Chapter 4

Gallo had never imagined he'd actually want to get out of work.

He normally enjoyed it in the movie store, loving to recommend films that he'd seen and loved. But that day, he had an appointment to see Joe and Eddie. Gallo wondered when was the last time that he had seen them, and that was at church almost three weeks ago. Gallo's mother was a very religious Catholic, and Gallo went for her sake. He could tell she disapproved of his apathy to religion, and it hurt him to disappoint her, but that didn't mean he was going to go to church every sunday when Alice wanted to see him. She too wasn't very religious, as Gallo had found out personally.

Gallo worried about what he was going to say to Alice concerning his brother's wedding. Would it be cancelled? Would he die unexpectedly? Would his bride die? What the fuck hell was he going to tell her?

Maybe Joe could think something up. He was a smart guy, maybe he could help him out. He was thinking about it as he closed up. He remembered that fucking ass that showed up in the store earlier. What a crab. Here Gallo was, doing the guy a favour, and the idiot doesn't even acknowledge it. What had happened to him today to make him so pissed off? Gallo put it off of his mind as he called up Alice.

"Who's this?" A deep male's voice answered.

Gallo was surprised, "Gallo. Where's Alice?"

"Gallo? I don't know no Gallo."

"Alice does, so put her on."

The phone went quiet, and Gallo could hear the phone being exchanged.

"Hello?" It was Alice.

"Who was that?"

"My uncle. He just dropped by today. How are you Tommy?"

"Good." Gallo still felt uneasy about the uncle. He sounded like a guy used to bossing people around.

Alice suddenly dropped her voice, "So you coming over tonight?"

Gallo nodded automatically cursed in amusement at his own mistake, and answered, "Yeah of course! How could I possibly forget?"

Alice stifled a giggle, but then spoke again, "Listen, my uncle's going to stay over at my place for dinner. He and my aunt are visiting for dinner. You mind meeting them?"

Gallo felt a rotten feeling in his stomach: he had a feeling it wasn't going to work out very well. He wasn't exactly the most popular choice for a boyfriend, and having relatives of Alice's over might especially be tough to handle.

"Please? I know your brother's wedding's coming up, can you do it?" Alice pleaded. She wanted this, Gallo knew, and he owed her after dropping out so quickly.

He made his voice sound cheerful and carefree, "Yeah no problem. I just heard that my brother's postponed the wedding for some reason, so I can do it." It was pure improv from now on, Gallo thought.

"Really? What reason?" Alice was suddenly curious.

Gallo made sure he sounded thoroughly puzzled, "Well I don't know, but he didn't sound very happy at all. Maybe something happened between them, I don't know."

Alice sounded concerned when she replied, "Oh. That sucks. Well hopefully they can figure it out."

"I'm sure they will,' Gallo put in, eager with his success in persuading her, 'So I'm gonna finish closing this shit up, and then I'll be over there."

He quickly closed up the store (he always closed alone: he thought the idiot co-workers slowed him down) and headed home for a quick shower. He ought to get spruced up as much as possible for this dinner. He'd seen this movie before; anything he did would be reported back to Alice's parents. No matter what the fuck it was, they'd know. So he'd sure as hell make sure it was good news they sent back.

Just as got inside his apartment, the phone rang. He quickly picked it up, thinking it was Alice again, "Yeah what is it, sweetie?"

"Kiss my ass, you son of a bitch! I know about that broad you met the other night!" It was a very amused male's voice.

Gallo froze, mortified "Eddie?"

Eddie burst out laughing on the other end of the phone, prompting Gallo to viciously curse at him as much as he could until he stopped laughing.

Eddie spoke up, still breathless from laughter, "What a classic pickup line! She must be one hell of a girl!"

Gallo grinned in spite of himself, "Yeah. She's great."

"So what's her name?" Eddie asked.

"Alice Carter. I'm going over there tonight for dinner."

"Without me? You ass," Eddie said in a hurt voice, then began laughing again.

"Fuck you too,' Gallo responded good-naturedly.

Eddie resumed, "All this is really nice, but I gotta pick you up to meet Dad. He needs you for a favour."

Gallo felt annoyed; it was as if he didn't remember how Joe had provided him with all the money he needed at that time. Like he was ungrateful or something.

"I remember, Eddie. I respect your dad, and I'm going to that goddamn meeting alright? I'll be there!"

Eddie hastily apologized, "Hey I didn't mean to attack you or nothing. Just tell me when and where to drop by and I'll bring you over."

Gallo suddenly was hit with a great idea, "Okay sure. But listen, I need you to pretend to be my brother. See I made up some bull about having a wedding that you and your fiance postponed. I need you to pretend that that you and her split up, see? Just think of a good reason that she'll buy and then we can go."

"Don't worry, I caught that bitch with some other guy. Someone named Gallo,' Eddie said, laughing. He hung up after Gallo gave him the address and time.

Gallo looked at what clothes he ought to wear. It wasn't going to be formal, so he put aside his only tuxedo. He suddenly noticed his green shirt. It had a tropical feel to it: a red parrot on the shoulder, palm trees, the usual stuff. It looked pretty good with his new jeans. Getting ready, he went to the bus stop to get to Alice's apartment. He was looking forward to dinner: she was a better cook than he'd ever be.

He looked around at the other people on the bus, he noticed one guy sitting on his own at the end of the bus. The guy looked shifty, fiddling with his beard and moustache as he stared out of the window. The guy looked like a creep, sure enough, and Gallo paid him no more attention. He waited for his stop, even as the shifty-looking guy got off on his own stop.

Eventually, he got off the bus. He was hungrier than ever, and he eagerly knocked on Alice's apartment door.

Alice must have been waiting for him, because she opened the door barely a second after his second knock. She looked amazing, Gallo thought as he smiled in greeting. She was wearing a trace of lipstick and some eye shadow. Her hair had been especially cared for, hanging silkily on her shoulders in a ponytail. Seeing her, Gallo suddenly felt a deep surge of desire.

"Am I late?' Gallo asked, still imagining what would happen after her aunt and uncle left.

Alice smiled, "No, you're good. Nice shirt."

Gallo shrugged, "Yeah, I couldn't find anything really good."

Alice grabbed him by the hand and pulled him inside, "Come in, I want you to meet my aunt and uncle."

Gallo stumbled in awkwardly, trying to keep himself composed. Looking around, he saw a couple approaching him. Gallo tried to see what they were like by their appearances, but couldn't find much revealed.

The aunt was dressed in one of those outfits that you'd expect anyone's aunt to be wearing at a formal-family dinner, but the difference was that she carried it with as much grace as Alice carried her own outfit. She was shorter than all three of the other people in the hall, but she held herself up as if she alone belonged there. Looking at her face, Gallo couldn't help but feel like he was intruding on something. She didn't look at him with disdain, or friendliness, or anything he'd hoped or feared for. The closest expression she had on her face was curiosity. She was willing to give him a chance, but only that one chance. Gallo didn't feel so good all of a sudden.

If he didn't feel good before, then he felt downright nervous looking at the man he'd spoken to on the phone. He wished he hadn't been so hostile, because it seemed that the man had remembered it. He wasn't angry-looking, but he was definitely on his guard. The guy had a greying beard, short frizzy hair, and a pair of the most piercing eyes that Gallo had ever seen. He could tell this guy was a cop. No question about it, the way he carried himself and all. It just went without saying. Thinking of his connections to Joe and Eddie Cabot, Gallo suddenly felt very apprehensive.

But he tried to keep it behind him as he was introduced, by a very happy Alice to her mother's sister, Viola, and her uncle, Lieutenant Jim Holdaway.