Okay, another chapter :) Maybe a little too long this one, and boring in places, but I can never judge my own writing properly XD lol Just a nice smooth intermission chapter, to go from one stage to the next.
Vincenzio put the receiver back into its handle. He sighed a huge sigh of relief, and rested on the wall. He chuckled to himself, smiling. His plan was going to work. With the help of Don Lino and his Mafia boys, Tooti was going to be framed for fixing the boxing match. And Vincenzio could still walk away as the rightful winner. But he'd have to sacrifice Bambi for a few days in order to keep her completely safe.
Feeling quite exuberant, Vincenzio rushed into the living room and lifted Bambi high into the air. She giggled with glee as he spun her round and round, and then brought her close for another cuddle.
"Life is good Bambi! After your birthday, it's just you and me. No more boxing, no more nasty dolphins, and no more greedy press. Just me and my little bambino," he beamed at his daughter.
He couldn't wait for Saturday now. What started as a day to be dreading thanks to Tooti's threat was now turning into a jubilant day to look forward to thanks to Don Lino's help. He flicked on the hi-fi system, turned up the volume, and tuned into the best classic dance radio station on the ocean waves.
"Okay Bambi, let's dance," Vincenzio smiled at Bambi, who smiled her toothy grin back at him, already swaying her tail to the beat of the music.
They spent the night dancing until Bambi fell asleep in her father's fins. With a kiss goodnight to her smooth little head, Vincenzio gently laid her to rest in her crib, putting Shiny right next to her. Yawning and stretching, he flicked the lights off around the apartment, but flicked his bedroom light on. He had hardly slept in his own bed since Mona's death, he hated the memories that haunted him. But tonight, he was free of everything. He settled himself onto the bed, sprawling across the entire length of the king-size mattress. He closed his eyes and dreamt of the carefree life that he now wanted for himself and for his daughter.
Morning light streamed into the kitchen and the living room, slivers of light illuminating whatever they touched. Floating particles passed through the shafts of light, glittering momentarily before disappearing into their anonymity again. Several of Bambi's plastic toys lit up in the light. In the kitchen, the soft light made the metal trim of the table and the sink glimmer and shine.
The phone in the hall rang.
And rang.
And rang.
Vincenzio had thrown his alarm clock at the wall when it went off about half an hour ago. He was notorious for it, he'd had to buy at least six in the past three months. As the sound of the phone continued, Vincenzio stirred into life, grumbling and yawning. He wasn't a morning shark. He tossed and turned over in bed, even grabbing the pillow and wrapping it over his head.
"Alright, I'm up!" he shouted to the phone. He had a habit of talking to things too. He sluggishly got up from his bed, oblivious to the time. He sleepily picked up the phone and yawned down it.
"Hello…?" he sighed. "Ah shells!" he cursed as he dropped the receiver in shock.
On the other end, Don Lino wasn't exactly impressed, but he figured he could allow Vincenzio a few slip-ups. He was the ocean's boxing champ after all.
"Umm…would you believe me if I said I overslept," Vincenzio said sheepily down the phone, blushing slightly and rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.
"Yes, I can believe it Vin," Don Lino said sternly. "Now, I've arranged a whale shark to pick you up from Coral Peak in one hour. Can you get ready by then?"
"Yeah, sure. I just need to get Bambi ready," Vincenzio replied, a little less sleepy now. On cue, he heard a soft thud from Bambi's room. "Erm, could you hold on a second," Vincenzio regretted to say. He hated to keep the most powerful shark in the ocean waiting on the phone. He peeked around into Bambi's room. There she was, sat on a pillow on the floor. She'd thrown it down so that when she climbed over her crib, she had a soft landing.
"Bambi!" Vincenzio bleated, dropping the phone receiver and rushing into Bambi's room. Since she had perfected escapism, he decided to keep her in his fins this time. He bent down to pick up the phone, only to receive a blow to the head from Bambi and Shiny.
"Sorry about that. Bambi fell out of her crib," Vincenzio struggled to say as he tried to wrestle Bambi and her onslaught of beatings using Shiny.
Don Lino sighed and rolled his eyes. Like Vincenzio, he was a sucker for kids. "The whale shark's name is Gerald. There'll be two of my boys with him," Don Lino said.
"Okay," Vincenzio nodded. Bambi whimpered and reached out for the phone. Vincenzio knew what that meant and grimaced. "Err…Bambi wants to say hello," Vincenzio sighed, taking Don Lino by surprise.
Bambi was handed the phone, which she shuffled about in her little fins. "Hewwo," she said sweetly.
Don Lino melted. He'd never heard a cuter voice. "Hello," he replied, his own voice going strangely, and uncharacteristically, sugary. "What's your name?"
"Bambi," she replied shortly. "Daddy's friend?" she asked the young Godfather.
"Yes, I am your daddy's friend. And you'll be coming to stay with me for a little while, until your daddy wins a special fight. You can play with my little boy, Frankie. Sound good?" Don Lino sweet-talked the pup.
"Okay. Here daddy," Bambi replied, handing the phone back to her father, who had watched her with loving eyes.
"Sorry about that, she's at that age when all she wants to do is grab and touch," Vincenzio joked.
"Not a problem. I look forward to having her," Don Lino smiled. "I'll see you soon Vin."
"Yeah, thanks again Don Lino," Vincenzio finished, putting the phone down shortly afterwards. He turned his head to Bambi. "Lets get you ready for a few days at Uncle Lino's."
By the time Vincenzio had managed to get Bambi fed and washed, he had only 15 mins to get some of her things ready. He grabbed a duffel bag, plus another larger bag. He stuffed the duffel bag full of Bambi's favourite toys and early reading books, and sneaked in a small jar of cookies. With dolphins swarming all over this reef, the larger bag was for Bambi. He couldn't believe what he was about to do, but he gently placed her in the bag, along with Shiny. He had to appear as if he was just going to the gym for training.
"OK bambino, you have to stay quiet and still," Vincenzio told her sternly. Bambi nodded her head and giggled, but she quickly silenced herself and nuzzled down into the bag. Vincenzio sighed and took a deep breath. He locked his door as he left, and told Mrs Crinch that she wouldn't be babysitting for a few days. Then he left the autumn serenity of Greater Caverns and set off to the Whale-port.
The Whale-port buzzed. It was an unusually shaped rocky formation, flat and set apart from any major reef cities. Fish alighted and dismounted on the thick pieces of slate-like rock that jutted out from the base. Pilot fish guided their larger counterparts to the docking bays and rushed off to grab some coffee and food, as well as get the ground crew to give their whales a once over. Whale sharks were separated from the whales, they were a whole different standard of travel. Whale sharks were reserved for exclusive travellers, as they swam a little smoother and never had to break the surface to breathe. It was lucky that Don Lino had good connections, or Vincenzio might have had to sell his liver to get a seat on a whale shark.
Vincenzio arrived at the Whale-port, with 5 mins to spare before he had to find Gerald and the escorts. He had every intention of meeting them early, making a good impression on the Mafia sharks. When he arrived, nearly 10 mins late, he cursed himself. Better yet, he cursed the annoying signs posted all over this rocky maze. When he found the whale shark docking bays, he stopped and stared in wonder.
Gerald was the only whale shark in port today. His bottle-green hide was spattered with lighter green stripes and spots, his belly a creamy white. Two bright yellow pilot fish flanked his flattened and streamlined head. The two great whites that were to accompany Vincenzio and Bambi impatiently paced in front of Gerald. He was a laid back shark, mostly due to his stress-free lifestyle. He didn't eat meat, so he didn't need to hunt. He would just cruise along, mouth agape and eat whatever floated in.
As Vincenzio reluctantly approached the two great whites, they turned quickly to him and shot icy glares. He swallowed hard and grimaced.
"What are you playing at?" one of the sharks growled, approaching Vincenzio. But his stern expression quickly disappeared as he realised that Vincenzio was much bigger in real life than he was on TV. "Err…you're…10 mins late…" the shark continued sheepily. Even his companion changed his expression.
Vincenzio was at least a shark's head bigger than both the great whites, and his body build was certainly more muscular on top.
"Yeah, sorry about that. The signs in this place are awful," Vincenzio apologised.
"No worries. So, where's da kid?" the shark asked, leading Vincenzio to Gerald. On cue, as usual, Bambi giggled and poked her head from inside the bag. The shark cocked his eyebrow and nodded. "Fair enough."
Gerald's head was flat and very wide, and his single dorsal fin was situated quite far back on his body. So Vincenzio was settled just after Gerald's head finished, but before his dorsal fin. The two sharks gave the okay to the whale shark and sat on each side of Vincenzio. The pilot fish muttered to each other and began take off procedures.
"This is Captain Marty speaking. My co-pilot today is Cecil. The weather forecasts are favourable, and we will be travelling to New Reef City today. We hope you enjoy the journey," announced one of the pilot fish.
Vincenzio was about as giddy and inquisitive as Bambi was. He'd never travelled before; he'd always swum himself. And even though New Reef City wasn't a huge distance away, it was too far away to take Bambi in a bag all the way. They both looked around as the reef and the whale-port got smaller as Gerald ascended to his preferred swimming depth. Vincenzio thought it was safe to bring Bambi from her hiding place and held her gently in his fins.
"Wave bye to the reef Bambi," he said, lightly holding her fin and moving it for her.
"Bye weef!" she bleated and smiled, waving her fin on her own.
"Okies, listen up you's two. There ain't a whale shark docking bay in the New Reef City whale-port, so Gerald is going to make a stop on the city outskirts. Then, it's a calm swim to da boss's hideout," one shark informed Vincenzio, reassuring him that everything should go fine.
"Since dis is just a drop-off, Gerald is gonna wait for you to get straight back on," the shark continued.
Vincenzio nodded, giving Bambi's smooth head a soft stroke. He didn't want to do this, but he knew she'd be in good fins. And it was the only way Bambi could be kept truly safe. Tooti was fast becoming notorious for breaking his word and attacking early, and Vincenzio didn't want to take the chance.
Vincenzio was having a very heated discussion about sports as the lights of New Reef City were just blinking into view. They had been travelling for a calm five hours, and even though Vincenzio was busy getting to know his escorts, Bambi was hard to keep entertained. Eventually, she had swum upto Gerald's head, and settled herself in between his eyes. She struck up a conversation with the gargantuan shark, who was more than happy to talk to her. Even the pilot fish grew fond of Bambi.
Gerald swam once over the reef top before cruising for the stretch of wasteland that would provide ample parking room. Bambi, although incredibly curious about the large city, found the new noises to be quite frightening. When she heard the loud bellows of a taxi-fish as he zoomed past Gerald, she jumped and swam straight into her father's fins. Vincenzio chuckled and held her snugly.
Vincenzio disembarked, following his two bodyguards across the wasteland. He'd thanked Gerald, and even lifted Bambi high enough to give the whale shark a little kiss to the cheek. Vincenzio felt quite at home in the wasteland, it reminded him of the hunting grounds back home. But it conjured horrible nightmares for Bambi, who was very quiet and still in her father's fins from the moment they left Gerald.
Don Lino held Frankie securely with his right fin, the top of his piranha tank ajar and a piece of meat in his left fin. He turned to face his young pup.
"You see Frankie, it's a fish eat fish world. You either eat, or get eaten," Don Lino said smoothly, dropping the piece of meat into the tank. Frankie's eyes lit up as he saw the little vicious creatures tear into the meat.
Don Lino smiled proudly at his son, but his attention was quickly drawn to the door as his associate Luca entered. Behind him was Vincenzio, still cradling Bambi. Don Lino put Frankie down beside the tank, and then drifted over to the boxer, extending his fin.
"Had a good trip, Vin?" Don Lino greeted Vincenzio, shaking his right fin.
"Yeah. I've never travelled by whale shark before," Vincenzio replied with a giddy smile.
"Well, Gerald is a good friend," Don Lino said as he led Vincenzio over to his desk. With a wave from his fin, he signalled for Luca to leave the room.
"Hi boss," Luca said as he waved back.
Don Lino rolled his eyes and grumbled. "Luca…leave," he growled at the octopus' incompetence.
"Oh, sorry boss," Luca apologised as he closed the door behind him, trapping one of his tentacles. He whined and grimaced as he freed his arm and then made a hasty exit. Don Lino sighed heavily, settling into his chair. Vincenzio sat down, but blushed lightly as he felt the chair strain and heard it creak under his weight.
"So, this must be Bambi," Don Lino said with a smile, looking at the rather subdued Bambi nestled against Vincenzio's chest. Frankie moved to his father's side, going quite shy in front of the boxing legend, but still tried to peek over the top of desk to get a better look.
"Yeah. Say hello Bambi," Vincenzio tried to get his daughter to come out a little more, but she just whimpered and curled up some more. "Hehe, she's gone all shy. Don't you remember Bambi? Its daddy's friend from the phone this morning."
Bambi looked at her father curiously, and Don Lino. She giggled and waved at him, making him laugh. He leaned forward to give Bambi an affectionate pat on her little head. Frankie then tugged at his father's left fin, asking to be picked up. He stretched down and grabbed his pup by the waist, lifting him up to the desk.
"You remember my pup?" Don Lino asked Vincenzio.
"Frankie, right?" Vincenzio smiled.
"Pop, he remembered my name!" Frankie whispered to his father in excitement. He'd got his father to frame the signed piece of paper from last year, and it was hanging somewhere safe in his room.
The two older sharks both chuckled. "Well, this is Vincenzio's little girl, Bambi," Don Lino pointed out to Frankie. By this time, Bambi had become more inquisitive, and was wriggling about in her father's fins, trying to escape.
"I didn't know you had a pup, Mr Vincenzio," Frankie said politely, swimming up to Bambi. "Hey look! She's got a white tail too."
"I wouldn't get too close if I were you," Vincenzio warned Frankie with a smile. "She can really pack a punch if she wants to."
"Following in her father's footsteps then?" Don Lino said jokingly.
"She's a girl, how hard could she hit?" Frankie laughed. Just as he said that, Bambi whacked him hard on the head with Shiny, laughing hysterically afterwards as Frankie rubbed the bump that was forming. Even Don Lino had to chuckle at Bambi's attack.
"I told you so," Vincenzio chuckled at the pouting Frankie, shrugging his large shoulders.
"Frankie, why don't you take Bambi with you to the nursery, so that I can talk to Vincenzio," Don Lino suggested to his pup, hinting that it was time for him to leave.
"Okay pop. But she better not hit me again," Frankie grumbled as he took a light hold of Bambi's fin and led her out of the room. She turned back and waved to her father and Don Lino, but was dragged along by Frankie.
As the door clicked shut, Don Lino's warm smile quickly melted into a more serious expression. "Okay, everything's set. I'll be at the fight this Saturday, as will most of my guys, plus some of the other families. If the dolphins so much as blow a bubble that they shouldn't, we'll be all over them," Don Lino said menacingly.
Vincenzio sighed, and he was beginning to see how Don Lino became Godfather. "Thanks again for all of your help."
"Fuggedaboutit, it ain't a problem," Don Lino smiled as he got up from his chair. "Gerald will be waiting for ya. Good luck on Saturday, friend."
Don Lino shook Vincenzio's fin again as he got up, leading him to the door. Before leaving the luxurious liner, Vincenzio left the duffel bag full of Bambi's things with Don Lino and was escorted back to the waiting whale shark.
As Gerald set off, Vincenzio gave a heavy sigh as he looked at the faint shadow of the liner in the distance. He was missing Bambi already, but he would be busy over the next three days in preparation for the fight. Regis had cooked up an intense training regime, and Vincenzio would have hardly seen Bambi anyway. At least this way, she was going to be kept entertained. A cheeky smile curled across his face as he thought about the distinguished Don Lino trying to keep Bambi happy.
He highly doubted that the mob boss was prepared to dance with her!