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Kate kicked off her shoes just as Marco came in through the back kitchen door.
“Oh hi, babe,” she said. “I just got home, too.”
Marco leaned in to kiss her cheek. “How was your day?”
“Pretty good,” she said. “I got a few nibbles on that place over on Maryland. I’m gonna’ run upstairs and change into my sweats. I’ll be down in a minute to start dinner.”
She leaned her head out the door to the living room. “Renzo! You home? Come down here and set the table!”
She pulled back into the kitchen for a second. “How about you? How was your day?”
Marco went to the fridge and stuck his head in to snoop around. She folded her arms, waiting. He lifted his head and smiled at her.
“Oh, pretty good. Ya’ know. The usual. Stopped in the middle of Spaghetti Junction while Eddie walked through freeway traffic to slap a guy around. Nothin’ too exciting.”
Kate frowned as she walked over to him.
“What? Are you serious?”
He nodded. “I’m serious.” He flicked his hand. “Go on upstairs and change. We’ll talk later. I don’t want Renzo hearing this shit.”
“Are you okay? Were you scared?”
Marco chuckled and folded his arms.
“Scared? No. You seem to forget, Kate, I did stuff like this all the time back home. I just—I never thought I’d get back into it again, ya’ know?”
Kate opened her mouth to speak, but Renzo came barreling down the stairs and into the kitchen.
“Mom! Can’t you hear me? Why do I have to come down? I’m in the middle of a game!”
Kate raised her brows at him, arms folded.
“Well, geez, Renzo. I haven’t seen you move that fast in a while,” she said. “I see your ankle is feeling better since you got your cast off.”
“What’s wrong?” Renzo asked. “You guys look so serious.”
Kate put on a fake smile. “Nothing. We’re fine. I’m going upstairs to change. I’ll be down in a bit. Get the table set. Marco, are you coming up? To change, I mean?”
“Ah’, no. I can’t.”
Kate stopped and turned to him. “What? How come?”
“Gotta’ go back out after dinner. Eddie needs me to take care of a few things.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me. You worked all day.”
Marco shrugged. “What can I say? My role is expanding. Now, I gotta’ help with the neighborhood watch and handle some collections.”
“Neighborhood watch? What the hell is that?” Kate asked.
“It’s no big deal, Kate. We just keep an eye on a few businesses, make sure they’re secure. I’ll be gone no more than an hour and a half. Go on upstairs and change. I’ll get the chicken ready for the oven.”
Kate frowned and shook her head. “Fine. But I’m not happy about this.”
She turned to address Renzo’s look of concern.
“Everything’s fine, honey. I’m just a little mad that dad has to work tonight. But he’s right. He’ll be back before we know it.” She headed for the living room. “I’ll be right down.”
She gave Marco a quick look and left the kitchen.
As they finished dinner, Marco wiped his mouth and pushed back his chair.
“Okay. Gotta’ go.”
He stood and kissed Kate on the head and fist-bumped Renzo.
“Later, dude.”
“Later, Dad.”
Marco grabbed his keys. “Sorry I can’t help with the dishes, Kate. Renzo, help your mother, okay?”
“Okay.”
Marco gave Kate an air-kiss before closing the door behind him.
***
Later that evening, Kate sat in bed reading as she waited for Marco. Renzo was asleep in his room. She heard the car pull into the driveway and looked at the clock.
Eleven-thirty.
She closed the book and waited for him to come upstairs. After some rustling noises from down in the kitchen, she heard his footsteps as he climbed the stairs.
He walked into the room, unbuckling his belt. “Hi.”
“Hi,” she said. “That was a long hour-and-a-half. Everything go okay?”
He sighed. “Yeah. Fine. Just had to run Eddie around to a couple-a places. That’s all. Waited in the car the whole time. Pretty boring stuff. A nice change.”
She patted the mattress.
“Come and tell me what happened today. I thought this was supposed to be a simple driving job.”
He sat next to her as he untied his shoes.
“It is, technically. Most of the time, I just tote the old lady around to the stores, and back-and-forth from her house. Same thing for Eddie, usually.
But today, I drove Eddie around town on a bunch of errands. The next thing I knew, I was watching him rough up a guy who owes him money. You should have seen him, Kate. Walking right down the middle of Spaghetti Junction. I couldn’t believe it. People honkin’ at him, screamin’.” Marco rubbed his hands through his flopped, tired hair. “Fuckin’ unbelievable.”
Kate frowned as she folded her arms across her stomach. “Are you sure you’re okay with all of this, babe?”
He reached over and patted her leg. “I’ll be fine. It’s just—I don’t know. This isn’t at all what I’d expected.”
He stood and walked toward the closet, stopped and patted the sides of his jeans.
“Oh, I almost forgot.”
“What?”
He turned to face her. A bright and unexpected smile crossed his face. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of bills. He shook it at her, as he walked back to the edge of the bed.
“Got a bonus today.” A strand of curled black hair flipped down into his eyes. “Can’t believe I forgot to tell ya’ about this earlier. I put it in my pocket and got worried about your reaction to me going back out tonight. Must have slipped my mind.”
Kate opened her mouth and reached for Marco’s hand. “More cash? How much?” She couldn’t help but giggle.
He yanked his hand away. “Wait a minute.”
Kate got onto her knees and watched, as he started counting the bills, laying them out on the bed.
“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven ...” He continued counting until he slapped down the last bill.
“Two thousand?”
Kate put her hands over her mouth to hide her smile.
Marco put his finger to his lips as he looked out into the hallway. “Shh!” He smiled and nodded, whispering, “Can you believe it?” He pointed at the money. “I’m not even sure if this is for a week? A month? No idea. But Eddie didn’t even bat an eye when he handed it to me.”
Kate put her hand on top of her head, her eyes wild. “Oh my God, Marco.”
“I know, right?” He shook his head. “Eddie’s amazing. He’s already got his hands in a ton-a shit and it’s pickin’ up fast.”
Kate’s smile fell. “What kind-a shit?”
He put his hand out to stop her.
“Kate. Don’t ask. It’s best you don’t know. I’ll try to stay out of it as much as I can. He seems to be okay with that. It’s almost like he doesn’t want me knowin’ too much of his business.”
She frowned. “I’m guessing it’s all illegal.”
Marco shrugged. “Well, no. Not the restaurant part. At least I don’t think so.” He flipped his shoulder. “Yeah, probably the restaurant, too. But what we don’t know, won’t hurt us. So, don’t worry. I’ll know when to get out.”
“Yeah, but will you be able to get out?”
“I’m no idiot, Kate. I know how this shit works. It’ll be fine. Eddie would never hurt me. It’s weird, but I think it’s because he likes you.”
She frowned. “Well, I don’t know about that.”
He rolled his eyes. “Don’t be naïve, Kate. I watch him watch you. He’s got the hots for you.”
She wrinkled her nose and leaned back. “Eew. Don’t say that!”
He shook his head and shrugged. “Just sayin’.”
Kate looked at him and then at the cash on their bed.
Marco scooped it all up and shoved it into the nightstand drawer.
“But seriously, Kate. For now? This is amazing, right?”
He laughed and Kate joined him.
“If this is the kind-a money I’ll be makin’, I can handle the hours and the weird stuff I’ll have to do. It’ll all be worth it. We’ll be in fat-city in no time.”
She sat back on the edge of the bed next to him, clapping her hands quickly and quietly.
“I can’t believe it. Wow!” She reached for the cash in the drawer. “Can I have some for—”
He pulled her hand away.
“Uh-uh. Hang on. I need some of this for my image. I can’t walk around without cash. It’d be embarrassin’ if Eddie asked for some, and I had to tell him I gave it all to my wife to pay for milk and doctor bills.”
“Fine.” Kate took one of the bills out of the drawer. “For milk and bread and stuff. The doctor bills can wait.”
She leaned in and kissed him and he kissed her back.
“Mmm.”
He stood and closed the bedroom door, before stripping down to his underwear and climbing into bed with her. She pushed him onto his back and straddled him, her hair falling around her face.
“This is for my hard worker.”
