Son of the Mob

Vince is still unable to go back to school, because of his head lice. He realizes that Kendra must be in the same situation, and also that she still has his half of the treatment. He decides to go back to her house, assuming that her parents must not be there in the daytime.

Her parents are indeed not home; however, a couple of technicians are there, installing a burglary alarm. Kendra tells Vince that his jumping out of the window the night before aroused her father’s suspicion. He and she are more at ease with one another this time; they return to the laundry room, to finish their treatment, and are soon flirting and joking around. Kendra shares her hobby of karaoke singing with Vince, and then the two kiss.

Vince feels awkward about giving Kendra his phone number, as he is sure that Kendra’s father will discover who he is. He lies to her that his home line is in the process of being changed because they are getting too many crank callers, and then goes to visit Ray at the Silver Slipper, Ray’s favorite bar. He explains his situation with Kendra to Ray and asks that Ray find him an untraceable cell phone. Ray lectures him about this being illegal but agrees to do so. Vince then reflects that it is Kendra, and not his family, who has motivated him to do something illegal: “As I leave the Silver Slipper, it occurs to me that seventeen years living under Anthony Luca’s roof couldn’t make a criminal out of me. That took half an hour in Kendra Bightly’s basement” (87).

Vince and Kendra begin to date seriously, spending as much time as possible together, to Alex’s envy and resentment. Kendra has a busy schedule, so Vince invents his own, fake busy schedule in order to keep up with her. He tells her that he has a few part time jobs to explain the fact that he always has plenty of money: “It sure beats telling her the truth, that underworld kingpins pay good allowance” (91).

Meanwhile, Tommy is home one day and sees Vince working on his website project. He asks Vince to explain the project to him and expresses his regret about not being smarter. At the same time, he defends his right to work for the family business, rhetorically asking Vince, “What else could a guy like me do?” (95). Tommy also tells Vince that he knows that their father doesn’t trust him, and that this is why he hires adults like Ray to mind him. He confides that their father suspects that there is an “inside man” in the organization. 

Vince is worried about this possibility: “I mean, I don’t think much of Dad’s way of making a living, but I sure don’t want to see him in jail” (97). He takes pity on Tommy and tells him that he will teach him how to operate the website.

Vince is approached by Jimmy Rat in his high school parking lot one afternoon, as he is headed out with Kendra. Jimmy takes Vince aside, hands him an envelope full of cash, tells him that it is “a little lighter than it’s supposed to be” and begs Vince to intervene on his behalf for his father: “[Y]ou’re a reasonable person” (103). When Vince asks Jimmy why he can’t approach his father on his own, Jimmy evokes Uncle Shank, who has “a thing about cutting off fingers” (103). Vince has a sudden memory of seeing Uncle Shank, his father and Tommy one afternoon, after a “job.” Uncle Shank was rinsing off a pair of pruning shears under a water tap.

Vince agrees to help Jimmy, and he and Kendra head out to Kendra’s job at a preschool. There, a child finds Vince’s cash-filled envelope and flings the cash all over the room, forcing Vince to lie to Kendra about his encounter with Jimmy and his father’s job. He tells her that his father is “in investments” and does “banking for the underprivileged” (106-07).

At home that evening, while both Tommy and Ray are visiting, Vince begs his father to give Jimmy an extension on his loan. Anthony Luca reluctantly agrees, even while both Tommy and Ray are against the idea of an extension. Anthony Luca tells Vince that Jimmy has one week to come up with the extra money, and that it is on Vince’s shoulders if Jimmy is still unable to fully pay up by then.

Vince calls Jimmy at Return to Sender, the club that Jimmy runs, and tells Jimmy that he has an extra week to fully pay up Anthony Luca. Jimmy is gratified but also evasive, hanging up on Vince before Vince can arrange a meeting spot with him.

Vince takes Kendra out to a Mexican restaurant, which also happens to have a karaoke bar. Vince persuades Kendra to sing a few karaoke songs, and after some initial shyness she performs well and wins enthusiastic applause. Another surprise performer that night is Uncle Pampers, one of Vince’s father’s business associates. Uncle Pampers dresses in black and has a particularly fearsome reputation as an “enforcer.” He sings some country songs and also proves to be a good performer: in Vince’s secret opinion, even better than Kendra.

Although there is no exchange between Vince and Uncle Pampers at the club, when Vince and Kendra leave, they are told that Uncle Pampers has already paid up for them.

Vince must once again explain this away to Kendra. He must also come up with an excuse when she suggests that he come over to her house the following Friday night, to have dinner with her parents.