The Curiosity Shop: A comedy of errors about witchcraft

by Francken, Lillian

  Rocco looked at the receiver. “Is anyone there,” he asked with anger in his voice.

  Rocco slammed the phone down and then quickly walked back to his table. As he sat there glancing around at the crowd he picked up his drink and then gulped it all down.

  Rosy, seeing Rocco was back at his table, quickly walked over. She would have liked to take his food order but knew he would not order until the blonde was back. Seeing the empty glass Rosy rolled her eyes and then asked, “Would you like another drink?”

  Rocco looked up at Rosy as if seeing her for the first time, as suddenly the love potion kicked in.

  “Where have you been?” he asked in a way that puzzled Rosy for a moment.

  Rosy just turned around to see who Rocco was talking to and then realized he was talking to her. Her eyes widened with surprise. She knew he only had the one drink so far, but didn’t know how much or what he had elsewhere.

  “It’s me, Rocco, Gino’s cousin Rosy.”

  Rocco grabbed Rosy’s arm and pulled her down next to him. He put his arm around her and pulled her close.

  “Have dinner with me,” he said, whispering in her ear.

  “What about your girlfriend?” Rosy asked, knowing full well she would be back at any moment.

  Just then the blonde bimbo strolled out of the ladies’ room. She strutted over to the table and cleared her throat to get Rocco’s attention. The anger was building the longer she was made to wait. All she could do was watch Rocco snuggling up to Rosy.

  Rosy didn’t know what to do. She didn’t want to anger Rocco by getting up, but it was clear the blonde was not going to go away quietly.

  “What the...” the blonde snapped as she stood over them with her hand on her hip, cocking it in an attempt to show her anger.

  Rocco looked up at the bimbo and then motioned with his hand for her to leave, as if dismissing her lightly.

  “Beat it!”

  Rosy shrugged and raised her hands. She was about to get up but Rocco pulled her back down. “You stay with me.”

  “I don’t know what to say. Customers are waiting”

  Rocco glanced around the room. “To hell with them,” Rocco said as he leaned into Rosy and kissed her on the cheek. “Say yes, and have dinner with me.”

  Rosy’s boss walked over to the table, he cleared his throat to get Rosy’s attention. Rosy ignored him and just snuggled closer to Rocco. She was enjoying his attention and for the first time didn’t want to do as she was told.

  “Rosy, your customers are waiting.”

  Rosy didn’t have to answer. Rocco just glanced up at the man who had been ordering Rosy around for two years now. Rosy’s boss knew who Rocco was, but forgot himself for a moment as he stood over Rocco and Rosy demanding an answer. Rocco finally spoke up.

  “My girlfriend doesn’t need to work.”

  Rosy turned to Rocco. He pulled her closer to him and kissed her again on the cheek and then whispered:

  “Get out of that crummy uniform. I’m taking you someplace nice to eat.”

  Rosy was stunned as she slid out of the booth. Rocco took her arm and together they walked to the back room where Rosy had her locker and street clothes.

  She hurried into the locker room, quickly went to her bin where she kept her clothes, and got dressed. She threw her uniform into the garbage bin and hoped she’d never see it again. Rosy didn’t know what had come over Rocco and for that matter, she didn’t care. Tonight he only seemed to have eyes for her. She quickly rushed out, hoping above all else that Rocco hadn’t changed his mind.

  As she walked into the bar where Rocco was sitting, she walked up to him nervously. The bartender motioned to Rocco and as he turned, Rosy wasn’t disappointed.

  Rocco caught his breath as if seeing Rosy for the first time, which puzzled her. Rosy was not going to question her good fortune, certainly not now or for that matter ever.

  “You look fabulous,” he said, smiling at her.

  Rosy grinned confidently. Whatever he was drinking, she would have to make sure she kept a supply of that on hand. Rosy grabbed hold of Rocco’s arm and planned never to let go as she tossed her head back and smirked at the bartender.

  “Let’s get out of this dump!” she snapped.

  Rocco picked up his glass and gulped the last of its contents. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a bill and then tossed it on the table.

  “Keep the change,” he said.

  Things like that impressed Rosy. She liked the big spenders, the ones who threw their money around like it grew on trees. She had spent her whole life being a wannabe. It was going to be nice to finally belong to the crowd of people who didn’t have to worry about money.

  Spider hid in the corner and watched Rosy and Rocco walk out. He meowed, and once the door opened again, Spider hurried out, and no one was the wiser that the animal had been in the building.

  Chapter 19

  All during the long elevator ride up to his penthouse apartment, Rocco could not contain himself, wanting so desperately to make Rosy his and his alone. He didn’t know for the life of him why he felt this way. He had known Rosy for years, but all of a sudden that night he saw her in a new light and for some reason he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

  Rosy was so thrilled that she’d made the big time that she never gave Mitch a second thought. This was what she’d waited her whole life for. Living in the lap of luxury. No thought was given to how Rocco made his money. She knew Gino worked for him, and that was all that mattered. In the neighborhood he was always a big shot. His father was a big-time enforcer in the mob and Rocco always had the latest gadgets that came out in the market. He was the envy of all the kids in the old neighborhood and he knew it. Girls wanted to be seen with him, because in their minds that made them somebody. Today was her day to shine, and Rosy was basking in the glory of the moment.

  Once the elevator doors opened and they entered the apartment, Rosy was in awe of the luxurious furnishings. Even if this was only for the night, she would always have this moment and no one would be able to take that away. But she hoped above all else that this would last forever.

  *

  Rosy made it back to Mitch’s apartment early. She had hoped he would be working a long shift and that she would have her things packed and out of the apartment before he came home. Last night was the night of her dreams. After only one night together, Rocco declared his undying love for her and never wanted to be apart from her. She was fortunate that all there was to pack were her clothes but even that was enough. Rosy laughed to herself, thinking all the times Mitch kept complaining about the spare bedroom. She would have to have Rocco send someone for her clothes, but then on the other hand maybe it would be wiser if she just convinced Rocco that she needed to update her wardrobe.

  Rosy busied herself tossing clothes into the suitcases on the bed. So engrossed in what she was doing that the apartment door opening went unnoticed by her. It wasn’t until Mitch stood at the bedroom door that she finally realized he was home.

  “What are you doing?” he asked with a puzzled look across his face.

  “What does it look like?” Rosy snapped. She didn’t even turned to look at him.

  “You were just going to leave without talking about it?”

  “There’s nothing to talk about.”

  In all reality, Mitch was relieved. Things hadn’t been going well for the two of them for some time now. They had been spending more time arguing than getting along. She never was satisfied with anything he did or said. And nothing was ever good enough. It had a lot to do with her cousin Gino. Mitch at one time thought they would overcome their problems, but as time passed the wedge between them only seemed to grow. And since Cassandra came into the picture, he now realized just how wrong Rosy was for him.

  Mitch walked over to the bed and picked up one of Rosy’s dresses. It was the red one: he always liked the way she looked in it. He figured it must have cost him a week’s wages, but they never could affor
d to go anyplace to wear it, which made a sarcastic smile cross his face. He finally turned to her.

  “Is there someone else?”

  “I’d be lying if I said no.”

  “Anyone I know?”

  “He can provide for me in ways you won’t.”

  Mitch laughed at the absurdity of what she just said. He made an honest living. It wasn’t as if she came from some high-faluting society family. Her father was a drunk and her mother was a maid for some society broad. All through Rosy’s youth, she wore hand-me-down clothes.

  “So it came down to who could give you more,” Mitch mocked.

  “Rocco loves me and doesn’t have a problem showing it.”

  “Rocco?” Mitch did a double take, looking at Rosy as if not believing her.

  “Yes. You have a problem with that?” Rosy said cocking her hip and looked at him sarcastically.

  “He’s nothing but trouble,” Mitch tried to argue to no avail.

  Rosy tossed a pile of clothes into the suitcase and then grabbed the dress Mitch was holding and tossed it on top of the rest. She quickly closed the suitcase and then turned to Mitch and pointed.

  “You’ll never amount to anything.”

  “Because I won’t take money from those thugs!”

  Mitch couldn’t believe that her leaving came down to who could give her more things. He realized now it was never about love. As long as he spent his whole check on her, she was his. But now she found someone who could give her more, so he was history.

  Rosy just looked at him and shook her head. “It isn’t something half the cops on the force aren’t doing already.”

  “Well, then I guess I’m in the minority.”

  It angered Mitch to the point he lost control. He walked over to the top dresser drawer, opened it, and seeing it was still full he scooped up the contents and carried it over to one of Rosy’s suitcases and dropped it in.

  “I’ll help you. I wouldn’t want you to have to come back for anything.”

  Rosy just glared at him and then with a smug look on her face said, “Now you can have that witch on the corner.”

  Mitch just pointed at her. “I never touched anyone while I was with you!”

  It was the truth. As much as he enjoyed spending time with Cassandra, he still honored his commitment to Rosy. Deep down he knew it was only a matter of time that he and Rosy would part ways, but he never figured it would be like this.

  “You haven’t been with me for a while now, be honest,” Rosy snapped as she just stared at Mitch for the longest time.

  “That’s a low blow.”

  “You’ve lusted after her for days now. I’m not stupid.”

  Mitch just shook his head. He appeared troubled for a moment.

  “I thought we had something.”

  “You got that right. We did have something, but we don’t anymore.”

  Rosy shut the suitcase and then turned to Mitch with a smile. “You going to wish me well?”

  Mitch just glared at Rosy while she shut the other suitcase and then picked them up and struggled to the door. In all actuality, he didn’t have it in him to beg her to stay. Although there was a part of him that still cared a little, there was a part of him that secretly was glad the relationship was ending. Rosy was one of those women that were high maintenance. Mitch didn’t find that out until he was sucked into her web. No matter how hard he tried to keep her happy, it was never enough. When they first met, she seemed happy with the little things in life, like picnic lunches in the park, long walks on a sunny day, and just time spent together. But once she moved in with him she started placing undue demands on him to the point he had a hard time keeping up with her spending. No matter how he met her demands, there were always more and things were never good enough.

  Rosy walked out of the apartment building, dragging the two heavy suitcases. She walked over to the car parked near the front entrance. Rocco was behind the wheel tapping his finger impatiently while listening to a heavy metal radio station. Rosy struggled with the suitcase but Rocco was ignorant of common courtesy and just continued watching her as she struggled to open the back door and tossed each of the suitcases in.

  Rocco just turned to her. “Would you hurry, I got places to be.”

  Rosy looked at him for a moment. She was going to say something about his not helping her, but then she chose to keep her mouth shut. In time she would work on him to be more considerate of her needs and how to properly treat a woman. That was the one thing Mitch had over Rocco. With some men it came naturally, but others had to be taught these manners. Rosy just opened the passenger door and hopped in. It took some doing but she did it anyway as she turned and smiled up at Rocco. In time she would work on him like she did Mitch. She was mindful that, with Rocco, it might take some doing to bring him up to the level of Mitch.

  Rocco started the car. He stepped on the gas and sped away from the curb.

  Mitch glanced out the window and watched Rosy getting into Rocco’s car. It angered him how it had ended. He would have preferred their relationship to have ended more amicably. In the end he didn’t feel it was worth fighting for, though. Rosy was making demands on him that he was unable to fulfill, and working for Gino was definitely not in the cards for him. No matter how much Rosy pouted over his decision.

  Mitch sighed deeply. He then glanced across the street at The Curiosity Shop and took another deep breath. It was as if a great weight had been lifted, and he now didn’t feel guilty about how he felt about Cassandra.

  Chapter 20

  It was early evening and the first full day of Mitch’s time off. He stood on the rooftop with JoJo at his side. They watched as Gino’s thugs went about their business of collecting money from the various merchants on the block. JoJo wrote down in his journal the merchants and the time of the collections. He had been documenting this for weeks now after work, unbeknownst to Mitch. It was he who alerted Mitch as to what was happening. Mitch had to do some fast-talking for his commanding officer to let him pursue this surveillance operation. In the end he was given a week to prove what was going on in the neighborhood.

  Mitch’s anger built, thinking about what was happening below. He knew the shop owners feared going to the police, but if they didn’t take a stance, then the cycle of crime the Belzoni brothers started would continue. Those brothers hadn’t been out of the neighborhood long enough for people to enjoy a normal life, and now a new breed of thugs were victimizing them all over again.

  Mitch finally turned to JoJo. If it hadn’t been for him, this group of thugs would have been in business for a lot longer. After seeing Gino with the group, Mitch knew now what they were asking him to do. Up until then they kept a close watch on where he was on patrol, but it would have only been a matter of time that he would have caught on to why he was supposed to be looking the other way. It bothered him that Rosy was trying to drag him into Gino’s illegal operations, all in the pretext of him buying her more things. He realized now that she never truly loved him, because it all came down to money.

  “You didn’t have to do this, you know,” Mitch said.

  “It’s my neighborhood, my life.”

  “I got permission to stake them out, but I didn’t get approval to get a civilian involved.”

  “No one has to know. Besides, if the shop owners won’t take a stance, then I will. Mitch, you can’t do it alone.”

  Mitch glanced down at the street below and then he turned to JoJo again. “I’m going down to confront them.”

  “I’ll go with you. Maybe if we have a united front there won’t be trouble.”

  “You stay in back of me, in case there is.”

  JoJo raised his eyebrows and realized Mitch meant what he said. Mitch saw the thugs entering JoJo’s father’s shop. He hurried over to the door leading to the stairs. JoJo saw what Mitch had been looking at, realized his father might be in danger, and quickly followed Mitch off the roof.

  It didn’t take Mitch but a few minutes to descend th
e four flights of stairs and quickly hurry out of the apartment building. He ran across the street, past The Curiosity Shop to the shop next door. JoJo was hot on his heels.

  Cassandra was busy dusting off shelves when she happened to look up and saw Mitch hurrying down the street, with JoJo following close behind. She appeared puzzled as she walked to the door to see where they were off to.

  Mitch stopped in front of the shop. One of the thugs had JoJo’s father pinned by the arm, while the other was hitting him in the stomach.

  “We told you two hundred bucks,” the one thug said while striking the old man across the face.

  “That’s all I have,” the old merchant said as blood seeped out the corner of his mouth.

  “Two hundred isn’t enough to cover the protection we provide.”

  Mitch entered the shop just then and stood there with a commanding presence. He pointed a finger at the thug and ordered. “Let him go!”

  JoJo followed Mitch into the shop and quickly ran to his father, who collapsed to the floor when the one thug let him go. Before the man could escape, JoJo hit the thug with a right hook to the chin. He went down but wasn’t knocked out, only dazed. The other thug reached down quickly and grabbed his partner. They hurried out of the shop and ran down the street. JoJo bent down and helped his father up. “You okay, Pa?”

  “Pride’s hurt,” is all he said.

  Mitch looked at JoJo and his father. “This is going to end, and end now. They aren’t going to make this a war zone.”

  Mitch stormed out of the shop. He glanced down the street in the direction the thugs ran off to and quickly followed. JoJo rushed out after Mitch; this was as much his fight as Mitch’s.

  Mitch regretted getting JoJo involved now. But it was too late. JoJo was his only means of backup. He only hoped in the end he’d made the right decision. Mitch knew he would be in trouble once it was discovered he got a civilian involved, but there was nothing he could do about that now.

  Mitch turned down the alley. He was sure this was the way they ran off to, but the alley was dark and there was no movement. Mitch reached for his pistol and held it firm. With caution he slowly walked into the alley. It was dark, with only the dim light from the other end along with the streetlight from behind. Slowly he maneuvered his way around garbage that littered the ground when suddenly the two thugs stepped out from behind a dumpster. They both had guns pointed at Mitch and JoJo. Mitch stopped in his tracks. At the other end of the alley a shadowy figure emerged. Rocco slowly came into view.