COOL JOE, Chapter 4A Story by Betty Hermelee Sequel to Chapter 3; ROBBIE After ma takes her last breath, we bawl like a bunch of babies. We all believe that she would die of dementia. But, the horrible burn accident? Never. This is so freaky that we all are still in shock. We are paralyzed and feel helpless. Now the tough work comes cause we have to bury her. We’ve gone through this twice before with dad and sweet Donny. And, now ma, crazy! I got tears in my eyes thinking of her just layin there drugged up to stop the pain.
My siblings all help dress ma for the casket. We decide on her wedding dress; it still fits which makes us thrilled. The service is in the same church where we buried dad and Donny. We are slammed with people pushing to enter. Finally, the doors close and the priest begins his long ceremony. We are all sad and using a lot of tissues. My big brother Pete gives a beautiful eulogy which makes us all cry. The casket is open, so we have a last glance at ma, so pretty and peaceful.
After the ceremony at the church we ride to the burial site. We pick out a nice stone with the engraving on it, “Ma, you’ll always be with us.” Following that we drive back to Pete’s House for some food and drink. I notice many drinking whiskeys, so I indulge. I’m feelin a bit tipsy, so I guess that’s a good thing. My body guards attend and Eddie and Johnnie from our group. They all behave, maybe a nasty word here or there, but mostly cordial. Johnnie asks about the loan and how it’s going, and I say all is well. He gives me a funny look. I just ignore it. Life goes on.
Now, about me. Well, I’m in the waste management business, based in Brooklyn. Actually, most people know it as the garbage business. I don’t drive the trucks, I’m in management. I am responsible for overseeing the truck routes, like which days they go to this neighborhood or that one and keep them on schedule. The dough is pretty good, enough to mostly pay my mortgage, with a little help from the boys. I don’t owe as much as Pete, but I still owe, so I gotta be careful. There are hit men all over the damn place and they wear plain clothes so you don’t know who they are, just wanderin around to make trouble. Sometimes you can catch em with a certain license plate, but mostly they hide pretty good. I just heard of a friend of mine being kicked off for swearing at one of the bosses. Boy, they don’t fool around.
By the way, I forgot to say that my boss at the garbage company has a deal where he gets gas cheaper than anyone in the city; it’s some kind of payoff, but hey, who cares; it has to do with oil off the ships and he got lucky and so did we.
My wife is Sylvia, same age as me. She’s pretty with long dark curly hair (though I see a few grays sneakin in); she works as a sales person at Macy’s in Manhattan; takes the subway every day back and forth. We have one daughter, Simone who is 14, but thinks she’s 21. Aren’t all teenagers nutty? I know you’re thinking that Italians have lots of kids, but unfortunately Sylvia couldn’t have anymore. So, Simone is very spoiled, even bratty, if you wanna know. She has a boyfriend Frankie, who we sorta like, but I think Simone is smarter than he is, so it’s bit disturbing. He’s sixteen, so he brags a lot, still can’t drive, but sometimes he sneaks out with his dad’s car in the middle of the night and stops at our house, never comes in, but I know it, cause I’m a light sleeper. He just flashes his lights at Simone’s window. Harmless, I think.
“Good morning my beautiful family.” “Hi dad” Sylvia say nothing. “What’s up p***y cat?”
says I “Well, I didn’t want to tell you last night when we were cuddling in bed, but I got laid off.” “What?” “Yup, just like that after 5 long years standing on my feet 8 hours a day,” “I’m so sorry p***y cat; you must feel awful. Now I feel awful, cause we need your money to help pay off our mortgage.” “Dad, don’t be so hard on mom, she’s sad.” “Yeah I know, I’m just upset too. Do you think you can get another job, like in another department store?” “I’ll try. Can you get me a job with one of your boss men, like as a secretary or something?” “Are you kidding?” says I, I” don’t want you near them. Pretend they don’t exist okay? We’ll be okay until next month, then we’ll need more dough comin in.”
“I’m off to school mom and dad; don’t fret mom, you’ll get another job, I know it. I’ll ask around school too, you never know. Bye, see ya later.” “What a kid” says I. “she’s pretty grown up for her age you know.” “Yes, she’s my best friend.” “you mean I’m not?” “Yes, I have two!” "Well, p***y cat when is your last day?" "This Friday I get my last paycheck. We'll survive." "Yes we will p***y cat."
That same night at dinner we discussed possible jobs. There are a few openings. Meanwhile Sylvia makes a delicious Chicken Cacciatore and we gobble it up. She’s such a great cook, wife, and mom too. I’m a lucky guy; just prayin nothing happens.
“Mom can Frankie come over later for a bit?? We’ll sit on the porch and gab.” “No nonsense now you’re fourteen years old now remember?” “I know but don’t I look mature?” “Sure, you do love, but just remember your real age”, says mom. “Okay, I’ll buzz Frankie and let him know.” “Finish your dinner first, I demand, “You’re too skinny.” So, Frankie comes over, and like most parents, we’re snoopin around trying to listen to the conversation. They’re speaking quite softly, and it’s hard to hear, so I give up and go in the sitting room to watch TV. Sylvia joins me after she cleans the dishes. We watch a comedy show and we both yawn and decide to go upstairs to bed, well not really sleep, but you know a little hanky panky. While I’m in bed, I think to myself I hope Sylvia can find another job pretty quick. She doesn’t know it but our loan payment is due in two weeks, not a month. I lie to my wife. But what am I supposed to do; make her hysterical? Borrow again from one of them loan sharks who steal my money with their high illegal interest rates. My head is spinning now; I’ll think on it and deal with it in the morning.
I have a nightmare that Eddie is strangling me cause I said a bad word to him by accident. I wake up sweating like crazy at 4:00am, sneak to the bathroom real quiet, then try my hardest to go back to sleep. I think I’m in a half sleep when my alarm screams at 6:30am. I pop out of bed, Sylvia is still snoring like crazy, which she usually does right before she wakes up; it’s the weirdest thing. I wake up Sylvia, cause this is her last week of work and every penny counts. Oh please get another job Sylvia my p***y cat.
It’s 7:30 am now and we’re all sittin at the breakfast table, eating our eggs and bacon when the doorbell rings. “Just a minute, comin”, I say. I open the door and it’s my boss man and his assistant glaring at me. My face turns blood red and Sylvia and Simone’s mouths are open. “What can I do for you fellas?” The boss man says in a throaty voice, “you can come with us to the office, we got somethin to talk about.” I start to sweat and tell Sylvia and Simone to relax. Everything will be okay; it’s just a meeting. The bosses are silent. I grab my case, give my sugar pies a kiss and next thing I know they’re shoving me out the front door; I look behind and see my girls watching with scared looks on their pretty faces.
© 2021 Betty HermeleeReviews
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Betty HermeleeBlack Mountain, NCAboutMy love of poetry results from my love of art. As a painter I am able to express myself on a canvas. As a poet my words come from my heart, my moods, sometimes sad, mostly upbeat. I like to use vivid .. more..Writing
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