Plain Jane and the Mafia Beast

“They’re places that are necessary.”

“Yes. They are. There were always kids that were full of themselves. How they’d get picked over you. Driving it to you that you were fucking weird and people only wanted perfection. It pissed me off. It’s how the Galiza family became alerted to me.”

“What do you mean?”

“One of the kids. He liked to tell me how much of a freak I was. One day as he was yelling it at me, I decided to get my own revenge, so I punched his face and started to cut him using my knife. If it makes you feel any better, he was the one responsible for killing the cat. He’d fed it anti-freeze, sick fuck. I tried to stop him, but he’d already done it so I was going to hurt him. That cat was the only thing that came near me that wasn’t afraid of me. I loved it when he purred.”

“Have you ever thought about getting a cat?” she asked.

“No.”

“One day I’d like to have a cat and a puppy, and maybe a bunny as well.”

“We’ll have to pick them out.”

She looked back at the diner. “Do you want a family one day?”

“I don’t know, Arika. I really don’t know.”

He left it at that as their food arrived.

****

“You know you’ve been in a really good mood lately,” Rachel said, making Arika pause.

“I have? I thought I was always in a chipper mood.”

“Nah, this is something else. You know. You’re a lot happier. You normally looked miserable, or at least bored with life. You’re smiling a lot more now than ever before. It’s good. It’s a good look on you.” Rachel winked at her.

She couldn’t say anything else as they had a full diner tonight. The food was flowing, and there was laughter everywhere. It was a good night, a fun one. After collecting food, she walked between the tables, filling up their drinks, taking plates away, cleaning up tables so new families could come and eat.

At around eight in the evening the entire diner went silent, and she turned toward the door seeing three men she didn’t recognize entering the diner.

“That’s the Vitale family.”

“I thought they were all dead.”

“The Galizas wiped them out.”

“A war. A bloodbath.”

At the mention of Galiza, she felt nervous.

They, of course, sat in her section, which was just great. Putting the coffeepot back in place, she glanced over her shoulder. They were looking at the menu.

“This is fucking scary,” Rachel said.

“What is?”

“The Vitales being here.”

“Who are they?”

“They’re part of the mafia.”

“How is it you guys know all about this?”

“When you live on the streets you learn who to steer clear of. Believe me, they’re one of them. People talk, Arika. If you went out more, you’d hear and know more. Them being here is really bad. Those two guys a few months ago, they’re part of another family. This is bad, real bad.”

Instead of letting nerves get the better of her, Arika grabbed her order pad and approached them.

She hadn’t been worried or scared to serve Vincenzo and his friend. It didn’t matter that she didn’t know who they were at the time and it was only during the night that she heard the whispers and rumors. Of course, she had a nice scar in her abdomen from Daniel’s handiwork.

“Hi, I’m Arika. I’ll be your waitress this evening. What can I get you?” she asked, pen poised ready to write.

They ignored her and kept looking at the menu.

“What is good here, Arika?”

“Tonight’s specials are the fish soup, the house burgers, and the meat pies. Also, the strawberry cream pie for dessert.”

They sighed, and she waited.

She hoped Vincenzo didn’t choose this night to show up. He didn’t visit her at her place of work, but, seeing as she was struggling to learn to drive, he sometimes picked her up, or at least sent a cab her way.

After taking their orders, she immediately left and placed them at the kitchen.

“Be careful,” Frank, the owner, said.

“I will.”

“No, Arika. I’ve not said anything about that man who came to see me about you, but I know he and the Vitales are not a good mix,” Frank said.

“What do you want me to do?” she whispered to her boss.

“You need to tell him in some way that they’re here. I don’t like it.”

She glanced around the diner and saw several families had already gotten up to leave. The mere presence of the Vitales had sent people scurrying. She didn’t like this. “I’ll call him.”

Leaving the kitchen, she made her way to the staffroom, being careful to not look in their direction. She didn’t want to alert them to what she’d been asked to do. She didn’t even want to think about why her boss was asking her to do this.

She went to her bag, grabbed her cell phone, and started to dial Vincenzo’s number. Her hands were shaking.