Can't Pick Your Family

 

A novel in the Philadelphia Universe by

Peter Argonis

© 2011, 2025

All rights reserved by the author

 

 

 

 

Joey Di Rosa, the scion of a crime family, loses his parents in a mob hit, in which he and his sister are seriously wounded. Returning to school, he meets frumpy, standoffish Deirdre Darling, an insecure fellow nerd with her own demons, but with the potential to wreak havoc on Joey's life. Deirdre's elfin, lesbian mother and her brash partner Karen add to the turmoil, even before a brutal crime shatters what was a sweet romance. Will they get back together?

The story was originally posted in 2011, with the help of fellow authors Douglas Fox and Morgan. I undertook a serious revision, polishing sentences, correcting typos and semantic errors, but also eliminating a late episode that was deemed improbable and not credible by female readers. I bowed to their insight.

CPYF is pure fiction, and neither the characters nor the events depicted herein are meant to portray real persons, living or dead. Some of the learning institutions described are real. Again, the events described are fictional and in no way meant to reflect the behavior of students or staff at these schools. While ClustalW is a great open source software (kudos to the developers), there is no commercial software called CloseFit, ModelP, or SequEA. At least I couldn't find any of them with search engines. If any software with that name exists, then there is no connection, and Deirdre really does not use illegal copies of them. The political opinions and beliefs of the characters portrayed do not necessarily reflect my own views, which are more differentiated.

Prologue: A Message to Don Vincente

1 - Back To School

2 - Parent Student Mixer

3 - Deb's Party

4 - Dinner

5 - Movies and Pizza

6 - Nerds

7 - Attitudes

8 - Bacchanal

9 - College Plans

10 - Just Darling

11 - Sensory Deprivation

12 - The Camp Bed

13 - Ransom

14 - Making His Bones

15 - Aftermath

16 - Rumors

17 - Roomies

18 - Kitchen Talk

19 - Left Behind

20 - Finding Comfort

21 - The Final Straw

22 - Pygmalion

23 - The Kiss of Life

24 - Making the First Step

25 - Mother-Daughter Issues

26 - Breaching Barriers

27 - The Road to Paradise

28 - Taking Chances

29 - Justice and Cold Beer

30 - Pick-Up

31 - Road Trip

32 - Cloud Nine

33 - Vegas Style

34 - A Neat Hit

 

Prologue: A Message to Don Vincente

—————

The negotiations had come to a stalemate. Vincent Di Rosa, patriarch of the Di Rosa syndicate, eyed his counterparts with barely veiled contempt. To him, they were not worthy of any more of his time. He had allowed them to prosper in the lucrative trade with prescription drugs, mostly steroids and Viagra knock-offs, but now that they had gained in wealth and perceived power they wanted to step in on the Di Rosa turf.

He was leery of them, nonetheless. Those crazy Albanian goons had little regard for the rules of the business. They did not recognize the Cosa Nostra, and they had no foresight or reason to guide them, only greed and archaic concepts of honor.

To Don Vincente, it was clear that this ragtag bunch of goons stood no chance against the Di Rosa organization with its vast resources, not only in manpower, but also financially and in political connections. The problem was that they did not see this point. To them, the Di Rosa syndicate was a toothless tiger, a bunch of old, boccie-playing Mustache Petes. This was one disadvantage of Don Vincente's success in keeping out of the public eye. Don Vincente had never been convicted of a crime, had not even been arrested in all his seventy-two years. While this feat had garnered him much admiration in his own closely guarded circles, the average street goon might not even know his name.

"Is that your last word, Di Rosa?"

The rude question, so bare of all refinement and politeness, came from Enver Kaçani who liked to style himself the boss of the Kaçani syndicate.

"My dear Kaçani, what do you expect of me? You come here to my city to start a business. You ask for my help to start things, and didn't I help you? Now that you have found success with my help, you make demands of me. Is that reasonable? What do you offer in return? How do you reward me for the open hand I offered you all those years?"

Kaçani snorted with derision. "You expect gratitude? We paid you for your protection. One last time. Will you support our expansion into South Philadelphia?"

"I have told you, time and again, that I will not tolerate any of your activities in that area. It is quiet there, and my people want to keep it quiet. I believe this meeting has become entirely fruitless," Don Vincente said without emotion. "I wish you a good day and success in your endeavors."

Kaçani's eyes narrowed. Then he shrugged his shoulders and abruptly turned to leave the room with his three lieutenants in tow. Don Vincente waited until his man at the door gave him a nod before he spoke again. He addressed his grandson, Felix Di Rosa, who had been sitting silently, watching the Albanians closely.

"Nobody can reason with these barbarians," Don Vincente sighed.

Felix nodded. "Do we rub them out?" he asked bluntly. Once among themselves, the Di Rosa were not prone to mincing words, and Felix was the numero uno martello of the family, the Nº1 family hammer.

"Clear it with the cops first. If they want, leave them a few of the Kaçanis to arrest. It's getting close to Christmas and our good friends can use citations and promotions."

Felix nodded. "I'll talk to our contacts. We have to move anyway. That stuff is getting bad for our business."

He meant sports betting, of course. Any rumor of manipulation made the bettors wary. Then Felix thought of something else.

"The congressman wants to set up a subcommittee to look into sports doping. Maybe we can feed him a few names, too."

"Have this done by Christmas," Don Vincente nodded. "I want to enjoy the holidays without having to worry about those cafones."

—————

Meanwhile, Enver Kaçani, his two sons, three nephews, and his cousin, retired to Enver's huge gym, the Olympic, in an upstairs conference room. Not surprisingly, the subject was the meeting with the Di Rosa.

"Why not take them out?" Enver's cousin, Ilie, proposed.

Enver shook his head. "We must make the old man knuckle under. If we knock him off, another Spaghetti will take his place. We must scare him, make him realize we mean business."

"Felix Di Rosa?"

Enver shook his head again. "He's barely ever seen in public. He only pops up at those meetings. He's also their Number One Hammer and he's never out without some serious muscle."

"Other family members?" his nephew, Nasav, asked.

"The old man's son died last year. Then, of course, you have his underlings, but he's lost a few of them to the Feds in the last years and that didn't rattle him. No, we have to hit in the soft underbelly where it hurts. Family, you know."

"Well, what about that furniture store? It's named Di Rosa," Nasav suggested.

"That's right," Cousin Ilie joined in. "The owner, he's the old man's nephew; Giancarlo Di Rosa is his name."

"I don't know," Enver temporized.

"Look, Uncle Enver, it's perfect. He's close kin to the old man, yet he's not running around with a bunch of buttons to guard him. It's a piece of cake to take him out, and it'll shake the old bastard."

Nasav spoke persuasively; he wanted the job. Enver smirked. Whatever. If that did not work, they could still knock off another Di Rosa later.

"Case him for two or three weeks. Make sure he isn't protected. Then whack him. Make it public and make it look gory!"

Nasav shrugged. What he had in mind was already in line with his uncle's wishes.

—————

Felix Di Rosa surveyed the information he had received over the last weeks. His grandfather's wish to solve the Kaçani problem before Christmas was not easily fulfilled. Kaçani and his closest chums, all blood relations, rarely left the large gym where they had their headquarters.

The problem was not so much the muscle that guarded the place but the fact that there were always three or four off-duty police officers working out in the gym. Kaçani offered free membership to young cops knowing that a hit on his gym was impossible if there was a danger that cops got hurt. Also, the narcs would be leery about catching fellow officers when investigating the gym. Very clever, Felix conceded. The cops probably had free access to Kaçani's steroids, at least by the looks some of them sported.

Just then, the idea hit Felix and he smiled at the beauty of it. He could get rid of the cops in the gym and help a friend with his career. He picked up the unlisted, prepaid phone he used on this day. He dialed the number from memory. He listened to the call tone. The tone stopped and Felix heard the voice of the man he needed.

"Philadelphia Police Department, Department of Internal Affairs, Lieutenant Alvarado. How may I help you?"

"Well, Lieutenant, I work out in this gym, the Olympic. Twice a week, in fact. In the weight room, there's always this group of young men. Very bulky, you know. From how they talk it's clear they are police officers. Now yesterday, I saw two of them in the locker room and they were taking some pills. Afterwards I saw some empties in the trash box. They were labeled ‘Nandrolone’. I'm a bit concerned about police officers who consume prescription medicine, Lieutenant."

"Well, Mr…?"

"Not on the phone. I won't come to your office either. These guys know me. Can you meet me someplace in town?"

"Is this some prank, mister?" Alvarado asked for show.

He had already recognized Felix's voice, no doubt. Felix and the Lieutenant's son had been roommates at Drexel College. One of the Di Rosa's corporations had picked up the tuition bill. Young Dennis Alvarado had finished at Cornell law school, and was an assistant DA. The Di Rosas had great plans for young Alvarado.

"No, Lieutenant, really not. I even have those pill boxes and I didn't touch them with my fingers."

"Okay. How about I'll meet you at the Liberty Bell? I'll wear a black coat and a red scarf. Can you be there in an hour?"

"Certainly, Lieutenant. An hour. I'll be there."

Felix signed off and pulled the sim card from the phone. He would not use it again in case Alvarado's phone was bugged. If his plan played out, the young cops would avoid the Olympic for a while leaving the Kaçanis without their police shield.

—————

Nasav Kaçani tried to relax. His hand on the grip of the well worn Skorpion 61 was sweaty. He wiped it for the third time in just as many minutes. The furniture store had closed an hour earlier. Di Rosa and his son would be leaving any time soon, as they had done the last three Saturdays.

The small side street off Lancaster Avenue was quiet and the last customers had left the parking lot. There were only commercial developments along the street and most buildings were dark. It was perfect.

Nasav checked his weapon again. He was a good shot with his Beretta, but he was only partly familiar with the Skorpion. It had been standard issue for the goons of most Eastern European communist governments, but Nasav was only twenty-seven, a boy at that time. He had emptied three clips on the firing range the evening before and he thought he could handle it.

There! He saw movement around the entrance, and four people exited. Shit! There were two women with them. Nasav contemplated to abort, but then he made up his mind. Tough luck for the broads! He saw how they sat in the car, a nice, shiny BMW 635. In the light of the neon sign above the entrance of the store he could see that one of the women was a young girl.

"You want to abort?" Ilie asked from the driver's seat.

"Fuck, no! The young cunt is sitting in the back. She'll live. Get ready!"

He lowered the rear window and Ilie started the engine. Just as the BMW was heading towards the exit of the parking lot, the old Taurus moved forward to block the way. Nasav sighted over the barrel of the Skorpion and pressed the trigger.

Sitting in the back of the car and aiming sideways, he did not have the same leverage he'd had on the shooting range. Also, the spring of the firing rate reducer was worn, bringing the firing rate up to 1,000 per minute and adding some kick. After four or five rounds the shots went high. The front window of the BMW had three holes in it, but only on the passenger side. Shit! He tried a second burst but after a few rounds an ejected shell ricocheted from the window frame and hit Nasav's face, and again his aim was off. He tried a third burst but there was a single 'click' only. He had expended the twenty rounds of the first clip in two wild bursts. The BMW had come to a stop with its windshield shattered in part.

With trembling hands Nasav removed the empty clip and hastily inserted the second. In his haste he did not insert it properly and the weapon jammed. He tried again, but in his confusion he touched the barrel and screamed with pain when he burned his hand.

"Go, go, go!" he shouted, and Ilie sped off with screaming tires.

—————

Felix Di Rosa was sitting with his grandfather when the first phone call came in. It was on the private line, a number that was known only to a select group of people. His grandfather picked up the receiver and listened quietly. Felix could see how Don Vincente's face paled and his shoulders sagged.

"Are you sure they're dead?" he asked in a calm voice that belied his paleness. "And the children? ... Santa Madonna! ... Will he live? ... Yes, we'll handle it from here. You have my gratitude, old friend!"

With slightly shaky hands Don Vincente put the receiver of the cradle and looked at his grandson.

"They shot up your Uncle Giancarlo and his family, just as they were leaving their store. Gianni is dead, and so is Carla. Little Teresa was headshot, but she's alive. Poor Joseph caught three rounds. He's still breathing, but barely."

Felix felt like he was hit by a hammer. Uncle Giancarlo? The one man who had never been part of the family business? And his family shot, too? Had these animali no regard whatever for the lives of the innocent? He felt Don Vincente's eyes on himself and looked up. The paleness was gone and there was a steely resolve in those wrinkled features.

"Be my Martello, Grandson! Take your regime and exact retribution. This is personal, Felice! Make the answer personal, too! We have been too much of businessmen lately. It is time they feared us again in this city."

"Confirmations?" Felix asked curtly. A confirmation was a public execution, or at least one where the body would be left in public. By contrast, a communion meant the disappearance of the target, greatly reducing the risks of detection and conviction.

"Confirmations," the old man answered. "Kaçani, his sons and the cousins. Spare the women if you can. After all, we are not animali."

"My plans are almost ready. We'll just move them ahead a few days," Felix responded.

To have confirmations would add a few logistical problems, and to send a message to the public would have to be orchestrated skillfully to avoid trouble with the cops and with their political allies. He approved of his grandfather's decision entirely, though. Had the Kaçani feared the Di Rosa family, Uncle Gianni and his family would be enjoying their dinner now. He set his jaw. Those of the Kaçani clan who survived would fear them before another week was over.

"What are your plans?" Felix asked.

"I'll go to the hospital. See after my security."

"I'll come myself." Felix said.

—————

It was long after midnight before a hollow-eyed surgeon approached them.

"Sir, are you the next of kin to Joseph and Teresa Di Rosa?"

Don Vincente stood and nodded. "I am their great uncle and their closest living relative."

"The good news first. We could stabilize the girl. She was hit by a glancing shot; it did not penetrate the skull. It caused sub-dural bleeding, though, and we don't know yet how much damage was caused by this. We put in a drainage, and her EEG is getting back to normal.

"Now for the bad news: The young man was shot three times. All wounds are in his back. The ambulance people told us he was found covering the girl. The wounds caused extensive blood loss. We had to perform open thorax surgery to repair the damage to his lungs. We have done what we could, but I don't want to give you false hope. His vital signs are weak."

Don Vincente seemed to totter for a second but he got a grip on himself.

"I am grateful to you, Doctor, for what you did for my nephew and my niece. If there is anything we can arrange ― flying in specialists or equipment ― let us know. Is it possible to see them?"

"I don't see why not. Both are unconscious, though."

Seeing his cousins unconscious and hooked up to life support machines was a defining moment for Felix. Young Teresa's heavily bandaged head in particular filled him with a heretofore unknown feeling of personal hatred against the Kaçanis. It was utterly senseless. What could they hope to achieve by killing civilians, even kids? Did they truly believe they could frighten Don Vincente into surrender? Stupid animali!

A nurse came in, giving them both a sad smile of sympathy before she busied herself with the console of Joseph Di Rosa's life support. Then she hooked up a new bag of donor blood and adjusted the flow of the drip. In an unconscious gesture she briefly touched the cheek of the young man. She jerked her hand back when she remembered she was not alone.

"I'm sorry; I just feel terrible seeing these kids here," she mumbled. "They say he covered his sister with his body. So brave!"

She turned and Felix saw that her eyes were brimming. He looked at her name plate. It read, 'G. Feliciangeli, RN'. She was young, he noticed, and very pretty, in the old-fashioned Italian way. Before he had finished his inspection, Don Vincente was responding.

"Do not apologize for having a good heart, my child," he said. "You and your colleagues will care well for my poor nephew's children."

Felix saw her eyes narrow at the 'my child' address, but she shrugged it off. He cleared his throat.

"Nurse, I am Felix Di Rosa. I am their cousin," he indicated the two unconscious youngsters. "May I come to visit from time to time?"

The young nurse blushed a little. "This is not for me to decide, Mr. Di Rosa. It should not be a problem, but you better ask at the reception."

"Do you have a coffee pool? We would like to make a contribution."

Nurse Feliciangeli scrunched up her nose. "Sorry, I appreciate the gesture, but the administration does not allow us to accept any gratuities."

"Hah! What nonsense!" Don Vincente snorted. He saw that the nurse took offense. "Not you, my dear. I meant your administration. Forgive an old man his old-fashioned ways."

She scrunched up her nose again, and then a smile crept into her features. "If you meant our administration I have no problems with your words."

Felix admired her openly, but he had to leave for a meeting with the capiregime. The Don insisted on staying and Felix made sure to shake Nurse Feliciangeli's hand before he left.

"What's that 'G' stand for?" he asked.

"Gabriella," she answered. "Be careful out there," she added.

Felix nodded earnestly. It was good advice.

—————

It took Felix Di Rosa all Sunday to adjust his plans concerning the Kaçanis. When he finally found time to visit the hospital he saw the young nurse on duty again. She smiled briefly at him but she seemed very busy. Felix checked with the registration desk and then headed for his cousins' room. Two of his grandfather's personal button men stood outside.

"Problems?" he addressed one of them.

"No problems, Felix. The girl's awake, more or less, but the boy is in surgery again."

Felix let himself in. He found his grandfather sitting in a chair by Teresa's bed, talking to her soothingly. The old man looked up and Felix could see pain in his eyes.

"Teresa, your cousin Felix is here."

She turned her head, and Felix did his best to give her a smile.

"Hey, Kiddo! So you're awake."

Teresa regarded him briefly and she nodded. "H'lo," she croaked.

Felix sat down on the side of her bed and took her right hand in his own. With a shock he realized that it was almost completely limp. Just a few ripples of muscles contraction could be felt. He looked at his grandfather and the old man nodded sadly.

"Teresa will need time to recover," he said.

Again, a wave of hatred washed over Felix. His beautiful, lovely cousin was crippled! Then he noticed that the other bed was empty and his hatred was replaced by fear.

"Where's Joey?"

"Another operation. His lung collapsed again. He's been gone for over three hours."

Felix nodded solemnly and crossed himself.

"Are you all set, Felice?"

Again, Felix nodded.

"Go ahead then. Make them pay!" the old man snarled, his voice raspy with hatred. "Remember, this is about our vendetta! It's not business! Never mind a bloody mouth!”

—————

On Monday morning at roll call, fourteen police officers in four precincts were led off for drug testing by Internal Affairs detectives. Two tox labs were on stand-by to run the samples as they arrived. Another five officers were apprehended during late shift roll call and also subjected to drug testing. Of the first group, thirteen were positive for steroids and three for cocaine. Come the evening shift, fourteen officers were suspended and five were still sweating it, waiting for the lab results.

By late afternoon the Kaçanis learned about the development and they suspected that a police search of their gym would come soon. Consequently they busied themselves eliminating evidence of their drug and steroid dealing, but they did not realize how exposed they had become. Shortly before 10 p.m. the Olympic gym was free of off-duty police officers.

Only a few late customers were working out when, shortly after 10 p.m., over twenty-five men, masked and heavily armed, rushed the building. The customers were herded into a locker room, their cell phones were confiscated, and they testified later that they heard no gun shots fired. Over two hours passed before they could break out of the locker room.

Even then they just ran from the building and it was the alerted police who discovered Enver Kaçani, his sons, cousins and nephews, all dangling by their necks from a water main in the sub-basement. Nasav Kaçani was missing. He was found after a more thorough search. He was without overt injuries. They found him naked and dead in an overheated steam room. The autopsy revealed him to have died of a heat stroke, and in an internal communication the coroner, in a show of black humor, described his condition as ‘overcooked'.

—————

The Olympic Massacre as the press dubbed it was top news for days. The case of the murder of Giancarlo and Carla Di Rosa was closed when a Skorpion submachine gun was found with Nasav Kaçani's fingerprints on it and matching the slugs found in the Di Rosa bodies. Of course, this implicated the Di Rosa family in the massacre.

For the first time, the name of Vincent Di Rosa was mentioned in press articles and connected to the killing of his nephew and the wholesale slaughter at the Olympic. The Di Rosa attorneys were quick to have the newspapers slapped with cease and desist orders, aided by the fact that Don Vincente had an iron-clad alibi: He had sat right under the hospital's security cameras for three days while watching over his niece and nephew,.

Felix Di Rosa was questioned, but then there were five witnesses who claimed to have dined with him in New York on the evening of the massacre. One of them was a celebrity sitcom actor who thus earned himself a reprieve from a sizable and potentially hurtful gambling debt. Three months later he found a lucrative new job as emcee in a Las Vegas hotel that was indirectly owned by the Di Rosa.

Law enforcement was not too eager anyway. The general sentiment among the rank and file police was that the Kaçanis had willfully stepped on a sleeping tiger's tail, forgetting or ignoring that the old beast still carried a full set of teeth at the other end. Also the Di Rosa, in spite of their semi-retirement from most illegal rackets, still had a large sheet with the bagmen of the precincts while the Kaçanis had scorned this old-fashioned method of garnering good will. Free gym memberships sounded great for young, single cops, but for those with family and with mortgages to pay, a steady supplementary income counted for more.

What mollified the law enforcement community further — or rather sequestered their resources to the breaking point — was the wealth of incriminating evidence found on the various Kaçani properties. Felix rigged it that even the Feds got a few bones to chew on. There was a vast supply network for prescription drugs, originating high up in the board rooms of pharmaceutical companies and ending with literally hundreds of gym trainers and even high school coaches. A boatload of indictments was sure to come, with numerous press conferences and high profile trials. It was enough to put the careers of many law enforcement officials on the fast track, and the congressional panel went into overdrive.

Soon, the excitement of a gubernatorial election removed the Olympic Massacre from the front pages and top news, and the Di Rosa family could once again concentrate on earning a living and on taking care of their own.

As a largely unknown side effect of the affair, an additional staff position in the District Attorney's office was hurriedly advertised and filled with a female prosecutor from Pittsburgh by the name of Maureen Darling, who was put in charge of the investigations into the prescription drug trade. She arrived in town after Christmas, with her teenage daughter Deirdre and her female life partner.

—————

It took almost a week before Joseph "Joey" Di Rosa's condition went from Critical to Stable. He received no fewer than fifteen blood transfusions and underwent three operations to repair the damage to his lungs and pulmonary artery.

It still took another week for him to regain full consciousness. He had no memory of the shooting, and he was devastated when he learned of his parents' death. Even more so when his great uncle revealed that his parents' burial had taken place while their children were unable to attend. The only thing to give the young man motivation to live on was his kid sister.

Teresa was recovering slowly and she was receiving physical therapy to regain her motor skills, but progress was painfully slow. She spent her free time with her brother, always holding on to one of his hands as if he were a lifeline. They would talk to each other in low voices or just sit holding hands. In those weeks a bond formed between brother and sister that went far beyond the affection they had always felt for each other.

Teresa had learned from Nurse Feliciangeli how Joey had been found slumped over her unconscious body shielding her against the bullets. This further enforced Teresa's view of her brother as a larger-than-life figure.

Over the Christmas holidays the siblings were moved to Don Vincente's mansion. Neither sibling had much memory of their father's family. They had only met their relatives at important family events, weddings and burials mostly. It took them time to figure out who was who and related to whom. This was compounded by the large number of “trusted friends” who also joined the subdued Christmas celebrations.

Joey was barely able to walk yet, but he pushed Teresa's wheelchair. This helped him to keep his own balance. To the assembled family the image of the two badly injured siblings lending support to each other was sad and endearing at the same time.

Fortunately, there was also some positive news when Felix Di Rosa introduced his new girlfriend to the family. It was none other than Gabriella Feliciangeli, Nurse Gabbie, as Joey and Teresa knew her. Her parents were also invited, a stout Italian couple who owned a neighborhood grocery store in South Philadelphia, and they were properly awed by the association of their only child with what they perceived as reigning royalty. Nevertheless, decorum was observed and Felix respectfully asked Gabriella's father for his permission to court their daughter, a permission that was given with proper dignity.

Since Don Vincente had assumed guardianship over them, Joey and Teresa stayed with their great-uncle even after the holidays. A nurse was hired to look after Joey's wounds, and a physical therapist was to work with both siblings to direct their physical rehabilitation.

The siblings could not see themselves running a furniture store in the future and thus it was sold to a competing chain for a very good price. Don Vincente himself negotiated the sale to the Westbrook Corporation, a local retail conglomerate, and the balance, a total of over seven million dollars, was put in trust for Joey and Teresa.

By March, Joey was able to walk unassisted. Yet he would not return to school. He was still weak and he had missed four months. He could not hope to achieve the grades he needed for a good college while still limited in his motility and with his wounds still causing him pain. Teresa needed more treatment and exercises to be able to walk unassisted, and she refused to go to school in a wheel chair. It was decided that the siblings would return to school after the summer break.

They were home schooled by hired tutors, however, and by early summer, Joey Di Rosa was well enough to start an internship in a biomedical research company. Much to his great uncle's chagrin, Joey Di Rosa had declared that he would follow his own volition and become a scientist. Don Vincente had tried to steer the young man into a different direction, the law or a business school, where he could be an asset to the family. Joey remained adamant however, and the Don gracefully accepted his nephew's decision. Since Joey had turned eighteen in March and had full control of his trust fund, there was not much Don Vincente could do.

Joey's next move was to petition for a guardianship over his sister. Here he was more diplomatic. He argued that when he and Teresa would return to school, things would be less complicated if he had custody over Teresa. They reached a compromise where Joey was given joint guardianship together with his great-uncle.

By July, he and Teresa moved back into the Victorian house in Powelton Village. Joey had it fitted for use by a handicapped person since Teresa still had difficulties navigating steps and stairs. Joey also accepted a plea by his great-uncle to update the house's security. A specialized contractor refitted doors, locks and windows to make them burglar-proof. A sophisticated alarm system was built in, with one silent alarm going directly to the Di Rosa security firm, the legal front for the family's strong-arm operations.

 

1 - Back To School

Joey Di Rosa took a deep breath and looked at his sister Teresa.

"Are you ready, Tess?"

"Guess I have to," she replied grimly.

"You'll do fine. Remember, if there's a problem, text me."

He put the car in first gear and drove out of the short driveway onto the residential street. He sighed heavily. It would not be easy for Tess. She was still suffering from her head injury and with her jerky walk she was primed for getting mobbed.

It was a little over fifteen minutes before he drove his mother's beloved Mini Cooper Clubman into the school's parking lot, behind the cafeteria. He suppressed the impulse to help Tess from the car ― something she did not want ― and waited patiently for his sister to join him at the exit of the lot. Tess limped with much effort, but also with determination.

"Do you want me to help you with your bag?" a voice sounded behind them.

They turned to see a rather tall girl who obviously had just alighted from a yellow F-150. The truck was already leaving the curb. Joey could not place the girl.

"Of course, the big, strong he-man could also take your bag," the girl added sarcastically giving Joey the evil eye.

"Listen, I know I'm limping," Tess snapped, "but I need to do this on my own, okay?"

Holding on to Joey's arm, Tess limped towards the tall building complex that was Benjamin Franklin Preparatory School, or BFP in their jargon. Halfway along they paused for a moment so that Tess could concentrate on walking again.

The girl caught up with them. "Why don't you use a wheelchair or something?" she asked.

Tess turned and shot her an angry glance. "Because I've worked my ass off for the last eight months to walk again. Because I'll be damned if I ever sit in a fucking wheelchair again! Now get the fuck outta my face! I don't need you and your shit!"

The girl backed off, looking crestfallen and hurt at the same time. "I didn't mean... I'm sorry," she stammered and ran off ahead of them.

"Bitch!" Tess swore, starting her jerking walk again. "Showing me how she can fucking run."

"Nah, she was just scared of you, Tess, that's why she ran," Joey grinned. “And you spent too much time with Uncle Vince's men."

"What? You don't like my fucking language?" Tess grinned.

"Tone it down; we're back in the real world."

When they joined the crowd around the entrance, Joey recognized a few students from the previous year's junior class who would be seniors with him, and he nodded to them. Likewise, Tess saw the girls from the previous year's freshman class and approached them in her jerky gait.

She need not have worried about acceptance. In five seconds flat, Tess was surrounded by a crowd of girls. When they all had to find their homerooms, Joey saw that another girl helped Tess along. He recognized one of her friends, Ashley Westbrook, the daughter of Tyler Westbrook, Philadelphia's retail tycoon. She had often visited Teresa during her recovery, and Joey took her for a rather nice girl and not spoiled at all.

Then Mr. Joyner, the biology teacher, stood in front of them. "Welcome back, Senior Class," he greeted them in his usual cheerful way. "Let's get together for homeroom, shall we?"

A little while later, at homeroom, Mr. Joyner went through the usual announcements. "Since I will retire next spring, I was given the honor of being the Senior Class's homeroom teacher. Those who know me can perhaps tell the others that I have three convictions. One: we of the faculty strive to make sure that you'll enter the real world as well prepared as possible; two: you'll do your utmost to foil us; and three: we'll succeed anyway, mostly, at least."

They all chuckled dutifully. Joyner then went through all the points the principal wanted him to announce. Before he ended, however, he turned serious. "I would like to welcome back a student who missed most of last senior year due to tragic circumstances. Mr. Di Rosa, we of the faculty want to express our heartfelt sympathy for your tragic loss and we hope that you and your sister will soon feel at home again in our school."

All eyes turned on Joey and he took a deep breath. He stood and scrambled for the right reply. "Thank you, Mr. Joyner. I saw already how well my sister was received back by her friends and I hope I can fit in soon."

"That's what we hope, too. Now, to get on with this, I have the privilege to teach both biology and AP biology this year..."

The morning passed rather smoothly. During lunch break, he sat at Tess's table, surrounded by a gaggle of freshman girls. Suddenly, a shadow fell over them, and Joey looked up. Tess did, too, and she squared her shoulders. It was the girl from the parking lot.

"I'm sorry for interrupting. I wanted to apologize. I transferred here after Christmas and I had no idea what happened to your family. I... I'm really sorry." She sounded sincere.

"S'okay," Joey said and Tess nodded. "Can I ask your name? I'm Joey Di Rosa. This is my sister Tess, and her friends Emily and Monica."

"H-Hi, I'm Deirdre, Deirdre Darling."

Joey held out his hand. "Okay if I just call you Deirdre?" he asked with a smile. Then he couldn't help himself. "At least in the beginning?"

She did not take it well. "J-just Deirdre will be fine. I h-have to be going. See you."

"You need some rust remover for your pick-up lines," Tess remarked drily. "That was fucking lame."

Joey grinned ruefully. "I'll apologize when I see her. She's a bit shy, isn't she?"

"Well, with that last name, she must be getting a lot of shit."

Joey did not have a chance to apologize until later that afternoon when he had his AP biology class. Deirdre was already there, too, and already seated when he entered, and he sat across the aisle from her. She did not look up.

"Deirdre?" he offered. She stared stubbornly at her textbook. "I'm sorry for the cheesy line, okay? I guess that shit must come out of your ears already. It won't happen again."

She looked up hesitantly and their eyes met. Hers were blue, a striking contrast to her dark brown, curly hair. He swallowed. Deirdre obviously put no store in her appearance. Her hair stuck out in all directions, her eyebrows had a substantial connection over her nose, and no lipstick or eyeliner was in evidence. Yet he could see all the makings of a natural beauty. She had large eyes with long, brown lashes. Her nose was delicate and perfectly symmetrical, and it matched a small, well-formed mouth. He caught himself wishing she would smile.

"What?" she snapped and Joey realized he had been staring at her.

"I'm sorry, again. I just... You know, I... sometimes I'm a klutz. I just wanted to say, I'm sorry," he ended lamely.

Her face flaming red she bent over her book. Her 'okay' was barely audible.

Mr. Joyner fairly breezed into the room. "Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to my swan song AP Biology course. I can promise you excitement over the next months. We have received a fairly large donation of used but up-to-date equipment from a local biotech firm, and I must thank Mr. Di Rosa for directing this windfall in our direction."

"They asked if my school needed stuff when they closed a department." Joey felt the need to explain. It was the lab where he had interned during the summer.

"Anyway, we will all appreciate the new possibilities. Chief of all, we have a very serviceable thermo cycler unit, allowing us to explore the potential of one of the most important new technologies of the past twenty years, the Polymerase Chain Reaction. This will be our focus for most of the first semester, in fact. I may add that we also received a gift of the necessary consumables, just a month or two past their use-before date, but working perfectly.

"First things first, though. I have to pair you up. Unfortunately, not every wish could be granted and I had to make a few decisions. I'll read the pairs out now. "Agouishi and Tonegawa; Belmont and Mortlake; DeVeer and Wu, Darling and Di Rosa, Espinoza and Washington."

Her face flaming, Deirdre was standing already.

"One moment, Miss Darling, please. Your first order of the day is to get to know your partner and prepare the first assignment. For next Wednesday afternoon, I want you to write a short assay, listing the most important impact of the Polymerase Chain Reaction on science. No more than five pages letter format, if you please.

"Now, Miss Darling, Mr. Di Rosa, you may come forward."

Joey stood and walked to Mr. Joyner's desk, shrugging. He had not requested a specific partner since he knew almost nobody from the previous year's junior class. To his surprise, Mr. Joyner motioned for them to follow him outside. He led them to his office where he sat, offering Deirdre and Joey seats, too.

"Now, Miss Darling, what's on your mind?"

"Mr. Joyner, with all respect, why was I paired with him? I listed three other partners as my preferences."

Joey snorted and shook his head. Mr. Joyner looked at Deirdre with sympathy.

"Miss Darling, oh hell, Deirdre, you know I think the world of you as a student, right?" Deirdre nodded hesitantly. "Well, some of your fellow students don't, I'm afraid. Two of your preferences explicitly asked not to be assigned as your partners. The third and her assigned partner listed each other exclusively. Mr. Di Rosa's return was a stroke of luck as he did not list any preferences. Why didn't you, Joey?"

"I don't know anybody that well," Joey shrugged. "Besides, you can't pick your colleagues at work, either."

"Do you object to Miss Darling as your partner?"

Joey almost said yes out of spite but he noticed that the shy girl was already in tears over the snub she had received.

"We can try," he shrugged. He turned to Deirdre. "Listen, I've got nothing against you. You said something stupid, I said something stupid. I'd say we're quits. Want to give it a try?"

She still did not look at him when she spoke. "Mr. Joyner, you know I'm in the running for valedictorian and I need scholarships for college. I need good grades in this course."

Joyner was a little less patient now. "What makes you think you cannot achieve this with Joey? He was a State Science Fair finalist in his sophomore year. He's already interned in research laboratories. Why isn't he asking for a better partner?"

If possible, Deirdre's complexion reached an even darker shade of purple and she bit her lips. For the first time she looked at Joey.

"I didn't know. I'm sorry. It's just… I don't get along well with boys."

"That's something you need to work on," Mr. Joyner ended the discussion. "As Joey said, you can't pick who you work with in real life. You know your first assignment. Get moving, you two!"

Joey shrugged again and stood. Deirdre stood too, and for a moment it looked as if she would make another plea with Mr. Joyner. The teacher was ostensibly studying a letter on his desk though and Deirdre followed Joey out of the office with hanging shoulders.

"How do we do this?" she asked when she caught up with him. "Do you want me to write a first draft?"

"Shouldn't we discuss what we want to write first?" he asked back, raising his eyebrows.

"Oh, of course. But how?"

"Well, we could sit somewhere and talk. I have to pick up my sister in an hour but I'm free until then. The library?"

She shook her head. "Mrs. Turner does not allow talk there."

"How about we sit in the lunch room? Nobody will bother us."

"Okay," Deirdre answered, seemingly resigned to some terrible fate.

Joey pulled out a cell phone and started to type a text message.

"We're not allowed to use cell phones on school grounds," Deirdre chided.

"I have permission as long as I text my sister. She needs to know where to find me."

"Oh," Deirdre answered, flustered.

He had finished his message and looked at her. "Why do you always tell people off? Is your dad a cop or something?"

She went from flustered to angry in a heartbeat. "Is this fun for you? Does it feel good to rub it in? Yeah, I'm a bastard. I don't know my father. Yeah, my mom lives with a woman. She's a lesbian, a rug muncher. Satisfied?"

Joey cringed. He had stepped deep into a pile of doodoo. "Oh shit, Deirdre! I didn't know, I swear. It's just that you're so cop-like."

"My mom's an Assistant DA," she conceded, already embarrassed about her outburst.

Joey nodded. "Look, we have to work together. We can't do that with our feet stuck in our mouths all the time. Why don't we give each other a short run down on who we are to clear up things? I really don't want to tick you off."

Deirdre took a deep breath. Then she nodded. "Okay, you first!"

"Right. I'm Joseph Di Rosa, but everybody calls me Joey. My parents ran a furniture store. My father built it up from scratch. My mom was his first accountant and she kept working in the store after she had us. My sister Teresa is three years younger than me. My grandfather must've been some sort of mobster; he was shot and killed when my father was sixteen. My father made it a point to break away from the Di Rosa organization. We only see the other Di Rosas at weddings or funerals.

"My great uncle is supposed to be a local capo of sorts, at least that's what you can read in the papers. Rumors are that a competing syndicate wanted him to retire, and to make their point they killed my parents while we were driving home from the store. My sister got hit in the head by a bullet and her right side is still palsied. I caught three bullets in my back and spent almost five months healing.

"Since then we've lived alone and I'm her legal guardian now. You may want to steer clear of Italian mobster stereotypes jokes in my presence. Now you!"

Deirdre had watched him intently. Now she seemed to gather her resolve. "My mom's a lesbian. She's known it since high school. Her parents cut her off, but she received fellowships to go to college and later to law school. She had me early in her senior year of college. I was born in Baltimore. When she finished law school my mom joined the DA's office in Pittsburgh. She met Karen there, her partner. Karen is a fitness instructor and trainer.

"We moved here last January when there was an opening at the DA's office. Karen found a job in a rehab clinic. We live on Mount Vernon Street in Powelton.

"I guess I'm touchy about my mom and Karen, and I'm not used to guys. I want to go to Johns Hopkins after college or to some other great school. I want to become a geneticist. I'm a bit intense about school work sometimes."

"You have goals; that's cool," Joey smiled. "I want to be a researcher, too, but in infectious diseases like malaria or cholera."

Right then Joey's wish was fulfilled. Deirdre smiled. It was gorgeous! "That's great! You want to become a virologist, then?"

"Nah, not necessarily," Joey smirked. "Running around in a pressure suit like in Outbreak seems like a drag."

"That movie was so awful!" Deirdre laughed.

"I know! But it's so much fun to poke holes in the story!" Joey smiled at her. "Okay, that's settled. We both hate it. So, what about PCR? What do you think is the greatest scientific breakthrough due to it?"

"Well, let's just make a list of applications and then look them over?"

They sat down at one of the lunch tables and Deirdre pulled out her laptop. Over the next twenty minutes they made a list and went over the bullet points. After a while Joey sat back and thought loudly.

"Wait. Joyner said, 'scientific impact'. I guess, the others will all go for the forensic applications; you know, CSI stuff. Or maybe, mammoth or Neanderthal genes from old bones. The flashy applications. I can't help it, but I think Joyner meant something different, something more… fundamental?"

"You may have something there," Deirdre picked up the thread. "Let's look at the applications again."

"Maybe we missed something. Wait! DNA sequencing is done with a thermo cycler, too, right? And cycle sequencing is the basis for the genome projects. All the automated systems work that way."

"So, you want to say it's the genome projects?" Deirdre asked, squinting her eyes in concentration.

"That and things like diagnostics and epidemiology. I mean, there are tons of other applications, too. They do the typing of species by DNA analysis instead of looking at the shape and other things."

Suddenly, Deirdre grabbed his arm. "I know! It changed the way scientists perceive organisms." She realized what she had done and dropped his arm again.

Joey smiled. "Yes, PCR reduces everything to the DNA sequence. It's a DNA world now."

"The DNA world," Deirdre echoed, blushing again but now with excitement. "That's it! How are we going to organize this? A before/after comparison?"

Joey nodded. "I guess that would be the best. Look, we take this list of applications and write up how certain questions were handled before and after. We can each do half of the points and compile them tomorrow. I can write the introduction, and you write the summary and conclusions. Fair?"

The shy girl was completely gone. Deirdre was positively enthusiastic now as she jumped up. "Okay, let's do it that way. Do you have time tomorrow?"

Joey nodded. "Tess has a three-hour appointment for rehab in the afternoon, but I can fit you in between two-thirty and four-thirty. Is that okay?"

"Here?"

"I could come to your place or you can come to my place. We can also meet here. I don't care."

Deirdre became slightly apprehensive again. "It's better we meet here," she said haltingly, looking down.

Joey noticed her mood swing. "Deirdre, I did not mean anything but working, okay? I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable again."

She nodded and took a deep breath. They both collected their stuff and slung their bags over their shoulders. They passed the main entrance together where Joey found Tess waiting.

Deirdre stopped him squinting her eyes at him. "I'll see you tomorrow. Joey, I had fun discussing this with you. Sorry about being so negative at first."

The apologetic words made Tess raise her eyebrow, but Joey simply smiled.

"I had fun, too. We'll show the others what they're missing!"

—————

Deirdre's mood lighted up again and she almost bounced along the sidewalk. It had been so great! The way Joey Di Rosa thought was eerily similar to her own way of approaching problems. To think that she had feared he would drag her down!

He had offered to come to her place, and for the first time in a year Deirdre found herself deflecting such a suggestion. It just wasn't possible. Deirdre had brought exactly two boys home in her life, and both times had been unmitigated disasters. The first time had been in her freshman year in Pittsburgh. The boy's name was Timothy Daley, and he was a shy bookworm like Deirdre. They wanted to work on an assignment and they had been sitting in the living room when Karen came home.

“What's the little fucker doing in our living room?” she had demanded. She bent down over poor Timothy. “Are you trying to get your grubby fingers into her panties?”

Timothy had been terrified at the language, the venom, and the vision of the six foot two, two hundred pound woman towering over them. He almost pissed himself as he hurriedly stuffed his books and notebooks into his bag, and he fled the house on a dead run.

“What a pussy!” Karen had laughed, shaking her head. She had ruffled a mortified Deirdre's head. “You're not turning into one of those breeders, are you?”

Of course, Timothy told the story with much embellishment and Deirdre could not get anybody to visit her, boy or girl, for almost two years. Deirdre knew that Karen was just being her brash, butch self, and that she was not really a man-hater. She worked with men after all and got along with them. Those were not shy school boys though, but muscle-bound instructors like herself.

The second incident had been early in her junior year, still in Pittsburgh. This time, the young man was still in his coat waiting in the living room while Deirdre was upstairs in her room to retrieve some notes she wanted to give him. When she came downstairs she found him squirming under a verbal onslaught from Karen who had come home early. Again, the boy left the battle scene unharmed but thoroughly frightened.

That time there were repercussions. The boy's parents filed both criminal charges (dismissed against a donation to a church group) and complained to the school administration.

What followed was a serious confrontation between Deirdre's mother and Karen. Maureen Darling was a petite, soft-spoken woman who usually submitted to Karen's bullying ways. That evening, after a hearing with the high school's principal, Deirdre witnessed another side of her mother. In a very cold voice she gave Karen an ultimatum: Lay off the steroids and take anger management classes or leave their house and their lives.

Up to that point Deirdre had no idea where Karen's imposing bulk came from. She also had no idea that when push came to shove, her petite mother was the real head of the family. Karen knuckled under, swearing off prescription drugs and taking classes to get better control of her emotions. Nevertheless, Deirdre's position at school had become that of an outcast and when the job opening in Philadelphia came along Maureen Darling applied for it, mostly to give her daughter the chance for a fresh start.

Now at the new school Deirdre had studiously avoided any contact with male students. She had certainly not invited any fellow students to their home. Joey Di Rosa was the first male student with whom she had spoken more than ten words. When he suggested meeting at home the image made her squirm. There was only this one year left for her at school. If she made it without incident she could leave for college and meet all the guys she'd ever want. Or so she thought.

Now, she was heading to where Karen was waiting in her customized 1985 F-150. The truck oozed testosterone, and Maureen joked that it was Karen's surrogate penis.

When Deirdre approached, Karen got out and hugged her. "So, who's the fucker?" she asked lightly pointing in the direction where Joey and Tess were walking slowly to their parked car.

Deirdre blanched and recoiled and the tall woman chuckled. "Don't get your panties in a bunch! Look, I'll behave, okay? Just wait. They're coming closer and I'll be friendly. I can do it. Just watch me, okay!"

Indeed and to Deirdre's horror, Joey and Tess were about to walk past them. Tess was limping badly. Lending her his arm he led her along slowly.

"Hi, I'm Karen," Deirdre heard her mother's friend call out as the siblings approached. "Are you friends of Deirdre?"

Joey's face registered surprise but he shook Karen's hand and gave her a smile. "I'm Joey Di Rosa. I wouldn't call myself her friend yet. We just met today. We're lab partners, though. Oh, this is my sister, Teresa."

"Tess, if you don't mind," the younger girl smiled holding out her hand.

Karen shook it while eying the girl with a mix of appreciation and concern. "Well, I better get Deirdre home to feed her. Been nice meeting you!"

While Joey helped Tess into the car a grinning Karen came over. Exhaling deeply Deirdre opened the passenger door of the truck and climbed in. Karen jumped in too and gunned the engine. She grinned at Deirdre.

"See, I can do it. Besides, that guy wouldn't run home with wet pants." Deirdre looked her question, and Karen elaborated. "He wasn't the least bit scared. What's with his sister?"

"He said she was hit by a bullet when their parents were murdered. I heard about it today. Her right side is palsied. He got hit, too. That's why he's a year behind. He spent too much time in the hospital."

"Wait! Isn't Maureen investigating something related? Di Rose, Di Rosa, yes! The famous Olympic Gym Massacre! The owners were involved in the hit on this family, and the Di Rosa family retaliated by stringing them all up in the basement of their gym. You'll have to ask Maureen for specifics."

"You mean Joey is some sort of mobster?"

"You'll have to ask her. But the poor girl! Is she getting proper treatment?"

"She said something this morning when I met them first. I asked why she doesn't use a wheelchair and she exploded in my face saying she's been working her ass off to get out of the wheelchair."

"She's got spunk then; that's already half the battle. How come you ended up with a fucker as lab partner?"

They were driving along the residential streets of their neighborhood already.

"Mr. Joyner put us together. It seems," Deirdre blushed crimson, "the girls asked not to be paired with me."

The truck came to an abrupt stop. "What? But why? I didn't do anything, did I?"

"No, it's me, I guess. I guess I'm not much fun to work with or be with."

"Girl, you gotta loosen up," Karen agreed and looked at Deirdre ruefully. "But then, if they're that stuck up, it's their loss."

Deirdre shrugged, not knowing the reasons herself.

"Tell you what, Kiddo. We'll go to that parent-student mixer a week from now, and I'll even wear a fucking costume. With skirt and heels. I promise. I'll fit right in with the moms and such."

"You'd do that?" Deirdre asked, smiling now.

"Hey, Kiddo. My motherly instincts are not all that well developed, but I care for you."

"I know," Deirdre smiled. "And I get to take a photo of you in a costume!"

Deirdre's mother came home late as usual, and Karen had prepared dinner, also as usual. In spite of her butch personality, Karen loved to cook. Maureen changed into cotton pants and a T-shirt before she sat for dinner, and for a few minutes they were all busy loading their plates and taking the first bites.

"Deirdre met a nice young man at school today," Karen suddenly remarked. "If we don't watch she'll turn into a breeder under our noses."

"Karen!" Deirdre almost shrieked. She breathed for control. "He was assigned to me as lab partner in AP Biology. We spent some time discussing our first assignment. He's into biology, too, and he's not as dumb as the others."

"Listen, Morry," Karen cut in. "This is what I did: I introduced myself to him, and I did not make one stupid remark."

Maureen Darling looked at her daughter and her lover, and she felt uneasy. "You mean, we won't have to move again?" she asked cautiously.

"No, Mom. Karen was polite," Deirdre smiled. "She also promised to come to the parent-student mixer and to wear a costume: skirt and heels and all."

Maureen looked at her girlfriend, tilting her head. "You do that for us, and I'll go to the Tulips with you that night. You can even pick my outfit."

The Tulips, Deirdre knew, was the local hangout for the lesbian scene. Deirdre knew that her mother usually did not go there, conscious of her position as Assistant DA. Consequently, Karen's eyes lit up.

"Morry, we'll make them drool over you!" she gushed.

"Hey, time out!" Deirdre called, blushing but grinning. "That's strictly on a need-to-know basis, and all I need to know is that I don't need to know."

"Oh, Morry, before I forget. Aren't you working on that gym massacre?"

"Only on the fringes. You know, I follow up on those prescription drug supply lines. Why?"

"Deirdre's lab partner's name is Di Rosa: Joey Di Rosa. He has a kid sister named Teresa. They both got hurt in a shooting, and their parents died."

Maureen paled. She knew the names and had read the files numerous times.

"That boy is in your class? How is he doing?"

Deirdre saw her mother's reaction. "He seems all right. Why?"

"He was shot three times shielding his kid sister with his body. It was touch and go for him for almost a month."

"Wow!" Karen exclaimed with true admiration. "Didn't I tell you? That fucker has real cojones."

Deirdre was speechless. Her mind wrestled with the information and she tried to sort things in her head. Then another thought rushed through. "Mom, is he... I mean, do you think he's..."

"A criminal? No. He's just a poor kid who lost his parents in a tragic mix up. His father was completely clean. Of course, that didn't keep the rest of the family from retaliating against those Albanians. Which, again, we can't prove. Just make sure you call me before you accept an invitation to visit Uncle Vince's place."

The last sentence was delivered with a wink, and Deirdre dutifully asked, "Why?"

"That's his great uncle, the esteemed Vincent Di Rosa. He's one of the last great Cosa Nostra dons. Or, in all fairness, 'alleged organized crime bosses’. You know, innocent until proven guilty. Neither the Feds nor the local law could make so much as a parking ticket stick to him in fifty years. He's almost a billionaire, and that's only counting what the IRS knows."

"He spoke briefly of his family," Deirdre offered, "but he sounded like he didn't have much contact with them."

"I imagine it's not easy living with that name in this city."

That was something Deirdre could imagine. After all she had experience at being an outcast. Before she went to sleep that night, Deirdre ran the Di Rosa name on Google and any other search engine she knew. There were references to the shooting and killing of a Joseph Carmine Di Rosa in 1972. Next the name popped up in the articles covering the killing of Joey's parents and the subsequent massacre of the Kaçani clan. On two points in those articles, Maureen Darling's name showed up, too, as the assistant DA in charge of parts of the investigation.

2 - Parent Student Mixer

Tess Di Rosa leaned back in the Jacuzzi and enjoyed the warmth and the soothing massage by the air bubbles. The first day back at school had been draining, both physically and mentally. It still took her full concentration to walk and a full day of concentration had left her exhausted. Add to that the need to give brief recaps of her story to at least twenty different people plus her own hunger for all the gossip she had missed in a year and Tess was almost out for the count.

The Jacuzzi was a Godsend. Their father had converted the basement into a family spa with a steam bath and a Jacuzzi. They had often used it together. Carla Di Rosa, their mother, had spent several years in Germany with her father where she grew up in the middle of the sexual liberation during the late sixties and early seventies, and she had educated her children not to be ashamed of their bodies. Carla Di Rosa had also been the one to pick the Victorian home in the multicultural Powelton Village neighborhood.

Tess stretched her neck muscles and the inflatable collar got in the way again. Oh, to be rid of this crap! Joey insisted on her wearing an inflatable collar in the Jacuzzi in case she had a dizzy spell. Tess smiled. Joey ― always worrying about her. Yet, she did not, could not mind. She had heard from Nurse Gabbie how they had found Joey shielding her with his own bullet-torn body. She saw him return to their hospital room after three different surgeries. She witnessed the one time when his heart alarm went off and his body jerked under the electric shocks of a defibrillator, while doctors and nurses fought to keep him alive. No, there was no way she could ever feel annoyance over her big brother. She felt his presence and tilted her head, smiling up warmly.

"Come in! Aah, I'm so glad we have this!"

"Yup, it's nice," he agreed, stepping into the hot pool himself.

Tess was unconcerned over their nudity. They had often shared hotel rooms growing up. Now that they depended on each other they relaxed even more. Tess had changed Joey's wound dressings when one of the scars had opened again three months before. Joey, on the other hand, had to help Tess to wash certain body parts she could not reach with her clumsy left hand. That was not necessary anymore but neither sibling thought it wrong to share the Jacuzzi in the buff.

"So, they paired you with the Irish lezz?" she asked after a few moments.

"Huh?"

"The Irish lezz; you know, like Irish lass, only gay," Tess giggled.

"Oh, you mean Deirdre. Behave, Tess. She's not bad. She may not be a lesbian either. Her mother is, and that big woman, Karen."

"Yup, that was obvious," Tess giggled again. "There are bets, you know, how long it will take for you to ask for a different partner."

"I don't think I will. She's really good. I won't have to drag her along like I had to with Chuck." Chuck Edwards had been his lab partner during junior year.

"She's pretty," Tess observed. "At least she could be if she tried."

"Must be hard for her, you know. I bet some of the snots are giving her a hard time. You know, living with a lesbian mother..."

"And looking like a Grade A nerd," Tess laughed.

"And that. Let's face it: Some of our peers are not exactly models of tolerance. That reminds me. Anybody give you shit?"

Tess shook her head. "Nope. It's amazing. Everybody was nice. Oh, I was in the Principal's office. She'll want to talk to you, she said. They have this idea that I could join my old class as a sophomore. I would need extra tutoring but they said I could do it."

Joey's face lit up. "That would be so great! You could be with all your friends again."

"Yeah, I'd like that. Principal Harlow is really helpful. And did you see Ashley? She watched out for me all day. She may pitch for Deirdre's team, too, but she's a great friend."

"Okay, I'll talk to the Principal. Jeez, if I had known how much work it is with you..."

"Joey?"

"Yep?"

"You're the best."

"And don't you forget that," he laughed.

—————

It was the Friday of the week after. Joey and Deirdre had completed their first assignment and submitted their work on Monday. Mr. Joyner had returned it with glowing praise and a smug smile. They had also done their first experiments, simple tests to learn how to handle the equipment. Here Joey had a decisive advantage due to the internships he had done and Deirdre had willingly submitted herself to his guidance. She was a quick learner though, and Joey realized that she would give him a run for his money soon enough.

—————

Now they both stood with their classmates as the tasks for the open house event were delegated by the ruling queen of Benjamin Franklin Preparatory School, Deborah Stevens. Deborah loved to organize and to delegate, and she was the president of the Student Council. Of course, the more prestigious tasks were given to her fellow council members, leaving the menial work to those perceived as worker bees. Presenting the science lab was considered low-end work because parents rarely showed there. Deirdre had mentioned that she would volunteer, but when Deborah looked around for peons to staff the lab Joey lifted his hand first.

"My sister and I can do a shift there. It's quiet and she'll be able to sit most of the time."

Deborah nodded regally. "That sounds sensible. Any other volunteers?"

Hesitantly, Deirdre Darling lifted a finger.

"Okay, another senior. That should be enough; there won't be that much traffic."

Deirdre confronted Joey. "Why did you volunteer?" she asked almost accusingly.

"It's cool there and quiet. Plus, Tess and I can watch and bitch from the fringes. Anyway, it's not like we have anybody visiting. Is it a problem for you?"

"Yes. No. Oh damn! My mom's coming and so is Karen. It's better they don't see me with a boy."

Joey shook his head sadly. Deirdre was a little screwy. "Just pretend you're with Tess," he wisecracked, earning himself a smack up the head from Tess.

"Don't listen to him," she told Deirdre. "He enjoys his wise guy routine, but he's harmless."

Two hours later the first parents arrived. Joey and Tess were sitting behind a desk in front of the student lab watching the people walking by uninterestedly. She was giving a running commentary on the arriving families. Deirdre sat with them, but a little apart. They had decided to stay and take breaks whenever convenient.

Deirdre was apprehensive as Joey could tell. "You worried?" he asked.

Deirdre nodded gloomily. "Karen's caused upheavals in the past," she said. "Oh, speaking of the devil, here they are."

Karen had obvious problems with the heels she was wearing and she was staggering along the hallway. Tess giggled at the sight.

"You gotta give her points for guts," she commented. "I mean, she's over six feet anyway, and she's wearing three-inch heels?"

"It's sweet of her," Deirdre defended her mother's partner. "She's doing it for me, so people won't give me shit."

Joey barely followed the exchange. His eyes were focused on the other woman, Deirdre's mother. She was smaller than Deirdre, almost petite, but she looked stunning. She had curly, light brown hair with a reddish hue, but her face and eyes were strikingly similar to Deirdre's. The most winning feature was her friendly smile. They had already seen Deirdre and were steering towards the desk.

"Hi, Sweetie! Here we are. Isn't Karen stunning?"

"I'll say," Deirdre laughed. "Who's driving home when she sprains an ankle?"

"You brat!" Karen laughed back, a deep, barking laugh. "Oh, and here we have Deirdre's lab partner and his gorgeous sister."

Joey affected to look around. "Gorgeous? Who? Where?"

This earned him a swat from Tess. He stood politely.

"Hi, Karen. Hi, Ms. Darling."

"Hi," her mother smiled. "Joey, isn't it? May I call you Joey?"

"Of course."

"I'm Maureen. Hi, Tess. Karen's right, you are very pretty."

"See?" Tess shot at Joey who stuck out his tongue.

"Maureen, what are you doing here?" a voice sounded from behind them. They turned to see a tall, balding man in a three-piece suit. "Has somebody been seen selling Viagra in the corridors?"

"Oh, hi, John. No, my daughter goes to school here," Maureen Darling smiled back. "Come here, Deirdre. John, my daughter, Deirdre. Deirdre, this is John Stevens. He is an attorney too. We have been known to argue in court."

"Oh, the famous Deirdre," Stevens smirked. "My daughter is in her class, you know. But you know Deborah, don't you?"

Deirdre was clearly withdrawing into her shell at the famous remark. "Of course, I know her."

"I haven't seen you at our house, though, have I? I must have met every single girl in her class over the years, but I cannot recall you."

"I transferred in January. I'm not part of the cliques," Deirdre answered.

"But that's a shame! I hear you're quite the genius. Deb could certainly profit from associating with you." He raised his voice. "Deb, please come over for a sec!"

Dutifully, Deborah glided over from down the hallway.

"Yes, Dad?" she asked with raised eyebrows.

"I just discovered that Maureen Darling's daughter is in your class. I spoke of Maureen, didn't I?"

Deborah had a sense of humor. She smirked. "Yes, Dad, but I don't think I should repeat your words."

Maureen Darling was unruffled. John Stevens probably called her a lot of bad names in private. After all, Maureen had put one of his high-paying clients behind bars where he belonged.

"That's all right," she smiled. "We're on opposing sides in the courtroom."

"She's right, Deb. I just asked why Deirdre has never visited us when you had your friends over. She said she isn't in any of the cliques."

"Well, she isn't."

"Invite her next time, then. Help her fit in. Isn't that part of your job on the council?"

The look Deborah gave Deirdre was anything but enthusiastic, but then she nodded. "Sure, Dad. Can I go back now?"

She was gone before her father could answer. Stevens was smiling broadly. "See, that wasn't difficult. Deb will take you right under her wing. So, I'll see all of you around?"

"You will, John," Maureen answered for them. "Enjoy!"

Stevens left them to talk to the next group of people.

"Jeez, what a klutz!" Tess blurted, once he was out of hearing.

Deirdre shook her head. "What was he aiming at? Giving me the coup de grâce? I can already hear the gossip mill running full tilt. 'Poor Deirdre, she's such a dork, her mother has to use her connections to get her invited by the cool girls.' I have to do some damage control. Can you handle the lab without me for a few minutes?"

"Sure," Joey answered. "It's not like people are lining up in the hallway."

Deirdre was off in a second not looking back and walking briskly to where Deborah was seen directing a group of freshmen to do one thing or another. That left Maureen Darling and Karen Langner standing with Joey and Tess.

Maureen saw this as her chance. "Joey, would you mind walking with me for a second?"

Joey shrugged. His conscience was clear. He had only studied with Deirdre. They strolled casually along the hallway.

"Joey, I appreciate the way you and Deirdre are working together. You have to know that she does not easily relate to boys, or should I say men? Our home situation has to do with it, of course. If she doesn't invite you over for studying, it has nothing to do with you."

"Yeah, she gave me a rundown of her past before we started to work. We both did, to clear the air and avoid any f... unintentional slights." Joey grinned a little after avoiding the F-word. "I have some sensitive issues, too, you know."

"That I can imagine. You know that I work in the DA's office, don’t you?"

"Yeah, Deirdre told me."

"I know what happened to your family. I think it is amazing what you are doing, to give a home to your sister and to look after her. You two seem very close."

"We are. We're all we have, you know." He saw Maureen's eyebrows lift in question and added, "The association with my great-uncle was what got my parents killed. I mean, he was supportive and all, and he moved heaven and earth to get us the best treatment, but we need to steer clear of my father's relatives."

"That's sad, but I can see your point. Joey, will you try to be Deirdre's friend? I understand you two set the lab on fire already, but she's not just a textbook on legs."

"I can try, Ms. Darling. It's just, outside studying we don't seem to mesh that well. Some way or the other a lot of things I do or say seem to p... offend her."

He was a little uncomfortable when Maureen Darling gave him a long, scrutinizing look. Then she smiled. "Oh my. Well, if that's the case, you just go on and work together."

"Ms. Darling?"

"Yes?"

"I… I don't mean to be crude or something. Well, I know that you and Karen live together, and it's cool, really. Does Deirdre, you know, prefer girls perhaps? I mean, she asked to be partnered with three girls, and she got piss... upset when Mr. Joyner teamed her with me."

"And you are asking, why?"

Joey was aware she was teasing him, but he willed away the embarrassment. "Well, if I know I can avoid stuff that ticks her off. It'll also explain why she's so..."

"Weird? Well, the short answer is, I don't really know for sure. Sometimes I think she believes that Karen and I expect her to be a lesbian. Which we don't, I might add. Be that as it may, the history function of her net browser tells me that she may harbor a more-than-fleeting interest in the male anatomy." She smiled at Joey's blush. "Now, don't judge her! I bet if I checked your browser history, I'd find more than one link to porn sites."

That caused a grin. "I don't think so. I always use privacy settings. Can't have my kid sister spying on me. She's too smart."

"Point for you," Maureen laughed brightly. "Okay, to end this and to the best of my knowledge, Deirdre seems to be interested in men. I just don't think she'd want to admit it yet."

They had completed the round and were approaching the desk again. Karen was chatting animatedly with Tess showing off some movements with her arms and legs, obviously demonstrating exercises. Tess was nodding emphatically and showing some moves herself. They noticed Maureen and Joey returning and stopped.

"Joey, Karen has shown me some new exercises. I think they may work great. Do you think I could visit her clinic a few times? They do all the standard physical therapy stuff, but they also have an indoor pool for water exercises."

Joey nodded. "Sure, Short-stuff. You know, anything that'll help. Will you need some sort of referral?"

"Nah. You know I have copies of my history. And we're not making much progress at Erica's studio. She said she'd read up on more stuff, but so far..."

Karen spoke up. "If you are uncomfortable with me treating your sister..."

Joey held up his hand. "You're a professional, I'm sure. If Tess trusts you, so do I."

Karen actually showed a pink hue on her cheeks. "Thank you," she said almost shyly.

—————

Meanwhile, Deirdre had been able to get Deborah away from the others. "Listen, Deb, this was kind of awkward. I have no intention of forcing myself on you guys. Just forget the whole thing. Please?"

Some of her trepidation must have been evident in her voice. Deborah Stevens was no bitch at all. It was rather that she was a very social person and she got along with almost everybody, which in turn had placed her at the top of the social pyramid. Unconsciously she picked up on Deirdre's body signals and she realized how much her classmate was suffering from her isolation.

"Hey, that's all right, Deirdre. I… We had been thinking of how to draw you out of your shell for some time." The little white lie came out easily enough. "Just stay a while longer after this wraps up. Help us with clearing the tables and we can get to know each other. I have to admit I know almost nothing of you. I saw you with Di Rosa. He's quite a hunk, isn't he?"

Deirdre's face felt hot as she answered evasively. "He's very smart. I kinda like to work with him."

"Not afraid, are you? I mean, what people say… He was shot in some Mafia gun fight."

"No, that's a lie! He's really a nice person and his parents were just innocent victims."

Deirdre was surprised at her vehemence.

"The way he cares for his sister is cool," Deborah conceded. "Well, I'll see you later, Deirdre. Wait, first thing, you need a nickname. Deirdre is a bit lame. How about Dee-Dee? Does that sound cool?"

Deirdre looked down at herself. She was by no means flat-chested, but a B-cup fit her nicely, thank you very much. Deborah became aware of the double meaning. She giggled. It was not malicious at all, it was infectious, and Deirdre had to laugh, too.

"As long as you don't make it Double-D, I guess it's okay," she smiled. "Double-D Darling would be too much."

3 - Deb's Party

It was a Friday, two weeks before Christmas, and Joey dreaded the upcoming holidays. The year before he and Tess had been cooped up in their hospital room and they had missed the whole pre-Christmas excitement. It wasn't until they were driven to the Di Rosa estate that the fact registered in their heads that they would celebrate Christmas.

This year was different. They lived by themselves. There was no mother to bake cookies with them, no father who would complain about the size of the tree their mother picked. Uncle Vincent had invited them for Christmas day and common decency dictated that they accepted. However, they would spend the rest of the school break in their own home and largely by themselves.

They would both miss school. In class they were not alone. In class they were like any other students. Joey had asked for permission to continue some of the experiments in the biology lab, but of course it was impossible. Instead, Joey had purchased some used laboratory equipment on eBay and he was in the process of converting an upstairs kitchenette in their house into a small home lab.

That had become a bone of contention between him and Deirdre who claimed he was trying to get ahead of her. In turn he invited her to come over and work with him. He could see the conflicting emotions on her face but she had declined.

He was not sure whether to be happy about that or sad. Deirdre had built up an increasing distance between them. They did not meet outside the classes they had together and even there Deirdre was avoiding him. His efforts to be friendly were rebuffed and it became a common occurrence that she would contradict whatever he said on principle. He regretted the distance between them. In the first weeks of the school year he had come to appreciate her ambition, her knowledge, and her quick mind.

This evening he would be all by himself in their house. Tess was having a sleepover with her friend Ashley, who lived with her parents in a penthouse on Rittenhouse Square and Joey was contemplating going to a movie. He was not really looking forward to going alone. He was pleasantly surprised, therefore, when he was approached by Deborah Stevens as they stood in line in the cafeteria.

"Uh Joey, we're having an end-of-year party at our house tonight. My mom and dad are out of town. Care to come?"

Joey needed only a moment to decide. Normally he could not go to parties, not with Tess to look after. This was a rare opportunity.

"Sure, thanks. What should I bring?"

"Surprise us! Only no booze, no wine, no beer, 'kay?"

"No problem," Joey answered honestly. He had enjoyed the odd glass of beer in the past, but he could do without it. "I'm not much of a cook. Okay if I order three or four large pepperoni pizzas?"

"Sure, that'd be great. You know where I live?"

"Birch Road, right?"

"Yes, 1428, Birch Road. We start around eight. See ya."

"See ya, and thanks!" Joey answered. At least, this would give him a chance to meet some people.

After he dropped off Tess at her pajama party he drove across town to a small Italian restaurant, the Blue Grotto. They made the best pizza in town, Joey thought, and he had ordered three large pepperoni in advance. As usual, Toni Minetti, the owner, handed him the pizza in person. The Di Rosas had come to the Blue Grotto regularly and Toni chatted Joey up while he rang up the purchase.

"Hey, Joey, watcha up to? You hava da football team over?"

"No, I'm invited to a classmate's for a party. I thought I'd treat them to your famous pepperoni."

Toni handed Joey a small stack of business cards. "Here. Iffa dey ask where ya got'em from, giv'emma card."

"Will do, Toni. Give Anita a kiss from me."

"You rascal! Keepa your hands offa ma daughta. Sheesa good girl."

Still chuckling, Joey stashed the pizza boxes on the passenger seat and took off. It was a little before nine when he arrived at Deborah's home. He could tell right away that her father, klutz that he was, had to be rolling in cash. The house was huge.

Deborah was nowhere to be seen, but another girl in her clique, Mandy Something, crossed off his name from a list and waved him inside. He unloaded the pizza boxes on a large table that served as a buffet before he looked around. He knew most of the people. They were seniors from their school, plus a few select juniors.

There was a tray with glasses filled with Coke, and he helped himself to one. His eyebrows shot up in surprise. The Coke was spiked with rum. Hadn't Deborah insisted on no alcohol? Then he shrugged. If he kept to this single glass he wouldn't be in trouble.

He strolled around, greeting the fellow students he knew better. That done he decided to get a slice of pizza for himself before it became too cold. When he wiggled through the people and closer to the buffet he stopped in surprise. There was Deirdre. Then again, it wasn't her. Somebody had dolled her up. She was wearing a very tight tube top over a push up bra, with tight fitting black jeans. That wasn't so bad he had to concede. Her head was another matter. Her curly hair was hidden in a very tight bun. This showed off her ears which were glowing red, either from excitement or from too much Coke and rum. The heavy makeup on her face made her look more like a caricature, Joey thought, and from the smirks he observed on the faces of a few girls around her he knew some prank was in the making.

"Hi Deirdre," he said nonchalantly while loading a paper plate with a pizza slice.

Her ears seemed to glow in the dark when she recognized him.

"H-Hi, Joey. W-what... I mean, I didn't know Deb invited you."

"It was a surprise, but Tess is staying with a girlfriend, so I was free."

Deirdre said nothing. Instead, she grabbed for a Coke glass and took a large gulp.

"You wanna be careful with the Coke, Deirdre," Joey advised her. "Somebody spiked it with rum."

"So what?" she huffed, assuming the distant and aloof attitude that had been her trademark in recent weeks. "You're my boyfriend?"

Joey lifted both hands in a gesture of pacification. "Just wanted to warn you. It's your head, not mine."

He turned on his heel, leaving her standing. He wanted to have fun for a change, and he just had no stomach for her attitude. It was fortunate for him that he turned right in front of Liz Menotti, the only other Italian American in the senior class.

"Eh, Joey!" she greeted him. "Did you bring the pizza from The Blue Grotto?"

"Yes, we've known Toni Minetti for years."

"Great! I hear you unloaded your pesky sister for tonight. You hafta dance with me, Joey-boy. Show me some moves!"

She practically dragged him to another room where John Steven's designer stereo system was turned up to full blast. Joey had not danced in over a year, but Liz took the lead and soon he got his moves back. It helped that he was tall and lean. It helped that he was light on his feet. He and Liz danced for more than ten songs until the diminutive Liz pulled him off of the dance floor and over to the buffet.

—————

They did not know it, but their every move was watched by Deirdre Darling. She felt increasingly irritated when she was face to face with Joey Di Rosa, and this evening was no exception. Deborah had invited her, ,and she arrived a little early to help with the preparations. She had not quite entered the house when two of Deborah's friends shrieked at her, imploring her to let them help her find a more appropriate outfit. They had dragged Deirdre up into an upstairs bedroom, and they made her take off her less-than-exciting outfit and painted these black jeans and tube top on her body. Next they started re-doing her make-up, proclaiming that today would be the coming out of the new, improved Dee-Dee.

Intimidated and unwilling to offend her new friends, Deirdre had played along. When she became insecure one of the girls gave her Coke to drink. It tasted good, better than regular Coke, and in her excitement she emptied the glass. She did not notice the smirk that passed between her two helpers as they ushered her downstairs to join the crowd.