“No, but I’m not hungry.”
“Still, you gotta eat. Here, we made cookies. Sugar will perk the baby right up.” Conchetta plucked some chocolate chips off a cooling rack, put them on a paper plate, and handed them to Mary, with one for Paul, too. “Mare, eat that cookie, and I’ll get you a cuppa decaf. I’ll make fresh.”
“Good.” Mary chowed down on the cookie, which was soft, warm, and delicious. She tried not to worry about the baby. She’d been so preoccupied, she hadn’t focused on her. Or him.
“It’s fine, Mare, sometimes they sleep. Paulie was like that, too. He stayed still,all the time. I couldn’t wake him up.” Conchetta ruffled Paul’s hair with a loving grin. “And now, he sits for hours at that computer and he’s a big success!”
Paul forced a smile. “Ma, I came home because I was telling Mary about that guy named Stretch, who Machiavelli sent over? You remember that? He beat up Joey?”
“Do I?Ha! Those Machiavellis are a disgrace to the neighborhood! Rotten to the core!” Conchetta gestured in the direction of Flavia Machiavelli’s house. “Who does she think she is, trying to take my home right out from under me? Ourfamilyhome? Just because she has money, she thinks she can push me around? She picked the wrong family! Her and her crooked son!Crooked!”
“Right!” The other women started nodding in vigorous approval. “She’s gotsomenerve! Sits in that place like it’s a palace!” “How selfish can you be? Try to force everybody out on thewholeblock!” “She’s greedy, just like her husband was! Just like her son is! All that money and it’s never enough! And they call themselvesChristians!”
Mary wanted to get to the point. “Conchetta, I need to know Stretch’s real name. Do you know it?”
“Stretch? Yeah.” Conchetta nodded, so did women behind her, adding to the chorus. “Stretch!” “I know Stretch!” “I heard a Stretch!” “My mother went to West Catholic with his mother! Now you’re taking me back!”
“Okay, good,” Mary said, hopeful. “So what’s his real name? And his last name? I need to find him.”
“Uh, um, I don’t know.” Conchetta shook her head, frowning. “I used to know, but I forget. They just called him Stretch.”
The other women chimed in, “I forget his name!” “I never knew it in the first place!” “What’s the difference?” “His last name had an L in it, that’s all I can tell you!”
Mary hid her dismay. “Did itstartwith an L?”
“I don’t know.” Ann scratched her head. “I just know there’s an L somewhere.”
Mary felt stumped. “I really need to know his name. It’s very important.”
“Aha!” Conchetta eyed her, knowingly. “Is this about the murder I saw on the TV? You think Stretch had something to do with it? He’s a thug, and I wouldn’t put it past him.”
Lorraine scowled. “I saw that on TV, too. Mare, Machiavelli was saying you and the other lady lawyerskilledsomebody, another lawyer! I said to myself, Mary shouldsuehim! That’s a terrible thing to say! We know it’s not true!”
“Of course it’s not true!” Ann waved her off. “I called your mother, Mare, and I told her we knew better! Between you and Machiavelli, we know who’s thegoodone!”
Margie scowled. “I told my Chiara, ‘that Machiavelli, he’ll say or do anything to get himself in front of a camera! He’s just jealous of Mary! Because everybody loves her!’”
“We love you, Mare!” they all chorused. “We love you, Mary!” “We know you’re a good girl!”
“Thanks.” Mary started to feel better, rethinking that saying, it was better to be loved than feared. She kinda preferred being loved and she was getting an idea for a way to find out Stretch’s real name, especially since there were few alternatives. It would take too long for Lou to find out, and the police were preoccupied with Shanahan. She didn’t know what other choice she had, and she wanted to take a flyer.
Mary turned to Conchetta. “Do you think Flavia would know who Stretch is? I’m going to ask her.”
“She might.” Conchetta nodded. “Stretch works for Nicky. Nicky’s over all the time. What mother in South Phillyisn’tin her son’s face?”
“Let’s go ask Flavia!” Ann called out, then Margie and the others chimed in. “Let’s go over!” “Let’s give her a piece of our mind!” “Yeah, she’s had it too good for too long!” “We got eleven minutes before the next batch comes out!” “The baked ziti’s got another half hour.” “Let’s walk over, girls. We don’t have to drive or nothing! Because none of us can!”
Paul grimaced, nervous. “Mom, no, don’t go next door. You’ve never even been inside that house.”
“It’s okay, Paul.” Mary realized he was worried about his secret coming to light. “I’ll just ask about Stretch. You can dealwith the rest another time.” She turned to the other women. “But I’m not sureeverybodyneeds to go—”
“We want to go!” they said. “We want to help you! We’re goin’!” “We’re backin’ you and Conchetta!” “We’re gonna stand up to the Queen, once and for all!”
“Damn right!” Conchetta started pulling her spongy curlers out. “I never seeanybodygo in there! She’s too good for everybody!”
Paul still looked nervous. “But Mom, Joey said stay away from her and Nick. You don’t want to make her mad.”
“I’m not afraid of her! Anyway what am I waiting for? Joey didn’t want me to, but so what? I’m not getting any younger! I shoulda gone over there a long time ago! Mary needs the information. If Mary needs the information, we’re going to get her theinformation!”
