La Bocca (the mouth) (The Spitfire) Read online

  La Bocca

  (The Mouth)

  By Jordan Silver

  Copyright © 2013 Alison Jordan

  All Rights Reserved

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Prologue

  “Patrick I need a solid old friend.”

  “Roberto is that you, how the hell are you my friend it's been ages; I hear you're having a little headache out your way is that what this is about? You need I should get some of my people on it?”

  “Nah paisan, I've got it covered it’s my baby girl; you remember Arianna yes?”

  “Little Arianna is she still such a spitfire?”

  “Mama mia if the enemy's bullet doesn't cut me down that child will do it I swear.”

  “A handful huh.”

  “And then some, that's why I'm calling; I need to send her to you for safe keeping until I send my enemies to hell where they belong. This fucking gumbah Vasili is a pain in the ass, now he's not only greedy but stupid. Word is him and his brother has concocted some scheme to force my little angel into marriage with one of their sons.”

  “Unethical, who would do such a thing to a young girl, what is she seventeen, eighteen?”

  “She just turned eighteen but that's not the problem so much; the thing is she somehow got wind of it and is out for blood.”

  “Come again.”

  “The girl fancies herself to be some sort of gangster, my fucking idiot brother's always filling her head with shit. Instead of baby dolls and tiaras he had her playing with epees and shuriken. By the time I figured out what the fuck it was too late. While I was busy building an empire that fuck was turning my kid into his nephew.

  “You know Alphonso was always set in his own ways and since he never planned on marriage and kids I guess he figured yours were gonna be his.

  Patrick laughed at his old friend's plight; though the two men hadn't seen each other in quite some time; years in fact, he remembered well their younger days together. Days spent on the streets of Chicago as young toughs trying to make names for themselves. The old regime had been on its way out then and they were determined to make their mark. There'd been a war back then too, the old war horses hadn't wanted to let go but the young blood proved to be too much and youth and brains prevailed. The mob took on new connotations then; yes they still strong armed those who would oppose them but they were no longer in the market for unprecedented killings. Blood on your hands was seen as a last resort whereas before it had been par for the course. Back then in the back alleys of a festering city two young toughs had made a pledge in blood.

  “Do you remember our oath?”Patrick now asked Roberto.

  “I thought you'd forgotten it's been so long.”

  “Nah circumstances calls for a little change in plans but it's still the same; besides it works out better this way since my Paddy is more into the saving of lives. He has no stomach for the life; now his firstborn Shane, perfecto.”

  “Yeah? We'll have to sit down; I think that might be just what the doctor ordered.”

  “That much trouble is she?”

  “If she wasn't my kid I would've capped her a long time ago does that answer?”

  “Send her to me, I'll straighten her out.”

  Little did he know while he made that pledge to his old friend that things would change almost overnight.

  Chapter 1

  My name is Shane Flanagan those who know me and even some who don't fear me. In my line of work this is a good thing, a very good thing.

  You see I'm a very bad man, bad to the motherfucking bone. I make no excuses for myself. I would stomp a mother fucker just for fun, well maybe not so much these days, but when I was younger, yeah.

  Now I would shoot a motherfucker for stepping on my kicks and it didn't matter if they were Chucks or Gucci. It all depended on what kind of mood I was in, and who's doing the mother fucking stepping.

  But I digress, as I was saying people feared me all over this fucking place, so tell me then why this little slip of a girl thought she could mouth off at me and get away with it?

  Now this Arianna Rossi is a real pain in the ass, know what I mean?

  She lived upstairs of this pub that I'd just requisitioned from its previous owner. I needed her place for something else so she had to go.

  It's not like I was throwing her out in the street or some fuck. I owned enough residential buildings, all of them way nicer than this piece of shit that I could hook her up with a new pad, but no. She had to dig in her heels giving me shit about tenant’s rights and lease laws and fuck all. The fuck?

  She must not have heard.

  Anyway my little stepbrother James went to see Miss. Rossi on my behalf for the one hundredth time and apparently this crazy ass chick had hauled off and shot him in the ass.

  Now James is a lying fuck, so I took his version of events with a grain of salt. That's why I'm here now in my office at my new pub, sitting across from the pain in the ass, who didn't seem to know I could end her in ten seconds.

  "So Miss. Rossi, we meet again."

  Crazy lady rolled her eyes at me. I looked over to my right hand man Michael who seemed to be having trouble not laughing.

  Of course he would find this shit funny, his wife, my sister Sophia wasn't much better in the crazy stacks. In fact all the bitches around here seemed to either be on the rag or plum mother-fucking nuts. Except my ma, ma was an angel among women.

  Now as for James, that fuck wasn't really my stepbrother, he's not my father's son and he's not my mother's, rumor had it that my grandfather who I inherited the business from used to mess with his mother.

  How the fuck he ended up in my house is a mystery, but I was a kid when all this shit happened so I don't know fuck.

  Grandpa stepped down three years ago when I turned twenty three.

  Dad's a heart surgeon, he's as far removed from this shit as you can get. I take lives, he saves them. We have running debates on the subject every Sunday at the dinner table, but that's for another time.

  Right now I'm trying to figure out what to do with 'the mouth'.

  "Why did you shoot my little brother?"

  "I should've known he was another pig."

  Michael almost choked the fuck.

  "Do you know who I am Miss. Rossi?"

  "Yeah yeah, the big bad Shaney Flanagan, so what?"

  Did she just call me Shaney?

  I had to glare at Michael to shut him the fuck up.

  "So you're not afraid of me huh?"

  "Contrary to what has been written, I don't believe in playing poor and helpless to give my enemy a fake sense of power before he attacks, I believe in kicking them in the balls to start shit off."

  "You read Sun Tzu?"

  "What's it to you?"

  "Just wondering why a little girl like you would be reading the Art of war."

  "Because I have to deal with dumb motherfuckers every day, next question."

  This chick was fucked in the head, there's no other explanation. I can't off someone who's touched, ma would have my hide.

  Besides I could think of better uses for that mouth of hers.

  Chapter 2

  Well you've gone and cooked your goose but good haven't you Ari, are you insane?

  I'm sitting here wondering why the hell my mouth won't stay shut, now mind you I give as good as I get, but this is Shane FUCKING Flanagan, the guy takes out people for less and here I am g
iving him shit.

  I blame my dad, my dad rest his soul, always taught me,'never show fear' if you can't fight your way out of it, talk your way out.

  Well looks like your sage advice was about to get me whacked daddy. It wasn't just that either, for some reason I wanted to show this ,specimen that he was just a man, if I nut kicked him I'm sure I'll get the same reaction as I'd get from Joe the bum up the street.

  Now he's studying me like an insect under a microscope, study away buddy, when you figure it out let me in on it, hell if I know what my problem is.

  "Well, did you have anything else to ask me, some of us actually work for a living?" See, my mouth had finally had enough of me and decided to get me done in, or maimed one or the other.

  "You still haven't told me why you shot him."

  "Oh that, I didn't like the cut of his pants , people shouldn't wear their butt crack for the world to see, first of all it's tacky as all hell and secondly it's unsanitary , why the CDC haven't cried outbreak on that shit yet is beyond me." That's right Ari dig your grave just that much deeper by being a smart ass.

  "Are you on some kind of medication for this shit lady?"

  "What shit, you think I'm crazy cause I'm not afraid of you Capone?" He put his head in his hand and started muttering under his breath, I think he was saying the Latin mass, sounded like something I'd heard in church eons ago.

  "Babe, seriously answer the fucking question so we can both get on with our lives."

  "What difference does it make, you’re not going to believe me over your precious brother anyway, and I hate wasting my breath, you never know when you'll end up in an enclosed room with no air, and you'll wish you'd saved that wasted breath."

  Okay I heard that loud and clear this time; he'd muttered an insult under his breath but not far enough under. He's been doing that the whole time.

  "Well if you wish I'd save my breath this time stop asking me questions." I was on a roll, I think. The big guy in the corner was red faced and he kept puffing out his cheeks, I think he might be constipated, poor thing.

  "Arianna, answer, the fucking, question."

  Okay, he didn't yell but let me tell you, those words, said in that particular tone, in that particular way meant business. I'm not stupid, I wanna live, I've got shit I wanna do.

  "He put his hands ...somewhere he shouldn't."

  I saw him straighten up in his chair on full alert. What the hell?

  "What did you say?"

  Oh, yeah, I had kinda whispered that but I'm sure he heard me. I repeated it louder anyway and watched as his face reddened. I hope that anger wasn't at me. Stupid, why didn't you grab your gun on the way out the door? Because I didn't have time that's why.

  "Tell me."

  And I knew this was not the time to be snarky, he was pissed the fuck off, I don't know why though, the guy killed people for a living why should he care if his brother grabbed my ass?

  "Not much to tell, he grabbed my ass, I gave him the impression I was interested and wanted to go put on something sexy just so I could get to my gun in the other room, at which time he saw said gun and tried to run, that's why he got it in the ass and not the balls."

  "You were going to shoot him in the nuts for touching your ass?"

  "My ass, my territory, I call the shots."

  He looked over his shoulder kinda.

  "Get his ass in here."

  "Well, if you're having a family reunion I need to be going I've got shit to do."

  "Sit down Rossi."

  "Look buddy, you might have all day to sit around and pal around, but I've got to make a living. And since you've closed down this pub where I made that living, I need to hit the pavement to find a job. Capisce? "

  "I'm not Italian."

  I rolled my eyes at that; I've heard that word in every mafia movie known to man.

  "Maybe we can work out the same kind of arrangement you had with the old man."

  "What kind of arrangement?"

  "I don't know, what kind of arrangement did you have, I mean your rent is a joke, no way that's the going rate in this neighborhood even if it is a piece a shit. So you must've been paying it off some other way, plus he gave you a job right downstairs, pretty cushy if you ask me."

  "Are you implying, ...did you just, ... where's my gun? Hey you, in the corner, let me see your gun for a minute?"

  "Ahhhh." that was his bright answer.

  "Would you settle down?"

  "No I will not settle down, I'm eighteen years old; Paulie has to be a hundred and ten and you're implying that I slept with him for a job and a subpar apartment? How dare you?"

  "Calm the fuck down Rossi before I make you, and the next time you threaten me you better be ready to back that shit the fuck up, don't think for a second that I won't do a woman."

  I was mad as hell but I was also unarmed and defenseless, not that I would really draw down on him, I'm not entirely stupid, but damn he made me mad with that crack.

  "I'm not apologizing to you so stop sulking."

  Oh will the insults never cease? I gave him a good glare for that one.

  "Go fuck yourself." Oy, where the hell did that come from? Thankfully it just seemed to stun him, not send him into a homicidal rage.

  "What am I gonna do with you?"

  "Let me go find a job.”

  "Is waitressing your only qualification?”

  "I'm in school, waitressing is flexible and it pays well." I shrugged my shoulders.

  "How about I give you a job in one of my clubs or restaurants whatever you choose, I'm sure you'll be making a hell of a lot more than you were here.”

  "What's the catch?"

  "I need you to move out of here in a week, I’ll hook you up with a nicer place for the same shit money you're paying here. Do we have a deal?"

  "Two things, first I have to see the apartment and the club, and second as long as you remember my last name is Rossi and not Magdalene."

  "What the fuck?"

  "I think that's the lady in the bible..."

  "I know who it is Mikey."

  "Well, now that we've got that covered when can I see this place?"

  "Just like that, after two weeks of your bullshit?"

  "You didn't ask before, you ordered."

  "Ord...are you fucking shitting me?"

  "I shit you not."

  Chapter 3

  What the hell am I gonna do with this girl, she was driving me batty and that was saying a lot.

  With two sisters who cornered the market on bitchy, I have my fair share of experience dealing with this shit, but 'mouth ' took the fucking cake.

  I've never met anyone like her, neither man nor woman. If she'd been a dude I would've capped her ass already, just for the aggravation alone.

  She was one cool customer too this one. I know she was afraid, not scared shitless, but she wasn't stupid enough not to appreciate the danger, not to fear me, but she held up well. No one would ever suspect to hear that mouth of hers.

  When my second lieutenant and brother in law Vincenzo showed up with a hobbling James I was ready to be done with this shit.

  Not with her, but with the situation.

  Her I think I will be dealing with for a long time to come.

  "You!" the dumb fuck started off on the wrong foot already. Pointing at 'mouth' with a scowl while hopping on his crutches.

  "Hey Jimmy, how's your ass?" she made a pistol out of her fingers and shot at him.

  Lord why me, the Staccos couldn't take me down so you sent this nut job to finish me off? She had to be somebody's idea of a secret weapon.

  "Why you little bitch." he made as if to go after her. I didn't like that one fucking bit; if anyone was gonna go upside 'mouth's' head it will be me.

  "James settle the fuck down. Now you wanna tell me again what the fuck happened up there?"

  "Hey man I already told you." He was starting to sweat already.

  "Tell me again." I know this guy's a fuck up of the first order but he
knew better than to fuck with me. If I didn't like what he had to say, I just might put my foot in his ass.

  "Start talking."

  "Like I said, I knocked on the door and told her who I was and why I was there. She opened the door all huffy and shit. I told her what you said and I guess she didn't like it because next thing I know she's waving a gun around. I tried to get the hell outta there and this crazy bitch just shot me."

  I looked over at Rossi to see if she was going to defend herself.

  She had her head back on the chair, eyes closed. Yep, one crazy ass bitch. She's in a room with four armed men, well three and a half, and what does she do? She fucking feigns sleep.

  "Hey Rossi are we boring you here?"

  "Oh is the performance over, I'm sorry." she pretended to wipe sleep from her eyes while fake yawning.

  This fucking chick.

  "You have anything to say to this?"

  "I already told you my version king Solomon, now it's up to you to decide who's telling the truth, but if there's any splitting in two to be done, I say cut Jimmy's other butt cheek make it all even."

  "How bout I cut your fucking..."

  "James for the last time, shut the fuck up, and you, stop with the bullshit and answer me. Do you have anything to say? It's only fair that a man gets to face his accuser."

  "I knew you wouldn't believe me." she folded her arms in a huff, now she was acting like a brat who didn't get her way.

  "I didn't say I didn't believe you."

  "Shane..." I gave James a look to shut him the fuck up. I knew she was telling me the truth but I needed her to say it in front of him. The lying fuck.

  "It's like I told you, he tried to grab my ass and I pretended to go into the bedroom to change into slut wear, as if." She sneered at him while turning up her nose like he was something foul.

  "I came out with my gun, he had his pants halfway off by the time I got back and when he saw the gun he tried to run and I shot him. Now genius, if you were standing at the door, why were your pants off, second, why is there no bullet hole in your pants?"

  She had a point, that could easily be verified. I turned to look at him to see how he would try to weasel himself out of this one.