“Right, sir, I mean—”
“Then why tell me it’s your fault? I already know that.” I stared at them. “You should be telling me how you plan on making up for this.”
They got on their knees.
“Mr. Callahan, forgive us, please. It was for family—”
“I’m supposed to be your family, aren’t I?” I snapped, getting to my feet. “You stole from me, your family, to give to your other family, the Finnegan brothers you say, and now you want me to forgive you?”
“We didn’t know they were going to take—”
“BECAUSE YOU’RE FUCKING IDIOTS!” I roared. “You’re not supposed to think! I THINK! You follow me so you don’t end up freezing your fucking balls off in a goddamn ice cream factory, you fucking dipshits!”
“Sir—”
“Tobias!” I yelled, ignoring them, and when he came closer it took all my strength not to smash his face in. What good was he when he only gave me information after the fucking act? “I want to know everything about the Finnegan brothers, every fucking thing, am I clear?”
“Yes, sir.”
I inhaled and looked back to the ginger fucking pieces of shit. “Greyson, tell our gingers to have a little time out in the box. Ten minutes and they will come out much wiser.”
Greyson as well as three other guards circled, having to beat on them a little before dragging them over to the steel box. Opening it, they threw their bodies inside and I looked away only to find Ms. McGlinchy standing there. Everyone else in the community called her Grams. She was a short Irish woman with grey hair that she kept in a bun and a face with more wrinkles than tree bark. She handed me a cup of ice cream.
“Take a quick gander in there after five minutes, they’re not going to be the full shilling, a bad dose of cold like that will have them banjaxed.” She spoke in a deep Irish accent. Which in translation of her slang meant after five minutes in the box they’d be broken…dead. After all, no human being could survive that cold.
“Is that so? I must have miscalculated, although the dead are always wiser.” I took the ice cream from her.
“Your oul fella would be proud of you. You’re throwing shapes just like him. Since you were an oul chiseler not once have I seen you acting the maggot.” She snickered at me, showing me her dentures.
“Grams—”
“What?” She yelled at the young woman that approached as we walked towards the back. The Veterans Day cookout was being held right outside her factory.
“They want you to come cut the cake.” The woman addressed Ms. McGlinchy but was focused on me, offering a small smile.
“No they don’t, you lyin’ little floozie,” she snapped.
“Grams!”
“Don’t Grams me. I am old, not blind. I see you making eyes at him. Don’t blame you, Ethan’s a fine thing, but you’re making a holy show of yourself.” Grams, despite her age and looks, enjoyed ripping people to shreds. She elbowed me, laughing. “Look at her face all scarlet. Leg it…and don’t lie about cake next time.”
The girl ran off like dog from the pound.
“You’re very effective, Grams.” I smirked, taking another bite of the ice cream.
“Don’t get used to it. She’s got a face like a blind cobbler’s thumb, and that’s with her caked up to the sky. God only knows what she looks like underneath it all. No sir, ain’t nothing Mrs. Callahan about her.”
“And if I just want to have fun?” I teased, watching my sister talking to the guards of some of the Italians who’d shown up.
“Ain’t you hear me? She’s got a face like a blind cobbler’s thumb,” she repeated and if it was anywhere else, I would have laughed. “Besides, your time is coming, you don’t have time to be going out on a craic. Your oul fella was married by the time he got to your age.”
“I work at my own pace.”
“Uhmm…good luck with these muppets.” She patted my shoulder then walked to the lawn towards her family. Emily McGlinchy, Ms. McGlinchy, Gram; was one of the few people’s company I enjoyed. Maybe it was because unlike others, her family’s loyalty was steadfast. That and she spoke to me as if we were family. She was a smart old bat, which is why most of her family worked for me, but not in the old-fashioned family business, because they could end up in her big ice freezer too.
Feeling my pocket buzz, I reached into my suit jacket and pulled out my phone.
“Two days in row?” I said into the phone, glad she called anyway.