GROWING UP BROOKLYN

Chapter 1

Angie DePorto looked up into the ceiling: “GINO! GET UP ALREADY! IT”S 7:15! YOU’LL BE LATE FOR WORK!”

Gino, yelling back from an upstairs bedroom - “I’M UP!”

“You said that 15 minutes ago! I don’t hear nuthin movin round.”

Angie sat her ample bottom at the edge of an old unmatched wooden chair and looked at Frank DePorto, her husband for 40 years across from her at the kitchen table. Wiping a loose strand of hair from her brow she addressed her husband.

“And you Mr. Suave, you got any energy left or is something propping you up?”

Frank in his t-shirt just looked at Angie and penciled an entry into the New York Post race pages, took a puff on his cigarette, pretending he didn’t hear his wife Angie, sipping coffee from his mug.

“You know Frank, the kids are getting older now, soon they’ll be movin’ out and we‘ll be stuck with dis big old house in da middle of Brooklyn, ya know what I mean, let’s sell.”

Frank, his hands together in a prayer like gesturing responds: “Sell? Sell what? Movin out! WHO’s movin out? They ain’t goin NOWHERE I tell you for Christ sake! Gino is unmarried and 40 years old; works for an auto repair shop and Rosa is too immature a 38 year old beautician to marry ANYBODY that ain’t no freak!”

“Well maybe Frank, if you didn’t scare the crap atta every boy she brings home, she’d be married by now. GINO! GET UP ALREADY YOU’RE GONNA BE LATE! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TA CALL YA? You know, I’ve been thinking Frank, we can’t be fooling with an old house anymore, ya know what I mean, ya barely got enough energy to lie down, let alone get up, and the place needs new windows, a paint job, and the plumbing sounds like I don’t know what anymore! ”

“You know what your problem is? Do you KNOW what your problem is? I’ll tell you WHAT your problem is Ang: your problem is you’re too busy telling me what the problem is, DAT’S YOUR PROBLEM!”

Angie pointing at Frank: “No Frank, my problem is YOU! I have a husband who’s been DEAD FOR THE LAST 15 YEARS OR SO AND FORGOT TO LIE DOWN! THAT’S my problem!”

“AAHH!” Waving his arms in disgust at Angie.

Angie filling a mug with coffee, wiping her forehead while looking up to the ceiling once more about to yell when suddenly Gino appeared in the kitchen.

“OH! Well! And what do we owe this great honor of your presence to? It’s about time! Hurry up and eat some cereal, you’ll be late for work, how does your boss tolerate you anyway?”

“Aw Ma, Augie and me are like this.” Crossing his fingers.

Frank: his glasses at the end of his nose- “Yea sure, and who’s on the bottom? When I wuz your age, I wuz early everyday, they use ta give me the key ta open up the joint fur Christ’s sake!”

Angie: “Don’t listen to him and eat your breakfast, and don’t forget to take your lunch, I made you nice peppers and eggs!’

Gino: “Hey Pop, can ya lend me a few bucks til tomorrow night? I’ll pay ya back, I got a date tonite and she’s a heavy.”

Frank: “Whad is she a dietician’s nightmare and what do I look like here, the Chaste Bank or sumptin? Besides, who goes out on a date on a Thursday night? She married or sumptin?”

“No, she’s Augie’s younger sister’s friend! She ain’t married.”

“Then ask Augie for the money, maybe he’ll think he needs to pay you more so he can keep his dating service goin.”

Angie: “FRANK! Don’t be such a pain in the ass, give the kid some money.”

Frank- reaching into his back pocket for his wallet: “OK, but I want it back tomorrow when you get paid. Have it ready to hand over when you walk through the front door! I wanna see the money before I see your ugly mug!”

Gino: “Sure Pop, you know me.”

Frank: “Yea, sure I know you, like I said: have it ready when you walk through that front door!”

Angie: “Gino, hurry up or you’ll be late.”

‘The ‘HAIR TODAY BEAUTY SALON’ was quiet for a Thursday morning, as Rosa DePorto stood with a hair-brush in her hand next to her fellow hairdresser and the owner of the shop: Tina Maloccio.

Tina: “My brother Augie? He tells me his friend is real cute, said I should introduce one of my friends to him, so I told him about you and he said sure, let’s get ‘em together, ya know? I figured, hey, what do ya got to lose?” Augie don’t recommend nobody unless he thinks he’s nice.

Rosa: “Year, well, I got a new pair of shoes for tanight, and where am I gonna meet him? Did ya brother tell you where?”

Tina: “Yeah, at the entrance to the park, at 7:30 sharp: don’t be late, ya hear?”

Rosa: “Yup, 7:30 sharp. I hope he’s cute!”

Tina: “Well if he isn’t, you can take THAT up with Augie!” He just started workin’ with my brother, a real hustler.  

Rosa; ‘ewww, maybe I should wear armor!” Hahaha! Just then a customer walks in, Francine Spiegel, a secretary for the law firm of Horowitz and Blitzstein. Rosa directs the customer to a chair and asks what she needs.

Francine: “Just a cut, not too much.”

Rosa: “You work around here?”

Francine: “Yeah, across from the park, I’m a secretary for a law firm.”

Rosa: “Oh, you must meet a lot of interesting people! I see that you’re not married, ever date a lawyer? Must be one or two running around, no?”

Francine: “Naw, jus two old guys that deal in business law, kind of boring, I gave up looking for Mr. Right, the last guy stood me up. We dated, it got hot and heavy if ya know what I mean. Promised he’d call me after our little get together-IF you know what I mean. Haven’t heard from the bum since. If I ever get my hands on him he won’t be daten nobody nomore, if you know what I mean.”

Rosa: “Well I got a blind date tonight, Tina’s brother fixed me up with him, supposed to be cute, that goes with-nice personality.” (Holding up two fingers on each hand in quotes.)

Francine: “Well don’t go maken the same mistake I did, make him call a few times first!”

‘RIGHT ON AUTO BODY’ was a noisy place. Augie Maloccio ran a decent profit from the business, inheriting it from his father-in-law about five years ago, when the original owner couldn’t repay a loan to Augie’s father-in-law.

Augie, sitting down at an old metal desk, his feet propped up and a plastic container of coffee in his greased stained hands looked at Gino DePorto and asked:

“So, ya ready for ya blind date tonight, fella?”

Gino: Yeah Augie, pretty ready. Have you ever seen her before?”

“Oh, sure, sure all the time, she’s my sister’s friend, nice personality!”

Gino: “What’s her name?

Augie: “Geez, I forgot, my sister told me it, but I can’t remember, maybe Rosemary or sumptin like dat. Now don’t forget, Gino, I set it up for ya to meet her at the entrance of the park at 7:30 sharp. Don’t go standing her up now! Told my sista all about chew, an told her you’d be driving a gray Honda Civic.”

Gino: “Nah, I won’t forget.”

Augie: “OK, let’s get to work den.”

Gino goes out to the front yard to inspect a new tow when he looks down the street and sees Mama walking at a quick pace with a bundle in her hand towards the shop.

Gino thinks: “Oh geez, what’s she doin’ coming here!”

Angie, reaching the towed car with Gino leaning over the hood stops to hand him a brown paper bag with a big oil stain across the bottom of it.

Gino: “Ma, whata ya doin’ here?”

Angie: “Gino, What’s the matter with chew, you forgot your lunch, (smacking him behind his head) I made peppers and eggs for ya! I walked all the way down here!”

Gino: “Aw Ma, ya didn’t need to do dat, I couldda had some cake or donuts or sumptin!”

Angie: “Ah” thrusting the sandwich bag into Gino’s chest, she says:

“Sure, dat’s gonna get ya trew da day, right?

So, ya gonna introduce your mother to Mr. Augie?

Here’s some money for tonight, I’m sure your cheap father means well, but like I said, your cheap father.”

Gino: “Gee, thanks Ma, (taking the money and sandwich bag) Augie is kinda busy right now, maybe another time, OK Ma?”

“Shore, have him come over fer dinner, we’ll treat him nice. I’ll see ya tonight, Gino.”

“Ma, don’t wait up, just go to bed.”

“Since when does someone tell his Mother when to go to bed in her own house?”

The last customer sat under the dryer, as all the day’s customers were now gone from HAIR TODAY BEAUTY SALON. Rosa DePorto stood outside the front window throwing an eye on the customer and smoking a cigarette.  She could clearly see herself in the reflection of the glass, her black curly hair down past her ears, and her figure thin and lean for her age so she thought. Rosa hadn’t been on a date in a few months, when she dated Vic Salomone, ‘freaky Vic’ as she called him, with his wandering hands and not understanding ‘No’! Checking her watch, it was 6:30 P.M. and the sun was setting slowly on the horizon, behind the El, casting long shadows across the street. The occasional rattle of the overhead train went by and Rosie decided to go in and check on her customer and close up for the evening. Tina Maloccio had left earlier to pick up her son from school when the school called her to tell her Vincent had vomited on his teacher’s shoes.

Rosa: “How ya doin Mrs. Skinner, ya dry yet?” running her hands over the dryer and shutting it off. “Big date tonight? I got one, so we gotta get you outta dis chair.” I’ll comb ya out and we can square away. How’s Mr. Skinner doin?”

Mrs. Skinner: “Dead.”

“Ha, I know what ya mean, Pop hasn’t really moved in a while either.”

Mrs. Skinner: “No, I mean he died! The son of a bitch dropped dead visiting his little girlfriend. Dropped dead of a heart attack, on her toilet!” Couldn’t even do that right, the BASTARD!”

“Oh Mrs. Skinner, I so sorry!”

Mrs. Skinner: “Sorry for what? The bum deserved to die cheating on me like dat! Let me tell ya dearie, it ain’t worth the trouble, ya give dem the best years of ya life: stretch marks and all and dat’s how dey repay ya! With some young floozie!”

“Do the kids know?”

“Sure, dey saw him in the box laid out!’

“No, about the affair?”

“Well I wuz gonna tell em, but dey wuz cryin so much I couldn’t break dere hearts any more. But some day I gonna tell em what a weasel dere farther wuz. I told the undertaker to plant him upside down, the BASTARD!”

Rosa finished combing out Mrs. Skinner’s hair, including a blast of hairspray that was enough to forgo a cocktail for the evening. Ringing up the cost, Mrs. Skinner handed Rosa the money and a generous tip.

Rosa: “THANK-que!”

Rosa escorted the last customer of the day out the door and immediately locked it. The phone rang and Rosa picked it up like she did all day long: “HAIR TODAY BEAUTY SALON?”

Angie: “Hello? Rosie? This is your mother! What time ya coming home?”

Rosa: “Oh hi ma! Listen, I’m going out tanite, got a date, maybe my dream come true, or maybe yours, Hahahaha!”

“Well don’t bring him home, you know how dat goes down with your old man! He ain’t picken ya up at the door is he? What does he look like? Do you know anything about em”

Rosa: “Well ma, he works for my bosses brother, supposed to be real cute, and I don’t know what the company is so don’t ask.”

Angie: “Well be careful, and remember to not wake you father up when you get home.”

“OK ma, bye.”

Chapter 2

Gino sat on the park bench with time to spare. The car was parked, at the curb right in the front of the entrance. Sitting back he lit a cigarette and watch some little kids on bicycles race in and out of the entrance as the mothers stood talking to each other, getting one last conversation in before they went home for the evening to their husbands.

Wearing a crisp new shirt, clean creased khakis and his hair was matted down with some Brylcreem, Gino’s after shave was attracting some bees, and so an occasional wave of the hand was needed to shoo the bees away.

Looking across the boulevard, people were still leaving their jobs at the end of the day, and one figure caught Gino’s eye almost immediately. He hadn’t seen her in months! The last time he saw her was in his car, as he dropped her off after a heavy necking session, very heavy. It took a lot of doing and convincing, including pledging his undying love. At first she resisted, but hey, who could resist Gino De Porto?

Francine Spiegel was crossing the street and heading toward the bus stop that stood right near where Gino was parked! Hoping not to be seen by her, he looked away and pretended he was focused on something else. “Oh geez, I hope she don’t go coming over here!” he thought.

Racing the last few steps before reaching the curb, her pocket book clutched into her gut with both hands, she reached the curb and looked for the bus that was simultaneously arriving at the curb. The doors swung open and Francine was about to step up into the bus gripping the handle bar when something caught her eye. Scanning the guy on the bench, he looked familiar, when all of a sudden it dawned on her who it was! Frozen with one foot on the first step and the other on the curb, she stared at Gino, a rage starting to build at volcanic proportions. The bus driver stared down at her wondering if she would move, when she suddenly backed up and let go of the metal bar to climb aboard.

“Son of a bitch!” she said loud enough for the driver to hear.

Turning sharply and with determination, she faced Gino, took a deep breath and marched over to the park bench.

Suddenly, Gino had this sense of impending doom!

A cold shudder came over Gino, and he was afraid to look straight ahead for some reason when suddenly, he saw stars, not really stars, more like almost golden spots on a dark grey background. The daylight suddenly shut out, then it faded away to the angry face of Francine Speigel!

“Well Gino, nice of ya to finally show up!” Whack, another swing of her long strapped pocket book placed along the side of his head.

“Whatza matter with cha. Cat got ya tongue Gino?” WHACK”

“Maybe I should help ya to remember, maybe this will help!”  WHACK-WHACK-WHACK, the blows raining down sharply on Gino’s head, his arms up trying to shield himself from Francine’s fury.

Gino: “I’m sorry Francine, really, I TRIED TA CALL YA, but I lost your number!’

Francine: “Don’t go given me dat, ya bum ya, ya couldn’t just come over, no?” WHACK!

Gino bolted to his car, leaping over the hood with one hand bracing himself: opened his car door on the driver’s side, got in and locked it, Francine in hot pursuit. Turning the key, Gino’s Grey Honda Civic wheeling and screeching away into the traffic, leaving a grey cloud of rubber as Francine was raising a poorly aimed kick.

As Gino pulled away, Francine straightened her 2-piece grey business suit, climbed aboard the bus, the driver standing outside the bus, mouth agape, along with a few riders, watching all the action.

Francine shouted at the speedy getaway of Gino: “Let dat be a lesson to ya Gino, never stand ME up ya lousy bum ya. Next time I’ll kick your ass! What is everybody lookin at?” With that she stepped deeper into the bus and everyone followed her in. As it pulled away, another bus pulled into it’s spot, and off stepped Rosa.

Rosa looked around, and went over to the park bench and sat, crossing her legs and lighting a cigarette. Blowing the smoke from her mouth, she scanned the street and the park entrance. Checking that she looked right, she glanced into her small hand held mirror, while looking for the Grey Honda Civic, she shrugged and looked at her watch, hoping she wasn’t late. Each time a guy walked by, she would hope it was or wasn’t her date, then watched him disappear down the street or deep into the park..

After 30 minutes, Rosa looked at her watch again for the tenth time, then slowly rose and went to the bus stand, climbed aboard the next bus and went home, feeling stood up and angry.

As the bus pulled away, a grey Honda Civic slowly pulled up and cruised by the entrance of the park, slowly, the driver peering. Not seeing what he was looking for, he drove off.

Saturday mornings were busy for Francine, as the morning sun peeked up over the building across the street. Francine thought back to the bus stop and Gino, and wondered if she just needed a boost of some kind, a new Francine that would perhaps better her chances of finding the right man. It seemed to her that all the men were the same, just out for one thing with no commitment.

Entering into the kitchen, she started a pot of hot water for her tea and sat at her table, and lit a cigarette. She thought more about Gino and decided she needed a better class of date, not little boys, but men, men with ambition and drive. Getting up she walked back into her bedroom and looked into her full-length mirror on her closet door. Turning sideways she viewed her slightly overweight figure, and then turned to view her back and then her front again. Getting up closer, she looked at her eyes and slowly backed away. She decided she needed a makeover, nothing too drastic, maybe just an adjustment or two, say a high light in her hair, just a touch to add some sophistication, something that said ‘Paris’, and not Brooklyn.

The Hair Today Beauty Salon was busy for a Saturday morning. It usually was, what with weddings and dates and special events. This Saturday promised to be no different, as the flow started from the moment Tina opened the doors.

There were other stylists at the salon, and all had someone occupying their chairs. Some were in at an appointment but some managed to walk in and get in line. There were ladies busy under the dryers already and some ladies were chatting with the stylists.

Tina and Rosie hadn’t had a chance to talk about the events of the previous evening, and Tina was dying to know the details. Since she lived apart from her brother Augie, she had no idea how things went.

The front door suddenly opened and in stepped Francine, dressed in her heels, embroider jeans, large looped earrings and sporting a magenta top with a red rose in the upper left breast area. Her long hair was combed down to her shoulders as usual. Between smacks of gum she inquired how long a wait it would be and was told it would be only a few moments, to please be seated.

Rosa put the finishing spray on her customer and gave her a bill, while receiving a tip, which Rosa pocketed as she thanked her customer. Catching Francine’s eye, she called out: “Next!” and Francine looked around, then got up and sat in Rosa’s chair.

“Weren’t you here yesterday?” inquired Rosa.

“Yes, can you streak a blond layer from here to here?” pointing to just right of center on the top of her head.

“Actually, if you want a suggestion, maybe you want a red streak with your color hair?”

Francine thought about it and said: “Red! Yes, let’s do that, I like it! Weren’t you supposed to go on a blind date last night?”

This caught Tina’s attention at the next chair and she paused to listen.

“Oh, the bum stood me up! Did ya hear dat Tina? The bum never showed! Ya did say it was a blind date, and I never saw him!”

Francine’s mind immediately jumped to her encounter the night before, and related her experience at the bus stop: “Wow! It’s funny, last night I happened to be going home when the bus comes, I’m about to get on and I see this bum that stood me up. I went over to him and gave him a piece of my mind. He got so friggin flustered he jumped in his car and took off like a bat outta hell! Lucky for him I didn’t have a no gun!”

Tina: YA GOT STOOD UP! WADDA YA MEAN, STOODUP, HE DIDN’T SHOW?”

Rosie: “No Tina, I waited for a whole half hour, too.”

Tina: “Wait til my brudder hears dis, I’m telling ya!”

Francine: “You shouldn’t let him get away with dis, I’d get even.”

Rosie: “How?”

Francine: “I’ll ya what, ya know that coffee shop on the corner? Meet me deer at noon, and we’ll figure it out. Can ya get away for a short while?”

Tina: “Yeah, she can get away, I’ll have someone cover for ya, Rosie.”

RIGHT ON AUTO BODY opened a little earlier on a Saturday then a weekday, because it closed at 2:00 p.m.  Augie was busy taking the lug nuts off a car on a lift when he noticed Gino enter the garage through the opened sliding garage door. Pausing with the impact wrench in mid-air, he called Gino over.

So? How’d it go last night Gino?

“Ah, not too good Augie, I kinda got tied up with someone, and completely missed my date! Ya sista ain’t gonna be mad at me, is she?”

“What happened?”

“Ah, some dame I once dated went all ballistic when she saw me sittin in the park waitin. I had to get outta dere before the cops came. Man dat was embarrasen! I went back once I got away from her, but no one was waitin for me. She got a couple good shots in, and I ain’t hitten no dame, so I do what a gentleman gotta do, I get my ass outta dere!””

“Oh shit, my sista’s gonna be pissed! Whatz wit dis dame, whaddid ya do?”

“We went out ona date, and I never called her back for anudder date, she saw me on the park bench, came over and started swingin her purse at me! You don’t know her Augie, I never mentioned her before.”

“WHOO HOOO! Gino got his ass kicked by a girl!”

“Come on man, I don’t want nobody getting the wrong idea here!”

“AHA! Gino got whupped! By-a-girl-no-less! Hey Gino, ya wanna go powder ya nose or sumptin?”

DINO’s DINNER was only half full for the lunch hour. Usually on a business day the place started packing in around 11:45 a.m., with construction workers and office workers. At the counter sat two policemen eating a late breakfast and down the counter sat a lone gentleman with a cup of coffee and flipping through the NY Daily News, an occasional word being shared with the owner Dino Kerros.

Dino was relating how when he came to this country from Greece, he knew ‘nobody’ and still didn’t, but he DID have a lot of friends!

Rosa and Tina sat in a booth and waited for Francine to arrive.

Cheryl, the little blond waitress came over, pencil poised over her order book and asked: “What can I getcha girls?”

We’re waitin for someone, but I’ll have a cup of decafe.

Rosie: “Make dat two.”

Cheryl walked away and Rosie started the conversation.

“So like I wuz sayin, the bum stood me up! Maybe he saw me and didn’t like what he saw!”

“Well when I get my hands on my brudder for settin you up like dat with a creep…”

“No Tina, don’t do dat, the bum might lose his job, I don’t want dat to happen!”

“Well, suit yaself, Rosie, but dat guy ain’t getting away witit!”

Just then Francine entered and spotted the two women at the booth and immediately slid in next to Rosa.

“Sorry I’m late girls, but my boss got me the last minute as I was going out the door, and takes forever to say something, ya know, lawyers an all.”

Tina put down her coffee cup and spoke:

“So Fran, did ya come up wit a devious plan? For our lover boy?”

“Francine shifted her long black hair with its newly streaked red highlites and layer with a shake of her head, a smile forming at her lips.”

“Actually I did. We had a client back a few months ago, owned a bar slash restaurant, it was a special bar slash restaurant, if you know what I mean.”

Rosa turned her head slightly in the direction of Tina, who blurted out; “You mean gay bar?”

“Exactly, it is a place on the east side of Manhattan called Mr. & Ms. From what I hear it is where you go to get picked up, if ya know what I mean.”

Rosa: “OOOH! I’m liken dis already!”

Francine:  “Good! Now here’s what we’re gonna do.”

Chapter 3

Tina called her brother Augie that night.

“Hullo, Augie, its Tina!”

“Eh, Tina! You ain’t gonna run off at the mouth are ya?”

“Noooo Augie, IF you tell me his name, I won’t.”

“Well why ya need his name for?”

“Well Augie, we thought a little surprise for Mr. No-Show wuz in order. You know, a little thank you for being so considerate. Ya getting my drift Augie?”

“Well yea but, I don’t know, he is a good guy, had a good reason, but… ah, what the hell, his name is Gino.”

“Gino WHAT, Augie, I need to mail him sumptin.”

“What, a letter-bomb?” with that, Augie laughed out loud to himself.

“No Augie, just a little invitation, so Ya gotta help us out here.”

“Oh! OK, his name is Gino DePorto.” He lives not too far where your shop is. Give a minute and I’ll get his address for ya, you want his phone number too?”

“It wouldn’t hurt Augie, yes I would. …wait a minute, did you say DePorto???”

“Yea, got a pencil?”

“Augie are you sure?”

“Sure I’m sure, why watz da matter?”

“Well for starters, my friend’s last name is De Porto, Rosie De Porto!”

“Ya mean the dame he stood up, uh failed to meet?

“You were right the first time Augie.”

“Hey, maybe he’s related to her and did see her and realized what was going on?”

“Is dat what he told you?”

“No.”

“His address Augie.”

“OK”

Augie hung up the phone and sat in his chair, holding his sides, from laughing.

“Oh man, poor Gino, and I’m not telling him nuthin!”

His wife looked at him like he was crazy, which he was.

Rosa was beside herself as she turned off her cell phone. Just the embarrassment of knowing someone else knew just added to her confusion and humiliation. Her own brother! She almost dated her own brother! And, the rat stood her up!

She thought about the revenge she would get when he came home, then thought about the plan, and decided to keep quiet and let things go as they were. Feeling uncomfortable about it all, she needed to talk to someone, and Mom or Pop were not the options she wanted. She decided to talk to a priest: maybe he could make her feel better.

There was the pastor of Notre Dame des Fleurs: Father Laci, a kindly old gentleman who seemed to have a calming influence on her that she felt she could be comfortable talking to. With an Irish brogue, and a sing-song cadence, he often gave almost magical sermons on Sundays, his eyes sparkling with emphasis when he made a point. Rosa made up her mind: she would call the good Father and see if he would see her on short notice.

Sunday afternoon around 2:00 pm, Father Laci would sit in his office with a cup of tea and relax. After a morning of Masses, then the obligatory Rosary Altar Society or Holy Name breakfast, this would be his chance to relax before an early dinner.

There was a knock on the door and Fr. Laci answered:

“Yes, come in.”

Mrs. McCormick, the rectory housekeeper and cook for weekends stepped in and announced that there was a young lady who wished to speak with him.

“Oh yes, Miss DePorto, please show her in. Kate.”

Rosa entered reverently: a silk handkerchief pinned to the top of her head, and in a subdued voice thanked Fr. Laci for seeing her.

“Please sit down Miss DePorto, you sounded very alarmed on the phone, how can I help you?” said Fr. Laci, pointing to the chair across from his desk. The office was rather somber looking, with a statue of the Virgin Mary on a pedestal, and on a shelf in the corner of the room was one of St. Anthony of Padua. A large wooden crucifix hung on a side-wall, and his book shelves were filled with the lives of saints, stories about devotion and a large thick book about John Paul VI.

Interlacing his fingers, his elbows resting on his desk, he leaned his large ample person forward and stared into Miss DePorto’s eyes, waiting for her to speak.

“Well Father, I don’t know how to begin…”

“How about at the beginning?” Father Laci smiled.

“Well, I have this friend Tina, who has a brother, Tina is my boss, we worked at a beauty salon, anyway, Tina has this brother who also owns a business…”

“A very enterprising family!” Fr. Laci interjected with a continued smile.

“Eee-Yes! Anyway, her brother Augie, dat’s his name, Augie, Augie said he had dis guy dat worked for him, and wondered if Tina could find him a date! Tina thought of me and set it up.” Rosie paused and looked at Fr. Laci.

“And?” Fr. Laci encouraged her to go on.

“Well, they set up dis blind date between Augie’s friend and me. We were supposed to meet at the entrance of the park Friday night, but he didn’t show!”

Fr. Laci leaned back in his swivel red leather chair and clasped his hands across his ample belly. “Yes?”

“Turns out father, this guy I was supposed to date is my brother, Gino!”

“Hmmm and you are telling me this because…?”

“Well Father, it was my brother! Ain’t dat incest?”

“Incest?”

“Yes Father, incest! After all, I got all excited about meetin him, you know, ya have these thoughts, then: I realized, they were about my brother!”

Father Laci stood and leaned across his desk.

“My dear, you have done nothing wrong other than have a lustful imagination, pray to Our Lady of the Flowers and say three Hail Mary’s and one Our Father, and know God will forgive you as I do. Now go home and enjoy the rest of your day.”

Marching home, Rosa went directly to her room, closed her door for privacy and planned her next move.

Rosa sat at the edge of her bed, her cell phone in hand and spoke: Okay Tina, I’m fully ready to clip Gino’s wings!

Frank as was his habit, was still dressed in his pajamas and robe, and with his slippers on went out to the mailbox Wednesday morning and retrieved the mail. The mailbox was attached to the wall next to the front door and blindly reaching in noticed his neighbor Karen, a young nurse who worked a late afternoon shift. Karen had left her husband when she found him with another woman. The woman was in Karen’s bed, with Karen’s husband, and to add insult to injury: was holding a bottle of Karen’s favorite sherry, one she saved for special celebrations.

Frank spent a good deal of time fantasizing, how she would invite him in for coffee and be overwhelmed by her lust for him. Of course he would not try to resist, the woman would be needy as he saw it. There were other fantasies, almost as dreamlike, and his imagination was playing them all at one time.

Angie was a little weary of Karen, a courteous ‘Hello’ and nothing more, after all she was young, blond and a great shape, and Angie was not prepared to deal with it.

“FRANK! WHAT’S TAKING SO LONG, TO BRING IN THE MAIL?”

Frank snapped out of his fantasy, annoyed by the interruption and dropped the mail on the table when he noticed a small square envelope with a woman’s handwriting addressed to Mr. Gino De Porto. Picking it up, he could smell the faint scent of flowers. The pinkish white envelope with no return address seemed curious enough to make Frank very happy. There WAS a woman in Gino’s life! He thought.

“Ang! ANG!”

Calling from upstairs: “What is it Frank? It’s too early for lunch, go read the paper or something, I’m busy!”

“NO ANG, THERE’S A LETTER HERE FOR GINOOOOOOO!

Flying down the stairs she enters the room taking off a pair of yellow rubber gloves.

“WHAT IS IT FRANK?” Angie asked annoyed.

Handing his wife the letter: “Here, look! Your son has a girlfriend! He’s getting married, he’s moving out! Quick, get the anisette!”

“Oh stop it Frank, we don’t k now that, it’s probably just from a friend and is innocent, or maybe has nothing to do with getting married!”

Frank sits in his chair and lifts his newspaper, “Sure, just like you to ruin my dreams, go ahead, smash them against a rock like you do all my dreams.”

“Shut up Frank and put on the tea kettle.”

“The tea kettle, what for, we don’t drink tea!”

“Well get a taste for it and fill the pot all the way to the top!”

Francine and Rosa had taken their time in composing the letter. It was short and sweet and to the point, with an enticing touch. The news of Gino De Porto being the weasel only inspired Francine, and the thought that Rosa could lay such a kick to her older brother only made the two women determined to find the perfect sting.

“Believe me honey, when your brudder reads dis, he’s gonna want to take sometin’ to calm him down.”

“Fran, you are a genius!” Rosa could not help but be excited, the plan was perfect, it would teach big brother never to be a jerk again. Having Tina swear on a stack of Bible’s to not tell her brother Augie what was afoot, the ladies had what they felt was the perfect plan. Francine had friends, some of whom were questionable in moral judgment, but handy, and this was the time to use one of them.

With an ever-slight hint of ‘Youth Dew’ cologne, Francine gave the letter the finishing touch it needed. In a woman’s handwriting, addressed to Gino, with a small cache’ of flowers and hearts drawn in red ink on the flap, it seemed high-school like, the perfect adornment for someone like Gino’s small mind, Rosa thought!

Gino sat in the office of the RIGHT ON AUTO BODY eating his McDonald’s, taking sips of cola and dipping the fries into the little ketchup he squeezed onto a wrapper. His mind kept drifting to the Friday night disaster and wishing he had managed to not run away from Francine. He envisioned a beauty, someone who he would sweep off her feet and be his love slave forever.

There were no second chances when it came to love for Gino, in spite of his deep brown eyes and black curly hair, his muscular build. He could not understand how he had such lousy luck in the love game. It seemed he could get a girl easy enough, but something would always happen and he would screw up. He thought maybe he should confide with Augie. Augie was after all a businessman, he would know how to fix things, then: he felt embarrassment that he would admit to such a failing. Tossing his remnants of lunch in the waste paper basket, despair began to cloud Gino’s mood, and a sense of restlessness was taking over.

Chapter 4

The tea pot steamed to a high piercing pitch and Rosie immediately took the letter addressed to her son out of her apron pocket and held it over the shooting vapors. After a while she began to open the flap in a flawless manor. Carefully removing the flap without tearing it, she triumphantly removed the folded letter and read it. In it’s flowery handwritten way she read the words to Frank, who was watching the whole operation.

“Dear Gino,

It’s hard to describe how wild I am about you. You have never met me except I saw you at your garage working. I couldn’t help but get breathless by your ruggedness, yet sense of cute vulnerability! I thought there is a guy for me! XXX!

I don’t like to brag, but am considered very pretty and some might say sexy, if you know what I mean.

If you are interested, I could make it worth your while. Why don’t you meet me for drinks on Friday night at Mr & Ms on East 23rd Street, say at 7:00 P.M.? Maybe we can get better acquainted then.

XXX
Misty

PS, I’ll be wearing a pink silk scarf.

Angie chuckled and carefully folded the letter and returned it to the envelope and resealed it, leaving it on the kitchen table with the other mail.

“Frank, keep your mouth shut, don’t you say nutten to give it away, ya hear?

Frank sat in his chair, a huge smile overcoming his face, leaning back the newspaper hiding his glee.

“YA HEAR ME FRANK?”

“Yea, I hear ya.”

Gino came home that night, dead tired. He had been out on the road all day, dragging cars onto the flat bed, and he just wanted to sit and watch the TV.

Frank watched Gino climb the stairs to his bedroom as he never stopped at the kitchen table to collect his ‘letter’. This would not do for Frank.

“Eh! Gino, there’s sum mail here for ya.”

“I’ll get it later.”

“Ya might want to come down now and read it, it looks important!”

“Ah shit, more jury duty?”

“Nah, don’t look like no jury duty, but it looks important Gino.”

“I’ll get it later Pop, not now.’

Frank went into the kitchen and picked up the letter for Gino and carried it up the stairs to Gino’s room.”

“EH, muscle head, here’s da mail, don’t say thank kew.”

The letter glided from Frank’s hand spinning its way to Gino’s chest, where he lay with his arms behind his head resting on a pillow.

With one hand, Gino reached for the letter and smelled it.

Friday morning found Gino at the garage, working feverishly, trying to keep his mind off of his big mystery date that evening. Whistling loudly, Gino could find no wrong in the world. The night before he had taken his car into a carwash and tipped the boys big. He had told Augie he was leaving at 5:00 P.M. sharp, no matter what, HE had things to do that evening. Augie knew what was up by this time, since Tina was filling him in on the master plan, and Augie would have given Gino the whole day off with pay for what lay in store for Gino!

“EH! Gino! Big weekend planned?”

“Ah, you know Augie, the usual stuff, have a few beers hang loose, you know?”

“Oh sure I know Gino. Yeah, a few beers an hangin loose, sounds like the plan!”

“Ahhh! Don’t go bustin my chops now Augie, I got a date, a blind date!”

“Oh, she has to be!”

“C’mon Augie, I’ tell ya what, I got dis letter in the mail the other day, says she’s seen me here at work! Don’t got a friggin clue what she looks like, but I’m gonna bet she’s hot!”

Suppressing a grin, Augie said:

“Yeah AGino, you do dat!”

Gino left the garage promptly at 5:00 P.M., and headed home. The short walk was made even shorter by Gino’s pace. There was a quickstep and lilt in his walk, almost a dance if you will. Racing into the house by Angie and Frank, he ran to the shower and immediately striped down and stepped into the steaming hot water. The feel of the vapors of steam and the hard pounding of the water drops from the showerhead only made him more excited, as the days work washed away.

Stepping into his bedroom, he immediately selected his clothes and dressed, taking care to use under arm deodorant and some Old Spice, the Brylcreem applied lavishly to hold his hair in place.

Racing down the stairs two at a time, Gino stopped in front of the mirror by the front door, looked at his watch and yelled: “See ya, don’t wait up!” and was out the door and into his car.

Gino could feel a surge of energy, a sense of ‘cool’ he was definitely hot, SHE was lucky, whoever she was, or what ever she looked like. His mind raced back and forth from what she might be like to what he should say, as he approached the BQE to make his approach into Manhattan. Finding a garage that was open he parked for a few hours time and headed off to the bar, finding it just where Augie said it would be. The place was crowded, mostly a jumble of people milling around the bar and sitting at tables and booths.

Slowly he moved through the noisy crowd, eyeing for any lady with a scarp, when suddenly he noticed at the end of the bar stood a brunette, with a tight red dress that seemed to squeeze rather than cover and a large pink and white flowered scarf. He thought: “ Hey! Not bad! That must be her!” Edging toward the end of the bar he stood next to her and said: “Misty?”

“Gino?”

Misty extended her hand and Gino took it, and looked at how large it seemed for a woman’s hand! She was beautiful, that was for sure, her long brunette hair falling to her shoulders, she had deep brown eyes that seemed to be searching his, and if it weren’t for the hands, not bad, not bad at all, so Gino thought.

“Can I buy ya a drink?” Gino asked.

“Merlot”

“Merlot it is.”

Catching the bartender’s eye, Gino ordered a Merlot and a Bud.

“So how’d ja find me and know all about me?” he asked.

“Oh, I asked around, when I saw you in the shop, discreetly of course.”

“I betcha asxed Augie, huh.”

“Maybe”

Gino liked her coyness: it added a little mystery.

“How’d ya get the name Misty, I mean I like it an all, nice name. Is it short for sumptin?”

“Mystique. That’s my name: they call me Misty for short. You really like it?”

Just then the bar tender placed a beer and to Gino’s surprise a glass of wine in front of them.

“Why don’t we find a table?” suggested Gino, looking around and spotting one in the corner.

“Man, she got it all” he thought to himself, holding the drinks and leading the way, if he could only get past her hands. Maybe it ‘s the light in the place he figured, but they seemed kind of fat for a lady he mused.

As they sat, Gino looked around and noticed that something was a little off kilter. It seemed that all the guys were standing together and all the ladies seemed to be standing together, no real couples. In fact Gino thought he was getting the eye from one of the guys standing by the bar before. Then he noticed that one couple, two guys that is: were standing at the bar, and one was rubbing the other guy’s back, making Gino uncomfortable. Then across the room, two ladies were in a lip lock!

“You come here often?” Gino inquired, a worried look on his face?

“That’s the last line I thought you’d use tonight, Gino!”

“Whaddya mean?”

“Well, that IS an old pick-up line for strangers. You and me already met! No? You know Gino, there’s a beautiful little beach across the river in Jersey, really charming when the sun is going down, would you like to see it, we can take my car?”

Gino’s eyes lit up and said: “Yea, sure I do, you want to go see it?”

“I thought you’d never ask!”

Gino went to the bar, paid the tab and left a tip and off they headed for the Lincoln Tunnel.

The traffic out of the city was brutal: people escaping the city from work and apartments and people were coming into the metropolis for a night of dinner and theater mostly. Getting through the tunnel and soon onto the Garden State, the silence was broken by Gino.

“So tell me Misty, woodya do for a livin’?”

“Dance, that’s what I do, teach it, organize groups. Say Gino, would you mind if I make a pit stop for a moment?” Without waiting for Gino’s response, Misty pulls over to the shoulder of the road and heads into the woods. Gino perplexed, follows her with his eyes from the passenger side of the car’s front seat. Just barely making out the red dress in the sinking sunlight and the heavy growth of foliage, he watches the motionless back of Misty as it shakes a few times and slowly turns toward the car. Suddenly Gino had an epiphany!

Reaching for the door latch, Gino pushes out the front door, and as fast as he can, races down the highway into the woods, not looking back, not heeding Misty’s plea to stop.

Angie and Rosie DePorto dressed for cousin Patrizia’s bridal shower. Their conversation was an animated one, fill with hand motions and constant chatter.

“So Ma, I can’t believe Patty is getting married before me! With those hips she should be married to a hitch, hahahaha!”

“I hear her husband is loaded, but no prince charming. But as long as he loves her and takes care of her, my brother Joey won’t have to break his kneecaps”

“Oh Ma, I’m sure he loves her or he wouldn’t marry her.”

“Well Rosie, today they don’t care about love, it’s sex and money, that’s all they think about. When I met your father, he held the car door open for me, the front door, and even pulled out my chair in the pizza parlor!”

“Wow! Did he buy?”

“Don’t get so smart, he IS your father. Maybe a little frugal when he spends his money, but still a good man AND your father. Now hurry up, we don’t want to walk in too late and spoil the surprise.”

The apartment on Steinway Street in Astoria Queens was flush with wall-to-wall women: all chatting at once and all seemed to be drinking a glass of white wine with ice cubes. An occasional cackle would rise from one of the heavily perfumed middle-aged mammas while the younger gals sat in a corner by themselves. Patty’s mother and sister Carmela had decorated all afternoon and the little treats sat out on the small folding tables scattered throughout the cramped living room.

Patty’s mother tapped a glass and said:

“Ladies, can I have your attention please? Carmela has arranged for some entertainment tonight: that will be a big surprise for everyone here tonight. I won’t tell you what it is but be on guard, you’ll LOVE it!”

Rosie leaned into Angie’s ear and whispered: “Maybe they will announce the baby.”

Bobo Newkirk was tooling down the turnpike, radio blaring and a steady rhythm and beat, pulsating through the car speakers. Tonight he was making $400 to do a strip dance for a bridal shower, he would cut off the 59^th Street bridge and head to Steinway Avenue to perform and collect his money, a cool $400 for a few minutes work. How cool was that?

Suddenly as his right hand rested on the stick of his fully restored 57 Chevy, something caught his eye in the fading daylight, a hitchhiker, looking slightly frazzled and lost. Pulling into the shoulder, he roles his window down and the figure ran up to his passenger side of the car.

“Yo bro, where you at?”

Gino popped his head into the car and asked if he could give him a lift.

“Yeah, sure man, where you goin?” Bobo asked.

“Brooklyn, man, can you give me a lift close to the city?”

“Hey man, I’m heading to Queens myself, you can catch a subway from there?”

Gino slid in and said: “Cool man, thanks!”

As Bobo exited the bridge on the Queens side, the talk was mostly about his policeman’s costume. Gino was surprised that he wasn’t a cop, but a stripper. The conversation centered around Bobo’s contact with women and the money he makes dancing. Gino wished out loud he could do that too.

Suddenly, Bobo became ill, a greenish tinge cast to his face told Gino Bobo wasn’t feeling so hot.

“Hey man, I’m not doing so good, my stomach feels like it wants to sit in my mouth. Oh man!”

“Wwwhhaat’s wrong, man?” Gino asked, as the car slowly rolled to a stop.

Quickly Bobo opens his door and leans out the car.

“Oh man Bobo, you are wasted!”

“Man, you gotta do me a favor, I need that money, can you cover for me?”

“Huh?”

“Can you cover for me?”

“Cover for you! You mean dance, strip?”

“Yeah.”

“IN FRONT OF PEOPLE?”

Bobo leans out the door again and heaves once again-“Yeah.”

“Noooooo, I can’t do that stuff!”

“Sure you can, I’ll split it evenly with you, I’ll give you 100 bucks! C’mon man, ya gotta help me out. Just get into these clothes and when you get there, everything will take care of itself.”

Gino took the wheel and drove the rest of the way. Parking was no simple matter on Steinway and he had to walk a few blocks. He rehearsed what he was supposed to say and do, carrying a boom box set to play. Finding the address, Gino raps on the door as he was instructed by Bobo and announces it’s the police. The party was by now well into the evening, the future bride sitting and chatting, surrounded by empty boxes and balloons, wine glasses half filled or nearly empty, some of them lipstick stained on the edges. The ladies suddenly went quiet as Gino asked loudly: “Patrizia Comodente, you are under arrest! Slapping handcuffs on her he then begins to spread his legs, gyrate and with one movement, takes off his uniform, revealing his shorts and black socks.

Suddenly Angie looks at Rosie, who is looking at Gino, her mouth agape.

“OH MY GOD! WHAT THE HELL!!!”

Rosie takes out her glasses and looks realizing it is Gino standing almost naked in front of friends and family and screams:

“SONOFABITCH!!! WHAT THE HELL???”

Gino suddenly realizes he is in the middle of a family reunion, featuring Angie and Rosie, as Angie slowly rises from her seat and heads toward Gino, as the last thing Gino sees is stars, not unlike the ones he saw at the park entrance one evening.

Chapter 5

Slowly Gino opened his eyes, the light seemingly mixing with the blurriness of the faces gathered around him looking downward at him with a dumbfounded curiosity and surprise. The first face he recognizes was Angie’s, her arms folded and the look of anger etched deeply around her eyes and mouth.

“You sonnufvabitch you! What the hell are you doing???” Whack, down comes Angie’s purse, whack-whack-whack. “You pervert, PERVERT, what did I raise!?” Whack-whack-whack: once again the purse making contact with Gino’s arms and head. Gino was getting use this it by now and it seemed to go with the recent stars he was seeing,

“Ooouuu, Ma, I can explain, ya see I…” whack once more the purse came raining down on Gino’s head, when suddenly the front door swung open and all heads looked up at once. There standing in the entrance way is Bobo, dressed in Gino’s clothes:

“Yo dude, you in here?”

“And WHO the hell are you?” Angie angrily asks.

“Ma, meet Bobo, Bo: Ma”

Whack-“Shut up you imbecile, I’ll get to you later!” Angie intones. Rising from the circle around Gino, Angie Tucks her purse under her arm and goes up to Bobo.

“What the hell did you do to my Gino? You turned him into a pervert!”

“Lady, I don’t know nothing about nothing, I just came for my money.”

“Oh my God! I hired my COUSIN to strip! But who the hell is this guy?” yells Carmela pointing to Bobo.

“I’m the guy you hired, I’m Bobo.”

“If you’re Bobo, what the hell is HE doing here in your costume?”

The sorting did not take long, once the whacks on Gino’s head ceased, and Carmela calmed down. Bobo was given his money and striped down right in front of the ladies, then donned his costume once more, becoming a man of the law.

The ride home to Brooklyn in the back of Rosa’s car was more than Gino could stand. Angie would repeat one or more of the embarrassing moments and let loose with another pocket book contact to Gino’s head, until Gino found the sense to move over to the other side of the back seat so Angie couldn’t reach his head.

Frank sat in his easy chair, watching a rerun of Gunsmoke on the TV. The sun was setting and he decided to get up and go to the wall switch near the front door and open the light for the reading lamp. As was his habit, he pushed the curtain aside in the front bay window and looked out, There sitting in front of his house was a pedicab.

“What the hell is dat ding doin dere Angie?” he yelled out loud.

“Don’t ask Frank and mind your own business!” responded Angie.

As Frank stared, climbing into the pedicab was Francine and Rosa, with a horse whip, while Gino held the long bars to pull the two ladies, sitting under the big pink umbrella that covered them, and a hand painted sign that read: “I WILL NEVER STAND UP MY DATES AGAIN!”

Rosa reached back and snapped the whip on Gino’s butt and yelled: “Giddyap!”

 THE END

YESTERDAY

There is a magical place

They call “long ago”.

It is filled with joy, happiness and regrets.

And in this magical place I lived,

Someone had touched it

To give me joy and to feel its presence.

Was it the hand of God that

Filled it with joy,

I wonder now and long for it.

As I slowly age and look into the mirror,

The future looks so uncertain

But the past an imprimatur of days gone by.

Am I a fool that lives there?

Do I dwell where I dwelt and

Not let loose the ties?

I cannot forsake the past I know,

It gave me what I am and

So I live today and dream of yesterday.

WHEN THE RAIN COMES

When the rain comes

And the shadows grow,

I listen to my heart

And let the tears flow.

There are no words

That I can call to heal,

But the sweet memories

I know will prevail.

We mourn for ourselves

And sob like a child,

We see the rainfall

And it lingers for the while.

But the truth be known

To all sadden hearts,

There are no tears: no pain

For those who depart.

TO A FRIEND

We pass through this life but once,
Like the wind: sometimes unseen.
Living our days one at a time
Spending them down to our last day.

Along the way we met one day
I don’t recall it well.
But there you were and gave a gift
Of friendship and memories.

Together we laughed and
Together, we cried spending
Days gone by that we shared,
Like apples from a tree

If I could have just one more day
I’d thank you for the past.
And adorn my remaining days
With your sweet memory.

A STRANGER

Chapter 1

Jason sat at the table, listening to snippets of conversations that were not meant for and of little interest to him. He couldn’t help but ease drop. Sometimes a woman’s nervous laugh would draw his attention away from one to another, as the noise filled bar crowd grew larger.

Vodka tonic was the only friend he seemed to have this night, as couples mingled and shared stories and days events. Jason sat lonely, his life having taken a rather sharp turn. Staring into the almost empty glass, he visualized what he had once. Kim had been his life for the past two years, and she kept popping into his mind now, he could almost sense her being there with him. Funny he thought, how a woman could become such a large part of a man’s consciousness.

They had met in a retirement village in Boca Raton, in a public square outdoor dance. He was visiting his aunt; a rather contentious thin-skinned yet funny old lady of 94, and Kim Belmore was about 45 and visiting her widowed father, a retired doctor. Jason had seen her sitting with some girlfriends across the square, leisurely chatting. Collecting the courage he timidly crossed the crowded square over to ask her to dance, leaving aunt Martha to listen to the 4-piece band that played in the bandstand. He introduced himself and before he knew it they were chatting and joking like old friends.

She was wearing a pair of white jeans and a red-checkered blouse, with large gold earrings, and her shoulder length auburn hair caught the setting sun that gave it its reddish luster. At first she was caught unaware that he had asked, then one of her girlfriends poked her into consciousness and she responded to Jason’s greeting.

He was from New York City, and as it turned out, so was she. She was divorced with no children and he was a widower with no children not looking for anything except to move on with his architectural career and life in general. Working for a large firm kept him busy, with late hours and travel, which was perfect for helping him get over the hard times of missing Gwen, his wife for over 30 years.

They started to date occasionally, then, more frequently, and soon were an item. But the past few months with Kim had changed her somewhat. There was nothing he could do wrong in her eyes, and she in his, it was love and it seemed to grow. But as his ideas and designs proved to be so innovative, so did his status in the firm and with it came new demands from his job. First it was the long hours, and then the international travel, pulling him away from Kim and the job became his mistress for weeks at a time. At first Kim tried to be accepting, but soon became very jealous, and started to demand more of Jason’s time then he could give. Then one evening when they were celebrating two years together in a favorite little restaurant in Manhattan, things came to a head. He said things, and then she said things and stormed out of the restaurant into the east 48th street crowd. He tried calling her, but she refused to answer the phone or his messages, as she did likewise to his e-mails.

He sat wondering how she could go so cold, so detached as not to care anymore. He wondered what the two years he spent with her really meant to her. Jason was a betrayed man, lonely and bitter, wishing only the worst for her in his mind, then trying to be forgiving, but then angry once again that she remained away from him by choice.

In his mind he was beginning to demonize her, at first guarded criticisms, until finally, after no communication for three months, full-blown hatred and anger. It struck him that he needed to get over her, and go on with his life. But if he could hurt her he would. He still kept her picture on his dresser. The photo was of the two of them sitting on an outdoor bench with the ocean beach behind them. Her smile was large as his was forced. Damn her, the bitch! But he couldn’t bear to part with the photo.

Suddenly Jason was aware of a presence across from him that he hadn’t noticed before. “Regrets?” asked the stranger, a man about 45, with veins that stood out of his thin skeletal balding forehead, a ponytail and piercing almost black eyes. On the strangers chin was a wispy growth of hair that would have been better shaved.

“Natas Hetkwaad, at your service sir.” Reaching out his hand to Jason, Jason hesitatingly accepted it and shook it once, almost casually. “Jason Middleton” responded Jason, looking at the man closely.

“Natas! Never heard the name before, what’s the origin?” inquired Jason.

“Dutch actually, named after my father.” The man had a rather peculiar accent, a cross between a German and English sound to it. It seemed to Jason to have an educated flavor in the pronunciation, yet he wasn’t sure.

“I take it you seem to be deep in thought, lose someone?” asked the stranger.

Jason wondered if he should bother, but then thought that maybe if he talked to someone it would help him flush out the feeling of betrayal he harbored.

“What else, a woman, over two years we were together, then she leaves me. One day we are lovers, the next…” Jason lowered his eyes once more, toying with his glass and swirling the mostly melted ice cubes, holding the glass at eye level.

What was she like? Asked the stranger, looking intently into Jason’s eyes, his long legs crossed one over the other, resting comfortably in his chair, arms folded.

“Does it matter anymore?” asked Jason. “Maybe I should just forget, or at least try to, I’m sounding like a love-struck school boy for Christ-sake!” continued Jason. With that he slammed his glass down and looked for the waitress.

“Allow me” offered the stranger and summoned the waitress for another round for Jason and a Merlot for himself.

“Ever have it happen to you?” asked Jason. “Ever been dumped hard like that?”

“Me? Oh no, I don’t involve myself with love anymore: you see some of us are not cut out to love. I find my passion elsewhere, away from any feminine influence. In fact I find them to be more a hindrance to me than anything else. No, my passion is beyond that, beyond the carnal, beyond the daily struggle of relationships with women. You my friend are a case in point! You sit here and while away your good time, and over what? A woman? Just because society says that is what you do?”

Jason shifted in his seat and wondered to himself who this Dutchman was. Where was he coming from, was he trying to pick Jason up, was he gay?

“Don’t concern yourself old man, I have NO romantic interest in anyone. Hardly.” Offered the stranger.

Jason noticed his fingers were long and almost feminine as they tapered down to a point on each digit. It seemed to match his sharp nose and pointed Adam’s apple. Jason surmised that the reason he had no interest in women was because women had no interest in him, he was not a pleasant looking man, although not unpleasant as a man.

“You see Mr. Middleton, no man should serve two masters, yet every man does… a woman and money. I for one seem to eschew either one and instead deal with the more earthly.”

Jason had no idea what the stranger meant, but he promised himself he would ponder the words. Leaning forward in his chair he asked:

“What makes you so interested? I mean here I am a total stranger and you come out of nowhere! Are you some kind of psychologist or something?”

Natas unfolded his arms and then folded them again.

“You might say that,” he said, using one hand for emphasis with unfolding the other. “I study human behavior, and offer solutions, simple, uncomplicated and yet direct solutions that deal with the root of the problems that mankind faces.”

Natas was beginning to intrigue Jason, so much to the point that he wanted to ask more.

“What do you charge? You must have a large clientele, there are a lot of troubled people looking for solutions out there.”

“Actually my friend, I don’t charge money, you pay with what you can afford, kind of barter if you will. I offer to fix a problem: you in turn will be given choices to fit the bill to rid yourself of your issue. Rather simple and time-tested method of doing business. I’m not your traditionalist, no, I like to deal in the abstract.”

Jason was almost on the edge of his seat. His creative mind was racing. Maybe Natas could help him rid the monkey on his back called Kim.

The waitress dropped off the drinks and Natas sipped from his Merlot, savoring the wine, but not looking at Jason, rather a far-off stare, across the room. He seemed to be waiting for something, or for Jason to speak. Slowly he placed his wine glass down carefully in front of him, and leaned back once again and crossed his arms.

“You know Mr. Middleton, uh, Jason, you might do well to consider my services.”

“And how would I do that Natas, my issue is unique, no? I mean she doesn’t want to know me anymore, and I can’t seem to contact her anymore, or at least she won’t let me.”

The stranger eyed him for a moment that seemed like an eternity, and began to speak in almost a practiced measure of words.

“Mr. Middleton, what would you say to the idea that this woman you once loved were to comeback to you, with all her love in tact, and it offered you the opportunity to reunite then you could cast her away, rid of her once and for all?”

There was a long silence from Jason before he answered.

“And you could arrange that? How? I can’t even speak with her, yet you can do all this? You must BE a master psychologist to play her mind that way!”

“Please Jason, there are ways to effect anything if you trust the right forces.” A casual smugness crossed Natas’ face as he lifted his glass and tipped it toward Jason, a slight bow from his thin skeletal head, sipping once again.

Jason leaned forward and with his elbows on the table, crossed his arms, one hand reaching for the vodka.

“Ok, when do we begin, and how?” inquired Jason.

“In two nights time, you will meet me here at mid-night, and come alone.” With that, Natas rose and left a twenty-dollar bill on the small round table and turned dramatically on his heels and walked out of the bar.

Chapter 2

Jason walked from the subway his mind confused. He thought that maybe the vodka was keeping him from thinking clearly, but the stranger had a weird effect on him. Reaching his apartment he felt somewhat spooked. Here was this stranger, sitting there out of the thin air: did he really meet this guy? Did he imagine the whole encounter? Was Kim really taking over his life in this odd fashion? Was he so obsessed with her, and the anger he harbored, that he was just dreaming all this?

Entering his apartment, his mind continued to wheel, his mind was racing. He entered his bedroom, and sitting on the edge of his bed, he turned on the TV with the remote and started to untie his shoes, and his thoughts went back to the stranger. He thought some more: “What did he mean by “effecting” things?

Then it struck him, this stranger, this so-called Natas, didn’t even know Kim’s name, doesn’t know who she is or where to find her, yet in two nights time, he would meet him once again, and Kim would come running back?

“No” thought Jason, this stranger was not there, it had to be the vodka or his need to hurt Kim badly enough he is dreaming this whole thing! He looked up and noticed Saturday Night Live was on, but nothing else seemed to penetrate his mind. He finished undressing, lit a cigarette and blew the smoke then stabbed it out and turned off the lights and fell asleep.

In his sleep that night, he dreamt of Kim, but she was wearing a mask, it was a party somewhere in Florida, he seemed to be at this large gathering and Kim was dancing with someone in a mask also. He couldn’t make out who it was, but as the couple twirled, the mask flew from Kim’s dancing partner, revealing the stranger he met at the bar. A sense of rage and jealousy seemed to grip him in the gut, and he awakened from his sleep, and lay there.

He replayed the scene in his head a few times, and each time he saw who the dance partner was, the sense of jealousy and anger re-appeared. This stranger was starting to get to him as much as Kim did, he thought. Falling back to sleep, he was once more on the dance floor, but it seemed to Jason that he was in a dance hall of some kind then the next moment he was in the square in Florida, his aunt Martha by his side, when Kim and the dance partner spun by to a rather fast dance, when the mask flew from Kim’s dance partner revealing the stranger once again.

That morning, Jason rose about 9:30 am, and stepped into the shower, the hot water pelting him in a steady stream, and running down his face. As he felt the water hitting the top of his head, the evening before came back to play, and the dream he had had twice in one night. It still disturbed him that now he was jealous of the Stranger and angry with Kim, who he was referring to frequently as “The Bitch!” Stepping out of the shower, he once again tried to piece together the events last evening and how possibly this Natas whatever his last name was would ‘effect’ anything without Kim’s acquiescence or his knowing who she was.

Putting on the hot water for instant coffee, he went into the cupboard and pulled out a box of Grape-nuts cereal, and poured himself a bowl without thinking. He tried to take his mind off of things by thinking about the office and his latest project, a multi-million dollar office building with a parking garage under the building and a small apartment complex next to it. But his mind went back to Kim and the Stranger once again!

Jason decided to dress and go down to the local deli and purchase the Times, maybe if he tried to relax with the newspapers, he could take his mind off of Kim. Walking out of his apartment, he walked to the elevator and pushed the down button, waiting for the car to arrive. Leaning against the wall, he noticed all the paint chips that fell from the corners of the hall, the scrounged looking sconces that populated the walls and the grimy floor that ran the length of the hall.

Out of the corner of his eye something seemed to flash by, almost seen, like a shadow or motion that was invisible. He thought that maybe he needed a rest from himself. This Kim and the stranger were getting to him.

Walking the street to the deli, it seemed like someone was following him. He seemed to hear echoes of footsteps, a cadence that seemed to match his, yet if he stopped, it stopped. Once he deliberately stopped and quickly turned around, but no one was there. The Sunday morning traffic on the street was next to non-existent.

As he approached the deli, something or someone flashed by him from out of nowhere, crossing in front of him right to left as to run across the quiet avenue, and as Jason looked, there was no one to be seen. This disquieted Jason because he just saw or felt the presence of someone or something!

Returning to his apartment building, he kept an eye open and an ear to the wind, looking and listening, yet nothing was happening. He thought he was becoming paranoid once again, and that this whole situation was starting to frighten him. Entering the outer entryway he inserted his key and began to walk toward the elevator. Searchingly he scanned the area but no one was there and he entered the elevator. Pressing the button, he wondered if someone was waiting for him to leave his apartment in order to break and enter, maybe he should have stayed upstairs he thought.

The elevator door slid open and he entered his floor, the newspapers tucked under his arm and he looked around once more. Still it was quiet, but he felt like someone was ready to jump out of the woodwork and shock him once more. Once inside his apartment, he threw the newspapers on the sofa and sat heavily into his couch, pausing to catch his equilibrium and adjust. The incidences in the hall and on the street seemed to unnerve him enough to need the rest. Lighting a cigarette, he drew in deeply on the cigarette, wishing he could break the habit once and for all, then reached for the papers. He went to the main section and read the latest news coming out of the Middle East, where the story continued on page A-25, and as he quickly turned the pages, awkwardly fumbling with the shape and size of the paper something familiar caught his eye, forcing him to seek what it was by turning back the pages. It was a front headshot of a man that he seemed to recognize, but not quite! Jason could not locate the photo, slowly turning back the pages a number of times!

Jason threw the paper down on his coffee table, sending a candy bowl a few inches, just short of the edge. He was totally disgusted with himself, and starting to feel a crisis was brewing that he couldn’t understand or foresee clearly.

Lifting his cigarette to his lips, he took a drag and held it out at eye level, then switched his gaze to his window, staring out into the vast grey New York sky. Soon he drifted off to sleep, a restless sleep that caused him to shift and toss and turn. He dreamt he was walking along a road, the day was dark and dreary, snow was falling and on his right was a cliff that fell about 25 feet to a rocky edge of water. Reminding himself not to trip, he suddenly fell down into the jagged rocks, and as he neared, before he hit the rocks the cigarette he was smoking burned his fingers between his index and middle finger, jerking him awake in confusion and sending the cigarette on his lap, then the floor.

Disgusted, Jason reached for the TV remote and searched the channels, settling on a basketball game, as the camera focused on the head coach who was shouting out to his team on the floor. Behind the coach in the stands sat a man, who, looked like the stranger, but before he could focus on the man, the camera switched to the floor and then a commercial. He was tempted to leave the TV on and see if he could find the stranger once again, then decided not to. He wondered how a strange man, a woman he now hated and the constant reminders could invade his reality? Maybe if he had not revealed what was troubling him to the stranger, none of this would be occurring.

The rest of the day seemed to drift by. Jason read the papers, having a late lunch or rather an early dinner, did some reading and reviewing some sketches he had made for the next day’s meeting with a client. But an occasional drifting back to Kim, the stranger, and the dreams, and flashbacks to the elevator incident and street that morning kept occurring.

That evening Jason went to bed about midnight, carrying a book on Pre World War II architectural design, with full-page illustrations and photographs in a large formatted book, read a little and then he fell off to sleep.

In his sleep once again, he felt the familiar sequence unfolding, yet he seemed to know what was coming, yet was surprised by what he expected, the same dance, same place and same players all playing out the scenario once again.

Chapter 3

The dawn drew the rising sun into his eyes, awakening him. For a moment he didn’t know where he was, the residue of the deep sleep, running its course. The book he had been reading lay next to his bed on the floor. Jason looked at the clock that read 6:38 am. Jason rose from the bed and headed toward the bathroom and ran the shower, undressing he stepped into the ceramic walled and glass partition shower and allowed the water to cascade down onto his head. He realized that this would be the night he would meet the stranger, maybe ridding all the drama that was playing out in his mind, ending the puzzlement once and for all.

The day itself seemed to revitalize Jason, as he hailed a cab and went to his office, the dream once again invading his consciousness momentarily, but he was able to switch it off. It did bring him back to the question of how this Natas guy was going to pull off what he said he would. He thought about Kim some more and the idea that if the stranger did what he said he could do, that Jason would reconcile with her. He realized he was jumping from the love he had for her to the anger he harbored about her.

The day was a busy one for Jason. A client meeting first thing then a staff meeting that took them through lunch, then plans for a new project were discussed. A possible trip to Copenhagen to scout out a new location for a theatre that a Danish group had selected for the project was also on the table. When Jason checked his watch, it was 6:30 pm, and he made some phone calls, checked his e-mails from the days activities and was now looking at 7:45 pm! Jason plopped into his leather sofa and allowed the cleaning crew to come in and do their job, as he pretended they were not there. Looking out the vast panorama of the darkened New York City skyline, his mind drifted to his meeting tonight, would the stranger show up, and what would he bring to the table, he thought.

Rubbing his tired eyes, he thought about the day’s activities once more and decided to get something to eat.

The building was empty. Most of the lights were out except in the main entryways and hallways. It was a lonely feeling, the heartbeat of the day echoing through in the strange silence. The sounds of the phones ringing, and distant voices talking, all silenced by the abandonment of the work force. Slowly he walked toward the elevator bank, when something caught his eye, flashing by him about twenty feet in front that went around the corner. Jason quickened his pace to follow it, turning the corner, and once again, nothing was there!

Unnerved, Jason leaned against the doorway of one of the closets, then walked back toward the elevators and pushed the button waiting for the cab to arrive. Just as he pushed the button the movement once again occurred, and this time Jason followed it as fast as he could, turning the corner and moving from door to door, checking the knobs, but each door was lock, each office was cleaned and the night crew looking as they left. He tried one last door and it opened! Jason froze in his tracks and then slowly pushed the door a little at a time, peeking in, a shadow lurking in the corner inner office.

As the door was pushed by Jason’s nervous hand, he immediately noticed a light coming from the inner office, and cautiously he tiptoed toward the light, a shadow bouncing around from the floor and wall. Turning into the office a small cleaning lady nervously jumped startled at seeing Jason standing there.

“DID SOMEONE ELSE COME IN HERE JUST NOW?” demanded Jason.

“Huh! No comprendo, no hablo Englise” She clutched her gloved hand to her chest, frightened.

“Sorry” said Jason, and then tried to pantomime someone walking in, but it only confused the diminutive lady even more. Leaving her he heard his elevator chime ring and the doors open then close as he returned to the elevator bank.

As he left the office, the thought occurred to him that perhaps the stairwell was where this phantom headed, so Jason went to the door that read “STAIRS”, and opened the door, but realized that by now whoever it was, was long gone.

“Something or someone is doing this to me, and is doing it effectively!” he thought. ‘How’ he wondered and did not know, but it was starting to scare him. Nervously he hit the down button one more time, then nearly jumped out his skin as the chime rang immediately! Stepping in, he hit the down button and the incident plagued his mind to the point he was now finding himself standing on the street!

He scanned the area and wondered if he should perhaps just go home and call it a day, but a driving force of curiosity and fear was going to take him back to that bar from Saturday night and meet with that stranger at mid-night.

Walking along the street, Jason found a Chinese take-out with a few tables to sit and eat, and decided he would go in. He noticed a person, a tall thin person, with the back toward Jason with what seemed to be the same build he recalled the Stranger having when he left the bar standing at the counter! He couldn’t be sure, but he could almost swear that it was the Stranger.

Jason entered the restaurant and stood behind the person, who continued to stare ahead. Jason raised his hand: his index finger poised toward the man and gently poked him.

Jason could not believe what was happening, what was consuming him, what did this all mean? The person was not the stranger, but a woman!

Jason apologized and the woman gave him a dirty look and stepped aside, keeping her gaze on him. Taking her order she immediately left, never saying a word to Jason. He wondered if this was a bad dream.

He gave what looked like the owner’s wife his ordered and sat down at one of the tables. He had to steady himself, he was starting to fall apart, and wondered if he needed to see a shrink, maybe there was no stranger after all, that that night in the bar lounge was all a figment of his imagination! Maybe he never was in the bar! He looked at his watch and realized soon he would have his answers.

Chapter 4

Jason left the restaurant, and walked to the bar, there was time and he wanted to walk off the food, and think. The air was filled with the soft patter of raindrops, a cross between a mist and an actual rain, leaving a chill in his bones, in spite of the General Chang’s Chicken. There was hardly anyone on the streets and the city seemed to be slowing down from the hectic activity that lasted from sunrise to late into the evening. He wasn’t sure if he was excited about what would unfold with Natas, an end to his anger or a dread to further his misery along by there being no real stranger.

Crossing the empty street, he could see the reflection of the bar window with its neon glare flashing even in the street, the row of storefront establishments were darkened, yet this was a beacon of light as it stood out in the row.

He entered the bar as a young couple departed: the lounge itself was nearly empty with the exception of two young women who were animated in their conversation. Jason took a seat at a small round table, lit by a candle as a waitress came over, placing a bowl of peanuts and napkin down and greeted Jason, pencil poised to take his bar order, a Vodka tonic order, Jason leaned back in his chair and waited.

Casually surveying the room, he looked at everything but saw nothing, heard the crowd, but didn’t seem listen to it. He looked at his watch several times and checked it again, as the waitress put down his glass and smiled walking away.

Jason was ready to leave money for the drink and depart, fearing for his sanity, but realized if he did, he would never know for sure and it would haunt him the rest of his life.

Taking a sip of his drink, he better positioned himself, facing the door.

“Come on you scumbag, show up” he thought to himself: checking his watch one more time. It was midnight!

Just then the door swung open, and in stepped what surprised Jason.

At first he was not sure what to do, then he rose and sat then rose; again, the shock so strong he laughed at the circumstances. Could it be? Were his eyes deceiving him?

Standing at the entrance was Kim, slowly surveying the room, her head moving left to right in a robotic fashion! Spotting Jason, she slowly approached his table and stopped, staring down at him. May I sit? She asked expectantly. Jason wasn’t sure what to say, but motioned yes.

The stranger somehow had delivered, and now it was in Jason’s lap.

“Hello, Jason.”

“Kim! I didn’t expect to see you here! Are you meeting someone?”

“Can we talk?” staring into his eyes, searching deeply, almost to the point of a hypnotic stare, causing Jason to look away.

“What is there to talk about, when you left me sitting all alone, I figured that was it. You never answered my phone calls or returned my e-mails. What can we say now?” Jason searched her eyes and waited.

Kim still held her robotic gaze, eyes hardly moving, blinking or even acknowledging what Jason had just said. Finally her lips moved:

“Jason darling, come with me.”

“What! Where?”

“Please don’t complicate things, come with me, just come…”

Jason froze for a moment, searching her eyes, looking for clues of any kind. She was Kim, yet she wasn’t. Her thin lips and long auburn hair told him she was, but he could feel a distance in her, and a detachment that somehow communicated yet left him void of any feelings. One might even say a: coldness.

Slowly she arose from her chair and backed away from the table, her eyes fixed on Jason, almost welded to him in their stare. Jason felt compelled to rise and slowly he did, his eyes now locking on hers. Like a slow motion dreamlike sequence of small yet simple events, he rose, slowly until he stood there, mute and expecting. His arms hung from his sides, his eyes fixed like a matador toward his opponent.

Deliberately Jason strolled toward Kim, and she encircled his arm with hers, gently guiding him toward the door and onto the rain soaked street.

“Come darling…”

That was all Jason could remember.

When he was aware once again, he lay in his bed, staring up at the figure at the foot. The room was dimly lit, and the curtains were drawn closed. There was a series of votive candles that seemed to be everywhere, flickering so silently, so intensely that Jason could not help but wonder if this was indeed Kim being romantic or something else taking over.

As she stood so still, so statuesque, he wondered why, as if she was standing on guard. He could not recall the trip to his apartment from the bar. How did he get here he wondered, a dryness in his throat, and a tension running throughout his whole body.

Slowly Kim began to move, and as she did, he noticed for the first time her eyes. As they slowly lifted toward him, looking across the bed. They seemed to brighten unnaturally, almost glowing, and Jason was becoming alarmed. A voice in his head said to run, just get up and go. He could feel his heart beating, with what seemed like it was about to burst. He tried to lift his body from the bed, but both fear and curiosity had overcome him, his body refusing to move! He couldn’t understand the fear of Kim, the paralyzed feeling of hopelessness, and the want to escape from her.

The shadows on the wall were becoming more prominent. They were casting a huge dark shape that seemed to be human in its silhouette than dance and would disappear into the softness of a formless cast of light. Kim edged closer and as she did, the glow in her eyes was becoming like an ember, one that would glow then die: yet it didn’t. She was now on the edge of the bed, near his head, her long brown hair covering her eyes, her breath now emanating a foul odor that caused Jason to catch his breath and stop breathing. Her body odor was no longer the sweet smell of lilac he noticed in the bar, but the smell that one would notice on a hot summer’s day in a city street, rife with old garbage!

A low, mournful cry was beginning to come from her body, a sorrowful mourn: and she said: “Oh, that you harbored such hate, such anger, such REVENGE! Just then, she looked up and it was the Stranger!

A coldness: overtook Jason, his body suddenly shivering as the room turned cold, the candles suddenly burning and rising to a new height!

“OH THE EVIL OF MAN! YOU WISHED ME DEAD? YOU WOULD GIVE ANYTHING TO SEE ME HURT? OH, YOU WOULD PAY THE PRICE YOU SAID.

Her long hair was no longer hair, but the hood of what looked like a monks, swallowing the strangers head, his dark piercing eyes now like embers of coal.

Jason could feel his body shaking, trembling, wishing he could move, a pleading in his voice… “No, no, no, no! Who are you, what do you want form me?” he cried, his voice quivering. But there was no response, just a deadly silence that made him tremble even more. For a moment he was a little boy again, in his parent’s Bronx apartment reliving a horrid nightmare that so frightened him that he was afraid to go back to sleep and didn’t sleep for days.

Slowly but shaking Jason rose, backwardly crawling away from the figure, as it started to rise upward, standing erect over him. Swinging his feet over the side of the bed he tried to move toward the door, and as he did he could feel a force holding back his progress, making it difficult to move. His legs were unsteady and he was just out of reach of the door, the figure moving over the bed toward him.

Suddenly he was overtaken by the unbearable coldness of an unseen force, hurling him into the very door he wished to reach! Slammed against the door, he turned and faced what he thought was the stranger, but there stood Kim, pointing at him, like the evil one, she let out a loud howling laugh, then screamed: “PAY THE PRICE, GO AHEAD, PAY THE PRICE!” The figure of Kim turned once again into the stranger, as he hurled himself at Jason.

Chapter 5

It was days before anyone finally located Jason. His bosses tried to reach him by phone, then e-mails, and finally, someone noticed an awful odor coming from his room. A neighbor called the police and they found Jason lying face down in a pool of blood, his throat ripped out. They also found something else. They found the body of a Kimberly Belmore, white female, about 45 to 50, brown hair, brown eyes, a picture of her and the deceased male at a beach on his dresser the police said. There was no trace of the male’s torn out throat!