We'll be going back a bit for my perspective, but I'll keep it fairly compact so we can catch up to new information quickly. Thank you kindly for your indulgence. ~B. Fraser
Chapter Thirty-four: Indulgence And Discretion
Backtracking to pizza dinner at the Vecchio's, I must say that now that I know the facts as they occurred, I view the evening much differently.
The food was excellent, and it was heartwarming to see Mrs. Vecchio and her family making much of my friend, who was modest to a fault. It also warmed my heart to hear RayV request a blessing from God on RayK. Clearly, recent events had done much to improve their regard for each other.
After dinner, Tony and Maria started getting their children ready for bed, and RayK went to read to the younger girls. Mrs. Vecchio escorted her father upstairs before coming back to serve coffee to me, RayV and Francesca.
"Keep the pot warm for me," RayV said, pushing back from the table. "I'm gonna visit the can."
"Charming," Francesca said sarcastically.
"Pardon me... the powder room," Ray amended with equal sarcasm.
Francesca chuckled and shook her head.
"Are you not joining us?" I asked Mrs. Vecchio when she started back for the kitchen.
"There's a pile of dishes that won't wash themselves," she said, patting my shoulder.
"I'd be happy to give you a hand with them," I said, going so far as to push my chair back.
"Nah, you don't have to do that."
"Ma, you work too hard," Francesca put in. "Why don't you go relax and me and Fraze will do the dishes?"
Her mother looked surprised at the offer, but she accepted. Francesca and I took our coffee into the kitchen and began taking clean dishes out of their dishwasher. I stacked and organized, and Francesca put everything away. Then we began putting dirty dishes in.
"Francesca," I said.
"Yeah?" She smiled at me.
"There's something I've been wanting to ask you... well, to tell you. To ask, and tell you." I wasn't sure I was making sense. I had planned out what to say, but couldn't remember any of my plan.
"Okay. Go for it."
I frowned as I put silverware into the dishwasher's plastic basket. "Well, it's come to my attention that... that at times I haven't always been very forthright... with my feelings—and intentions... with you..." I licked my lips. I couldn't understand why a simple conversation was so difficult. "And I wondered..."
"So, you wanna get things out there now?" Francesca suggested. "Get it off your chest? Because, that's totally fine. You can be honest with me. Whatever it is, just..."
She said some other things, but I'm afraid I didn't hear them. When she finally paused, I cleared my throat. "Yes, well... having given it a good deal of thought, I've determined that I owe it to you to... to 'spell things out' as some might put it. Just to be sure that there are no hard feelings between us. Because I would never want to hurt you," I said sincerely, glancing up at her.
I wasn't sure what her expression indicated. It seemed attentive, but I could detect nothing else.
"I think, in the long run," I went on carefully, "that you and I make better friends than we would anything else. Except, perhaps family, which I've come to see you as something like... I have similar feelings for you of pride and caring to those I have for my own sister."
She got a few more dishes from the sink and put them into the dishwasher. "I... I see," she said.
We worked a little longer, and I nearly spoke again a few times, but didn't know how to make myself clearer. Finally, she looked at me again.
"Thanks for telling me that, Fraser." I thought her eyes looked a little moist.
"You're welcome," I said, for lack of being able to produce anything more helpful.
"I think you're probably a really swell big brother," she went on. "So... so that's fine with me." She stood on tiptoe and kissed my cheek. "You mind if I..." she said, backing away. "I'm just gonna..."
"Go right ahead," I told her.
She left through the door leading to the hall without further explanation.
A moment later, RayV came in through the dining room door. "So... you finally told her," he said, joining me by the sink.
I nodded. "I'm not sure... what to do now."
He picked a couple of dishes out of the sink and shook off some water before transferring them to the dishwasher. "I vote we finish up here and then help ourselves to some of that cake."
We were sitting at the table again with half-eaten slices of cake and fresh cups of coffee when we heard Mrs. Vecchio's loud exclamations in Italian. Ray and I understood enough to know that she was extraordinarily upset with her father for some reason. We hurried out to the hall and up the stairs.
Detecting our sense of urgency, Dief followed us rather than staying behind to loot our unguarded cake.
When we reached the top of the stairs, we saw RayK and Francesca down the hall, coming slowly toward us. The noise was coming from RayV's room, and we convened at the door, which was most of the way open.
"You know what the doctor said!" Mrs. Vecchio was shouting at her father. "And you bring this here, with the children in the house!"
"Ma, what's going on?" Francesca asked tentatively.
"Look at your grandchildren," the matriarch continued, gesturing at the rest of us, including me. "What example are you setting them?" She shook something small and reflective in his face.
"I'm sorry, Marta," said her father. "You're right. I didn't mean any harm."
"Are those... cigarettes?" asked RayV, sounding quite disturbed.
I knew Ray had smoked in the past, but that was before I met him. I wondered if it was difficult for him to see a pack of them in his very own house after so much time had passed.
"You see. We're all ashamed of you," said Mrs. Vecchio.
"I'll throw them away," said her father.
"I'll throw them away. Somewhere you won't find them."
"W-where did you find them?" RayV asked.
"In his bathrobe," she answered, coming toward us. When she got close enough, I could see that the cigarettes were a foreign brand, one with which I was not familiar.
"Uh, Ma," Ray started.
"It's my fault," RayK interrupted.
"You?" Mrs. Vecchio looked at RayK, at a loss for words.
"Yeah... I had these foreign cigarettes some stoolie gave me and I don't smoke... I thought since we were celebrating tonight, why not let the old man have a treat? It was stupid. I didn't think about his health... he seemed to be doing really good."
"Ray..."
I was nearly as shocked as Mrs. Vecchio. It wasn't hard for me to believe that RayK would want to share something with his adoptive grandfather—he had quite a generous nature. But I knew he hated cigarettes, and I knew he knew better than to give them to someone whose health was fragile.
RayK took the pack from Mrs. Vecchio. "I'll get rid of them." He looked past her into the room. "Sorry, Papa. I didn't mean to get you in trouble."
"Oh, it's all right, my boy," he answered.
"Um... Sorry, Ma. It won't happen again; I promise." RayK retreated back downstairs.
Francesca patted her mother's arm. "Boy, what a dummy," she muttered.
"Oh, what a foolish boy," Mrs. Vecchio lamented.
I looked at RayV, who wore a rather vacant expression.
"I don't believe this," he said.
Diefenbaker had followed after RayK. "Come on... we'd best not let this fester," I told RayV. I looked at his mother. "I apologize for my friend's behavior," I said before starting back for the stairs.
RayV and I got back to the dining room with Francesca not far behind us, and there we found RayK, who seemed unable to meet the eye of anyone besides Diefenbaker, whom he was petting.
I was mildly surprised that Dief was acting nurturing toward RayK, rather than suspicious, given the way the Vecchios had reacted to his confession.
"So..." said Francesca.
"Kowalski, could I have a word?" Ray interrupted her.
"Oh, don't be dramatic," she said. "You can chew him out in front of Fraser and me. Or were you planning to beat him up?"
"I am not going to beat him up! I just want a word with him in private, that's all." He took RayK by the shoulder and pushed him toward the front door.
"It's fine," RayK said, going along willingly.
I had some misgivings. I wondered if all the progress made between those two was about to be destroyed.
Francesca also looked worried. "I know you don't like eavesdropping," she said, "but I think I'd feel better if we did it now."
"Perhaps a compromise," I suggested, walking carefully up to the dining room window.
"Spying?" she asked.
I nodded. "Spying."
We could just see the two Rays on the porch if we got close enough to the glass. Their movements didn't seem too agitated, and they were keeping their voices low. After a moment, we saw RayK remove his hand from his pocket and RayV's arm moved, too. RayK's body was blocking my line of sight, but I was fairly sure RayK had given him something, possibly the cigarettes.
Dief poked his nose against the window as RayV's voice became audible, though we still couldn't discern any words. There was a pause, and then he reached out toward RayK.
"Oh, God," Francesca gasped, but she had nothing to worry about.
To our mutual surprise, RayV hugged RayK.
"Whaaat...?" Francesca murmured. "Who'd have thought a year in the mob would turn my brother... soft?!"
"Perhaps it's given him a deeper perspective on cherishing his friends," I suggested. I felt a little guilty for intruding on the personal moment, even though I knew they were unaware of our observation. I moved away from the window, and a moment later, Francesca did, too.
"They're coming in," she said, hurrying to the other side of the room.
She watched both Rays carefully as they came back into the room. "You want some cake?" she asked RayK.
"I don't think I could," he said.
"I'll wrap some up for you." She left the room.
"So," I said, still feeling a little guilty.
"It's done," RayV said. "Forget it." He slapped RayK on the back. "No sense beating a dead horse."
"There's no sense beating any horse."
"It's an expression."
"We're cool, Fraser," RayK said.
Everything seemed fine, so I tried to relax. If RayV could forgive RayK's mistake, there was certainly no reason I should hold it against him.
"You guys go home, rest up, and I'll see you on Monday," RayV said. He looked at RayK. "Just don't be too surprised if you don't get to stick around. I'm writing up my report tomorrow for Welsh to go over. I'm not gonna offer you up for the slaughter, but I am gonna tell the truth."
RayK nodded. "Fair enough."
Francesca brought out a plate of cake wrapped in plastic, which she offered to RayK.
"Thanks. I'll see you soon."
"Okay." She walked us to the door. "Ma will be okay," she said as we went out. "Nobody ended up smoking the things, so I'm sure she'll decide there was no harm done and you'll be back on her good side before you know it."
"I hope so," RayK said. "I feel terrible."
"Well... you should. But it'll be okay," she repeated.
In the car, Dief began licking RayK's ear. "All right, Dief," he said, pushing him away.
I considered the strange events of the evening, wondering if there were a connection between the cigarettes RayK had acquired from his informant and the ones I had smelled on RayV.
"I know, it was a stupid thing to do," Ray broke the silence about halfway home.
"I'm not judging you, Ray."
"No, but you're sitting there wondering how I could do something so stupid..."
"That would be judging you," I pointed out.
"I guess." He sighed. "Trust me, I feel just awful about the whole thing, but like Ray said, it's done."
I explained what I'd actually been thinking about and asked to see the cigarettes. I suspected he didn't have them anymore, but didn't want to reveal that I had spied on him and RayV.
"Oh, I... I gave them to Ray to get rid of," he said. "You know... he's the head of the family and all. So, he sees it as his responsibility."
"Was he angry?"
"No. Well, maybe a little. But it turned out fine. He even said I was his brother. And he meant it." Ray's expression was neutral, but I thought I heard a slight change in his voice, one of emotion.
"That was very supportive of him," I said, glad that my old friend had been so indulgent over the whole affair. I couldn't imagine him acting that way before his undercover work.
"Yeah. He's pretty cool once you get to know him."
"As I've been trying to tell you."
"I admit it, you were right. Happy?"
"I am."
He smiled a little. "Did you get a chance to talk to Franny?"
I suddenly felt a bit uncomfortable again. "Yes, I did."
"And did she understand?"
"I think so."
"Okay. Thanks for doing that, buddy."
I nodded.
"Hey, Ray was asking if there are any apartments available at Miz Tate's... I dunno how I feel about living in the same building with him, brother or no brother, but I guess we should ask."
"If neither of us sees her before Monday, I'll ask her then," I said.
He offered to help me work on my table more that night, but it needed time to dry, so I suggested waiting until the next day.
The next day, however, began with a distraction in the form of MacKenzie King. Well, in my case, it began with a bowl of oatmeal for me and a bowl of dog food and raw egg for Dief. We had finished breakfast and I hadn't heard anything from Ray's apartment yet, so I turned my table over and began working on the stain again. I heard Ray's phone ring a little later, but didn't think much of it until I heard his door open.
Then my door opened, and Ray walked in. Dief ran over to greet him, soon rewarded with petting.
"Tell me that wasn't unlocked all night," Ray said.
I am, of course, against lying. But I reasoned that if I was just repeating something Ray told me to say, it wasn't really a lie. "It... wasn't."
"You're lying."
"You told me to tell you."
"Never mind. MacKenzie King wants to interview me. What do I do?"
I advised him to review his case notes and to wear something a little more formal—he was in a pair of jeans and an undershirt. He hadn't even put socks on yet.
He explained that he didn't want to be interviewed at all.
"Then don't do it."
"It's not that simple!"
"Why not?"
"Because if I refuse to see her, she'll just print something like 'When asked for a statement regarding the Hall murder, Detective Kowalski declined to comment.' Something like that. It'll make it sound like I got something to hide."
"Do you?"
"No."
"Then what's the problem?"
He made a frustrated gesture. "Fraser..."
"Yes?" I asked warily.
He seemed to calm marginally. "Look, I don't wanna do it. How do I get rid of her?"
"Well, you could tell her something diplomatic like... 'I am not at liberty to discuss ongoing investigations. Please direct any questions to my superior.'"
"Okay. That's good. That might work. You know her... you think it'll work?"
"Possibly." I knew Ms. King could be relentless.
"Possibly. What if it doesn't?"
I knew I couldn't send him away on his own. "If it doesn't, you may hand the phone to me," I said, pushing my chair back.
"Good. Come on."
He used the speaker feature on his landline so I could hear all of the conversation. When Ray tried to deflect Ms. King by directing her to Lt. Welsh, she was not thrown.
"Has your lieutenant ever been undercover? I'm looking for the inside scoop. The man living on the edge of a knife, as told to MacKenzie King in this exclusive..."
I decided it was time to step in. "Excuse me, Miz King."
"Constable Fraser, is that you?"
"Indeed it is," I said. "My partner informed me that he would be speaking with you, and I'm afraid I've been privy to your entire conversation."
She laughed. "I'll just bet you have. So, are you two living together now? You got there awfully fast."
Ray waved his hands at me rather wildly, seeming to want me to make an emphatic denial.
"No, just nearby," I answered. "If you're so intent on getting a story from someone who's been undercover, why aren't you asking Detective Vecchio for a scoop?"
She explained how she had tried and been put off by RayV.
"Yes, I'm afraid he can be a bit..."
"Well, that settles it," said Ray. "If Vecchio thinks it's a bad idea to talk to you, I'm not going to, either. Like I said, you can talk to my lieutenant if you want an official statement."
"Don't make an enemy of me, Kowalski," she said.
"Are you threatening me?"
"If I may," I said. "Miz King, Ray is refusing to be interviewed purely for the sake of his duty. And Ray, I'm sure she doesn't mean to seem threatening."
He rolled his eyes.
"Perhaps later on, he might be able to grant an interview, but he is obligated to remain discreet at this juncture."
King finally agreed not to pursue the interview further for the time-being and Ray thanked me for my help. We were about to have some coffee before going to my apartment to work on the table when his phone rang again.
I'll leave off here for the sake of length and post more soon. ~B. Fraser