“Me? Are you kidding? No, I’m not a cop. Why do you ask?”
“Why do you want to know if we’re in the Mob?” Nunzio shoots back.
You will notice that at this point, Spyder has answered our question, but we have not yet given a “yea” or “nay” to hers. Like I say, one has an inclination towards caginess in our line of work. Maybe it’s a habit resultin’ from our regular and prolonged discussions with DAs and Grand Juries. “I’ve been thinking of trying to join up with them once I get out of the army,” she sez with a shrug. “I thought maybe you guys could give me a little information about what it’s like workin’ for the Mob, if not give me a recommendation or at least a contact.”
“Connection.”
“What’s that. Swatter?”
“I said ‘Connection.’ In normal business you have contacts. In the Mob, the first step is to get ‘connected.'”
“… Or so we’ve heard,” Nunzio sez quicklike, givin’ me one of his dirty looks. “I dunno. We might be able to share a few rumors with you. What do you want to know?”
As you can see, my cousin is still bein’ cautious, havin’ less faith than I do in a “hearsay” defense. With his “rumor” gambit, however, he has opened the door for us to answer a few questions bout the Mob without actually admittin’ to any affiliation on our part.
“Well, what’s it like?”
“The hours are lousy,” I sez.
“… And the retirement plan leaves a lot to be desired,” Nunzio adds.
“… But the pay’s good. Right?” Spyder urges.
I have mentioned before that my cousin has few loves greater than the desire to lecture, and this chick has just pushed one of his favorite buttons. While he does not relax completely, he defrosts a bit.