“What? Oh! It’s Frumple … or it used to be back when I was welcome in my own dimension of Deva.”
That had a familiar sound to it, but I decide enough is enough, and take a firm grip on the subject at hand.
“Well, I’m Guido and my cousin what was talkin’ to you back at the table is Nunzio … and I believe we was discussin’ the terms of our peaceful coexistence with youse?”
Frumple cocked his head to one side, studyin’ me close-like.
“You know,” he sez, “you sound like you work for the Mob. In fact, now that I think about it, I seem to recall hearing something about the Mob trying to move in on the Bazaar.”
“Yeah? So?”
“So I’m already making yearly protection payments to the Mob, and I don’t see why I should stand for being shaken down for anything extra.”
This information that the Mob is operatin’ in these parts is disquietin’ to say the least, but I manage not to show any surprise or nervousness.
“Really?” I sez. “Tell me, does your local Mob sales rep know that you’re a Deveel?”
“Okay, okay! I get the point,” Frumple says, throwin’ up his hands. “What do you want to keep that information quiet?”
“Well, since we’re lookin’ to make this our hangout for a while, I figure we can protect your little secret as a courtesy.”
“Really?”
“Sure,” I smiles. “Of course, in return, it would be nice if you extended the hospitality of your establishment to us and our friends … as a courtesy.”
“I see,” he sez, tightenin’ his lips to a crooked line. “All right, I guess I don’t have much choice. It’ll be cheaper to give you free drinks than to have to relocate and start building a business up from scratch. I’ll give you free drinks, and maybe an occasional meal. The rooms upstairs are out, though. If I start letting you use those for free, I’ll go out of business anyway. They’re the profit margin that keeps this place afloat.”