Last Bite

Chapter 1

On this warm August day, a wave of people dressed in black funeral attire lined up to gain access.

Inside the funeral home, Louie Rago, a tall, painfully thin funeral director, gently guided Angie Sortino, the forty-five-year-old widow of the deceased, away from the casket and line of mourners.

He leaned in and whispered, “I thought you said hardly anyone would come. There’s almost fifty people here.

We’ll need to move Vinnie’s casket to the Florentine Room.

It’s a fire hazard to have this many people in a small room. ”

Angie had to stretch her neck to look up from her five-foot-two-inch frame.

“We were only married for ten years; some of these people must have known him before then. Please don’t move him.

I don’t have the money for the larger room.

As you know, I had to put his casket on three different credit cards.

” She dabbed her eyes with a tissue, her hand shaking.

“I’m so sorry, Angie, the fire marshal almost shut us down last week for overcrowding. We simply must move him.”

As Angie walked toward the coffee area, her twenty-year-old niece, Gina, approached.

“Aunt Angie, I can’t tell you how grateful I am for the chance to provide the food for Uncle Vinnie’s funeral; it’s my very first catering event.

I didn’t have much prep time, so I bought a few premade items from Jewel and Costco, but don’t worry, no one will notice.

I added a few fancy garnishes to the plates.

I had help making homemade cookies.” Gina gave Angie a gentle hug.

Angie glanced to Gina’s left and saw a young, fit girl with long jet-black hair standing next to her.

“You remember my friend Kim from high school? We’re taking an entrepreneurial course at Richard J.

Daley College—the community college on Pulaski.

She’s going to help me with the business side of starting our catering business. ”

Kim held out her hand, but Angie leaned in for a hug. “Of course I remember you, with that big smile and twinkling eyes. We’re huggers in this family.”

“I’m so sorry for your loss, Mrs. Sortino.”

“I can’t thank you both enough. Who cares where the food is from—it’s here.

I know this isn’t the best place to kick your catering business off, but I appreciate you just taking charge.

You’re like a daughter to Vinnie and me, Gina.

I can’t think straight right now, everything happened so fast.” With a sigh, Angie smiled at the girls and found a cozy high-back chair near the lobby.

Sitting down, she watched Louie close the doors to the small viewing room.

Angie winced when she noticed the ladies she volunteered with from Holy Rosary, which was literally right next to Rago Brothers, all standing together by the food.

She knew what they were about to do. It was a trick they all did when they went to funerals or church events.

Sure enough, Ruth opened her pocketbook, which Angie knew was lined with aluminum foil, looked around, grabbed a handful of cookies, shoved them in her purse, snapped it closed, and walked away from the table.

“Oh boy.” Angie whispered under her breath and looked the other way. I can’t say a word—I have frozen cookies in the freezer from the last funeral I attended.

A blur of familiar and unfamiliar faces moved toward Angie and offered their condolences before they moved on to the table that displayed trays of food and beverages. I never knew Vinnie had this many friends, she thought.

Vinnie’s best friend from work and second-in-command for the City of Chicago’s Department of Buildings, Mario Longetti, a stout Italian, approached Angie and knelt on the floor next to her chair.

“I’m so sorry, Angie. You were the love of his life; you were all he talked about most days.

He made me promise him long ago, if anything ever happened to him, I would take care of you—and I will.

” He pulled a silver metal flask of whiskey from the inside pocket of his suit.

“Take a sip; it’ll settle your nerves, honey. ” He placed it in her hands.

Angie glanced at the flask and then took a swig. The warm, smooth liquid startled her taste buds. She shuddered as she swallowed and then looked around to see if anyone had seen her; no one seemed to notice. “That tastes like the bourbon Vinnie drank—that’s some strong stuff.”

Mario bent over and gave Angie a firm hug. “I remember when Vinnie introduced you to me, I told him, ‘If you don’t marry her, I will,’” he said, and chuckled.

“Aw, go on, Mario, you’re such a tease. That said, I may need your help sorting through all his business things. I don’t understand how he had a massive heart attack. He just got a clean bill of health last month.”

“I don’t know what to say. I guess it was just his time, sweetheart. Know that I’m here for you, Angie, whatever you need.” Mario put some folded bills into her hand. “From our team at the city.”

Angie looked down to see three hundred-dollar bills. “Mario, I can’t take this.” She tried to hand it back to him, but he shook his head. “Put it in your purse. I won’t take no for an answer.”

She sheepishly did as he asked, then stood and gave Mario a hug, inhaling the aroma of cigars, whiskey, and a hint of Old Spice.

Mario pointed over to a group of people clustered around the food. “The whole crew from Streets and Sanitation is here showing their respect. You remember Cookie.”

Angie saw the attractive blonde looking toward Mario and giving him the stink eye, but then she smiled at Angie and waved graciously.

Angie waved back, then said, “Vinnie told me Cookie runs the show in human resources for the city. I hope she can help me with all his pension paperwork.” She sighed.

A large crash originated from behind the doors of the small room where Vinnie’s body was. Everyone froze.

“Uh-oh,” Angie said, and walked toward the closed doors. My Vinnie must have fallen out of his casket, she thought.

“Everything is fine,” one of the funeral parlor assistants declared from behind the door.

Angie peeked inside just as a few men were lifting a heavy crucifix that had fallen on the floor.

“Oh my!” she exclaimed and then felt a hand on her back guiding her away from the doors and closing them. Everyone’s eyes were on her as she looked around the lobby.

“He’s having a few last words with God,” she mumbled, then chuckled to herself.

“We’ll be opening the Florentine Room in a few minutes,” the female assistant announced. Slowly people went back to helping themselves to the refreshments. She escorted Angie back to her chair. “How about I get you a cup of coffee and something to eat,” she offered.

“That would be lovely; three creams and four sugars, just like Vinnie took his coffee,” Angie instructed as she got comfortable again.

Just as the assistant returned, Louie opened the doors. “Thank you all for your patience; we’ll start the service in a few minutes.” He gestured for people to move through the doors, past the grand piano on the right.

Angie watched as folks moved inside and took their seats. A few elected to stand to the side of the entryway, holding their coffee and small plates filled with goodies. A tall, slender older man approached Angie and gave her a gentle hug. “I’m so sorry, Angie. I’m here for you, always.”

“Oh, Ben, he loved you so much, you were like a brother to him.” She leaned into him and started to sob.

Ben had worked with Vinnie for twenty years in the Department of Buildings.

He’d lived in the same apartment building, down the hallway, long before Angie was in the picture, and still did to this day.

She took a deep breath, made herself stop crying, and whispered, “Not here, Ben; I can’t lose it here. ”

Ben took the pressed white cotton handkerchief from his pocket and gave it to Angie. “There will be time for you to lose it.”

“Is my mascara running?”

Ben leaned down, gently took the handkerchief from Angie and dabbed under her eyes, and then handed it back to her. “There you go.”

Louie approached Angie once everyone was seated. “Are you ready to come in and make a few remarks?” he gently asked.

“I hate to speak in public, frightens me so. How about I tell you what I want to say and you say it,” she suggested. “Maybe Ben can do it. He’s known him the longest.”

Louie looked over at Ben, who was shaking his head.

“Now, Angie, I’ll escort you to the front of the room. I’ll be right there for you.”

Angie stood up quickly, holding on to Louie’s arm.

“Okay, Louie, I trust you. It’s just so scary—but I’ll do it for my Vinnie.

” She let out a sigh and put her coffee on the mahogany table and walked to the front of the room.

Louie escorted her toward the podium and made sure she was stable on her feet.

Angie cleared her throat. “Thank you all for coming. I see some familiar faces and many I do not recognize. Welcome, everyone.” Angie felt her lower lip begin to quiver uncontrollably and then tears started to stream down her cheeks.

She took a deep breath, patted her eyes with Ben’s handkerchief, and looked up again.

When she did, she noticed the people standing in the back spitting their food into their napkins and making awful grimaces.

Oh no, the food must be bad, she thought, but she had to put that out of her mind and get through this.

“I never loved anyone more than Vinnie. He was truly the kindest, most loving, most generous man I ever knew,” Angie said, noticing a few more people spitting into their napkins, then wiping off their tongues with the napkins.

“Vinnie was the love of my life; we only met ten years ago at …” Before she could finish, a large group of men—some young, some older—all came walking into the room wearing Chicago Cubs World Series T-shirts singing, “Hey, hey, holy mackerel, no doubt about it, the Cubs are on the move …” The entire room almost got whiplash turning around.

“Oh dear!” Angie said.