Chapter 4: Good Advice

Maureen's eyes had followed Joey's. "That your car?"

Joey nodded.

"Apparently, the two gentlemen did not take kindly to the chivalry you displayed, Joey. Care to give me some names?"

Joey had to fight to stay calm. This was his mother's car, and Tess had dibs on it for when she got her license. He had no doubt that this was Mike and Paul's handiwork. Should he give their names to the police and hope that they left prints? He doubted that they would send a CSI team for a minor vandalism case: Plus, a police investigation would reveal that there had been alcohol at the party and then Deborah would be in deep shit. No, that was not an option.

"No, Mrs. Darling, that wouldn't do. Guess I'll have it towed. I can still help you, but I need to make a phone call first."

The number he called was that of a cousin of his father, Enrico Di Rosa. Besides being a BMW dealer he also owned a towing service, a body shop, and a junkyard operation, and they had a 24/7 hotline. There were people who alleged that some of the cars that were processed in the junkyard might be listed as stolen in neighboring states, but those were rumors. Joey was lucky because Uncle Rico answered in person.

"Hi, Uncle Rico. This is Joey. I have a bit of a problem."

"Wassup, Joey? You didn't have an accident?"

"No, some jerk vandalized my mom's Mini Cooper. Headlights are smashed in, too, so I can't drive it anymore. Can you send a tow truck to 1428 Birch Road? It's a silver Mini Cooper Clubman."

"Sure, I'll come myself. I'll have to report it to Vince, you know."

"Do you have to? I mean, I have a good idea who did it, but it was over a girl. Nothing sinister, you know."

"The word from Vince is to report anything that happens to Joey and Tess. You're Joey and that means he'll have my ass if I keep this from him. You want us to fix the car?"

"That would be great. I wanted to save it for Tess, you know."

"Hey, Rico's Body Shop will take care of it just fine. I'll handle the insurance, too, but you have to file a complaint with the cops. I'll take care of that, too. Cousin Fredo will take your statement tomorrow."

Fredo Di Rosa, another of Joey's distant cousins, was a desk sergeant in the 16th precinct, just north of Powelton.

"Great. Thanks Uncle Rico. Can you swing by 1720 Mount Vernon after you pick up the Mini? I have to help somebody, and I'll wait there."

"You got it: 1720 Mount Vernon. Make sure to be outside. I can't honk the horn at two in the morning."

Joey closed his phone and turned to Maureen. Deirdre had been tucked into Maureen's car already.

"Change of plan. Can I ride with you? A cousin will pick me up at your place."

"Sure. I'm sorry about your car. Did I hear right? It is a memento from your mother?"

"Yeah," Joey sighed. "My father's cousin owns a body shop. He'll fix it. It's insured, too."

"Okay, hop in. Let's get this drunken sailor into her cot."

Johnny sat in the back with Deirdre as Maureen pulled out.

"I think it's really cool of you that you don't blame Deborah," Joey voiced his appreciation.

Maureen looked at him in the rearview mirror. "I remembered in time that I was seventeen once, too. Did you drink any booze tonight?"

"A sip early on. The Coke was spiked with rum, and there was vodka in the orange juice. I told Deirdre to be careful, but she kind of blew me off."

"How come Deborah didn't notice?"

Joey thought quickly. "I guess, she was so busy being the hostess that she didn't drink anything herself all evening. As for the others, I don't know. Liz and I kept to a fresh bottle of Coke from the fridge."

"You danced with Liz?"

"Yeah, she's fun to be with. She's got a boyfriend in college, so it was all innocent you know."

Maureen turned into a driveway and stopped the car. She turned around in her seat and looked at Joey. "Does Deirdre know about Liz's boyfriend?"

Joey shrugged. "I don't know, Ms. Darling."

"My guess is she doesn't. That would explain things. Now give me a hand getting her out."

Deirdre had fallen asleep again, and they had a hard time lifting her out of the car. She woke up long enough to make it into the house and upstairs with her mother. Maureen asked Joey to wait for a moment while she tucked her daughter in.

She came back down within five minutes. "Out like a light," she smirked. "Joey, you said that she didn't want to be with you. Why?"

Joey shrugged. "I have no idea. We got along fine at the start of the school year, and then suddenly, I'm like dirt under her shoes. We barely talk anymore."

"I just had to ask. Sorry. Did you make any advances to her?"

Joey shook his head. "No, never. She's so shy, I'm sure she would've freaked. She's a great partner and I didn't want to screw things up. Of course, it's screwed up anyway."

"Did you ever have a girlfriend, Joey?"

"Yeah, all through junior year and through the summer. She ... I never saw her after, you know, the shooting. She never visited or sent a card or anything. I heard from friends that she was going with another guy even before Christmas."

"And before or after?"

"A few girls kissed me during sophomore year, but we never stayed together longer than two or three weeks. With my last name, fathers are sort of leery about letting their daughters date me. And since last year, no, nobody. First I was laid up, and then I was busy taking care of Tess. This was the first party I've been to in over a year."

Maureen smiled sadly. "So, basically, you don't know much about girls and dating either, right?"

Joey blushed. "You could say that, Ms. Darling," he answered in a low voice.

"I don't mean to embarrass you, Joey. Deirdre knows even less. You see, Deirdre seemed to think ― and maybe she still does ― that we ― Karen and I ― expect her to be a lesbian like us. Let me assure you that we don't, although Karen has given the impression at times. All this put my poor Deirdre in a difficult situation. She did not dare to form relationships with boys for fear of angering us, and she didn't form relationships with girls because this runs against her inclination. All this made her very lonely, and she never got to practice all the little mating dances."

Joey's face showed his embarrassment. "Ms. Darling, what has this got to do with me?"

"Everything! Deirdre has a crush on you, and she doesn't know what to do about it."

"On me?" Joey sputtered.

Maureen nodded. "You should hear her rant about you almost every day! What you did wrong and what you did to her."

"Doesn't that mean she hates me?"

"Joey, love and hate are expressions of the same intense interest in a person. The fact that your doings and not-doings are so important to her tells me that she has a strong interest. What about you, Joey? Aren't you frustrated over her behavior?"

Joey almost blurted his "yes", but he checked himself and grinned. "If I say yes, you'll turn it around on me as me having a crush on her?"

"No, unless you rant about her all the time. But I think that your frustration with Deirdre means that you would like to have a better relationship with her. Isn't that about right?"

Joey nodded his head. "I guess so. She can be a great girl, smart and nice, and she could be really pretty. I guess I'd like to be friends with her, at least."

"She could be pretty?"

"Well, I guess she is, but one can't really tell the way she dresses and the way her hair is done."

"Looks awful, huh?" Maureen seconded. "I've been trying to talk her into having a real haircut and to dress nicer, but she explodes whenever I start."

Joey grinned evilly. "Well, she screwed up tonight. Make her go to the hairdresser as part of the punishment."

"Oh, you're so bad, Joey Di Rosa," Maureen laughed. "Listen, I had better get some sleep, and so have you. I want to thank you, though, for coming to Deirdre's help. Will you accept a dinner invitation? Karen is a marvelous cook, and she'll be back tomorrow. Say, tomorrow, well tonight, rather?"

"I don't know, Mrs. Darling. It's kind of difficult. Tess doesn't like being alone in the house."

"Bring her along then. We haven't had any young people to visit in ... well, ever."

Joey shrugged. "I'll talk to Tess later. Can I call you around noon?"

"Please do that. You will get to see the premiere of Deirdre in her new look."

"Can I bring a camera?" Joey joked.

"Be nice, young man!" Maureen scolded him. Then, out of impulse, she gave the surprised Joey a hug. "Thank you! Now go!"

Back on the street again Joey had to wait for only five minutes before his uncle pulled up in his tow truck, the Mini already strapped to the flatbed. Joey hopped in and they drove to Rico's body shop. Joey helped to push the Mini into the shop and a yawning Rico gave him a set of car keys and pointed at a dark grey metallic BMW 530i. Joey swallowed. It was his father's car, the one his parents had been killed in.

"We finished it last week. The interior is all new, and the body and engine are in perfect shape. I know you want it sold, but you'll need a car all next week while we fix that itty bitty tin can."

"Honestly, Uncle Rico, I don't think I can drive this car. Don't you have another one I can use?"

Rico scratched his head. "I dunno, Joey. Wait! We just finished this very nice Beemer. It's only four years old. It got rear ended, and I got it cheap from the insurance company. Come!"

He led Joey into the used car storage. A fire engine red BMW 325i convertible with a black ragtop was standing in the center.

"I can let you have this one for thirty grand, Joey."

"Can I trade in the 530?" Joey asked, already sold on the car.

"You sure about this, Kid? The 530 is a fine car, and it's only two years old."

"I'm positive, Uncle Rico. Look, I could never ever drive it. Looking at it makes me sick to my stomach. We can call it an even swap, if you want."

"I don't cheat on family, Joey, you should know that. I could take the 530 for thirty-seven grand, already counting the work we put in. That means, I owe you seven."

"Deal!" Joey answered without thinking.

"Okay, I'll put dealer tags on it and you can drive home. Come by tomorrow for lunch. Bring Tess. We'll eat and get the paperwork done. Cousin Luca handles your insurance?"

Joey nodded. "Yes, dad and Luca were great friends. Thanks, Uncle Rico. I really appreciate the deal."