CHAPTER 9
Moisture from the recent rain lent a glossy look to the pavement, a thin stream of water, still draining down the middle of the alley. I glanced around, only to see solid brick looming up on all sides and behind us was a dead end.
The men hadn’t noticed us yet. I followed Frankie’s lead and froze on the spot, almost afraid to breathe. While I certainly didn’t approve of guns, I had to admit, at that moment, I was a little glad Frankie had one. At least that’s what I assumed was going on there on his hip.
My breathing was ragged and annoyingly loud as the men took step after painfully slow step towards us, talking amongst themselves.
Eventually, the man in the middle of the group looked up and noticed they weren’t alone in the alleyway.
“Who’s there?” he shouted, making a move toward his own hip. And faster than I could follow with my blurry gaze, the two men on either side had pistols out at the ready.
I instinctively went for Frankie, grabbing the back of his jacket, hanging on for dear life, noticing with dismay that he was so slow with his gun that he still hadn’t un-holstered it.
“Oh, hey there Boss,” Frankie said, allowing me to finally exhale the breath I hadn’t even realized I’d been holding. Boss?
“Frankie!” the fat man said, putting his gun away.
Frankie took a step away from me and I let go of his jacket, hoping I hadn’t done any damage to it. The fat man put his arms around him in a giant bear hug while the other two gentlemen put away their guns and everyone went back to acting as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened at all.
Once ‘Boss’ finally let go of Frankie, he noticed me standing there. “Well hey there,” he said, being a perfect gentleman, not looking me up and down, but right in the eyes, though I wasn’t sure he could really see me that well in the shadows.
“Hi,” I squeaked, still a little shaky from the guns being pointed at me.
The Boss turned his attention back to Frankie. “We were just heading to a little get together over at home base,” he said. “You should join us,” he said, giving me a wink. “It’s going to be a good time.”
“Yeah, sure Boss,” Frankie said, slapping the short man on the back. The other two men, thugs really, tipped their hats to me, and they all sauntered inside.
“Is this home base?” I asked once they were safely out of earshot.
Frankie chuckled. “No, but you can get there from here.”
“The tunnels?”
He nodded, smiling. “Well, it looks like you’ve gotten the okay from the Boss, and believe me, that doesn’t happen very often. He doesn’t invite just anyone into the tunnels, let alone home base.”
“Really? But I didn’t even do anything.”
Frankie shrugged. “He puts a lot of stock in first impressions.”
I crinkled my brow. “I don’t get it. All those other girls in there seem to be a lot more suited to the place.”
Frankie nodded. “That’s why he likes you. The Boss is pretty down to earth. He likes people who don’t try too hard.”
I couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow, looking at that shiny, silvery suit he was wearing. “Really?”
Frankie sort of hung his head a little, embarrassed. “I know, I know. It’s kind of backward, but the Boss says we have to keep up appearances once we are officially working for him. Says we reflect on him.”
“But he doesn’t like anyone else who gets all dressed up?”
He shrugged again, looking a little uncomfortable. “Says they’re tryin’ too hard. No one else should be at our level.”
“That’s… strange.”
“I know. I don’t much like it, but that’s how it is with the Boss. I try not to stir things up, yanno?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I guess. But the Boss doesn’t like all those pretty girls inside?” I asked, doubtful.
“You’re prettier than all them,” Frankie said.
I let out a huff. “Yeah right,” though I couldn’t help being a little flattered at the same time.
“Really, you are. You’re just not all dressed up fake with a bunch of fancy sparkles or makeup.”
“I wear lipstick,” I said, hoping the last layer I’d applied was still staying put even after all that dancing and the drinks.
Frankie curled up one half of his mouth. “And do you wear it!”
And that’s when the absolutely, most positively exciting thing that had ever happened to me took place. Frankie leaned toward me, and for a moment, I thought he was about to kiss me. What could have been more romantic? Alone in a dark alley… well, okay, that part was a little scary, but at least we were alone, uninterrupted. I closed my eyes, waiting for our lips to meet. But it wasn’t his lips that touched mine. Instead, he lightly brushed his thumb across my lips, ever so slowly. It was as if fireworks were being set off inside my head.
A tiny sigh escaped me.
And then it was over. Just like that, way too soon. It was a second or two before my brain could function again, but Frankie was nice enough to savor the moment too.
“I’m sorry, I hope that wasn’t too forward,” Frankie said, so sincere.
Of course I didn’t have the mental fortitude to scrape up any sort of answer in an appropriate amount of time.
Worry twitched around his eyes. “Oh no, I’m so sorry,” he said quickly. “I just thought…”
“No, no, it is okay,” I was finally able to spit out. “I uh, guess I was a little surprised, but it was definitely okay.”
I actually had to congratulate myself a little bit about getting myself together enough to say something coherent.
“Oh good,” he said, grinning and rubbing the back of his neck. “So uh, I guess we should get back in?”
“What about the party?” I said, suddenly a bit disappointed that I wouldn’t get to be initiated into the super secret society of those privileged enough to see a mob boss’ secret hideaway.
Oh my gosh, I might get to see a mob hideaway! Boy, if someone had told me that a week ago, I would have told them they must have been drinking too much giggle water. In the first place, I would have never believed I would have an opportunity like that, but there was certainly no way I’d believe I would actually ever go someplace so dangerous. And now after the scene at the benefit, it was all too clear that our lives didn’t match, but still, maybe if we were to just keep our relationship a secret, and nobody ever knew…
Suddenly, my heart beat fast again. There’s this thing about danger that I never knew before. Danger equals excitement. I always thought that danger equaled bad, but that is definitely not the case. For the first time in my life, I was living! Even with the gun pointed toward us a few short minutes ago, I may have been scared, but it was also a rush. I don’t know if that makes me crazy or what, but the thought of possible death had made me feel more alive than ever. And keeping a secret had always been exciting. A secret this big could prove to be… exhilarating. Now, the thought of not getting to go to the party pretty much crushed my spirit completely.
“Don’t worry, we can still go if you want,” Frankie said.
I breathed again.
“It’s just that it won’t start for a while I’m sure.” He looked at his watch. “It’s early yet for the Boss.”
I nodded, and couldn’t help wondering who The Boss really was. Surely, he couldn’t be who the gossip papers said he was. I mean, I knew he must be a mobster, but I couldn’t believe he was that mobster. Of course, I was far too embarrassed to ask Frankie about it.
Back inside Frankie bought me another drink, even though I protested.
“C’mon,” he said. “It ain’t livin’ without Jumpin’ Jerry’s famous juices!” And while he said it he sort of did a little dance with his arms, and most comically, his face seemed to dance right along too.
I giggled, liking this new, less serious side of Frankie, almost as if he were a little nervous, and maybe he was, considering the events out in the alley. He was probably sti
ll shook up from the guns. I, on the other hand, was definitely still shook up from that monumental moment afterward.
I could hardly wait for the night to end. Well, that part of the night anyway. I was positively dying to know what the inside of the Boss’ secret lair looked like. It was silly that I was thinking of it as a secret lair, it’s not like it was a cave or anything, or who knows, maybe it was, but something about the phrase just fit.
I kept looking for any sign of Annie, but she had again abandoned me. I couldn’t decide whether I was flattered because she believed I could take care of myself, or if I should be offended because she could so easily forget me. Unfortunately, it was probably the latter since she wasn’t known much for her selflessness. I’m sure she got one look at her Adonis-like guy and snuck him outta there so she could have him all to herself. I didn’t even want to think about what they might be doing at that moment.
Suddenly, I felt flush. I didn’t know if it was the dancing, thinking about that touch in the alley, or the brief thought of Annie and her, ehm… gentleman.
“You okay?” Frankie asked, taking my elbow the way he had started to do, looking concerned.
It was nice the way Frankie was touching me, almost like it was beginning to become a habit for him, like he was protecting me without even thinking about it, not that I wanted to be that damsel in distress or anything, but it was nice, how familiar it was becoming already.
“Yeah, I’m okay, thanks.” I smiled. “Just a little warm is all.”
Which was definitely true. I should have been cold since we’d just come in from outside, but even out in the alley had been sweltering. My blood felt like it was positively racing through my body. It wasn’t that my heart was only beating faster, but it was also beating harder, more intensely. I wasn’t sure if it was the closeness to Frankie, or if the liquor had a hand in it.
“Maybe now would be a good time to get outta here,” he said, “you know, if you still want to go to the party.”
“Oh yeah, sure,” I said casually, though I was screaming “finally!” in my head.
Plus the thought of the dim chill of the tunnels was almost enough to start to cool me down. I looked around to see if I could figure out where the secret entrance to the tunnel would be this time. At Joe’s it had opened up just like a door, but from The Roxy it had been the hatch in the floor. I could only guess what they had come up with for this place.
To my surprise, Frankie led me straight to the Men’s washroom door. As he was just about to walk in, I stopped. I certainly wasn’t about to go traipsing in on the men in there, and if Frankie thought I was, he was surely mistaken!
“Don’t worry,” he said, sensing my utter horror, “we don’t go all the way in to the washroom, there’s a little hallway.”
I’m sure I didn’t look all that convinced, probably because I wasn’t. I couldn’t let all the people in the joint see me walk right into the men’s bathroom! Even if it wasn’t really the bathroom. Surely they would know that something was up.
“It’s okay Sadie,” Frankie said. “Besides, it’s the only way. I don’t even know how to get there from above ground.”
I looked around the room. Frankie probably thought I was looking for a place to escape, but really, I was just making sure that no one was watching us. Everyone seemed to be minding their own business though, other than the few girls that had their eyes glued to every move that Frankie was making. Never in my life had I seen so many mean looks, especially directed toward me. Of course, I had never done anything to remotely cause a mean look before, but I had to admit, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be. They were supremely jealous of the fact that I had Frankie’s full attention, so it was actually a little bit nice.
“Okay, let’s go,” I said, pushing Frankie.
My heart started racing as we once again delved into the world of my city’s underground tunnels.