Chapter 27 #2
Angie sat down next to Lorna and let herself sob, snot running down her nose.
“That bitch Rebecca barged into Ralph’s apartment while I was there, treating me like a lowlife.
” Lorna kept her arm around Angie the entire time, handing her as many tissues as she needed, while Angie kept throwing the used ones on the ground.
“Take a deep breath, Ang. Slow down and tell me everything.”
She blew her nose, wiped her eyes, and shared what had just happened at Ralph’s place, leaving out any mention of the papers. The last person she wanted to put in harm’s way was Lorna, who had been so generous toward her.
Lorna said, “Honey, I know the inside of this entire building, and we can get your pension back without the help of any man. I got you. Let’s go out after work and put together a plan to get you your pension and move past all this bullshit.
You’re a strong woman with an exciting future in front of you.
Your niece is counting on you, as her partner, to help her launch her business, and we need you here to keep things spic-and-span. ”
Angie stood up and gave Lorna the biggest hug. “What a godsend you are. Let’s get this place in order and I’ll meet you downstairs after our shift.”
“It’s a date. Now turn on that Frank Sinatra music and find your groove, girl.”
Angie put the “do not disturb” on her phone, put on the playlist that Gina had made for her, and sang and danced her way through all the dirty offices and bathrooms on the fifth and sixth floors. She had no appetite, so didn’t stop to eat.
She rolled Hazel downstairs where Lorna was already dressed and waiting. “I’ve got just the place where we can go and not be disturbed,” Lorna declared. “They have great food. We can get a booth in the back and have a few drinks.”
“Sounds perfect. I’ll let my niece know where I am. She always wants to know I’m safe. Where we going?”
“The Rosebud on Taylor Street. I know the owner and they’re holding a table for us.”
Lorna and Angie got in a cab, and on the way over Angie turned on her phone to call Gina and saw numerous voicemails and texts from Ralph.
She quickly texted him. I need time to cool off.
She deleted all the voicemails without listening, and texts without reading them.
She called Gina to let her know her whereabouts.
Lorna patted Angie’s leg. “I got you, girl. No one messes with my friend Angie—no one.”
They walked into the Rosebud, one of the oldest Italian restaurants in Chicago.
The dim lights, cozy atmosphere, paintings of Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack set the mood for the place.
The hostess recognized Lorna and Angie right away.
“What a sight for sore eyes. Angie, I haven’t seen you in over ten years; you look great. How’s Vinnie?” She hugged Angie.
“He passed recently; I’m just getting my feet back on the ground.”
“I’m so sorry, if you need a job, you know you can always come back here. You were one of our best.”
“Thanks. I think my waitress days are over.”
Mary Ruth hugged Lorna. “Always good to see you.” She took two menus and led them to a plush leather booth in the back.
“Good to see you, Mary Ruth. We’ll probably be here for a while,” Lorna said.
“Take all the time you need. Jimmy will be your waiter.”
Jimmy was there in a second. “Hey, Lorna, nice to see you.” He took their food and drink orders.
“They sure know you here. Is this one of your favorites?” Angie asked.
“My parents came here back in the day and then brought me and my brother. They were close friends with the owner. After my parents died, they kept an eye on us. It was a safe place to come, not to mention they have some of the best Italian food in the city.”
Jimmy placed two Manhattans in front of them. “Your garlic bread and calamari will be out shortly.”
“Thanks, Jimmy,” Lorna said.
Lorna lifted her glass. “This will be a real caper. Let’s toast to getting that pension. We have to come up with a code name just for fun.”
Angie raised her glass. “How about ‘Mario and Ralph can go to hell’?” They took a sip and settled back in the booth.
“We may need to shorten it, but let’s start figuring out what we want to do and how to get it done.
You’ve waited long enough to get your money from the city and we need to make this happen fast. I know you want to invest money in your niece’s catering business and since it’s taken off already she’ll need that money right away. ”
Jimmy brought over the appetizers and they both started to nibble.
“Here’s what I know,” Angie began. “Cookie in HR is letting Mario get away with changing the name on Vinnie’s paperwork and she’s not going to do anything to change that, so she’s no help. I have copies of both versions of the pension forms, one with my name and then one with Mario’s.”
“Believe me,” Lorna said, “Cookie’s nice, but she’s not going to do anything to piss off Mario, and that’s smart.
He’s connected to the mob, and I think he put a hit out on Ralph.
Best to stay as far away from that man as we can.
It’s no use going to Cookie’s boss; he doesn’t give a shit about any of this.
We may have to go straight to the top and make some threats. ”
“You mean Mayor Borden?” Angie cleared her throat, thinking about how big this was getting.
“Yup, he’s a reasonable man, but he’s kept in the dark on a lot of things, and if we were able to get a few minutes of his time and show him evidence, he may just help us.”
“Do you know him?” Angie asked. “Isn’t there anyone else below him that we could talk to? This seems like small potatoes given everything else that’s on his plate.” Angie took a bite of the buttery, crunchy garlic bread with toasty cheese on top. “This is the best I’ve ever tasted.”
Lorna nodded. “Here’s my idea. I clean the mayor’s office.
I’m the only cleaning lady they trust. I get in and, no matter who’s in there, get it done, keep my head down.
Sometimes he thanks me, which no prior mayor has ever done.
Tuesday nights before the Wednesday city council meeting he reviews the agenda, sips some bourbon, and makes calls.
The city council meets the second and fourth Wednesday of the month, so we should make this happen next Tuesday. ”
Angie winced. “That fast?”
“Angie, you don’t have much time. Mario is on a rampage, and he is not a patient man.
You need your money and you need to get on with your life.
And it sounds like you have enough evidence from Vinnie to get your money from the city and get rid of Mario for good.
We’ll have to plan it carefully, tell no one what we’re doing.
I think if we can make our case quickly, list our demands, we may be able to pull this off. ”
“This is getting serious, but then who would suspect a few cleaning ladies cornering the mayor?” Angie said.
“I’ve never played a card like this either. You write up exactly what you want to say, back it up with facts in writing, and we practice a couple times to make sure it’s smooth,” Lorna said.
“Do you think I should show him Vinnie’s journal, with all the names, dates, bribes?”
“I’d have them ready so he’ll know we mean business if he tries to blow us off. The mayor will not want that out in the world. It would make him look bad. He doesn’t want that.”
“Okay, Lorna, we’re going big-time here. Even Jessica on Murder, She Wrote never pushed around a mayor.”
“There’s always a first, and if we do this right, no one but the mayor will be the wiser,” Lorna said.
Angie took a deep breath. “I am bushed. I was up early helping my catering partners, then I had the Ralph incident and a full night’s work. Let’s call it a night and we’ll keep planning every detail every night on our breaks, sound good?”
“Let’s get you a cab home.” They finished their drinks and appetizers.
Jimmy approached the table. “Can I get you gals anything else?”
“Just the check,” Lorna said.
“Boss said it’s on the house, Lorna.”
“Please thank him. This is for you, Jimmy.” She pulled out forty dollars and slipped it in Jimmy’s palm.
Angie could hardly walk up the stairs when she got home.
She washed her face and fell into bed. Her thoughts were reeling about the plan, and then she was off in dreamland.
Her last thought before falling asleep was, Can two cleaning ladies really pull off something like this?
Thelma and Louise did a good job, until the end.
I guess Lorna and I could drive off the end of Navy Pier if we had to.