Double or Nothing

by Wells, Donald

  “Perhaps not, however we should establish a cash payment account for June, eh?”

  David smiles back at her. “Yes Dr. Meyer, and thank you.”

  The doctor nods and turns to June. “So, how does it feel to be able to speak?”

  June brings David’s hand to her lips. “It was the best moment of my life when I could tell David what I was feeling, it was like…coming alive.”

  “David, June is a very special young woman, you take good care of her, do you hear me?”

  “June is the best thing that’s ever happened to me doctor. I cherish her and I love her. I will spend my life loving her.”

  “I wish you two the very best. Now June, isn’t it time you went to your therapy and classes? David will see you later; he and I are going to chitchat while he waits for you.”

  June kisses David goodbye and leaves Dr. Meyer’s office.

  Once June has left, David looks across the desk at Dr. Meyer.

  “I would be surprised if you have ever ‘chitchatted’ with anyone in your life, what’s up?”

  “Very perceptive of you, I just thought we needed to speak in private. I want to stress to you the importance of letting June advance at her own pace.”

  “I would never pressure June, I never have. All the progress she’s made came at her own pace and in her own time.”

  “I understand that, but the two of you are now entering a highly emotional phase of life. A romantic relationship can cause turmoil even in an established personality. June is just becoming who shall be, I caution you to take it very slow.”

  “Doctor, are you talking about sex?”

  “Yes, however not exclusively.”

  “I’ve put no pressure on June as far as sex and I never will. I would wait years until she’s ready if that’s what it takes, it’s ecstasy enough just hearing her talk at this stage.”

  “I am so glad to hear you speak this way David, not all men would be so understanding.”

  “Let me thank you for your understanding doctor, about our earlier deceptions.”

  “I understand your reasons for them, you sought to protect June.”

  “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her. I love her.”

  “David I could tell that the day you two walked in here.”

  That night, as previously arranged, David, Carol and June, meet Al at a restaurant in the city. The two women are dressed fabulously in gowns and even David is wearing a new suit. This time June wears a bright red while Carol is attired in a vibrant green.

  Al has always had a crush on Carol, even though she is six years his senior. When he arrives, he kisses her on the cheek and sits beside her at the table.

  “It’s so good to see you Carol. It’s been way too long.”

  Carol stares into Al’s eyes. “You know where I live. Why don’t you visit sometime?”

  “If I thought you really meant that, I’d show up.”

  “I wouldn’t say it unless I meant it.”

  “OK, expect to see me soon, in the meantime I’m being rude. I didn’t say hello to Miss Mouse here, hello Miss Mouse.”

  “Hello Al.” June says, with an impish smile.

  Al does a comical double take at June and then looks first at David and then Carol. “Am I losing it or did Mouse just speak to me?”

  “I spoke Al, and you can call me June now.”

  Al jumps up from the table and goes to June, he takes her face in his hands and kisses her on the cheek. “I am so happy for you, and for you too Davey, I know what this means to you.”

  “Isn’t that the sweetest voice you’ve ever heard?” David asks.

  Al sits back down next to Carol. “It sure is. But hey, what’s with this June stuff? Is it official? Have you contacted the Davenports?”

  “No, nothing’s official and the Davenports still don’t know anything yet. June is Mouse’s new name now whether or not she’s a Davenport, she likes it a lot.” David says.

  “David and I are going to wait…to…contact them. I think I need more time.” June says.

  Al laughs in wonder. “I still can’t get over it. Mouse talks. It’s more than the talking though June, you seem so with it, so normal. It’s like you’re a different person.”

  “I have David to thank for that, his love brought me out of my…darkness.”

  “Davey seems a tad brighter himself these days June.” Carol says, “And he can thank you for that.”

  Al calls over the waiter. “Would you happen to have a bottle of Cristal Rose?”

  “No Sir, however we do have several bottles of the 1997 Cristal Brut.”

  “Bring us two bottles, we’re celebrating.”

  “Yes Sir.” Says the waiter, happily anticipating his gratuity.

  “Al, this dinner is my treat, not yours.” David says.

  “Change of plans Davey boy, this one’s on me. I am so happy for you buddy.”

  “Thanks Al.”

  Parked outside the restaurant is an unremarkable looking van, in it sit two F.B.I. agents with a telephoto lens snapping pictures of the foursome. The two men look virtually interchangeable in their matching black suits and short-cropped hair.

  “This has got to be the most boring mobster in the world. Every month we follow him around and the biggest criminal act we’ve ever seen him commit is jaywalking.”

  “Jimmy, ours is not to question why, but I think you’re right. Albertino in there is strictly a money guy, still, he is connected and a made man, so we watch him.”

  “I’ll tell you Mike, there’re worse duties than looking through a lens at those two women he’s with.”

  “Yeah, the shorter one is particularly hot. I’m getting a chubber.”

  “You really are a pervert sometimes Mike, you know that?”

  “I’ve seen Al with the other guy before, but the women are a mystery.”

  “Yeah, I wonder who they are? Well, that’s enough for the night. Let’s go get something to eat ourselves, I’m starving and we still have two more targets to photograph.”

  “Sure thing, hey that nudie bar on seventh serves a great burger, let’s go there.”

  “Like I said, a pervert.”

  9

  Valentine’s Day arrives and David has made the local florist a happy man. Carol’s house is filled with dozens of roses.

  Along with candy, June was also given a gift certificate to the boutique in New York City where she had previously shopped. David even joined in on the shopping and bought several new suits.

  The two go back to the apartment house to check on things. David has not set foot in the place in over a month and for June it’s been even longer.

  Mrs. Johnson, sweeping her halls, was elated to see them. David would have bet that the old woman would faint when she heard June speak, but Mrs. Johnson took it all in stride and went back to her sweeping.

  Inside the apartment, the couple stand at Mouse’s old bedroom window and look out at the alley. The large hole in the side of the theater is now patched. June grimaces with a look of disgust.

  David notices her expression, he takes her hands in his and kisses her on the lips.

  “It seems like a lifetime ago that you lived in that building, doesn’t it?”

  “Why would I do that when I could have been up here with you?”

  “I don’t know honey, I guess you didn’t trust me enough yet.”

  “Oh no it wasn’t that. I loved and trusted you the moment I saw you. No I think…I was just afraid of being…confined in any way, but the night those four men came in there after me I became more afraid of them. Please don’t ever think it was because I didn’t trust you. I always trusted you.”

  “June don’t even talk about that night. I was so scared for you, I thought that they had gotten to you.”

  “I remember David, I remember you going after four dangerous men with nothing more than a steak knife because you thought I was in danger. If I hadn’t already been in love with you, I would have fallen in love then
.”

  “I was so happy when you came to live with me. Your living on the streets drove me crazy, all I wanted to do was take care of you.”

  “I…would like to take care of you too.”

  “What do you mean honey?”

  “All we do is kiss. I know you did more than that with Alison. I would like us to have sex too.”

  “June, please don’t ever compare yourself to Alison. Alison and I were never in love, it was a physical relationship for the most part.”

  “Alison loves you and I know she wants you back.”

  “What Alison feels for me isn’t love—it’s obsession. In time she’ll move on. Forget her.”

  “But don’t couples make love on Valentine’s Day?”

  David kisses June again and this time he takes her in his arms.

  “Honey don’t feel rushed to sleep with me because of the date, we will make love when the time is right. There’s no rush, whenever you’re ready is when it will happen, OK?”

  “OK David, I love you so much.”

  “I love you too baby.”

  “When we do make love, I hope…I hope I please you.” June says.

  David looks concerned. “Things have been moving quickly lately, I haven’t been rushing you in any way, have I been?”

  “No, it’s just that the things I know of life I mostly learned by watching TV, life really isn’t anything like TV, is it?”

  David laughs. “No, it’s much better. Hey, how about we go get some lunch?”

  “At the Diner?”

  “Sure, just like old times.”

  That evening, when they arrive back home at Carol’s, David and June find that Al has made good on his promise to visit. David notices that Al has added a dozen roses of his own to the cluster of flowers. Carol also holds a large box of assorted chocolates.

  “Al stopped by to take me out to dinner, isn’t that nice?” Carol says.

  David simply says. “Uh huh,”

  Al looks like a kid picking up his date for the prom. He asks David if he can talk to him in private. When they’re alone in the kitchen, Al speaks to David with a serious look on his face.

  “If you have any problem with me taking out your sister I’ll understand and there will be no hard feelings.”

  David says nothing for an awkward moment and then sits at the kitchen table, when he speaks, his voice conveys a note of resignation.

  “I’ve been wondering for years if you were ever going to find the balls to ask her out.”

  Al sits across from him. “You’re saying it’s OK by you?”

  “I’m saying I’ve been expecting this, and mob ties or not you’re a damn good man Al. I’ve also seen my sister look at you the same way you look at her.”

  “Davey, does she know what I do? I’d want to play it straight with her from the start.”

  “Carol knows what you do for a living, you protect your family’s interests. My sister is far from naive and worldlier than most women, she won’t judge you.”

  “I am so damn nervous. I’ve had a crush on your sister since college.”

  “It’ll be fine Al. Oh, just one more thing.”

  “What’s that?”

  “If you ever hurt my sister in any way, shape or form, not even big bad Vinny will be able to protect you from me, Capite il mio amico?”

  “Yes my friend, I understand.” Al answers.

  The two men laugh as they rise from the table and shake hands. When they separate, David punches Al lightly on the shoulder.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “What do you mean?” Al asks.

  “I’ve known you for ten years, something’s been on your mind lately.”

  “It’s no big deal.” Al says, and then he tells David about his contest with Marco.

  David smiles. “My buddy the Godfather.”

  “Ha ha, anyway don’t count Marco out, he wants to be Capo more than anything.”

  “I only met him once, that time we all went to Vegas. I didn’t get the impression he was in your league.”

  “Marco’s street all the way, but street’s not dumb. I’ve got a deal forming in Zurich that’ll put me out of his reach though, it’ll be worth nearly a billion dollars over the next three years.”

  “A billion dollars? You have my permission to marry Carol.”

  Al laughs. “Let’s see if I can make it through our first date.”

  They leave the kitchen and rejoin the women in the living room.

  “Davey, June tells me that you bought more suits today, I think she’s a good influence on you.” Carol says.

  “I have to at least try to keep up with my little clotheshorse.”

  “I love clothes.” June says shyly.

  “I hate to break up the party, but Carol we’d better get going.” Al says.

  Carol rises to leave. “OK Al, Davey what are you and June doing for dinner?”

  “I’m making dinner tonight for my little sweet patootie, lobster.”

  “I sometimes forget you can cook.” Al says, while helping Carol into her jacket.

  “Davey cooked for us while I was in med school, he’s very good at it.”

  Al waves as he and Carol walk out the door. “You two have a good time, so long June.”

  “Goodbye Al.” June says.

  Al shakes his head and smiles. “It’s still a kick to hear her talk.”

  After Al and Carol leave, June turns and looks up at David. “What’s a sweet patootie?”

  David kisses her. “You honey, you’re my sweet patootie.”

  Carol takes Al’s arm as he escorts her into a crowded restaurant on Canal Street. From behind the bar comes an older man whom Carol takes to be the proprietor, he’s dressed impeccably in a charcoal-hued three-piece suit.

  Al and the man exchange greetings in Italian, afterward, Al takes Carol’s hand and starts walking toward the rear of the restaurant.

  Carol wonders where they’re headed. There’s not an empty table in sight.

  Al continues past the tables and up a flight of stairs. They’re in a storage area. Al punches a set of numbers into a keypad at his right and a door slides open.

  It’s a private dining room, and the room is magnificent, from its Persian rug to its brilliant chandelier, and if Carol remembers what she learned from her college art appreciation classes, the paintings on the walls are genuine, including the Degas’ oil painting. A table for two sits beneath the chandelier with elegant crystal glasses and a chilled bottle of champagne.

  “If you wanted to impress me Al, you’ve done it.”

  After they settle in their seats, Al opens the champagne.

  “I’m glad you like it up here. I don’t mind crowds but I wanted you all to myself tonight.”

  “Do you dine up here often?”

  “Actually, I haven’t been up here in quite some time, it belongs to my Uncle Gino.”

  Carol stares at Al. “Your uncle the mob boss, right?”

  “Wow, you don’t waste time do you? Say what’s on your mind Carol. Ask me any questions you want about who I am and about my family, let’s get it all out in the open now.”

  “All right, from hearing Davey talk about you I know that you mainly handle your family’s money. I also know from the papers that you’re rumored to be a made member of organized crime, if I’m not mistaken that would mean you’ve killed someone, am I right?”

  Al stares at Carol in an unblinking silence for so long that she begins to wonder if it would be best to leave, then his eyes blink once and he looks down at the table.

  “His name was Jimmy Pierro.” Al picks up the champagne and begins pouring. “He was a paid killer for the Scabelli family. Jimmy was fifty-three-years-old and the father of two girls, ages twenty-two and twenty.” Al pauses here, he looks at Carol and sighs, when he speaks again, Carol can tell it is not without effort. “One night Jimmy met my father in the parking lot of a bar and shot him in the head three times. I was seventeen-years-old and the on
ly things I cared about were baseball and girls, but I loved my poppa very much. I tracked Jimmy down a week later and made my bones.” Al gulps down half of his glass of champagne and lowers his eyes to the table again, he then tells Carol, “I’ll have Vinny take you home.”

  Carol sits unmoving for a moment, she then reaches across and takes Al’s hand.

  “Thank you for not lying to me.” She says. “Now tell me one more thing. How’s the Veal Picatta here?”

  Al looks at her appraisingly, after giving her hand a squeeze, he says. “Exceptional.”

  That night, David lies in bed nearly asleep when the door that connects his room with June’s bedroom opens. He turns his bedside lamp to its lowest setting and sees June.

  She grins nervously at David while leaning in the doorway. June is wearing a sheer red negligee and nothing else. David feels his throat go dry and his pulse rate escalate.

  “I hope I didn’t wake you.” June says.

  “No, I am wide-awake.”

  June caresses the negligee. “I bought this earlier today. Do you like it?”

  “It’s very nice and you wear it very well.”

  June walks over and sits beside him on the bed. David raises himself up into a sitting position, he is naked under the covers, as is his custom when he sleeps. June and he are only inches apart and David can now make out the details of her body beneath the negligee’s diaphanous material.

  “David you told me earlier…not to feel rushed into making love to you.”

  “That’s right honey.”

  June says, “I don’t feel rushed, I feel ready.” and kisses David passionately.

  David is more aroused than he has ever been in his life, but to his credit and surprise, he manages to say in a hoarse whisper. “Dr. Meyer thinks we should go very slowly.”

  “Dr. Meyer thinks too much…make love to me.”

  As David takes June in his arms he knows that there will be no further need for separate bedrooms ever again.

  Several days later, Jack and Kelly welcome the newest member of their team, Special Agent Robert Morgan, formally of the Organized Crime Task Force.

  Morgan is twenty-nine with the approximate physique of a tank. At six-foot-seven, the blue-eyed, sandy-haired Morgan makes Kelly feel absolutely girlish.