[work (the butcher)]

[carolinelichfield]

Caroline's got the shop mostly to herself today. Benny's got Benny things to do, so he's ducking out for most of the day. Fair enough. Means she's stuck on counter duty longer than usual. Not the most exciting. But it's not bad. It's been slow for a while when this guy comes swaggering in. He's obviously mob but, in Caroline's opinion, it's also pretty obvious he's not made yet. He's coming on a little strong with how tough he wants to seem for him to really be in good yet.

He makes a show of strolling around the entire storefront and eyeing everything. If Caroline didn't know better, she'd think she was about to get one of those 'pay us protection money' talks. But Benny just paid Vitti's guy. Like two days ago. And Benny always pays. Hell, last time the guy stuck around for half an hour to talk about how Benny's family's been. So... what the hell is this?

"Can I help you?" Caroline finally asks, very politely.

He grins unpleasantly. "Uh, yeah actually you can," he says, changing course toward the counter. He comes up and leans on it in a way that's supposed to intimidate her. Mostly it annoys her and demonstrates what cheap fucking cologne he uses. "See uh, I guess you guys don't know but uh, things are changing around here."

"In what way?" Caroline uses the same very polite tone, but she's rapidly losing patience. And boy, after this she's gonna re-petition Benny for her right to have a baseball bat or something behind the counter. This is ridiculous.

"See, we know youse guys pay the Manettas." He pauses and gestures vaguely toward her. Caroline even nods agreeably, because they do and that's not a secret. "But the Manettas..." he trails off and seesaws his hand. "They're on their way out. You don't wanna stick with them no more."

Caroline blinks. Wow. Wow. Who the fuck is this guy. "We don't?" she manages after a moment. Since he's so damn chatty, she'll just let him finish talking. Maybe he'll even tell her who the hell is making a play here. This is a solidly Manetta/Vitti neighborhood. Is and has been. What idiot is trying this?

He smiles again and shakes his head. "Nah. Nice folks like you? You want people you can depend on." He looks very proud of himself. "People like... the Maronis."

There's a beat of silence. And then Caroline laughs. It's not a kind laugh. "Are-- are you kidding me?"

The idiot's grin fades. He looks like he'll get around to looking mad soon, but it'll take him a minute. "No. I'm not kidding. Look--"

Nope. Caroline shakes her head and holds her hands up in a very clear invitation for him to stop fucking talking. "No. You look." She leans forward into his space now. "This block? This whole neighborhood? Has been Manetta for fucking years. Shit changes hands sometimes, sure. But to take over someplace like this that's been solidly one family's turf longer than your mama's let you stay out after dark?" She's started poking at his chest at some point during this and she's actually not sure when that was.

"You'd really have to mean it to make something like that work out. And the Maronis?" Caroline scoffs. "You guys don't have the fucking balls to pull this off. Get the fuck out of my store."

Oh hey, he finally looks mad. "Listen you bitch, I tried to be nice--" He lunges and tries to grab her shoulder, but Caroline jerks back out of range. "Get the fuck back here!"

Caroline laughs again. "Oh no, don't worry." She edges around the counter slowly but steadily, mostly hoping to get him far enough away that she doesn't break anything. "I'm not going anywhere, asshole."

Comments

[romanvittoriosionis]

It's been a minute since Roman offloaded Buddy Israel at the Manetta safe house. The job's pay was, well... it was alright. He could’ve done worse. Both he and Harkness had gotten a bit extra tossed their way for pulling this off without any issues. And it doubtlessly scored him some points with the Family. That Israel pretty quickly became someone else's problem again doesn't hurt, either. Roman's got enough shit of his own to deal with.

Most importantly, though, is that Roman has enough stashed away to justify treating himself to a decent meal or three. Something with honest to god protein in it, and not from a can. Benny's isn't far from his shithole apartment, so he takes the time to stroll over there. The weather's nice, he's got money in his pocket and he's got the free time.

It’s quiet outside Benny’s when he gets there. Not really unusual for this time of day. Roman considers nothing of it, and doesn’t bother to peer in to see if there’s a line first. He’s in no rush, after all. The bell on the front door jingles cheerfully as he enters, and Roman has to briefly freeze. The butcher’s is empty, save for the tiny redhead at the counter (now making her way around the counter) and a mafioso he’s never seen before. That’s not a Manetta guy; hell, he’s probably not even made yet. It doesn't take a genius to figure out instantly what's going on here.

“HEY,” Roman barks, and everything goes still quiet. The paisan in the cheap suit leans away from the counter, visibly surprised enough to lose his air of menace. Shit. Internally, Roman scrambles for what the fuck he’s going to do about this. “What the fuck do you think you’re doin?”

[carolinelichfield]

And just like that, Caroline and the goon aren't alone in the store anymore. The newcomer yells, and everything just... stops for a second. Even Caroline. Guy's got a lotta voice, there. She considers.

He's obviously mob, too. Better dressed than dumbass here, doesn't have to work overtime to exert any presence. Probably higher up the food chain. Also, uh. Caroline's seen him around the neighborhood. So.

The two mob guys just keep staring at each other for a long moment. The idiot's been startled away from the counter a bit, so Caroline decides to take advantage of this brief impasse. Before he can get any more stupid ideas. She moves into range and decks him. Right in his stupid fucking face.

He staggers back a bit, but doesn't fall. Looks real surprised too. That's okay. Caroline follows and hits him again. Harder. This time he does go down. Good.

"Well, now I guess he's bleeding on my nice clean floor," she says to the Manetta guy in the doorway. "Isn't that real rude of him?"

[romanvittoriosionis]

Of all things Roman was expecting, the shop girl laying out the goon before he had the chance to really wasn't one of them. All he can do is blink while she knocks his teeth in a couple times. Maybe Benny should pay her the protection money instead.

"It is," Roman agrees, stepping over to look down at the idiot now woozily rolling around on the floor. He tilts his head to get a better look at this guy's face. Still no idea who the fuck this guy is. He's not wearing any family colors, either. "Don't you have any fuckin' manners?"

"You're gonna regret--" The goon starts, cut off by Roman delivering a hard stomp to his gut. When he rolls to avoid further blows, Roman gives him a few kicks for good measure. Better to get his point across with absolute clarity. "Oh, I'm sorry? Were you sayin' somethin?" He punctuates that with another kick to the gut, then half kneels so he can lean in over this guy better. "Now, you're gonna stay the fuck outta this neighborhood, and you're gonna tell your boys to stay the fuck outta this neighborhood. Understood?"

"You can't do nothin'," The goon manages to spit out.

"Oh, I don't know," Roman says, frowning thoughtfully. "I've always been curious what happens when you put a person on one of them industrial meat slicers. And I bet she'd help me," He adds, thumbing back towards the redhead. Anyone else might be kidding; Roman's not. The goon goes pale and quiet, having apparently figured out as much.

It's petty as hell, but Roman leans over and snatches the idiot's cheap fedora off the ground before he hauls him to his feet. "If I see you around here again," He pauses to tap the hat against the goon's chest. "I'm gonna feed ya your own fuckin' fingers." Then he punches out the top of the fedora and smashes it back down on this guy's head before dragging him outside by the back of his jacket, like a sack of garbage.

The street outside is thankfully free of witnesses when Roman kicks him to the curb, sputtering. However dumb he's been so far, fella's smart enough to take off running down the street, busted top of his fedora flapping as he goes. Roman pulls a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe his hands off, standing and watching to make sure that's done and over with.

After a moment, he steps back inside. "That moron didn't actually break anything, did he?" Not that uh... Roman could replace anything, but still. Vitti might. Roman also gestures to the blood smears on the floor. "You want I could mop."

[carolinelichfield]

Caroline stands back and watches the show. The Manetta guy's really going to town on this idiot. It's a brutal, efficient beatdown. Good shit. She laughs when he brings up the meat slicer, and nods when he points back at her. That sounds hilarious. The Maroni goon finally seems to realize how much fucking trouble he's in.

And then she laughs again when this guy ruins the idiot's cheap ass hat. That's petty as hell. No way can he pretend he didn't get his ass handed to him now. That's great. As the Manetta guy hauls the trash to the curb, Caroline eyes the blood on the floor. Oh well. At least that won't take long to clean.

"Nah, I got him talking before he could start knocking things over," Caroline replies. She briefly considers how entertaining it'd be to watch this guy mop a floor (for a couple different reasons), but... nah. "Said he was with the Maronis, by the way." She still has to scoff at that. "As if that was gonna fuckin' fly here."

[romanvittoriosionis]

Aw, fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. Maronis. This is nothing but trouble. "Should've guessed," Roman winces and sighs deeply. What the hell are the Maronis doing sending men in Manetta turf to gather protection money? What are they doing on Manetta turf at all? He doesn't have the slightest clue, but he knows approximately no one's going to be happy about this. At least he doesn't have to worry about this lady being at all traumatized, given how funny she thought it all was. And also, the whole knocking the Italian out of that thug that she did.

That reminds him.

"Guess I should thank you for doin half my job for me," Roman says after a beat. He needs to go report to the Family, but that can wait a moment. "Do you guys have a number for one of us, in case more Maroni punks come back? Or at least, like," He considers for a second. "A baseball bat?"

[carolinelichfield]

Caroline leans back against the counter. "Hey, it was my pleasure," she says dryly. Who doesn't love punching a guy that has it coming that badly? "Some guys just have really punchable faces." And hats. Heh.

"Yeah, we've got a number. Uh, Angelo, the guy who usually comes by." Angelo who is probably gonna have kittens when he hears about this. He's not yet had any hint that Caroline's anything but small and very nice, and he seems a little prone to fussing. You know, in a mobster way.

"Benny won't let me keep a bat behind the counter, though. I already asked." She pouts a little. Hey, at least she can probably get him to change his mind now.

[romanvittoriosionis]

"Good," Roman nods slightly. "We'll have him check back in soon just in case." He thinks he's met Angelo all of... twice, maybe, but he seemed a solid enough guy. He dropped in the bar Roman works a couple times and actually left a tip.

"I'll, uh, talk to Benny about that. In the mean time, you got all them big cleavers, right?" Roman pats around his jacket a bit until he remembers what pocket he actually put his goddamn list in. Ah, there it is. He carefully unfolds it and extends it in her direction. It's not terribly long or thorough - he's a lot broker than his suits would let on, or his pride would let him admit. "I feel kinda awful, but is there any way I could get you to get an order ready for me? I gotta go tell folks about this Maroni thing. You can have Benny put it on my tab, just mention it's for Roman."

[carolinelichfield]

Caroline nods in acknowledgement. She figured as much. She's also pretty sure that Angelo will check in a little more than they actually ask him to. He seems like that kind of guy.

She grins sharply at the cleaver comment. "Can I get that in writing? Maybe framed to put up on the wall?" Caroline likes this guy. He's full of good ideas.

"Oh, no problem." Caroline steps forward and takes the list from him. She glances at it just enough to see it's not very long or full of stupid shit. "Looks easy enough. I'm Caroline, by the way." Without really thinking about it, she offers her hand to shake. Other times she might not bother, but there's something about Roman here.

[romanvittoriosionis]

"We don't really... do anything in writing, ya know?" Roman wobbles his hand vaguely in an 'eehhhh' sort of motion. "Consider it an informal deal." He's glad that he can look forward to getting his groceries still - even if that's going to have to wait a while yet. Possibly, tomorrow.

Roman clasps and shakes her hand fairly firmly and shakes it, if briefly. "Good job on that idiot," He says, stepping back and adjusting his own hat. "Might call on you for a thing sometime. You're pretty good at hittin' things and this town ain't got a shortage of that, so..." He trails off. He better get going, actually. The Family is going to want to hear about this shit as soon as possibly.

"See you around, Caroline," He calls back over his shoulder. The door's bell chimes again on his exit. From there it's... time to walk, and quickly.