charms?”

  “They knew something,” says Josh. “They said they’d be keeping their eyes on us. We may have lost this whole area for selling.”

  “Damn it,” I say. I’m angry and I’m frightened. But there isn’t anything else that Josh and my guys can do at this point. I tell them to get out of here. We’ll divvy up what take they got later. “You’re sure nobody got nabbed?”

  “Yeah, pretty sure. We scattered quick.”

  That’s good at least. The last thing I need is for the police to have one of my guys in custody. Most of the guys who work for me aren’t officially part of the family. They might rat me out.

  But thinking of that makes me think of my mother. And I don’t want to think about any of that.

  He smiles wryly. “If there were a way for me to use my ‘special skills,’ I would.”

  I crack a smile too. Josh and his special skills.

  After Josh leaves, I force myself to concentrate on the problem at hand. Up until now, I’ve been outselling Vincent hand over fist. If I lose my one source of revenue, then I’m going to be screwed. I don’t let myself wonder if I even want to be the head of the family if everything is so screwed up. Of course I want it. I’ve always wanted it. It’s been my goal since my mother died—

  If she’s even dead.

  These thoughts are driving me crazy.

  I have to figure out another way to make this money, but it probably means going back to the charms my family makes and selling the old way. I should have known these charms Brice makes were too good to be true.

  As if he knows I’m thinking about him, Brice comes backstage in his King Duncan outfit. He’s covered up all the scratches on his face with stage makeup. “How are you holding up?” he asks me.

  Without thinking about whether or not it’s a good idea, I spill everything to Brice, from the police woman that came to my house today to the fact that the police have broken up my sellers outside the show. When I’m done, and he’s looking at me with wide eyes, I feel bad. “I’m sorry to burden you with this. You’re still all scratched up from last night. You know, Brice, it would probably be better if you just stayed away from me.”

  “I don’t want to stay away from you,” he says. He grabs my hand.

  Why is he doing that? I look at Brice and wonder if I’ve made a huge mistake in all of it. Brice was supposed to be the kind of guy who wouldn’t want anything from me. He was supposed to be the kind of guy who didn’t get attached. Maybe he’s romanticized all this danger and mayhem I’ve brought into his life. Maybe... I pull my hand away slowly. “You’re gonna get hurt.”

  He gives me a wry smile. “I don’t think I care if I do.”

  What does that mean? “Look, I shouldn’t tell you anymore about what goes on in my life. I should keep it to myself. Go back to working on your Equity card and flirting with all the actresses and stop thinking about me.”

  Brice looks annoyed. “I don’t flirt with all the actresses.”

  I roll my eyes.

  “Hey, I don’t. I mean, not intentionally, anyway.”

  Sure he doesn’t. I don’t even bother to respond to that.

  “It doesn’t matter anyway,” says Brice. “No one’s ever going to love me. Who would want to be with a berserker? No one.”

  Poor guy. I clap him on the back. “You’re like me, then, Brice. We’re too weird for regular people to want us. I’ve gotten used to it, and you will too.”

  “Olivia, you’re not weird.”

  I wasn’t saying that so he’d make me feel better. I wasn’t angling for a compliment. I decide to just let it go. “See you around, Brice.”

  “Wait, you’re leaving?”

  Was he deaf when I said all that stuff about not telling him things and that he should stay away from me?

  “Hold on,” he says. “I have an idea for something you could do to keep your sales up.”

  It’s not going to hurt to listen to an idea is it? Besides, Brice’s ideas are usually pretty good. “Okay, tell me about it.”

  “You know where there are lots of theaters?”

  “Where?”

  “The city.”

  “You’re saying I should send guys to shows in the city to sell charms? Would these charms even work there? I thought they were made for this show.”

  “They’ll work on any show. They’re not made specifically for this one.”

  I consider. It would definitely increase my cash flow. But there might be issues with territory disputes. Technically, there are families that control different parts of the city. But the theater district really doesn’t fall under anyone’s jurisdiction, considering no one’s really ever tried to sell things there. It might be okay. It might be really awesome. I have to smile at Brice. “You’re kind of a lifesaver, you know that?”

  He grins at me.