Chapter 9: The Christening

The third capo on my list threw a christening for his granddaughter on Saturday.

He made a point of inviting me.

The invitation came by text.

Bring the bread, it said. Everyone's heard about the bread.

"That's a trap," I told Valerio on the drive to Bayonne.

"Probably."

"Then why are we going?"

"Because he's the only capo left who isn't afraid of your father."

"That's not a reason to trust him."

"No," Valerio said. "It's a reason to count the exits."

The party filled a banquet hall with white balloons and sixty guests.

The capo met us at the door in a cream suit with four gold rings on his hands.

He was loud and heavy, and he kissed both my cheeks.

"Aurelio's maid!" he cried. "She's here! Everybody, the girl who makes the gravy!"

The nearest tables laughed.

I kept my smile on.

"Let me show you the kitchen," he said, and steered me through the room with a hand on my back.

At the kitchen door he stopped and pointed at a rack of aprons.

"Here's the deal, sweetheart. I heard about your little speech at the dinner."

"Brave. Stupid, but brave."

He tapped his chest.

"I'll swear to your service tonight. But I want to see this service for myself."

"What do you mean?"

"Serve my table. The whole banquet. Put on an apron and carry the trays."

He grinned at the guests behind us.

"Then I'll swear you earned it."

I looked at the apron.

I looked at the sixty people who had gone quiet to watch.

He wanted a show.

He wanted Aurelio's daughter in an apron in front of the whole county.

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