Road to Respect ~ Sopranos

Chapter 20

Joseph

"I think I should cancel the trip." Joey said to Adriana. They were lying in bed, she was resting her head on his chest while he held her close. "You know, Richie, he's young. If I leave he may not recognize me when I come back."

Adriana giggled and ran her hand over his pecks. "That's ridiculous. You always wanted to go."

"I can go some other time." Joey said. "When our boy is older, we can all go."

Adriana shook her head. "You should go. You need a break. If it makes you feel better, I can show him your pictures, make sure he doesn't forget you."

"And what about you?" Joey asked. "Who's gonna help you?"

"I have Deena." Adriana pointed out. "And my uncle can come over."

The mention of Richie Aprile made Joey's blood boil. He didn't tell Adriana about what happened with Beansie, or that he couldn't sleep at night, knowing that lunatic had a key. "Fine, you know where the guns are?"

"Yes." Adriana rolled her eyes.

"Ok." Joey sighed. "My cousins will still be here. Talia will be running my business, but if you need anything call my aunts. Not the two idiots."

Talia

"What about you Talia?" Carmela asked. "Any one you're seeing?"

Talia shook her head. Talia, along with Carmela, Angie, and Rosalie Aprile, was in some fancy coffee shop, gossiping about the men in their lives and their other friends behind their backs. Talia found it exhausting but thought she could get some intel on anything through them.

"Are you kidding, my family would kill whoever I was seeing." She smirked as she took a sip of her tea.

"I'm sure they're not that bad." Angie said.

"I had this boyfriend back in Boston, I kept it secret for about two months until my uncle Antonio saw me and him making out in his car." Talia explained. "The next day, my boyfriend's car was blown up in his driveway."

The ladies didn't know how to respond to that, so Ro turned to Angie. "Agnie here was seeing someone."

"Ro!" Angie's cheeks were flushed, and Talia was very uninterested, but had to keep a smile on her face.

"What? The way you speak of this man, he must be really something." Carmela said before turning to Talia. "You've met her husband, right?"

"Uh... yeah he goes by Pussy, right?" Talia feigned unsureness.

"Right. Well, Pussy disappeared for a year. During that time, our dear Angie here found herself a lover." Ro smirked at Angie. "She hasn't told us who he is yet."

"Nor will I." Angie said.

"What was he like?" Talia asked, getting mildly interested.

"He... he was so sweet to me." Angie explained. "He actually treated me right. He helped me with bills like it was nothing to him. He even watched over my new nephew."

"Nephew?"

Carmela got very excited about that. "Her sister gave birth to the most adorable baby boy you will ever see. I still find it a little off putting she had a child out of wedlock." Angie tensed a little but nodded slowly. "Angie, show her some of the pictures."

Angie's eyes widened and she looked at Talia who was looking right at her. Angie reached down and pulled out a polaroid picture and handed it to Talia. At first Talie thought it was a joke, since the boy looked just like her little cousin Richie, only a little smaller. Then she notices a little difference between the noses and the mouth shape. She looked back to Angie who looked like she was shitting bricks. "He's adorable."