Aftermath (27 page)

Her back was to the door and she was unbuttoning her
white blouse and
the ribbons from her teddy
underneath
became visible
. With each
button
released
more silk came into view. S
oon, she
wiggled out of her
pencil
skirt and the hot red garter belt attached
to the sexy undergarment
got him in action, too.

Nico
tossed
away
his jacket,
highly stimulated by the visual.
“We do, don’t we?”

“Hell yeah, now how do you want your dinner
partner
…you want it served on the table or do you want to be fed on the floor?”

CHAPTER
NINETEEN

Sergio entered Alfonzo’s office with the confidence of a lightweight entering the ring. He exuded confidence and
approached the man sitting behind the desk with the signature
New York
gait. The swag of the streets, unrefined sass that meant I’m a bad mother-fucker, watch-out
hombre
!

Alfonzo’s shoes rested on the desk as he texted, not giving the man a second thought.
Sergio sat and when Alfonzo didn’t look up to greet him he spoke first, “Thanks for seeing me cuz, I know you
’
r
e
busy and shit but I wanted to talk to you in person…you know…eye to eye…the way real men do
, you know what I’m saying?
”

Fucker talks too much!

“Yo, this is nice. Puerto Rico’s the shit. I can see why you love it.”

Alfonzo text Domingo a thanks for the update on what was going on around the way and told him he’ll hit him up later then
placed
his cell
on the desk
. He pushed his spine further into the plush leather and swiveled his head to look at Sergio
, the bottom of his polished shoes aligned with his face
. The man was beaming like a light bulb, all teeth. Carnivorous sonovabitch!

Alfonzo didn’t say a word as the man proceeded, “I came here hoping you’d give your cuz a job. I got skills and…” he chuckled as if he and Alfonzo were buddies and stroked his goatee, “yeah…you know what I’m saying?”

“Not really.” Now it was Alfonzo’s turn to smirk as the smile faded from the dude’s smug face, “Did you bring a resumé?”

“
Well…no…nah…” Sergio stuttered.

“Have you had a steady job on the books, paid any taxes?”

“Nah,
not really
.”

“What does that mean, you either have or haven’t?”

“Nah.”

“Ever been in trouble with the law?”

“Once.”

“For?”

“Fraud, but you already know that. I got busted for credit card fraud and
did
a year’s
probation.”

“Just wanted to hear it from your mouth. You still scamming?”

“That’s why I’m here. I got to clean up my act. You know what I’m saying?”

“It’s not hard to figure it out, I’m not slow
witted
.”

Alfonzo’s
legs slid from the desk.
“Have you finished college?”

“
Nah.”

“Trade school…technical school
…construction
courses…
handyman…building maintenance…read blue-prints…know CAD …mechanical or automotive skills…how about carpentry….masonry…heavy equipment…
anything like that?”

“Um, no…”

“Did you graduate high school?”

The confidence returned. This he could answer in the affirmative. “Yep, I got my diploma.”

“Is it a Regent’s Diploma or regular?”

“Regents, what the fuck is that?”

“If you don’t know then you don’t have one.” Is the sarcastic remark that came from Alfonzo’s stern mouth. “What skills do you have that you think my company
needs
Sergio?”

“Yo, I’m good at numbers…”

“Square root of 64?”

“Umm…”

“Convert 3 miles to kilometers.”

Sergio bent his head thinking like he was taking a goddamn test. The questions Alfonzo asked were easy.
Sal could answer them and here this sucker said he was good at math. Fucking chump!

“Look I don’t have all day,
do
you know it or
not?
”

“8’s the first answer and 5km is the second. Is that right?”

“Bingo. You know elementary math. I have engineers, architects, lawyers, secretaries with Master Degrees and some employees younger than you who’ve worked construction since they were sixteen. They know the construction business in and out, can read blue-prints and the whole nine, so what the fuck can you do that they can’t?”

Sergio sighed when he realized Alfonzo was taking him to task, “
I don’t know.”

“Exactly, you don’t know and neither do I. You wasted the trip
cuz
. I don’t hire motherfuckers off the street
, those days have passed
and I don’t
care if you
’re family or not. Frankly, I don’t consider you any relation
to me
and that street shit
you got going
do
es
n’t fly
either,
you know what I’m saying
?
” His eyes bore through Sergio, “How much did you get when
you
pawned my brother’s watch?”

Sergio’s eyebrow’s creased in confusion. He thought Giuseppe and Alfonzo were cousins. They were brothers. Damn, they were some blue-eye mean motherfuckers, weren’t they?

“How much?”

“Ten thousand.”

Alfonzo laughed, “You got ripped off. You took it to one of those neighborhood spots didn’t you?”

Sergio
’s
mouth
stayed shut. He wasn’t accustomed to being ‘dissed’ by anybody!

“
Of course you did. If you were really smart you would’ve went to the diamond district and got
ten
times th
e
amount.
Now that’s when your math would’ve
come
in handy.
”

Sergio began to understand who he was dealing with. It’s obvious Alfonzo came from the ‘hood and hustling had been his forte. The suited man sitting there with airs of respectability had mastered the game.

“What
did
you do with the money and the one hundred g’s Nico gave you, huh?”

“I paid off debts.”

“To who?”

“Some dudes threatening to kill my ass.”

“You’re not dead
. Guess
that’s
smart
.
” Alfonzo replied, then cut the dumb sucker some slack, “How bad do you need a job?”

The slouched posture started to come erect, “Like yesterday, word. I’m out of cash.”

Georgina stuck her head in, “You’re next appointment is here Mr. Diaz.”

“
Thanks
set him up with some coffee and take him to the conference room and I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

The door closed and Alfonzo stood then buttoned his suit jacket. “
H
ere’s the problem I have with you Sergio, you’re looking for a hand-out
when
you’re an able
-
bod
ied
man. I’m not knocking your hustle, but what gets me is you have no contingency plan. Every
thug and hustler
still
in the gutter
is
because they’re too damn stupid to
stash away the bulk
of their money and
does
something smart with it.
Only an asshole wants to remain in poverty and not see beyond the ghetto. It’s nothing wrong with having reasonable aspirations
,
yours is unreasonable. You haven’t acquired wisdom. You’re the mugger who won’t work but robs the hardworking lady
.
A house, an investment, hell a damn bodega is a business. Instead, you spend it on chicas, cars, jewelry
and dumb shit. Then, when the money’s gone you
’re
back at the same
nonsense
.
Round and round like a dog chasing its tail
before bending
down
to
lick
its
shit.”
Alfonzo came
from behind the desk and
stood
in front of Sergio
, contemplating whether to give the dude a break or kick him out. His gut decided
.
Sergio was Nico’s problem, not his. “Go back to Nueva York hombre, get a trade. Stop ripping off working people with those credit card scams. If you’re serious about working for me, then go legit, learn construction and come back when you have a
résumé
, your head on straight and can answer why the hell I should hire you
instead of using blood and
some whack
answer
about
being good in math.
Your father thought
quickly
on his
feet. Vincent worked hard and earned respect
. When I look and listen to you I don’t see
him.
All I see is a two-bit punk too old to be so stupid and it irks the shit out of me. When you’ve
acquired
a measure of self-respect
then approach me and I’ll listen, comprendé
?”

Sergio got up. He was inches shorter than Alfonzo, but tall nonetheless. The
confident younger
man who came through the door like a contender
got his ass slammed to the mat
by a heavyweight.
Alfonzo made it clear who the am
ateur
opponent was and
Sergio respectfully
admit
ted
,
Alfonzo’s verbal punches
knocked
him
down for the count
, but he picked himself up. “I’m going to do that cuz and
when I do
you’re going to hire me.”

His
surly
cousin’s
face boasted a lopsided grin, “Then we’ll wrestle again hombré
and hopefully
you’re mentally prepared!”

CHAPTER
TWENTY

“Ha, good for the snot!” Giuseppe remarked when he spoke to his brother after a long day of meetings and issuing favors.
Every family
wanted
a
favor
and it’s
worse
when
blood relatives such as Sergio emerge from the woodwork like roaches whenever they
’re
in need. Alfonzo
did
well by sending the bum into the street
.
He would have punched
Sergio in
the nose and laughed when
t
he
punk
bled
. Fucking
nerve
of the kid!

“I tell you, what are we to do brother with this family we’ve inherited, eh?”

“Live with it is all we can do.”

Alanda snuggled closer to Giuseppe during sleep and he smiled. He loved her womanly curves. He palmed her ass and she pressed into him like warm bread. “Okay, I will see you soon enough. Go have lunch with
Selange before she searches you out with a gun
.”

“
I believe you have the gunslinger groupie, not me.”

At the mention of Geovonna, Giuseppe stilled. Geovonna died in a car accident
.
When he heard the news
there were
mixed emotions, sadness and relief. She had become a nagging thorn in his side and to think he once cared
,
is what evoked the sadness
. He
was a
whoring fool.

His mother told him about her attempt at blackmail and he laughed when she did. Only a crazy person would concoct such a scheme and believe it might work. “My groupie died in a car accident
.
”

“Whoa, sorry to hear that bro. You all right?”

“I am being comforted
.”