TEEN DREAMERS PART TWO:
LOST INNOCENCE

Livia Pollio Soprano was a houseproud woman. The house was all she had. Even if she had had a 'proper' education, she would have been tied to the stove. Three children and a fat-ass husband had made that decision for her.

At half-five, Johnny - her spouse - came in. He would be out again before half-six, but he was always on time for his dinner at six. If there wasn't a meal on the table by the sixth chime of the clock, someone would pay dearly for their crime.

Next the two girls - Janice and Barbara - trooped downstairs. Janice was a hefty girl, and her parents would always make comments about her ever- swelling backside. Tonight was no different. Johnny grinned at the prospect of a good tease. "Don't worry if you snap the chair, hun. We've got some new ones coming in next week." Janice didn't reply.

The last to arrive was Anthony at ten to. He came complete with cheap brown paper bag. "Ma", he said, handing it her, "here's the fusilli you ordered from Mr Valhi."

"What 'bout the other things?"

"He said they'd be coming soon." Anthony sat at the table between Janice and Johnny. He knew he was in a bad position, but Ma's good chair was for Ma's tired old back and legs only. It wasn't worth his life to take up his position in that seat. They sat down, Janice said grace and the meal commenced.

Halfway through, Anthony mentioned his encounter in the malt shop. Johnny stopped, a lump of steaming pork almost in his mouth. "What did the guys look like, Anthony?"

"One of the guys had big arms, a weird nose and tattoos, the other one had spots and a kind of Elvis 'do." Johnny's fork clattered against his plate, and his eyes hardened. Not a good sign. Anthony hoped that he hadn't got the people he'd never met before into too much trouble. "Is that bad, Pa?"

"Son, they are not the type of people you want to be messing around with."

"How do you mean?"

"They're criminals. Paulie's been in and out of correctional facilities since he was nine. He's just come out the army after a Section 8."

"A what?"

"Section Eight. He's not alright upstairs." Johnny tapped his temple to illustrate this point. Anthony was still mystified, but thought it wiser not to say anything. "What about the other guy?"

Johnny shrugged. "I don't even know his name. Paulie hangs round with a lot of spotty sciocchi, I can't be expected to remember how he calls all of them." He picked up his fork and continued eating. Discussion over.

After dinner, Anthony went up to his room. Why was everything changing so dramatically? Those men were criminals, yet his father knew details that weren't immediately obvious. Did that mean that he - his father - really was one of them? He buried his head in the pillow and tried to make some sense of it all.

Just down the hall, in her bedroom, Janice was also reflecting back on the day, but for a different reason. She had also seen those two men walking purposefully towards that same malt shop. The younger one had been more than a little pimply and sour, but the older one.God! What a body! Muscles like trees and real "hard-man" tattoos. Her homework lay untouched as she sketched out his features on a bit of dirty paper. Madonn', what a lover he would make!

Downstairs, Livia was washing up. Her kids were so ungrateful, just take, take, and take all the time. She heartily prayed that their children would be as much as a curse to them as they were to her. It would do them a lot of good.

At Saltieri's, Johnny and his brother Corrado JR were discussing Anthony's meeting with Paulie. "He didn't seem to understand how close he got."

Corrado spat on the floor. "Let the kid learn at his own pace, Johnny. Don't force anything on him. He's smart, he'd have figured it out eventually anyway."

At this point, Paulie came in with coffee. "Paulie," Johnny said, "What did you tell my kid?"

"Your kid?" He rolled a wad of gum round his mouth contemplatively. "Nothin'."

"You sure?"

"Why would I tell your kid anything? I only saw him for a moment. If you want to grill anyone about it, ask my pimply little shitwit friend. I'll go fetch him if you want."

"Ok." Paulie left the brothers, and returned just seconds later with his teenage companion. He had that just-woken-up look and his hair was all over the place. Johnny went through the same routine with him and got similar, sullen replies. And a couple of grunts. Johnny and Corrado let their underlings go, and stared at each other in silence.