CH 2

…

If a person were to look up the best cities to live in the U.S.A, Springfield would not appear in the top-10-best-list. Or the top-20. Or any best list at all for that matter. If it ever had one, Springfield was far past its heyday. The city was in bad shape. In the more recent years, crime rates had risen alongside unemployment to all-time highs. Surprisingly, for many citizens it was the final straw and they began to push for their local government to get the city back in order. A new mayor had been elected in the most recent election, and it was a good start, but Springfield was a very, very long ways away from perfect , and it needed more than a new coat of paint.

A shooting at a busy hotel in the middle of the day was confirmation of that. The hotel management were quick to cover all expenses and offered a new room to Cecil in the hopes that their reputation would not suffer. He accepted of course, even if he had no plans of returning at all. Eventually the police arrived, followed shortly by the media. When the police finally did get everything under control and began asking questions, Cecil kept to his plan to tell them absolutely nothing about what he knew. Gino did the same. And Maggie.

The more she thought about what was going on, the more it really sank in and bothered her. Someone really was after Gino and his family. She wanted to be there for him, to help, yet here she was trying to duck out and hide. Both Cecil and Gino were still willing to press on after nearly being killed once already. She never picture herself as the scared and selfish type, and it bothered her that she felt that way now. She wasn't about to let her fears put her on the sidelines while Gino was in danger.

As the three of them walked away from the hotel Maggie spoke up to both Cecil and Gino, "hey listen", she jogged in front of the to get them to pay attention. They stopped walking and looked at her, "I… I've changed my mind. I want to help. I'm coming with you".

"really?" Cecil rested his hands on his hips, "All it took was you getting shot at?"

She nodded, "yes. I guess so".

"what's changed?"

Maggie shrugged, "Bob's always been kind of a jerk and 'in-your-face' about killing before. I don't think he'd kill any of us without announcing it was him first. I don't think he's behind this".

"Fair enough", Cecil agreed.

Maggie shook her head slowly. She turned to Gino and said, "my gut tells me helping Bob at all is still a bad idea, but really when it comes down to it, this is not about me. I guess he's worth it to you two. So, if you guys are dead set on finding him, I'll help. Maybe not a lot, but however I can".

"thank you Mags", Gino hugged her tight.

"you are very cute together", Cecil said with crossed arms, "but I think it's best if we get going. I'd hate to have escaped with my life only to be gunned down on the street like an animal".

"well where do we go?"

"I wish I knew", Cecil shrugged his shoulders, "I'm open to suggestions".

"where were you going before we stopped?"

"I just want to get out of the open".

Cecil and Gino gibbered back and forth. Maggie pushed passed them, "C'mon".

"where are you going?" Cecil asked.

"we're gonna visit my brother".

…

Maggie pushed on the door to the Android's Dungeon and stepped inside the shop, Gino and Cecil following close behind. They were greeted with the electronic *ding-dong* of the door alarm and nothing else. No kids in the store today, no one browsing through the admittedly-limited selection of comics the shelves held. It was quiet, no customers, and no Bart. They approached the front counter, Maggie's gloved palm slammed down on the little, silver bell next to the register. Apparently it was just for looks, since it made no sound at all.

"yo!" Maggie called out.

A reply came from some room in the back, "yeah yeah, be right there, cash only man, card machine is busted".

"So is your bell"

"Dammit, I just had the bell guy out here to fix that", Bart rubbed his eyes as he came to the front of the store. He sat down on a wobbly stool behind the cash register before finally looking at the people in front of him, "Whoa, Mags, good to see you sis".

Maggie smiled and said, "it smells like weed in here you know".

"No it doesn't… maybe… how would you know what that smells like, huh?" he asked with an accusing tone.

"because I go to high school", Maggie folded her arms.

Bart scratched his head, "oh, well, what are you doing here? You need money? Cause I don't have any-"

"we needed to ask a favor of you", Maggie interrupted and gestured to Gino and Cecil, "they need it actually", she rubbed her neck and said, "all this talking today is making my throat hurt".

Gino looked at her and after a second took that as his cue to speak up, "my father is missing. We believe he may have been abducted, and someone called Michael D'Amico may be involved".

"Wait, wait", Bart shook his head then looked to Maggie, "Bob is in some kinda trouble, and you're helping".

Maggie shrugged but said nothing.

"ooookay. Well, what do you want me to do?"

Gino answered, "Maggie said you may have information we could use, something about friends in low-"

"Friends in low places? Yeah I know, I hear that one a lot", Bart leaned forward and placed his arms on the glass counter, "well it doesn't take super-street-smarts, but I can tell you about who you're looking for. It wasn't such a long time ago that almost all of the organized crime in Springfield was run by a guy called Fat Tony. He's kinda been outta the game for a while, rumors are that he got sick, or he's dead, but I don't know for sure. What I do know, and what you care about, is that his real name is Anthony D'Amico. Michael, is his son".

"So what, like… mob… mafia… gangster type stuff? Like the movies?" Gino cocked his head and pointed his finger like a gun.

"And Michael is in charge of the mob now?" Cecil asked.

"could be", Bart shrugged, "the mob hasn't been big in Springfield for a while now anyways, its mostly just gambling rackets they're into… I mean… that's what I hear", he corrected with a guilty smile.

"okay, so where would we find this guy?" Gino stepped closer, leaning over the counter between them and Bart.

"hell if I know kid, I think Fat Tony still has a compound in Springfield Heights somewhere, but that doesn't mean anything", Bart stood up, "Michael could be anywhere. What were you thinking you'd just roll up to his front door, ask him some questions, see if he kidnapped your dad?"

Gino frowned and asked, "is there anything else you know that could help us? You sure you don't know anyone who may know him, or where to find him?"

Bart dragged his hands through his messy hair as he thought for a minute, "Someone who may have a better idea would be Lisa", he looked to Maggie.

Maggie had been flipping through one of the comic books on the shelves. She lowered it after finishing the page and asked, "what are you talking about?"

"She dated Michael".

Both Gino and Cecil looked at Maggie. she shook her head, "what are you looking at? I don't know anything about that".

"She wasn't open about it", Bart continued, "it was a couple of years ago while she was still in high school. She's always had a thing for 'bad-boys', doesn't get much worse than a gangster's son. Also, he's older than I am, and she was like, 16, so that's probably why she hid it".

Maggie had never paid any attention to any of Lisa's relationships, the few serious ones she'd had, let alone a secret one. "okay, so Lisa did date this guy, years ago, what makes you think she'd know anything now?"

"I don't Mags. But maybe they stayed in touch, maybe she can get in touch with him, maybe she still sees him sometimes. All I can really say is she used to know him pretty well. Sorry, but that's all I've got for you".

Maggie shrugged, "meh… there's still a lot of 'ifs' in there. What do you guys think?" she asked Gino and Cecil.

Gino said, "well unless we'd blindly like to start searching high and low for a mob boss' compound, talking to your sister is probably a good idea. Anything she could tell us might help".

"agreed", Cecil nodded, "any information is still information, and therefore helpful".

"alright, Bart, me and you, let's go see Lisa. You guys stay here", Maggie ordered to Gino and Cecil.

"what? Why me?" Bart asked. Gino was also averse to staying behind but before he could complain Maggie held up a hand to silence him and explained.

"you have a car, it'll be faster to drive, they can stay here. Michael is looking for them, the less they are out in the open the better. Right?"

Gino scratched his head, "I guess… I don't like hiding here and sending you out there".

"she's right", Cecil chimed in, "At the risk of sounding cowardly, why not? They aren't after her, its best we keep our heads down out of the crosshairs as much as we can. Oh, I'm sure you'll be just fine dear".

Gino sighed, but as he looked to Maggie and she smiled at him he couldn't help but smile back. He trusted her.

"we'll be okay. I told you, I wanted to help, I guess this is how I can".

Bart jumped back into the conversation, "look man, I've got crazy amounts of stuff to do, I can't just pick up and leave…"

"it's your store, you can do as you please, also…" she gestured all around the empty store in a circle, "doesn't appear to be your rush hour".

Bart grumbled but fished around in his pocket for the keys to his car, "fine, you two are honorary employees for the evening. Make yourselves useful and stock the boxes in the back. Let's go Mags".

Gino and Cecil watched them walk out of the shop together.

"you see that? Bart Simpson has had just as many, if not more, unpleasant encounters with your father as Maggie has, but there he goes, helping with no manner of serious convincing. If he could get over his feuding with Bob and help just like that, why can't she?" Cecil folded his arms. He moved to sit down behind the counter and looked to Gino for a response.

Gino watched Bart and Maggie through the shops large front window. They got into Bart's car and after a U-turn in the street, disappeared out of view. Finally he turned to face his uncle and said, "I don't know. She has never told me exactly what happened".

There was silence for a good minute, and Cecil asked, "should we get started on the boxes?"

"really?"

"we don't have anything better to do, come on, you love organizing things, it'll help ease your mind, help you focus", Cecil's thin layer of lightheartedness was obvious, but Gino smiled just the same and they walked together into the back store room.