“Swear anything we say doesn’t go past this room?” Freddie leaned back to check on Sophia before closing the door.
“You know it doesn’t.” It was insulting he even felt the need to ask me to keep whatever he wanted to tell me to himself. There was a code of honor between us and nothing would change that.
“Angela left me a message yesterday around the time she should’ve gotten off work. Said she needed me to take care of Sophia for the weekend because she needs to get out of town to think about her life.” I could see the muscles in his jaw working as he ground his teeth, likely to keep from saying anything that’d open the door for me to tell him what I thought of the witch. “I think I have someone who can watch Sophia, but she can’t start until next week. I’d ask Mama to watch her, but Sophia’s a handful. I was hoping maybe she could hang out with her favorite uncle until this afternoon and then you could hand her off to Matteo once he’s done with lunch rush.”
“You know Mama’s going to skin you when she finds out what’s going on, right?” She’d also resent the implication she was too old to keep up with a toddler because she refused to admit she wasn’t as young as she used to be.
“Yeah, well you of all people know what it’s like to not want to disappoint Mama.”
“What in the hell’s that supposed to mean?”
“Don’t play me for a fool, Frankie. If you didn’t want everyone in the family to figure out that there’s more to you and Calvin than roommates, he should’ve stayed away from the restaurant. You know what a bunch of gossips they are.” Knowing I was likely the talk of the break room was one thing; having it confirmed was pretty much my worst nightmare. “I get why you didn’t come out when Papa was still alive, but what’s the big deal now?”
“This is Mama we’re talking about. The one day of the week we can count on her not being at Marino’s until dinner time is Sundays because she’s busy at church.”
“And she takes Nonno’s mass card with her when she goes to the casino and faces the Virgin Mother toward the slot machines for luck.” We’d tried explaining that it was probably a sin for her to do so, but she insisted it was fine as long as she donated a percentage of her winnings to the church. “Her faith isn’t as devout as you make it seem. She loves you, Frankie. She’s not going to stop loving you. Hell, she’ll probably offer to organize your wedding.”
“We’re nowhere near that point,” I argued. “So fine, I should just walk into the kitchen this afternoon wearing a rainbow T-shirt proclaiming my gayness. What’s your excuse?”
Freddie cleared his throat a few times and shifted his weight from one foot to the other. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen Freddie appear rattled. Papa never saw it, but Freddie was the rock of our generation of Marinos. “I’ll get there, but I want to have something to tell her, first. Until then, I’m hoping you guys can help me minimize the questions I can’t answer for her.”
“Whatever you need. Now get the hell out of here so I can load Sophia up on sugar before Matteo takes over.” I draped an arm over Freddie’s shoulder in a show of solidarity as I walked him to the door. He said goodbye to his daughter and reminded her to behave. She barely noticed, already engrossed in some cartoon. I stumbled off in search of coffee, hoping this was the calm after the storm.
It was, right up until it wasn’t. Dinner rush went off without a hitch. Matteo had texted Freddie every possible picture he could think of to make him laugh. Sophia dumping candy into a shopping cart, her holding a bottle of Mountain Dew like it was her new favorite drink, and the two of them cuddling on the couch with a stack of horror DVDs between them.
I was just about to lock up the office and escape when Tony came barreling into the kitchen.
“Frankie, youhaveto do something about Mama. She’s out there lecturing some of our regular customers about their behavior again. I know she wants this to be a family restaurant, but these guys tip well and never come in when they’d be disrupting anyone who might get offended.”
“What are they doing to upset Mama?”
“That’s the thing, Frankie. They’re on their best behavior tonight,” Tony complained as I followed him to the back dining room. “Okay, sothe last timethey were in, she caught them getting a little too…” Tony’s cheeks flushed bright red. Now, I was intrigued. “Let’s just say the one couple is very comfortable with their sexuality. Too comfortable for Mama’s liking. And tonight, she’s already threatening to withhold dessert from them.”
“That doesn’t seem all that bad.” This seemed like a lot of hype for nothing. I could be halfway to Tony’s place so I could get in on the fun of torturing Freddie by spoiling Sophia rotten.
“It’s not. Yet,” he admitted. “But she put them at the very back of the dining room because she says they’re troublemakers. I’m confident I can smooth things over, but this group has been coming in a lot more frequently, and every time they bring friends with them.”
“Let me see what I can do.” As I approached the table, I noticed one guy’s arm moving slightly. His hand was under the table, and given the sharp intake of breath from the smaller man next to him, there was little doubt what was happening. Maybe I should stop them, but it was late and there wasn’t anyone else around. I recognized a few of them from one night Calvin took me to The Lodge. The others weren’t familiar, but it was apparent they were all friends.
“Gentlemen, how is everything tonight?” I asked, not wanting to lead them into a complaint if my brother was simply overreacting.
“Good, except I’ve been told I can’t have cannoli,” one of them grumbled.
“You’d get dessert if you knew how to behave in public,” the effeminate man next to him pointed out.
“But it’s so much more fun when I don’t.” That drew laughter from everyone at the table. Behind me, Tony started coughing and I got the impression he was equally amused. “I haven’t evendoneanything. I’ve been on my best behavior since the moment we walked in.” The guy looked past me to Tony for confirmation. “Tell them, Tony. Tell your Mama I promise to be good if she’ll give me my cannoli.”
“No can do, Grant.” Tony chuckled. “She’s still upset about overhearing you asking Carter if he was wearing satin panties you bought him.”
“It’s notmyfault she was eavesdropping,” Grant responded.
“No, but itison you that when you realized she was, you started telling me what you wanted to do to me when we got home in great detail.” Carter squirmed in his seat again. “It’s like you can’t help yourself sometimes.”
Grant leaned in and started kissing his partner’s neck. I’d never been into guys who wore makeup, but Carter was stunning. The more they made out, the less capable I was of looking away. “When it comes to you, you know I can’t control myself.”
Fuck, Calvin needed to get his ass home. I needed to get out of there before I made a fool of myself. “I’ll see what I can do about your cannoli, but it’s probably a lost cause. Mama’s not easily persuaded. Trust me, if there was a way, I’d have found it by now.”
Tony followed me back to the kitchen. “Seriously, it’s beenmonthsthat she’s been doing this.”
