can’t stay too long today. Mom needs me
back at the shop to help her with the cooking. I’m taking care of her, just
like you asked me to. It’s not the same without you. They haven’t closed us
down yet though. I’m working hard, and trying to make sure we don’t go under.
Love you, Dad.” She pressed her fingers, and placed them against the stone
before turning back to him. “I’m ready.”
Walking side by side, Tonio glanced back to see Luiz
watching him. He, Luiz, Donnie, and Jake had all been friends a long time. They
knew when to take a step back, and when to step forward. This was the time for
Luiz to stay back.
They left the graveyard together.
Great, Tonio. You’re now picking girls up from the graveyard.
“So what are you doing nowadays?” she asked.
“Not much.”
“Do you still hang out with your friends?”
“Yeah.”
“I heard Paige and Donnie got married. They were a
nice couple.”
“How did you know?”
“School, rumors, and the paper. Their wedding was
announced, along with a lot of other things.”
Tonio was aware of the rumors that surrounded the four
of them. “Do you listen to rumors?”
“Not all the time, but Paige and Donnie were kind of
hard to ignore. They were not quiet about their relationship.”
He chuckled. It was the first time he’d actually
enjoyed going to school, just to watch the shock on their faces.
****
Zara walked beside Tonio Guzman, and her heart was
pounding. She couldn’t believe that she was about to have coffee with Tonio,
one of the men from her school who was rumored to be part of the mafia. Over
the years she tried to ignore all the rumors, but it was hard, considering
there was always a cloud of anger and violence hanging over them.
She had seen their violence firsthand, and she had
walked away.
None of them knew that she had seen them beating the
crap out of some guy. At first she was going to go to the cops, but when she
heard that the guy they were beating on had raped a couple of girls, she hadn’t
cared.
She’d been scared to say anything.
“You’re quiet,” he said.
“There’s not a lot to say.”
“Are you scared?”
“What? No, of course not.” Complete and total lie. She was terrified of him.
And now you’re going for coffee.
He took hold of her hand and placed it through his
arm. “It’s cold out today.”
“It should be warming up soon. That’s what I’ve heard.
I don’t know if it will actually do that, but we’ll see.” She was rambling
again.
Tonio stopped in a coffee shop that looked quite cute
and quaint.
She was surprised as he held a seat out for her, and
she took it, unbuttoning her jacket as it was warm inside the shop.
“What would you like?” he asked.
“I’ll take a coffee and a cinnamon bun. I can pay.”
He placed a hand on her shoulder. “My treat.”
Nodding, she licked her lips, and watched as he walked
over to be served.
Tonio was a large man, like the rest of his friends.
She had noticed him in high school, as every girl had.
They were not in high school now, and he looked meaner,
harder, fiercer than she remembered. He wore a suit, and she saw the way the
arms of the jacket looked stretched over his arms.
Seconds later he came back, taking a seat. “Our drinks
will be over shortly.”
Tucking her hair behind her ear, she promised herself
to get it cut. It was an unruly mess, which annoyed her all the time.
“So what do you do?” They both asked the same
question.
“I work at our family’s pizza shop,” she said.
“Pizza shop?”
“My father was from Italy, and his father before him,
I think. Anyway, we have a pizza shop downtown, and I work there. I bake the
pizzas, work in the shop, gather supplies, stuff like that.” It was hard work,
and tiring.
She loved to cook and to bake, but she hadn’t wanted
to spend her life in a pizza shop. Her father dying of a heart attack had
changed her life, and what she was supposed to do. No college, no future,