Mean Little People

by Dearth, Paige

  “Hey, Kate,” he yelled, “this is Ruth. She’s my best girl, so ya gotta make room for her,” he said, winking from across the room.

  Kate moved forward. “Hi, Ruth. I can see why you’re Tony’s best girl. Don’t worry—I know where I stand.”

  “Put me down,” Ruth said to Tony. Ruth hobbled over to Kate and gave her a hug. “I guess you’re OK. But you know, Tony has been a part of our family for a lot of years. I’m just warning you that if you fall in love with him, he’ll still love me more.”

  “Got it,” Kate said. “Can I help you put those cookies on the tray?”

  “That would be great,” Ruth said. She took Kate by the hand and led her behind the counter.

  Tony sauntered over to Donata, who had been watching them all intently. “You’re a good boy, Tony. I like that girl.”

  “Good, I’m glad you like Kate. Let’s go in the back. I need to ask ya for a favor.”

  When Tony and Donata were alone, he told her the situation.

  “Tony, look, I wanna help, but I don’t even know this girl. I mean, you barely know her. I can’t bring a stranger into this house. What about Ruth? What kinda grandmother would I be, lettin’ a stranger stay here?”

  “I know, Donata, but ya gotta trust me on this. I feel it in my gut. She’s a good girl, but she’s gonna need someone there for her when her mother dies.”

  Donata rubbed her temples with her index fingers. “Let’s see how it goes. Her mother is still alive. Why can’t she live with you when the time comes?”

  Tony had already thought about that. The Slayers let no one outside of the gang visit the house, let alone live in the house. The only possible way for Kate to live there was if she was eligible for a rape-in. Gang members were restricted to dating only the Slayer women. Their motto was that outsiders couldn’t be trusted with the secrets of the gang. There was no way Tony would entertain Kate being a part of a gang, so he had placed all his hopes on Donata stepping in to help.

  “She can’t, Donata. It’s all guys. It ain’t no place for her.”

  “Tony, you know I can’t afford another mouth to feed.”

  “I’ll help out. I’ll find a way to pay ya money for her to live wit’ cha.”

  Donata put her hands on her hips and shook her head. “I can’t make no promises right now, Tony. I wanna help, I really do, but let’s see what happens. Let’s wait until the time comes. OK?” she said, placing her hand lovingly on Tony’s cheek.

  “So ya ain’t sayin’ no,” Tony said, giving her a brilliant smile he hoped would melt her heart.

  “Right, but I ain’t sayin’ yes either. Get it straight, and stop hearing what cha wanna hear. That’s your problem—ya don’t listen all the time,” she said lightheartedly. Donata grew serious, “Tony, ya got a big heart, but cha gotta realize that ya just met this girl. She’s nice and all, but remember that ya don’t know her yet.”

  Tony took Donata’s face in his hands and put his nose gently to hers. “You’re right. I don’t know her that good, but I swear when I met her, it was like I knew her my whole life. I feel like shit when I ain’t wit’ her.”

  “First off, watch your language. I don’t want Ruth pickin’ up any of your bad habits.” Donata placed her hands over Tony’s. “They call that love at first sight. That’s what it sounds like ya got. Just go slow and make sure it ain’t your little head thinkin’ for your big head.”

  “Oh, you can say that, but I can’t say the word shit?”

  Donata patted his shoulder. “Just be careful. That’s all I’m sayin’. Take it slow. You’re still young.”

  Tony nodded to appease Donata. He glanced over at Kate and Ruth. They were both innocent. They were both full of love. They both wanted to be loved. He admitted to himself that it was awfully quick that he’d fallen for Kate; it had only been a couple of days. But he’d spent time with some of the girls in the Slayers gang. They were always selfish and clingy. They had nothing interesting to talk about. They didn’t read books or like to spend time alone with their thoughts. Kate was the girl that made Tony want to be a better person. She demanded nothing from Tony, and that made him feel appreciated and valued. Tony’s biggest dilemma now was how he could be with Kate and still be a part of the Slayers.

  As Tony walked Kate back to her house, she talked excitedly about Ruth.

  “She’s a great kid. I hope someday, when I have a little girl, she’s just like Ruth.” Then she lowered her voice to just above a whisper, even though they were far from the bakery. “What happened to her leg?”

  “Car accident. Her parents died. Ruth almost died too.”

  “Wow,” she breathed, “I can’t imagine losing both of your parents…”

  Kate stopped in the middle of the street and fell to her knees. She covered her face with her hands and bawled.

  Tony lifted her into his arms and sat her gently on the curb. He took a seat beside her.

  “I’m just like Ruth,” she wailed. “Soon I won’t have any parents either. Oh, Tony, what am I gonna do? I’m scared. I’ve never been without my mom.”

  “I know you’re scared. Look,” he said, lifting her chin with his fingers so he could gaze into her eyes, “I ain’t got no one, and things worked out for me. I’m not gonna leave ya alone to figure it out on your own; I’m gonna be right here next to ya. I swear to ya, Kate, I’m gonna do everything I can to help ya. I know it ain’t the same as havin’ your mother, but ya gotta know that you’ll have somebody who cares about cha.”

  Kate grasped Tony in a tight embrace. “You promise that you’ll be here?”

  “Yeah, I promise.” Tony looked down at her and wiped a tear from her cheek. He gave her a mischievous smile. “If you’re nice, I’ll even let ya kiss me once in a while.”

  Kate giggled, not because what Tony had said was overly funny, but because the stress of the day had played on her emotions. She was in the early stage of mourning her mother and starting a new relationship with Tony. Her emotions played at odds: happiness against sadness, new love against loss of love.

  When Tony kissed her good-night on her porch, she shut her eyes tight before she opened her front door and stepped inside to face her greatest fear, losing her mother.

  Chapter Sixty-Five

  Over the months that followed, Tony visited Kate and Darren every day. Darren had worked her way into Tony’s heart. She was brassy, and he admired her for facing death with unrelenting courage. Still, it broke his heart to watch her deteriorate as time passed.

  “Oh, look who’s here,” Darren said one Saturday afternoon.

  “Yeah, ya know I’d never miss a chance of being wit’ you two.”

  Kate watched as her mother and her boyfriend spoke.

  “I wanna talk to you two about somethin’,” Darren said solemnly.

  “What cha got?” Tony asked casually.

  “Well, it’s been a while since we talked about what’s gonna happen to Kate. Seems to me like you two are in love. Am I right?”

  Tony and Kate hadn’t said “I love you” to each other yet, but Darren was right—they both felt it.

  “Mom, come on. Please stop. It’s not right.”

  “OK, fine. Well, it seems to me that you like bein’ together.”

  “Sure we do,” Tony said.

  “I was wonderin’ how you two could be together for good, after I’m gone.”

  An awkward silence fell over them all. Tony wished he could be the knight in shining armor, and he hadn’t given up hope on Kate staying with Donata. In fact, Tony had brought Kate to the bakery several times a week since she’d first been there hoping Donata would get to know her well enough to let her live with them for a while.

  “Ya know, Darren, I’ve been doin’ a lot of thinkin’ about what’s gonna happen to Kate. I ain’t got all the answers right now, but here’s what I know. My family kicked me out when I was thirteen, and I had no idea what I was gonna do. I didn’t have a person in the world who could take care of me. My mothe
r and little sister cared about me, but they weren’t no help. I know from experience that we ain’t got all the answers all the time, but if ya wanna make somethin’ better and ya keep lookin’ for it, then you’ll find it. I ain’t worried about what’s gonna happen to Kate, and you shouldn’t either. All ya need to know is that I ain’t gonna leave her to figure it out on her own.”

  “Thank you, Tony. I wish there was a sure answer, but ya told me what I needed to hear.”

  A few hours later, Tony and Kate took a walk into South Philadelphia to meet up with Salvatore and Vincent. The two teens were very fond of Kate, and she had become a natural addition to their close circle of friendship.

  Tony reminded himself that he couldn’t stay too long. He had to get back to North Philadelphia because the Slayers were planning an attack on a neighboring gang that had harassed one of the girls in the house.

  “What are ya scumbags doin’?” Tony said, walking up to the bench where his friends were sitting.

  “Waitin’ for some dumb motherfucker to ask us what we’re doin’ so we can kick his ass,” Vincent replied. He leapt to his feet and went over to Kate and gave her a hug. “So you’re still hangin’ wit’ this shit stain, huh?”

  Kate smiled. “Yeah, I love hanging with Tony.”

  “How’s your mom doing?” Salvatore asked.

  Kate’s eyes clouded over. “She’s getting worse by the day.”

  Salvatore grabbed Kate’s hand and pulled her down next to him on the bench. “I don’t know anything about losing a parent. I’m not sure I could handle it if something happened to my mom or dad. I want you to know that Vincent and I will be around if you need us.”

  Kate laid her head on Salvatore’s shoulder, and he squeezed her into him. Tony watched, with a swell of appreciation, as his childhood friend comforted Kate.

  “Thanks, Salvatore. That means a lot to me.” Kate turned and looked at Tony. “You have good friends.”

  “Yeah, they’re all right,” he said, pushing Vincent.

  “Hey,” Salvatore began. “Vincent and I are going to Atlantic City in two weeks with my mom. We have our own room. Why don’t you two come with us?”

  Kate shook her head slowly. “I can’t leave my mom right now…I don’t know how much longer…”

  “Right,” Salvatore said. “Next time, then.”

  “How ’bout you, Tony? Ya wanna come wit’ us?” Vincent asked.

  Kate held her breath, waiting for Tony to answer.

  “Nah, I’m gonna hang here wit’ Kate. Ya know, keep an eye on things.”

  Kate exhaled. She didn’t know what she’d do if Tony was gone and her mother died. Kate gave Tony a grateful smile.

  Salvatore perked up, trying to break the somber mood. “How about if you and Kate come over to my house for dinner this Saturday? My father will be in New York, and my mom is going to make dinner for Vincent and me. I know she’d love to see you and to meet Kate.”

  “Yeah, that sounds real good. How ’bout it, Kate?”

  Kate smiled bashfully. She still wasn’t totally comfortable in her own skin. With Tony, she felt like she could be herself, and she had started to relax with Salvatore and Vincent. However, she could see that Tony really wanted to go, and she didn’t want to let him down, not after he’d turned down a weekend in Atlantic City to stay with her.

  “I think that would be a lot of fun,” she finally said.

  “Good. We’ll see you around six o’clock.”

  An hour later, as Tony walked Kate back to her house, he could sense an uneasiness from her he hadn’t felt earlier.

  “Somethin’ wrong, Kate?” he finally asked.

  Kate turned to him. “Nothing is wrong—it’s just that Salvatore seems to come from a rich family. I mean, I don’t really have anything decent to wear to his house. I’m embarrassed to show up in an old T-shirt and jeans. Look at my sneakers—they’re falling apart, and they’re the only shoes I own besides old snow boots that are too small for me.”

  “You ain’t gotta worry about all that. Mrs. Morano is a great lady. She don’t care ’bout what we wear; she only cares ’bout how we act. Besides, I think ya look great all the time,” he said, giving her a peck on the lips.

  Kate appreciated Tony’s kind words, but he was always trying to make her feel better. She decided to talk to her mother about it to see what Darren thought she should do. Then her mood saddened as she realized that her mother wouldn’t be there much longer to give her advice.

  Chapter Sixty-Six

  Tony walked inside Kate’s house behind her. The only light in the room was the illumination of the television, which cast a blue-gray shadow over Darren.

  “Oh, good. You’re home,” Darren said, a weak smile playing on her lips.

  “Tony and I got invited to his friend’s house Saturday night,” Kate blurted out.

  “That’s nice. Whose house ya goin’ to?”

  “Salvatore’s. Mrs. Morano is cooking dinner for all of us,” Kate said.

  “Mrs. Morano?” Darren asked, sitting up straighter on the sofa.

  “Yeah. Do you know her?” Kate asked.

  “I don’t know her, but I know of her.” Darren shifted her gaze to Tony. “Ain’t that Johnny Morano’s wife?”

  Tony nodded; the question was laced with accusations.

  Darren stared at Kate. “Johnny Morano is the head of the mob here in Philadelphia. Ya know what kinda trouble that’ll bring into your life?”

  Kate looked stunned. She opened her mouth to speak, and before she knew it, the words came out like a flash flood. “You don’t have to worry, Mom. Tony isn’t part of the mob; he’s in a gang.”

  “What?” Darren screamed. She shot off of the sofa and stood in front of Tony. “Why didn’t I know this?”

  Tony shifted his eyes to Kate. “There ain’t much to know.”

  “Holy Mary, Mother of God, what the hell have I done to my little girl?”

  Tony put his hand on Darren’s shoulder, but she jerked away.

  “What gang?” she demanded.

  “The Slayers,” he responded, feeling abnormal.

  Darren focused intently on her daughter. “Kate, this has to stop. You’re playin’ wit’ fire here. I’ve seen the aftermath of what those slugs do to people.”

  “No, Mom. You need to stop. All these months you’ve seen that Tony and I are doing fine. You encouraged us to be together. Now, just because you found out he’s in a gang, you want us to stop. He’s still the same person he was before you knew all of this.”

  “Do ya have any idea what you’re gettin’ yourself into? Gangs and Mafia…what else, Kate? Are ya sellin’ drugs on street corners too?”

  Kate stomped her foot and started to cry. “That’s not fair. We haven’t done anything wrong.”

  “Maybe you haven’t, Kate, but how about you, Tony? Have ya done things that ya shouldn’t have?”

  “I’ve done things I ain’t too proud of like anybody else. But I swear to ya, I don’t go around pickin’ on people for nuttin’. I don’t get my rocks off on bein’ mean. I only do what I gotta do when there ain’t no other way. What cha see on the news don’t ever show ya the whole story.”

  Tony’s blood was simmering. He felt exposed and no longer good enough for Kate.

  “Besides,” Tony continued, “I ain’t brought Kate around the Slayers, and I ain’t goin’ to either.”

  “Oh, but you’ll bring her around the Mafia? To the house of a man who kills people for a livin’.”

  “The Moranos are good people. Especially Mrs. Morano. She ain’t caught up in anything,” Tony said defensively.

  “Mrs. Morano enjoys her expensive lifestyle from the blood that her husband spills in the streets.”

  “It ain’t like that, Darren.”

  “Stop,” Kate yelled. “Mom, you’re dying. Tony is the only person I have in my life besides you. If you chase him away, it won’t only break my heart, but it will leave me to face my life without you all by my
self. I don’t care what gang he belongs to or that his friend’s father is the boss of the Mafia. All I care about is being with Tony. Can’t you understand that?”

  Darren lowered her head and thought for a moment. She was exhausted, having expended all of her energy. She locked on Tony’s eyes. “If ya ever put Kate in harm’s way, I’ll haunt cha from my grave.”

  “Ya ain’t never gotta worry about that. I’ll do whatever I gotta do to keep Kate safe…and happy.”

  Later that night, after Tony left, Kate approached her mother.

  “I don’t have anything to wear to dinner at the Moranos’.”

  Darren glared at her daughter for a minute. “Help me up.”

  Kate pulled her mother up from the sofa and followed her into the bedroom. As they walked through the cluttered row home, Darren let out a big sigh. “Kate, I don’t like what’s goin’ on here. My daughter goin’ to some dirty mobster’s house ain’t what I ever dreamed of for ya.” Darren opened her closet. “Get that box down,” she said, pointing to the shelf above their heads.

  Kate slowly reached up, grabbed the box, and placed it on her mother’s bed.

  “Open it up,” Darren said with determined resolve.

  Kate gasped when she opened the box. She pulled out a black sweater with small pearls sewn around the neck. “Where did you get this?”

  “I saved up some money. I bought it for you to wear…someday…when I’m gone. To my…funeral. But I think it’s better ya wear it to dinner. That way, the sweater will remind ya of good times. I ain’t crazy about cha goin’ over to the Moranos’—don’t think that’s changed.” Darren took in a deep breath. “But I trust ya. I want cha to be real careful. Tony is involved with bad groups of people…a gang and the mob.”

  “Tony isn’t involved with the mob. We are going to the Moranos’ because he’s been friends with Salvatore since he was little,” Kate pleaded, wanting to hear her mother’s acceptance of Tony.

  Darren understood her daughter’s plea for acceptance. Darren knew she would die and didn’t want to leave Kate with fear in her heart. “Tony’s a nice boy, OK? I’m not questionin’ his intentions for ya. But you’re young, and ya need to understand that the people he associates wit’ aren’t good people. Their lives are all about money and murder. Ya gotta get that through your head, so if things ain’t goin’ right between you and Tony, ya run away as fast as ya can.”