Part 6 (1/2)
”Carlos, you're not helping.”
Spinelli grabbed Carlos' forearm and shook it hard. ”Don't talk about my fiancee that way, and stop thinking about her naked.”
”Hey, don't get mad at me. Tony is the one that's going to be gawking at her all night, not me.”
”What? I'm not going to gawk. You see, this is exactly the reason”
”Oh, here he goes again, telling me to keep my mouth shut.”
”I didn't say”
”I want to come.”
”What? No. Sorry, Dominic. You can't.”
”If he goes, I go.”
”Forget it, Carlos. n.o.body is going. Dominic, listen. This is a serious thing for the girls. You know how important witchcraft is to them. If not for witchcraft, Ursula would not even be with us. You know that. No one is going to gawk. There will be no touching, no hanky-panky. I swear. I imagine we will have the lights off, a few candles burning maybe, nothing more. We probably won't even be able to see one another.”
”So you'll be groping,” said Carlos.
I hauled back as though I might hit him. He didn't flinch. Spinelli started away angry. I put my hand on his shoulder and turned him back around. ”Dominic, please. What do you say? You trust Ursula, don't you? Let her do this. It means a lot to her.”
I could see Carlos getting ready to open his mouth, perhaps to lend his opinion on what it might mean to me, but a rock hard stare shut him down. Dominic's eyes rolled up to meet mine and he forced a thin smile. ”Alright. But you have to promise not to even look at Ursula.”
”Dominic, I don't know if I can”
”Promise me.”
”All right, I promise. I won't look at her. If I have to walk into furniture and bust a toe, I will, but I won't so much as look at her. Okay?”
He nodded. ”Okay.”
”So we're good?”
”We're good.”
”That's my boy.” I looked at Carlos and st.i.tched my brows low. ”You ready now, troublemaker?”
The phone rang. Spinelli picked it up.
”Where to?” Carlos asked.
”Out to Snow's house. If his car is in the driveway then he's probably home. I'll break the door down to get to him if I have to.”
”Okay then. Let's roll.”
We started out. Spinelli called back to us. ”Guys, wait up.” We turned. ”Did I hear you say you were going to Snow's house?”
”Yes. Why?”
”It's not there anymore.”
”Come again?”
”That was NCFD. Snow's house blew up about fifteen minutes ago. It's gone.”
I looked at Carlos. His cheeks dimpled the way they do sometimes when he's thinking about food. ”What do you say now? Still coincidence?”
I shook my head. ”It's getting hard to believe it. I'll give you that.”
”We still going?”
”Of course. You have somewhere better?”
He checked his watch. ”It is noon.”
”I suppose you're thinking about food.”
”Well....”
I pushed him toward the door. ”You're driving.”
Howard Snow lived in the historic section across town, not far from the old cemetery where construction workers inadvertently dug up Ursula's bones while working on a road-widening project. I suppose the mention of the cemetery is what started us talking about her. Carlos asked me what I thought about her and Spinelli together. I told him I was happy for them.
”No. I mean, what do you think about them...you know, doing it?”
”Doing what?” I knew what he meant.
”You know what I mean.”
”s.e.x? Is that what you mean?”
He smiled boyishly. ”Yeah, that's what I mean. What do you think about that?”
I fed him a sour look. ”Where is your mind?”
”Tony, please, you never thought about it?”
”About Dominic having s.e.x with Ursula?”
”Yes.”
”No.”
”How could you not? She looks just like Lilith.”
”First of all, she may look like Lilith, but Ursula is definitely not Lilith. Secondly, I happen to know that Dominic and Ursula are not having s.e.x.”
”So, you are not jealous?”