by Chelle Bliss
Mom glanced around the table. “I think it needs to happen soon, because I think there’s going to be more Gallos.”
“Don’t look at me.” Izzy waved her hands wildly. “I’m getting fixed. Three boys are enough for me.”
“But you need a girl,” Ma replied.
“Nope.”
“We’re done too,” Max added and elbowed Anthony.
“Yep. No more.”
“Oh, there’s always room for more babies. More kids means more love.”
“You’ve been saying that forever, Ma. But more kids means more dirty diapers, sleepless nights, and sexless days.” Mike chuckled and gave Mia a side glance as she was cutting Lily’s meatball into tiny pieces.
“You’re a jerk.” Izzy smacked him in the arm. “Like you have ever changed a poopy diaper.”
I loved my brother, but the simple fact that changing a diaper made him weak in the knees made me question his manhood. You couldn’t legitimately call yourself a father unless you stepped up to the plate and took part in everything.
“Don’t listen to him. He’s so full of it. Literally,” Mia said and rolled her eyes. “The man has changed more than his share of diapers. He just likes to pretend like he’s too big of a man for that, but he’s been covered in crap.”
“We are trying to eat.” James gagged. “I have enough baby crap to wade through on a daily basis.”
“Ma seems to forget all the bad parts of being a mother since she wants us to have more babies.” Thomas pulled the bowl of meatballs in front of him, but he didn’t dare look at Ma. “She wants more, but she gets to pop in and out of their lives while we’re stuck with baby puke and volcanic poop.”
“You kids act like I didn’t go through this with all of you. I did, and it’s part of being a parent. I never complained when I would play with you and you’d puke on me. I didn’t whine when you crapped the bed.”
“That was Mike.” Thomas laughed and pointed at him.
“Eff you. I was sick.”
“Sure,” Anthony teased him, and Mike looked like he was about to jump over the table.
“It’s just what we do. If I didn’t go through all of the bad things, I wouldn’t be sitting here today with a table full of you and all the love I have in my life. I love your father, but if it were just him and me, I’d go crazy.”
“True,” Pop said and leaned over, kissing her cheek.
“When you’re older and your kids are grown, you’ll forget all the sleepless nights, dirty diapers, and other things that make most people cringe. You’ll be thankful to be surrounded by your kids and loved ones. So stop your complaining and eat.”
My head jerked back. Ma was a little tougher on us than she usually was, but I think it was only because she wanted more grandkids. If she had her way, we’d have double the amount than sat in this house.
I glanced over at Gigi and thought about Ma’s words. There wasn’t a day, no matter how rough it had been, that I ever regretted having her in my life. She meant the world to me. She was forever a tiny piece of Suzy and me walking this earth. We’d never be forgotten as long as she was around.
Change is in the Air
Suzy
Gigi took after her aunt Izzy more than me. Sometimes I looked at her and knew that the Gallo genes won out in my womb when she was created. She had their dark skin, warm brown hair, and attitude.
Ro and Lu, the twins, were an even mix of both of our families. They had sandy blond hair, light eyes, and ivory skin. I prayed every day they wouldn’t have the Gallo attitude, which often led to trouble.
“Mrs. Gallo, sorry I had to call you to the office today.” Sitting in the principal’s office, even as an adult, made me weak in the knees.
Even when I was a teacher, the very mention of a meeting in the principal’s office brought back memories of my childhood and being scolded for my behavior.
“I completely understand, Ms. Wisen. What did Gigi do to warrant this meeting?”
“Would you like to wait for your husband?” she asked.
The woman looked like she’d be a hard-nosed principal, but I didn’t think that could be the case for any elementary school administrator. You couldn’t surround yourself with the smallest, innocent creatures and not have a warm heart. Even though she was dressed in a dark suit, she had on colorful rubber bracelets for various school fundraisers from the school year.
“He couldn’t get away from work. It’s just me today.” I’d been here before. Gigi had been in trouble on other occasions, typically for using profanity she learned from the Gallos. They had loose tongues, and kids were quick to mimic the language of those around them.
“Ahh, he’s a tattoo artist, right?” Her nose wrinkled.
“He’s a business owner, yes.” I glared at her, feeling disgust at her presumption about him based on his artistic profession.
“Well, there was an incident this morning that has many teachers concerned here at Spring Elementary.”
I fidgeted with my hands and tried to remain calm. I’d been in this office for more nonsense than I ever imagined possible. “What kind of incident?”
Gigi was a good kid. She did have some of her aunt in her personality, but she was never malicious or cruel. It was starting to feel like a witch-hunt and Gigi was the target.
“She told a boy that he was only hers and then tried to kiss him.”
I smiled, unable to hide it, because she sounded like her father and me. The apple didn’t fall far from the tree. Actually, she sounded like every Gallo with those words. She’d heard them many times growing up.
“Is this funny, Mrs. Gallo?” Ms. Wisen sneered at me with disgust.
“She’s just a kid. It’s cute that she has a crush.”
Wisen needed to lighten up. She probably hadn’t been laid since Bill Clinton was in the White House. Kids did stuff like this all the time. I remember cornering my first crush and giving him a kiss, probably against his will since boys often thought girls were gross until puberty kicked in.
She clasped her hands on the desk in front of her. “It borders on sexual harassment.”
My mouth fell open at the ridiculousness of it all. “You can’t be serious. They’re children.”
“This is how it starts. It’s a slippery slope from here.”
I rolled my eyes. “Ms. Wisen, I’ll speak with Gigi about not touching others, especially kissing them. She won’t do it again, but in no way is it sexual harassment.”
“We have a very strict no-touching policy here at Spring.”
“It won’t happen again.”
“What’s more concerning is her language. Telling the boy that he was hers and only hers. He was in tears this morning.”
Clearly his parents didn’t use that language at home. “She didn’t mean anything by it. She’s heard it said by many members of our family. It’s harmless.”
“I don’t know what kind of unhealthy relationship you have at home, but that type of expression is not acceptable.”
I stood quickly, smoothing my dress before leaning over her desk. I was done with her insinuating there was something wrong at home for Gigi to act the way she had. “There’s nothing wrong with her father and me. We love each other. We’re committed to each other. Maybe if you had someone as devoted to you as we are to each other, you wouldn’t find the language so disturbing. I’m sorry your life is so bland and boring that claiming someone as yours is out of your realm of comfort, but I can assure you that it’s not meant in a negative way. I’ll speak to Gigi about touching others, but there is nothing wrong with her or our family. If you continue to single her out as an issue, I will take you to court for harassment. Just try me, Ms. Wisen. I’ve worked in education for years. I know how it works, and once you target a child as an issue, every small thing they do can be picked out and used against them. You need to leave my child alone and pay more attention to the real problems in the school.”
The fucking bitch. I could feel her attitude and disdai
n for Joe and me before she even began speaking. Maybe I was wrong. Wisen wasn’t a teddy bear at all. She was a frigid, prude of a woman who needed to get fucked six ways to Sunday.
“There’s no need to get lawyers involved, Mrs. Gallo.”
“My husband may be a tattoo artist, but we are in no way poor. If you mess with my family again, I’ll sink every dollar I have in my bank accounts into ruining you. Do you understand me?” On the outside, I appeared calm and collected, but my insides were shaking. Not out of fear, but in anger.
She held her hands up in front of her in a defensive manner. “Understood. I didn’t mean any harm.”
“Saying my daughter is sexually harassing someone is just being an asshole. I’m taking Gigi with me for the rest of the day. I’ll share the incident with her father and let him decide how to handle the situation.” I stuck my purse under my arm and straightened my body. “It’ll be entirely up to him. I don’t know if he’ll be quite as kind as me with his words either.”
Without a backward glance, I marched out of the office and slammed the door. That earned me a look of shock from every person sitting in the office waiting. My hands shook as I texted Joe and told him we’d discuss what happened at the school tonight. I already knew he would be more pissed off than I was, but I’d figure out a way to calm him down. I always did.
“Hey, Mommy. Why are you so mad?” Gigi asked, placing her hand in mine after she walked into the office.
“Some people aren’t very nice, Gig.”
“I know.” She tugged on my arm so I’d lean over. “Ms. Wisen is the meanest there is too,” she whispered in my ear but not quiet enough not to be overheard.
“I know, baby. Daddy will deal with her.” I smiled because the busybody office ladies would pass that on to the evil Ms. Wisen.
Gigi backed away so I could see her face with widened eyes. “Oh, is she going to get spanked like Daddy does to you?”
I bit my lip, hiding my laughter and feeling my face heat with embarrassment. “Not quite like that, Gig. I see we have to have a long talk about Mommy and Daddy. You’ve heard too much, baby.”
“I hear it all, Mommy. You’ve been a bad girl.” She mimicked Joe’s voice, and I wanted to wipe the words from her mind.
“Come on. Let’s go get some ice cream and talk about what happened today,” I told her before lifting her into my arms to get out of there as quickly as possible before she said something else.
* * *
“We gotta talk,” I said to Joe when he walked through the front door after work.
“Wisen?”
“Yep. And a few other things Gigi said today.” Standing on my tiptoes, I kissed him on the cheek before nuzzling my nose against his five-o’clock shadow.
He shook his head and smiled. He knew the things that could come out of her mouth, and usually, he was pretty proud of his little spitfire. “What did she say now?”
“Well, for starters…” I led him by the hand to the couch and pushed him down by the shoulders. “She told a boy today that he was hers.”
His head fell forward. “Jesus, isn’t she too young for this shit?”
I kneaded his shoulders, trying to relieve some of his tension while using him as a human stress ball. “She’s just acting out what she’s seen at home.”
“Shit, I hope not.”
“That’s another thing.”
“What is?”
“It seems that Little Miss Gigi overhears us.”
“I know. She’s mentioned things to me that she shouldn’t know about.”
My hands stilled against his rock-hard shoulders. “So you knew?”
“Yeah, she said some things to me months ago and I forgot.” His body started to shake under my fingers when he began to laugh.
“Well, today she wanted to know if you were going to spank Ms. Wisen for being a bad girl just like me.”
His laughter grew louder. “It’s kind of funny, no?”
“I’d be laughing if it weren’t so embarrassing.” The very thought of it still made me want to puke.
“She has no idea what it means.”
“Especially since she never gets spanked.” Neither of us believed in hitting our children. It was a line we’d never cross. Gigi had to be confused why I got spanked but she didn’t. There was no way in hell I’d explain it to her either.
“I’ll talk to her. Why did Gigi want to know if I was going to spank Wisen? What did that bitch say now?” A low growl came from him, his body vibrating under my hands.
“She said that Gigi’s behavior bordered on sexual harassment.”
He turned around and faced me without a single ounce of humor left on his face. “She can’t be fucking serious.”
“She was.” I started to work my fingers again and tried to get him to relax. “Don’t worry, I put her in her place.”
“I want to know everything that happened.”
I spent the next hour discussing with him the ramifications of Gigi’s actions and how Wisen felt our home life might be unhealthy for a child. By the time we were done talking, Joe was more pissed off than I thought he would be. If I were Ms. Wisen, I’d be worried. Hell hath no fury like a papa bear protecting his little cub.
Past Comes Back to Haunt
Joe
Thomas texted me before I left work to gather my brothers and meet at ALFA before going home. We were under strict orders not to share the meeting with Izzy.
When I pulled into ALFA at eight sharp, the rest of the gang was already there and waiting. There was something gnawing at me about this meeting. If it was no big deal, Thomas would’ve talked about it at my parents’ house. But since he called a special meeting, there had to be something he didn’t want the rest of the family to overhear.
The front office was deserted except for Thomas, who had waited at the door for me. After I walked inside, he looked around outside before locking the door and escorting me down the hallway.
“What has you so freaked out?”
“I’ll explain once we’re in the conference room,” Thomas answered before pushing open the door to a full room. Around the table sat James, Anthony, Mike, Sam, Morgan, Bear, Frisco and Tank. This wasn’t just a group—it was an army.
“Thanks for coming, everyone,” Thomas said before taking a seat at the head of the table with me at the opposite end. “I know I didn’t give you any details, but there’s something I need to share with each of you, and we felt this was the best way to do it.”
We all leaned forward, silent, and ready to hear whatever Thomas was about to announce. I could tell by the worry in his eyes and his paranoid behavior at the entrance that he wasn’t about to announce good news.
“I just received word that a few of the members of the Sun Devils MC have been released.”
“What?” Sam asked, slamming his fist down on the table. “How is that even possible?”
“Some technical bullshit. Their lawyers have been working tirelessly on appealing their convictions.”
“How many?” Frisco asked and rubbed the back of his neck. “I need to know what we’re dealing with here.”
“One, possibly two members, max.” Thomas leaned back in his chair, rocking nervously.
I closed my eyes and tried to control my rising blood pressure. I knew when he finished his assignment with the DEA and the Devils were behind bars that it would never truly be the end. “Now what?” I asked, opening my eyes and staring straight at Thomas.
“I want everyone to be extra vigilant and careful. If there’s anything suspicious, the rest of the group needs to know. I’ve been assured that they’re unaware of who I am or that I was part of the DEA—the same for James and Sam—but we can’t be too careful.”
“You think they haven’t figured it out?” Mike asked as he rubbed his temples with his head resting in his hands.
“I can’t say for sure. Even though the agency has assured us that they haven’t, we can’t be certain. I know information passes easier than
many people think inside prisons, and if they have enough ears and eyes out there, they know that I never went away.”
“Fuckers,” James snarled with clenched teeth. “We’re going to have to kill every one of those pricks to keep our families safe.”
“Fucking hell,” Anthony added and looked up at the ceiling like it held the answers to save all of our asses.
“I’m ready,” Morgan said and cracked his knuckles.
“I worry that they’ll come after anyone in my family. Not just Angel or Izzy, but any one of you around the table, along with your wives and kids.”
“I knew you should’ve never worked undercover.” Mike’s veins were protruding from his forehead. No doubt he was getting a headache at the mere thought of all the shit that was about to go down, just like I was already thinking about at length.
“While I gather some intel this week, just keep your eyes out for anything out of the ordinary. We can’t take anything too lightly. We don’t know if they’ve figured out who we are and if they’re already watching us. Understand?”
“Yeah,” I said, clenching my fists tightly on top of the table, wishing that the motherfuckers were in front of me right now. I’d have no problem ending them to save any person around this table or in my family…even Sam.
“We got it,” Anthony added. “I’ll keep the girls close.”
“Nothing will get by us,” Tank said, looking around the table. “You guys are the only family I’ve got. I’ll have your backs.”
“Don’t tell the girls yet. We don’t need them in a panic.”
“Oh, sure, you hold a secret from Mia and see how that pans out for you,” Mike whined and tipped his head back, scrubbing his hands across his face.
“Better to be a whiny Mia than a dead one. Got me?” James told him, and Mike’s head snapped forward.
“Got it.”
“We’ll know more in the next few days, but I need to know that you’ll report anything unusual. And I mean anything.”
“What if they come after one of us?” Anthony asked what we were all thinking.