afternoon checking in with all the girls, and none of them had seen or heard from Badger or Danny. I called to check in with the others, and none of them had had any luck either. I was at my wits end. I had no doubt that we were about to face some real trouble. With that in mind, I decided to stop by Frankie’s place and let her know I might be out of pocket for a while. I’d barely made it up into her driveway when Corry opened the front door and shouted, “Hey, Sean! Widow’s here.”
I’d just gotten off my bike when both Corry and Sean came racing towards me. “Hey, you two, how’s it going?”
“Good.” Sean glanced over at his brother. “At least it is for me. Corry’s still grounded until the end of time.”
“Shut your pie hole, ass-face. I’m only grounded for two more weeks.”
“You were already grounded for a month!”
Corry’s face grew red like he was about to blow, so I quickly intervened by asking Sean, “No basketball practice today?”
“Nah. Coach had something going on, so he called it off.”
“Good deal.” I motioned my head towards the house as I asked, “Your mom home?”
“She’s inside making burgers for dinner, but I’m pretty sure she burned them up.” Corry rolled his eyes and sighed. “It’s pretty smoky in there, and she’s slamming all the cabinets shut...She does that when she gets mad.”
“So, you’re thinking the burgers are a no go?”
“Definitely.”
“How does pizza sound?”
A smile crossed Sean’s face as he replied, “A lot better than burnt hamburgers.”
“Good deal.” As I started towards the front steps, I told them, “I’ll see if your mom agrees.”
“Awesome!”
I tapped on the door, then eased it open. As I stepped inside, I was hit with the smell of burnt grease. Seemed the boys were right about their dinner. I didn’t want to startle her like the last time I’d come by, so I stood in the doorway as I shouted, “Frankie?”
“Roman?” She popped her head out of the kitchen as she asked, “What are you doing here?”
“I needed to talk to you.” I could tell by the smoke billowing overhead it wasn’t a good time to talk. She was dealing with her own shit, and I wanted to do what I could to make things better for her—at least for a little while, so I smiled and said, “Looks like I probably should’ve called first.”
“Maybe, but then, you would’ve missed out on my famous charcoal burgers.”
“About that.” I walked over and slipped my arms around her waist. “The boys and I were thinking pizza might be good.”
“Is that so?”
“Um-hmm.” I lowered my mouth to her neck, kissing her softly. “My treat.”
“Okay. You win.” Her body melted into mine as she whispered, “Pizza it is.”
“Good.” I gave her a light smack on her ass, then pulled out my phone as I told her, “I’ll call it in, then we’ll dispose of those famous charcoal burgers of yours.”
“They really aren’t that bad.”
“Um-hmm.” I started dialing one of the local pizza places as I asked, “What do y’all like on your pizza?”
“Anything is fine.”
Hoping for a more definite answer, I asked, “Anchovies? Jalapenos?”
“Umm, no. Definitely not.”
“Then, what do you guys want?”
“Pepperoni and sausage for the boys, and cheese for me.”
“See. That wasn’t so hard, now was it?”
I gave her a wink, then I dialed the number to the pizza place. After I put in our order, I helped Frankie clean up the mess in the kitchen. Just as we were finishing up, Sean came barreling into the kitchen and asked, “Are we gettin’ pizza?”
“Yep,” Frankie answered. “Should be here any minute.”
“Awesome!”
Sean helped Frankie get out the paper plates and put them on the table, while I filled our glasses with ice. Frankie had a nice place with plenty of room for her and the boys. The kitchen was a bit smaller than mine, but equally as nice with bits of Frankie’s personality scattered throughout. There was an oversized sofa with two large recliners in the living room, and a TV mounted over the fireplace. It wasn’t overly extravagant, but it was comfortable and warm. Being there helped ease the knot that had been building in the pit of my stomach over Danny and Badger. I knew I needed to get back soon, but I needed this short reprieve in case all hell broke out.
When the pizza came, I paid the delivery guy, then carried the boxes over to the table. The boys swooped in,