The Mafia Man

Blood and Bingo

"How in God's name did you do that?" Charlotte rushed into my bedroom and dropped her broom on the floor.

I tried not to cry, but my hand just hurt too much. "I-I was getting re-ready for today a-and I w-was not p-paying attention and I cr-crashed." Now the tears were free-flowing, and I could not be more embarrassed.

Charlotte gripped me around the waist and dragged me away from the broken Chinese vase shattered on the floor. "Oh Rosalie...so clumsy." She deftly plucked a broken shard from my hand and wrapped it with a handkerchief. "It's not too deep, sweetie, but I know it hurts. Let me wash it in the basin."

I wiped my tears with my good hand and gaped at the terrible mess I had made. Today was supposed to be such a special day! My father had finally agreed to let me go shopping, as long as Charlotte accompanied me. In my excitement in choosing what to wear, I'd flounced right into my favorite vase full of roses.

Now my room was chaos and my hand was bleeding, and, to boot, I have no notion of what I'm wearing!

Twenty minutes later, the floor was swept, my hand was bandaged, and Char had picked out the most darling outfit. A lavender dress with cream lace detailing adorned me, along with Mary Janes and my locket.

Char left my hair down with a cream bow woken through the strands. I kissed her on the cheek in thanks, and we began to make our way to town.

My brothers gave me tight embraces upon our leaving, and I noticed Patrick looking shyly at Char. Oh. My cheeks heated up and a smile lit up my face because I knew Charlotte thought Pat was the cat's pajamas!

I wondered where Callahan was, and my da told me he was at a meeting in town. My stomach fluttered; maybe I'd see him!

Oh no! I told myself. Remember Mr. Lelanski? Think about him and his family.

"Oh, and Charlotte?" My brother Conor inquired. "Don't let any boys near Rose, especially if he's a back seat bingo kind of guy."
My brothers laughed but still took it seriously. "I mean it!" Conor added.

Char shoved me out the door, ignoring my plea of, "But I love bingo!"

One question though: why would anyone play it in the backseat? Where do you put the chips? How do you balance the playing boards? Okay more than one question.

In true fashion, Charlotte dodged my questions, and we went on our merry way to New York City.