Hey!!! Well, I felt "sick" today so I figured I would write the next chapter!!!! It seems like the votes are pretty much even and everyone has these mixed feelings about what should happen to Arnoldo, so, well, you'll see, and I think that you will like what I have in store for him later.
I just want to remind you, Arnoldo owns a casino now.
Hey Puppiesocute, Scorze sante del porco means "Holy pork rinds" ^_^
Non potete sentirli comunicare con voi il capretto means "Can't you hear me when I talk to you, kid?"
And, Vedali means, "See ya".
* * *
The champagne fizzed out of the bottle as Gerald popped the cork out. "I went over to the casino yesterday, looks like we're makin' some serious mulah on it," he said with a grin.
Arnoldo nodded. "I'm putting Helga in charge of our gambling business, so if anything needs to be dealt with that, just let her know, capice?"
Everyone in the room nodded.
"Hey Shortman! Get down here! Your old man's on the phone!" Yelled Grampa from downstairs.
"OK!" Yelled Arnoldo. "Guys." He motioned for them to leave and picked up the phone. "Hey Pop."
"Arnoldo! Tell your old man how you've been?" said Michael Valdini elatedly.
"I got a casino now."
"That's my boy. I hope you have someone you trust runnin' it."
"Uh…yeah, that would be Helga…" Arnoldo could hear his dad pausing on the other line.
"Son…..you know that the women don't get involved in our business. How many times have I told you that? Non potete sentirli comunicare con voi il capretto?"
"I know, I know, it's just that Helga's tougher than any capo I got. You met her. I don't know anyone else who would run a casino as good as she's gonna be able to. Besides, Gerald's got enough on his hands bein' consigliari—"
"Ok, ok, take it easy kid! Yeesh!" Mr. Valdini chuckled. "Just seein' how you are. I got ticket's to Dinoland for us; free as a matter of fact."
Arnoldo could hear voices in the background.
"Hey! Gotta go, son. I've got some important business to take care of. Vedali."
"Vedali."
* * *
THE NEXT DAY
"That was my grandfather's first business." Arnoldo pointed at a small spice store. "My father showed me yesterday."
"Sweet, Football Head. So, uh, about this casino thing." she paused while a passerby bent over to kiss Arnoldo's hand.
"How do you feel about it?" he said and reached to grab hold of her hand.
She blushed slightly. "Well, something to do on the side I guess, right?"
He nodded and squeezed her hand. "Want some coffee?"
* * *
Arnoldo's Room
"I'm not sure if you wanna call this bad news or not, but they got Arnie," said Park.
"He probably doesn't even know it." said Arnoldo, rolling his eyes. "Who was it?"
Park sucked in some air.
"I have reason to believe it was Vincetto," said Peapod kid in his matter of fact voice.
"Vincetto??? When the heck did he come into the picture?" Arnoldo frowned.
"Remember, Don Arnoldo, we did start a war when you had the heads of the five families spontaneously dumped into the trash."
"And he thinks he's actually gonna hurt us by takin' ARNIE out?" Arnoldo started to laugh. "This is great!"
Everyone in the room laughed on cue.
"Listen, we're gonna act like this never happened, capice? We're just gonna let this war play itself out. If Vincetto wants to take Arnie, then let 'im. They sure as heck can do anything they want with him. Any news on the Berman kid?"
"He's recovering. It was more like mental trauma, I'd say." said Park. He tossed a picture of Harold in a straight jacket onto Arnoldo's desk.
"I think I saw that fat boy chasin' the Jolly Olley Man the other day," said Gerald. "But when he saw Torvald and me, I think he got the clue."
* * *
"Where ya goin' Tex?" said Grandma in her Texas accent. She tipped her cowboy hat at Arnoldo as he walked into the kitchen.
"Gotta go to school, Grandma."
"Well, you better have some grub for the cattle drive today!"
Arnoldo grabbed a pancake and ran out the door.
"Gotta go, Grandma!"
He got on the bus for free; compliments of the driver who told him not to bother and even said that Arnoldo could have free rides as long as he wanted.
He sat next to Helga. "Let's speak Italian." He said. "So how's the casino?"
She looked into Arnoldo's eyes, those big pools of teal, and a realization hit her. This was the same Arnold. Sure, he had a different life, and power now. And perhaps it had molded him to a certain extent, but she had gotten used to the slicked back hair and Italian suits, and more than ever, his attitude toward her. She smiled and felt as though a burden had been lifted from her.
"Molto Bene."
* * *
School.
Mr. Simmons was a complete wreck. He was so paranoid of Arnoldo that he was afraid that any move he might make would offend the young don.
Geez, its just a freakin' sandwich, thought Arnoldo, rolling his eyes.
"O-ok now, let's l-l-look at com-common denominators." His eyes rapidly moved to Arnoldo who lounged coolly at his desk. Besides Arnoldo being there, most of the kids in the room were his soldiers and associates.
Arnoldo shook his head.
"Uh, Ok! Let's loo-look at the history of the mafia, or, or as the Italians call it, La Cosa Nostra. Arnoldo, would you like to tell the class a little about…?"
Arnoldo nodded and began to explain.
Suddenly, the door flew up and Principal Warts stepped in. "Arnold, come to my office immediately." He said sternly.
Arnoldo shrugged and followed Warts to his office.
***
I bet you guys are bored out of your skulls right now and thinking "How long is this story gonna go on for cryin' out loud?!" Well, it will end sometime!