Blood in the Golden Palace

Chapter 7: Angelo-3

Angelo finished up a tequila shot and sucked on the lime wedge that came with it. “A damn shame,” he said, sympathetically.

“I mean seriously!” Ernie threw up his hands. “If a b***h isn’t into it, why doesn’t she just say so? Is it so much to ask not to be tugged around?”

Angelo leaned back against his booth seat, one arm lying flat along the headrest. “I mean, it keeps them from getting murdered.”

“I guess.”

Angelo shook his head with a smile. “Ernie, do you know why women won’t sleep with you?”

Ernie scrunched up his face. “Jesus, kick a guy while he’s down.”

“I’m serious,” said Angelo. “It’s a real question.”

“I don’t know, man. It’s harder for me than it is for you. You’re lucky. You got that pretty boy face. Not to mention all the money in the f*****g world. The nice cars, the nice clothes…”

“We’re not asking why women will sleep with me. We’re asking why women won’t sleep with you.”

“Well then I guess if I had to answer, I’d say it’s cause I wasn’t you.”

Angelo propped his chin in his hand. “Let’s do a little exercise. Let’s say you see a beautiful woman sitting alone at a bar. What’s your first thought?”

Ernie took a sip of his beer. “‘I want that’?”

Angelo pointed. “There it is. Right there.”

“What?”

“That’s problem number one.”

“What is?”

“‘That’? Ernie, a woman isn’t a ‘that.’ You can’t look at them like they’re f*****g goal posts, pal.” Ernie furrowed his brow. Angelo decided to go a different angle. “What do you look for in a woman? Think of your perfect date. Tell me about her.”

“Uh…shit, I don’t know. Big t**s? Nice hair, maybe?”

“Okay and what else?”

“f**k if I know. She smells nice?”

“What do you talk about? What makes her interesting?”

“Uhhh…” Ernie scratched his head. “s**t, I don’t know man…”

“Well, what makes you like a person? Just in general?”

“What’s the point of all this?” Ernie pressed. “Who cares what we talk about? All I want is a little action now and then, I’m not looking to get f*****g married.”

Angelo shrugged. “Then I guess you better get used to the girl you’re with now.” Seeing Ernie’s confusion, Angelo lifted his right hand and fluttered his fingers.

“Oh come on!” Ernie balked. “Look, that soy boy bullshit don’t fly with me. All I want is a little ass now and then.”

“Then find some working girls and have cash.”

“Ugh!” Ernie flopped onto the table, hands over his head. Angelo chuckled and finished up the last dregs of his beer.

“Ern. Man, listen.” Angelo leaned forward on his elbows, and Ernie looked up past his arms. “You’re a good guy. No, seriously, I don’t know anyone who’s more of a ride-or-die b***h than you. You’re loyal as f**k, and you got a good heart. Hell, how long have we been friends? Twenty years now? More? You just gotta stop being such a creepy fucker.”

Ernie soured. “I don’t think I’m that creepy…”

“You’re pretty creepy, son. Tone it down.”

Ernie rubbed his eyes. “Okay…so what? What do I do?”

“First of all, you gotta treat women like they’re people, and not achievements. Second, the next time you see a girl you’re interested in, maybe try starting a normal ass conversation with them? Something like, ‘Hey, how are you doing? I just wanted to tell you you look beautiful tonight. Can I buy you a drink?’ See? Easy as shit.”

“Yeah, well what if they say no?”

“Then they say no,” said Angelo with a shrug. “There are plenty of beautiful women out there. No use going after one that’s gonna cut you off at the knees.”

“Hm.” Ernie rolled a shot glass with two fingers. There was a question on the tip of his tongue. “What about…your type?”

“Huh?” Angelo blinked over his mug. “My type?”

“You know. Like.” Ernie waved in the air. “Whatchamacallits. Um…submissive…girls.”

Angelo pushed his empty beer glass aside and folded his hands on the table. “Are you telling me you want to be a Dom?”

Ernie brightened. “I just figure things are different with people like that, right? So like…I’m bound to get more ass if I start coming with you to your clubs or whatever—”

But Angelo put up his hand. “Stop,” he said. “Buddy, I’m gonna tell you this because you’re my friend and I respect you enough to be honest. You are not Dom material.”

Ernie looked as though his whole world was crumbling around him. “Come on, Angelo! Isn’t all you do dress in leather and slap girls around or whatever? It sounds like the perfect deal, man. Why don’t you let me in on that?”

“Okay, remember what I said about being a creep?”

“I’m being real here!”

Angelo sighed, pinching his nose. “Christ…Ernie, for one thing, you haven’t got a clue. And for another, you can’t be a Dom if all you want is to get your d**k wet. There’s a lot more work involved. Seriously, stick to Tinder or something.”

“Like what? Help me out here, I’m desperate. What’s so different?”

“You really want to know?”

“Yeah, I really want to know.”

Angelo leaned forward, grabbing one of Ernie’s untouched shots. “Google is your friend.” He slammed back Ernie’s drink and waved a server down for the check. “I think I’m calling it. It’s been a hell of a day.” After Ernie paid the tab (and sheepishly asked for Angelo to cover the extra $67 that was outside his budget), they said their goodbyes and left Bobby Black’s, their wallets considerably lighter than they were when they entered.

Angelo considered just driving home, but between the distance and the amount of liquor in his system, it wasn’t worth the ticket. Besides, it wasn’t the first time he’d left his car overnight at Bobby’s. He caught a taxi over to his end of town and tipped heartily upon leaving. It was quiet when he arrived at his front gates. A few of his boys were still up and about, but overall, there was very little sign of life.

I bet Penny’s asleep, Angelo thought, walking through the front door. A thought that quickly left him the moment he saw none other than Penny awake and in the kitchen.

“Oh.” Penny clutched an empty mug with both hands. “You’re back.”

“Ah. Yeah.” Angelo hesitated. He half expected to see Penny shy away in fear or anger. But none was there. He ditched his coat and his shoes and headed further in. “It’s late. Not tired?”

“No. I was just thinking of making myself some tea but…” She opened a cupboard. “You don’t have any.”

“Hm.” Angelo scratched his head. “Sorry. Not really a tea drinker.” Undoing the top couple of buttons on his shirt, he flopped onto the couch with a deep sigh. “Man, I know I should be tired right now.”

Penny wandered over to the couch and leaned on the back. “Rough day?”

“Rough life,” Angelo replied. He rubbed his forehead with a yawn. “It ended well enough, I guess. But it doesn’t mean I won’t have to wake up and deal with this bullshit all over again tomorrow.” He paused and sat up. “Eh, you don’t want to hear about my problems.”

Penny smiled sympathetically. “Maybe not,” she said, “but if you need a pick-me-up, I always like to default to ice cream.”

“Ice cream?”

“And something to take my mind off the day. Usually a good book.”

“Got any recommendations?”

“For books or ice cream?”

Angelo glanced at his kitchen. He was sure the only thing there was the rapidly depleting Chinese food from the other day. If he ever actually cooked, maybe it would have been worth restocking more than booze and coffee once in a while. “I mean, I guess I can text one of my guys to run down to a convenience store. What’s your favorite?”

“Me?”

“Sure,” said Angelo. “You don’t expect me to eat ice cream all by myself, do you?”

Penny flushed. “Erm…Well I…I don’t know. It is late and I…” She took half a step away.

Realizing he might have crossed a line, Angelo pulled back. “All right, no problem. I’ll just head to bed.”

But there was hesitation on Penny’s face. “So…no ice cream?” Angelo couldn’t help it. That cute, doe-eyed look of disappointment was just too goddamn precious for him to bow out.

“Not unless you want some.” Angelo wiggled his phone to add to his point. “It’s last call, kid. What do you say?”

Penny bit her lip. “Mint,” she said. “I like…mint chocolate chip.”

“Now we’re talking.” Angelo opened his phone and sent a text. “All right, our orders are in.” He turned back to Penny. “So, tell me, in lieu of a good book, what else do you do for fun?”

By the time their ice cream arrived, Penny and Angelo were both in comfortable clothes, sitting on the floor of Angelo’s high end living room. A deck of cards sat open between them, with Penny and Angelo settled at either end of the coffee table. Angelo’s subordinate grabbed a pint for each of them: mint for Penny, rocky road for Angelo. They ate it straight out of the carton.

“Okay…” Penny sucked on her spoon, her brows furrowed in concentration. A little bit of chocolate had melted on the corner of her lips. It’d been there for some time. “So if I have two sevens like this…” She laid her hand down, matching her seven of hearts and clubs with the seven of diamonds that sat in a row of cards between them. “That’s a three of a kind. Does this matter?” She pointed to her king.

“Not for your current hand,” said Angelo. “But let’s say you didn’t have anything, and I didn’t have anything. You could still win the pot with a high card.” Angelo swiped the cards off the table and dealt again. He flipped the first three cards of the flop face side down and looked up over his hand. “All right. What do you think? You in or out?”

“See, I don’t get this part either,” said Penny. “I don’t even know what the middle cards are, so how can I guess if I want to stay in or not?”

“Yeah, but that’s the thing about poker. You’re not really playing the cards, you’re playing your opponent. You’re playing the odds.”

“Sounds impossible.”

Angelo chuckled and took a spoonful of his ice cream. “Well if we’re going to play for real, we need something to bet with. You can’t have a game of poker with no pot.”

“Uhh.” Penny shifted on her knees. “I don’t exactly have a lot of money…”

“Hm.” Angelo tapped his chin with his cards. His eyes landed on her pint of mint chip. “Ice cream,” he said with a grin. “Whoever wins gets a spoonful of the other’s ice cream.”

Penny giggled. “I like those odds.”

“Then let’s play.” Angelo examined his hand. A queen and a ten, both spades. A good start. “All right, I’m in.”

“Mmmm.” Penny tapped her cards with all the seriousness of a heart surgeon. “Yeah. I guess I’m in, too.”

“Perfect. And now the flop.” Angelo flipped the three cards. Ace and six of clubs, three of hearts. Not great. Still, they were playing for ice cream. “I’ll stay in.”

“Um. Hm. Um.” Penny’s eyes jumped back and forth between her hand and the flop. “I…Yeah. No wait…Yeah. Okay. I’m staying in.”

Angelo chuckled and flipped the turn. Nine of hearts. Damn. His luck was not jiving tonight. “Last chance. Fold or stay?”

“I—uh—stay!”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you positive?”

Penny huffed. “You’re just trying to mess me up.”

Angelo grinned. “Well?”

Penny put her hand on the table, determined. “Stay.”

“All right.” He pulled the river and turned it. Three of diamonds. And with that, other than a pair of threes, he had nothing. Still, Penny didn’t know he had nothing. He looked over his cards with a sly twinkle in his eye. “Well? What’chya got?”

“Um…” Penny laid her hand on the table. Six of hearts and five of clubs. “Uh…I think? Yeah, I think I have a two pair, right?”

Angelo smiled and laid his hand on the table. “You sure do,” he praised. “All right, get over here.”

“Huh?”

“You get a scoop of my ice cream.” Angelo patted the spot next to him. Penny slid over to his side and reached for his spoon. However, Angelo raised his hand, stopping her from taking his spoon. “Nope.”

“But you said—”

Angelo scooped up a bit of chocolate and held it to her lips. “Say ahh.”

Penny’s ears went bright red. But she smiled and opened her mouth anyway. Angelo served her his ice cream, and she was sure not to let anything dribble. She sat back in her place and Angelo dealt them new hands. Three cards down, Angelo checked his pocket. Jack of hearts, ten of spades. Again, not a bad start. It would have been better if they were the same suits, but oh well. “Okay. I’m in it for the mint.”

Penny hunkered down, checking her cards. “Yeah, I’m in too.”

“Perfect.” Angelo flipped the flop. Ten of hearts, ace of spades, ten of diamonds. Three of a kind, right off the bat. “Well there’s a pair of tens for the taking,” he remarked casually. “Think you can beat that?”

Penny nibbled at her spoon. “Maybe…I’ll stay.”

“Me too. Of course normally, you can call or bet in real poker, but I don’t know how we can up our bet with frozen dairy.” Angelo set down the turn. A king of spades. Didn’t hurt, didn’t help. “I’ll stay.” Penny nodded in agreement. Then came the river. Four of diamonds. “Okay. Let’s see that hand.”

Grinning, Penny laid down her cards. “Two pair again!” Indeed, she had a king of clubs next to an eight of clubs. Immediately, she was already coming back over for another scoop of Angelo’s ice cream. But Angelo held up a finger.

“Ah-ah. We haven’t seen my hand.” He set his cards on the table. “Three of a kind. Gimme.”

Penny pouted, but a bet was a bet. Reaching over, she grabbed her ice cream and spoon and came back to Angelo’s side. Angelo waited patiently as Penny scooped up her frozen treat and offered it to Angelo’s lips. Angelo didn’t take it immediately. His eyes burned holes into Penny’s own as his lips touched the edge of the spoon. Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was the s**t day, but Angelo found himself testing those boundaries yet again. Never looking away from Penny, and with her returning the favor, Angelo gobbled up the spoon and licked it clean. He could almost hear Penny’s heart bang into her throat. He could feel it. The willingness. The malleability. This was a woman who fit the sub role like a f*****g glove.

What the f**k are you doing, creeper?

A voice in Angelo’s head brought him back to reality. Right. This wasn’t some romantic evening with a potential bed partner. This was Angelo, passing the time with his hostage. A bitter taste welled up in the back of his mouth and he cleared his throat. “Ah…Ha. I forgot I didn’t like mint,” he lied.

Penny lowered her spoon. The disappointment was practically lit neon it was so evident. “Oh.” She fiddled with her pajama bottoms. “I guess that sorta ruins the game, doesn’t it?”

Angelo stood, gathering up the cards. “I guess so. Still, it was fun while it lasted.” He kept his eyes averted as he cleaned up, putting both ice creams into the freezer. “Jesus, it’s nearly three in the morning.”

Penny checked the wall clock. “Oh wow. Yeah, I guess it is. I’m usually waking up around this time…” Her face fell and she stood, hands behind her back. “We should probably get some sleep.”

Angelo glanced over his shoulder. “Probably,” he said. An awkward pause hung in the air. Angelo felt like he should do something. Touch her hair? Pat her shoulder? A quick hug? He denied all of it. Instead, he headed for his bedroom with a lazy wave. “Night, Penny.”