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Sophia couldn’t put into words how relieved she was
to be out of that pretend secretary job on a daily basis. Now she worked out of
her father’s office over the butcher store like everyone else in the
organization. Now and then she checked in at her ‘cover job’, but most days
she was with the rest of the guys.
The transition into her father’s family itself had
been somewhat smooth. Most of the guys that worked for her father knew her since
she was a kid, and although they had an initial awkwardness about Sophia being
around, they hadn’t dared say anything to Palmero and let things be. They were
a good bunch of guys all up, and treated her better than she expected they
would.
In the ten months she’d been in the organization,
she was still doing the same jobs now as she had when she’d started: picking
up envelopes, arranging meetings within the Family, unloading trucks and sorting
out goods—all basic stuff. For all intents and purposes she was still a
secretary of sorts, but she didn’t mind. She was in; that’s what mattered.
She wasn’t allowed to attend any meetings or to be armed with anything bigger than a
compact Beretta that couldn’t hold more than eight shots at a time, but right
now she didn’t care. One step at a time was the way to take it. There would be
time for the big stuff later on. For now she just had to keep proving herself to
those close to her, though how she was going to do that in an impressive way was
beyond her when she was just doing the little stuff. She needed to remain
patient though, and other opportunities would present themselves in good time.
She hoped.
So far everyone outside the Family had no idea,
including her mother who would ring Sophia nearly every day on her mobile phone
to chat with her. There were times when Sophia stood in the rear of a truck
sorting through stolen goods talking to her about how great her job at the
financial analysts was going. Even Sophia’s friends took in every false morsel
she gave them about work. The lies were easier to come up with every day. Who on
earth would believe that a woman would be in the mob anyway? It was perfect.
Today she sat at the same outdoor café she’d sat at
with Benny on her first day. Paul and Frank, her fellow ‘soldiers’ under
Benny, sat with her. Paul read a paper and Frank watched the cars go by from
behind dark glasses. Sophia just sat and took everything in and smiled. This was
part of a normal day. They all checked in with their respective ‘cover
jobs’, took off from there not long after to check in with Palmero, did some
pick ups, had a quick meeting with Benny and now sat at the coffee shop to
whittle away time until the next lot of pick ups had to be done.
Paul flicked his paper onto the small outdoor table
and stood. “I’d better go and get this payment from the building site, see
how things are going down there,” he adjusted the belt on his black pleated
pants and ran his finger through his short dark hair, “I hate going down
there. I always get something on my shoes.”
Sophia and Frank laughed at him whining as he preened
himself like a bird. Their laughter was interrupted by the shrill ring of
Frank’s mobile phone. “Yeah,” he answered, then conversed with a series of
“okay, sure, no problem,” before he flicked his phone closed and stood.
“Forget the site, there’s bigger stuff going down. Benny wants us all down
at the bridge in five minutes. All that crap with Salvatore has come to a head,
and Palmero needs us there for back-up.”
As Sophia drove towards the meeting point, she got the
same quick heart rate as she did on her first pick up. It had to be a mistake;
normally she wasn’t allowed anywhere near anything as big as this. She had a
vague feeling that her father would send her back as soon as she got to the
bridge. But, on the other hand, something in her gut told her this was for real.
When she neared the bridge, she saw three cars parked
there: her father’s, Benny’s and Vincenzo’s. She’d beaten the other
‘soldiers’ here, so she figured she wouldn’t be able to blend in and
escape her father’s attention. She pulled up next to Palmero’s car, and
ducked her head out of the window as he neared her. She kept the engine running,
not getting her hopes up. He looked distracted, and she wasn’t sure if that
would be good or bad, but Sophia acted as though it were nothing out of the
ordinary that she was there.
“I want you to go and park behind that pylon over
there,” Palmero gestured behind her, “the other boys are over there. You
have to all stay there unless things heat up. You kids are just here for back
up, got that?”
Sophia just nodded, too numb to say anything, and
backed up her car and drove off to join the others as she was told. All the
other soldiers sat in their own cars, watching Palmero from a distance. Sophia
wondered how they would know when they would be needed; her father was barely a
discernable speck in the middle distance. She figured there was some sort of
signal they hadn’t let her in on, but rather than waiting to see, she got out
of her car and walked over to Frank’s.
“What’s going on?”
“Paolo Salvatore, from the Salvatore Family down
south,” Frank answered without looking at her, his glare fixed on Palmero.
“He and your Dad have always had problems since your grandfather died. They
can never agree on anything, and Sal hates having to give in. He’s been really
difficult about the last transaction; this isn’t going to go well.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning,” Frank looked at her now, “someone
could get killed. We’re here to protect your old man, that’s the main thing.
But watch your back. Just as we’re all here ready, no doubt Sal has got some
guys around too. Your piece loaded?”
Sophia nodded.
“Good. Keep it ready. When the signal comes, we all
drive down there together.”
“What the hell is the signal?”
“The first gunshot.”
Great, Sophia thought as she went back to her car. She
closed the door and fished the Beretta out of the glove box to check it was
fully loaded. She cradled it carefully in her lap.
A car drove up to where her father was standing, and a
tall man she assumed was Paolo Salvatore got out and started talking to him. She
wondered if her father having his soldiers so far away was a good idea. Her poor
old Laser could only do a hundred with the hammer down at the best of times, so
how she was going to start it and drive over there in enough time to jump in
front of a bullet was anyone’s guess. She looked down at her gun and knew if
she shot from here, it would be too far out of range to be of any help either.
She decided to resign herself to the fact that the soldiers were here for moral
support and little else. She had hoped that thought would calm her down, but it
didn’t. Holding a fully loaded gun in her hand didn’t help either, so she
slipped it into the map compartment in her drivers side door and tried to forget
it was there. She leaned back into her seat and tried to calm down as she
watched the tiny figures of her father and Paolo Salvatore.
After half an hour Sophia’s eyes began to hurt. She
blinked and tried to focus them on Palmero, but realized she was just plain
bored. The adrenalin was gone, and she felt like she was going to go to sleep.
She needed something to wake her up.
She turned and reached for her bag on the floor behind
her, and as she fumbled about for her cigarettes she heard the front passenger
door open. Before she could even contemplate who it might be getting in her car,
she felt the hard kiss of a gun barrel against the side of her head. She froze
as an unfamiliar voice spoke low to her.
“Sit up straight and listen.”
© Cynthia M. Piromalli
©2003 StoriesByEmail.com
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