“I don’t want to go,” Michelle said.
“Oh, but you are going.” Shy pointed at her daughter. “You know what, I am not even going to have this conversation with you.” Shy turned and walked down the hall to their bedroom.
Black heard her coming, so he quickly got up and put on his pants.
“Michael.”
“Yes, baby.”
“You need to go in there and talk to your daughter before I have to kill her. Talking about she don’t wanna go. She is getting so defiant.”
“I’ll talk to her.” Black hugged his wife. “But you need to relax, everything is going to be fine.”
“I know, but it isn’t every day that we get invited to dinner and I want everything to be perfect.”
That night, Black, Shy and the children were having dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Big Tony Collette, the boss of The Curcio Family.
When Shy came downstairs, she looked radiant in the Shoshanna wrap neck dress with three-quarter length bell sleeves that she was wearing. The Stuart Weitzman spike sandals she wore made her already amazing legs look extraordinary.
“You ready?” she asked when she came in the living room.
Black stood up. “Just waiting on you.”
When they arrived at the Collette’s house, Felìcita, Big Tony’s wife
, answered the door personally and she looked at Black with her hands on her hips.
“About time you get here, Mikey. Dinner was just about to be ruined,” she said and stepped aside to let them pass.
Felicita looked at Shy with a smile and opened her arms. “You must be Cassandra.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Shy said and hugged her. “And these are our children, Michelle and Michael, Junior. Say hello to Mrs. Collette children.”
“Hello,” Michelle said.
“Hello, Mrs. Collette, you can call me Easy,” he said politely, extended his hand and Michelle rolled her eyes.
“Such a handsome little gentleman,” Felicita said and escorted them into the living room.
“Thank you so much for inviting us, Mrs. Collette,” Shy said as she walked alongside her with Black and the children following behind.
“You’re welcome. Mikey talks about you all the time, so I’ve been dying to meet you for years now. And it’s Felicita.”
Big Tony stood when they came in the room. “There she is, the famous Shy; the woman that won’t die,” he said, and Easy looked at Michelle. She mouthed the words; I’ll explain later. Unlike their cousins, Barbara, Bonita and Brenda, Michelle knew about The Family and even though he didn’t really understand, Easy did too. They had always been their father’s constant companions, so Michelle knew that her father was a very powerful man and knew that what they did wasn’t quite legal.
“Hello, Uncle Tony.” Black hugged him and then turned to his family. “I am honored to introduce you to my wife, Cassandra.”
“It’s an honor to meet you, sir,” Shy said.
“The honor and pleasure are all mine. And I’m your Uncle Tony too, just like Mikey.”
Shy put her hand on her chest and smiled. “It would be my honor and privilege to call you Uncle Tony.”
“And this is my daughter, Michelle and my son, Easy.” He stooped down in front of them. “This is your Uncle Tony. You can trust him, understand?”
“Yes, Daddy,” Easy said, looking up at Big Tony.
“I understand, Daddy,” Michelle said and nodded her head.