To Become A Con Artist

Chapter Twenty-Six

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"He kissed you Claire! You must be doing something right." Anne gushed as we all sat at a cafeteria in Harlem enjoying a hearty breakfast of coffee, fried eggs, toast, and grape fruit.

I hadn't wanted them to know about the kiss last night but they all sensed my discomfort and thus I had to share.

"It was disgusting!" I exclaimed.

"Disgusting?" Miles laughed. "Did he kiss like a dog?"

"Or a snapping turtle?" Tony asked rhetorically after a sip of his coffee. "I once kissed a dame like that." He shivered from the memory.

"No it-it just was gross." I said, sitting back in my chair with a sigh. I didn't expect them to understand since I was sure that they didn't know how I felt about Leo. Or, if they did how I felt, they didn't know that we had been together exactly two nights ago.

"We've all had our fair share of unpleasant moments while conning." Tony shrugged.

"Absolutely! Such as the time when Tony grew too close to his mark." Anne cocked an eyebrow in his direction. I noticed him grow uneasy and clear his already clear throat. It was the second time I'd heard of this incident with Tony from Anne.

"What happened?" I asked, biting into a slice of buttered toast.

"Since Anne refuses to let me live this down..." Tony started, adjusting his sitting posture, "...to condense a very lengthy tale, prior to my focus on the working class and forgery, I swindled older women and one in particular grew on me. I got distracted for almost two months and found out the hard way that she was not only married but also conning me. I was livid and vandalized her home which got me a few nights in jail. I never got a dime from her." He sighed heavily. "When Leo found out he decided to re-evaluate my role in the unit."

"Wow, she must've been something else." I said, envisioning a woman like those in the films.

"Nevertheless, that is why we don't grow attached to our marks." Miles said since he most likely sensed the uneasiness of Tony who he sat next to.

"And why the rules generally seem endless and ever so detailed." Anne said directly to me while resting her cup on a saucer.

"Yes, welcome to the world of a con artist. It's dirty and cruel, and thus not for everyone." Miles said, winking at me and then checking his watch. "Anne we have to leave." He said standing up and walking to pay for the meal. His words hung with me for quite some time.

"You'll have to excuse us." Anne stood as well.

"Enjoy the rest of the day you two." Then she waltzed out of the door with Miles.

Tony and I left the restaurant a few minutes later since I had to go to the grocer for my mother and Tony claimed that he was in desperate need to visit a tailor for his suit.

He dropped me off at the grocer down the street from my building so that I could pick up a small basket of potatoes, a pound of salt, and bread from Luccino's for my mother. I assumed that she did not suspect my awareness of Mr. Jameson's presence in her life, but I felt no need to ask. She was finally happy and we were doing well financially. Things were looking up for our family and I refused to disrupt the balance.

Though just as I thought all of this, my thoughts were disrupted by the sight of Ruby, Jean, and a few other girls from the neighborhood, across the street leaving a soda fountain with wide grins on their faces. I had chosen my new life of a con woman over my friendship and it was more clear now than ever. Sure I missed my friends, but the new life I'd chosen was much more stable, and for the benefit of others. Not to mention, more glitzy. It was for the best! Right? I was enjoying a life of grifting. Right?

"Claire." I heard a voice call ahead of me. I averted my gaze from Jean and the other girls to find the voice that had beckoned my name.

Leaned against his car in a casual manner was Leo with a cigarette between his lips and his eyes fixed on me at a distance. My heart skipped several beats at the sight of him. Was that really Leo? I'd expected him to flee town and not return until the day of the Clemenza con. But he was here. I rushed over to him, nearly dropping the potato bundle.

"Leo, what are you doing here?"

"You seem to enjoy asking me that." He pushed himself off the car, put his hands in his slate blue trousers and looked down at me. "I'm taking you somewhere. Get ready and meet me down here in five minutes."

"Oh, uh taking me where?" I asked.

Leo shook his head then repeated, "Five minutes Claire."

I rushed upstairs, leaving everything I'd bought in the kitchen, and bolted into my room only to find Mary standing right at the door.

"Move Mary."

"I want to come."

"What're you talking about?" I grabbed a white cloche hat that went well with my pastel pink embroidered sleeveless scoop neck dress and white t-strap heels.

"I just saw Leonardo downstairs and where ever he's taking you I want to go."

"Well you can't Mary." I said with an impatient tone.

"Yes I can because you owe me." She smirked smugly. I stopped in my tracks.

"Owe you? For what?"

"Keeping your encounter with Sonny a secret. Remember?" Oh! I had forgotten about us spotting him at the butcher a while ago.

"Damn." I cursed under my breath. "Can't I owe you something else? Like candy or a doll" I was essentially pleading to her since I wanted to spend this time with Leo only.

"No, this is what I want Claire or I'll tell mama." She crossed her arms over her chest defiantly as I sighed.

"Fine, get dressed." I rolled my eyes.

We made it downstairs in six minutes rather than five, with Mary's expression that of pure ecstasy while mine appeared to be the exact opposite. Leo looked up a bit confused from where he stood, but he said nothing.

"Leo, this is my sister Mary, is it okay that she joins us today?" I said with a blank expression. I'm sure he knew that the question was more of a request and I was happy that he neglected to ask why.

"The more the merrier." He stated, kissing the back of her hand before he opened the doors for us both to slide in.

"I'm sorry." I said to him as he slid behind the driving wheel. Leo just shrugged.

"I guess it's good that I planned to take you to Coney Island then."

"Coney Island!" Mary exclaimed from the back. "I've never been to Coney Island!" She clapped her gloved hands together in excitement as we drove down the street and out of the city.