Beggin' DeVito's Story

He knew exactly who she was, she fit the description perfectly, long dark curls big brown doe eyes pouty lips and sun kissed skin, that was Renee DeVito, his "best friends" wife, he was certain she knew who he was as well, judging from her sneaky sideways glances in his direction.

All he wanted to know was that Tommy was okay, for the first few weeks of his banishment to Vegas he kept in contact with him weekly phone calls the occasional letter, Frankie should have known Tommy would land himself in trouble eventually he guessed that's why the communication had stopped, he never would have guessed it was because he had fallen for someone and hard by the looks of things, the ring on her finger glinted every once in a while almost as though it were winking at him. He needed to talk to her he needed to know Tommy was okay.

-

She borrowed one of the show girls dresses under the condition it would be returned before the end of her shift, they left the casino hand in hand making a beeline for the nearest chapel.

They stepped in to the small hallway making their way to the desk,

"we need a licence to marry pretty sharpish"

He demanded in a quiet voice, the older woman obliged leaving the two to fill out the paperwork, the sounds of the city muffled by the walls making the rest of the worlds seem miles away, she signed the last section and held his free hand, watching him concentrate, she smiled trying to ignore the sense of heavy sadness that was weighing on her shoulders, he placed the pen back on the counter and looked at her attempting to hide a smile by biting his cheeks, a trait she had learned only happened when he was nervous,

"what?"

"Nothing I can't believe this is actually happening"

"You better believe it"

He shot back stroking her knuckles with his thumb, the two sat in the waiting room, an older man poked his head out of one of the doors with a wad of paperwork in hand,

"DeVito?"

Tommy smiled at her and stood up, she took a sharp breath in butterflies exploding in her stomach, it was pointless trying to hide the smile now, even if she had depended her life on it, it wasn't going anywhere.

The small room was empty besides the two of them a state witness and the registrar, the walls decorated with a faded floral pattern, a few small candles flickered at the alter, he guessed they were there to add some sort of atmosphere, a few bouquets of old artificial flowers dotted the room.

They stood facing each other, his hands clammy with nerves, she examined his face, taking in every line and angle every imperfection, they made their vows, he couldn't stop his stomach from turning with nerves and excitement,

"I now pronounce you husband and wife"

the words seemed to hang in the humid air as he placed his lips on hers time seemed to stop, with thoughts of prison a million miles away he was determined to enjoy this moment and savor it as though it were his last, he wrapped his arms around her tiny waist and held her for a few moments, the staff through small handfuls of confetti and took their photo, both giddy with what had just happened they left as husband and wife.

They sat atop Renee's workplace the dress had been returned and she was now back in her usual blouse and pencil skirt, they stared out over the bright city a comfortable silence between them as they watched the traffic mill around and the neon signs flicker occasionally, to Renee it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen to come from a small town in Jersey to the big busy city was her dream come true Tommy had different thoughts as far as he was concerned the only good thing to come out of this dump was his new marriage, his head sagged to his chest aching slightly from the copious amounts of alcohol he had consumed earlier that evening, this was it his last chance to turn things around to get back in with the seasons and he had blown it, he was still harboring a heartbreak from Francine and an anger aimed towards her father and yet a strange euphoria washed over him he was married, and to an understanding hard working woman, he looked down at her delicate hands and placed his over the top, she turned to him and smiled slightly , no words spoken but a mutual happiness remained.

She sat and thought to herself she had one night with her husband just one night and they chose to spend it sitting on a roof in silence, her thoughts strayed to the legal system powdered wigs polished court rooms and dark dirty cells, how could he be so calm about it all her nerves were frayed just at the thought of him going away, she felt her eyes prickle as a heat built up behind them, she bit her lip trying to hold the tears back, he pulled her in to his chest,

"Hey hey hey, none of that bambina" He whispered lovingly "everything will work out it'll be over before you know it"

"I don't want you to go"

she choked out between her breathy sobs, the reality of the situation dawning on her,

"I'm pretty sure you don't want me dead either, at least this way I can come back to you it won't be long I promise Ill write and you can always visit" She nodded unable to say anything "you wanna go home?"

she nodded again.

-

She was cleaning tables, the bar due to close soon, he sure hoped Joey was right about this, he approached her,

"Hey?"

she looked up and straightened her self up

"Hi?"

"Look this is really strange and believe me I feel a fool doing this but are you Renee?"

she knew exactly who he was but didn't want to give too much away before she knew his intentions,

"Yeah, why?"

"I think youre married to my best friend? Tommy? Tommy DeVito? I'm Frankie"

"I know who you are" she laughed "Yeah I am what of it?"

he shuffled nervously from foot to foot Joey was right she had an air of confidence to her that was almost intimidating,

"I just have a few questions"

she nodded cleaning cloth still in hand

"Come sit down, we'll talk" She lead him to a quiet corner of the bar and sat opposite him "so? what do you wanna know?"