Act 1 - Scene One - The Invitation

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Leonard sat and stared at Hank for a long moment. It was not to buy time to think of a response, but rather a chance for him to let the drugs take effect. Booze to calm him down. Caffeine to spin him up. And the cigarette to put a sharp burn on everything. He got to a place where they all sort of balanced each other out and left him in a state of what he could only call an annoying calm. When he was there, he exhaled a twin tail of blue smoke through his nose and smiled.

"Then what, Hank? Then I drink and fuck and smoke my way to my grave. Along the way I'll do whatever I can for the family. I'm not so far gone that these hands have started to jitter. Look here." He held out his hand. Steady as a rock. "But if you're trying to get me pissed off by saying I've lost my touch. I can only teach now. Well. Next time you need your gall bladder out, let the fucking janitor do it. Then tell me how much teachers at a medical school do for society.

"Come on, Hank. You're better than this. So I like to have a good time. What's the big fucking deal?"

Serafina

Hank sat in thoughtful silence for a moment, not touching his coffee, instead clasping his hands and resting his chin on them. "You know what? You might be more right than you know, kiddo." Hank reached into his jacket pocket, and pulled out an envelope, handing it to Serafina. "Go ahead, you can open it right away."


Leonard

Hank raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Lenny, bubbeleh! No one's saying don't have a good time. Seeing some of the skirts on my walk to your place, who can blame you?" Hank grinned conspiratorially, before sobering his expression. "You say you still got it, I'll take your word for it, and that's all she wrote. But it's not me you have to convince." Hank reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out a white, non-descript envelope, handing it over to Leonard.

Isabella rolled her eyes and took the envelope. "Alright, let's see what this is all about," she said, opening it.

Leonard took the envelope from Hank. Almost to prove a point, he went to his knife block and took out a little paring knife. Expertly, he slit the envelope free hand, parting the paper in as close to a straight line as he could manage. When it was done, he tapped his ashes into the tray and examined the envelope's contents. "Speaking of. How's your gall bladder? Still giving you pain? Need me to..." he made a suggestive see-saw motion with the paring knife.

for a moment, she raised an eyebrow, questioning, as he held out the envelope, but then she reached out and took it from his hand. She took a moment looking it over, studying the paper before she carefully opened the sealant and took out the piece of paper inside.

Moses ponders the question, and what it could possibly have to do with the proffered envelope. Beyond attending church as part of family obligations, Moses had perhaps neglected his spiritual wellbeing. "I am a somewhat educated man, and as such I try to keep an open mind. Greater scholars than myself have pondered such mysteries and come up lacking in evidence for any conclusion. For myself, I believe there are forces at work that we cannot comprehend entirely. There is both miraculous beauty and horrific cruelty in this world, so at best we have an inconstant God. At worst, we are ourselves gods and monsters." Moses takes another long sip from his cup before reaching out his hand for the envelope.

Everyone

Inside the envelope was a handwritten letter on fine stationery with black corners. Greeting each of you by name, the message read:

It is my extreme pleasure to invite you to a midnight
Mass this Thursday, August the 16th. It is to be held at
St. Leonard’s Church. Please come alone, and do not be
late, as no one will be admitted once the Mass begins.
After the Mass, it would please me for you to remain, as
we have something of mutual import to discuss.
Yours Sincerely,
Andreas Giovanni

Hank remained seated, offering no commentary.

Serafina began reading the note, expecting to read some form of proposal from the man across from her. Yes, it would be strange, since he might as well have expressed it directly, but sometimes people did strange things for strange reasons. As she progressed through the note, she began realizing that this was not what the note was about, and that this might be much more interesting to her than she initially expected it to be.

She read through the note twice before she folded it again and replaced it inside the envelope and then looked back at Hank.

"I... A midnight mass. On my own? I will have to ask my mother if I can go, but if she accepts, I would be very interested. Uncle Andreas asked for me specifically?"

Isabella read the letter, quirking her lips as she went. "Yeah, sure, I'll go. But if I'm going to have to go deal with family, I'm going to need to get a lot more drunk and dance with a lot of pretty girls to prepare for it."

She tossed back the rest of her drink and then indicated the crowd slowly growing around the dance floor, "Anything else I need to know, or can I start having a good time? You're welcome to stay, if you want to try your luck with the boys or the girls that go both ways. Nobody here is gonna get mad at you for it unless you start acting like a creep."

"Midnight Mass?" Leonard asked. He took an angry drag of his cigarette before stubbing it out in the ashtray. "Jesus Christ, Hank. I haven't been to church in years." Unaware of his own casual ironic blasphemy, Leonard refilled his coffee. He reread the invitation with a less annoyed mindset. "OK, Andreas Giovanni wants to meet with me and wants to meet with me after Mass. Fine. Anything you can tell me ahead of time? Normally my relationship with the Giovanni is less...formal than this. They show up, make an ask, I give it to them, I'm paid, everyone's happy. So why church?"

Moses read the note calmly, pausing once to refill his cup and offer another to Hank before responding. Even if he weren't intensely curious about the subject of the discussion, "no" simply wasn't the answer to such a request from his most discriminating, and profitable, client. "Of course Andreas should expect my attendance, I'm honored by his invitation. I don't suppose you're free to divulge the nature of this mutually important business?"  Moses wasn't really expecting an answer, but it wouldn't hurt  to ask.

Serafina

Hank chuckled at Serafina's enthusiasm, taking another sip of coffee. "You bet, kiddo! He might not have been around much when you grew up, but Andreas has been paying attention. You ask your mother, but something tells me she's not going to stop you from going. Just make sure you show up on time, and remember to dress to impress." Hank put his empty cup down and checked his wrist watch. "I gotta head on out in a few minutes, but I could stick around a moment longer if you need to ask me anything. Or are you dying to tell missus Chiarina?"


Leonard

"Why church? You're asking me? Believe it or not, doc, but Andreas has never invited me to Mass." Hank chuckled wryly, before turning serious again, reading the room. "Look, Lenny, I might not know the specifics, but here's the short of it. Andreas has always kept an eye on the people he does business with. It's like you said: They show up, make an ask, you give it to them, you get paid, everyone's happy. You know why they're happy? Because you don't go jawing. That's something Andreas respects: A man of integrity."


Moses

Hank made a declining gesture, then leaned in over the table. "It's not my place to say, Mo'. But I can tell you this: The only people who get a face to face with Andreas are people who've impressed him. It means he thinks you're someone worth knowing better." Hank leaned back again, smiling out the corner of his mouth. "He's also not one to waste his time, so whatever he's about to talk with you about, it's important. Your life's about to change, cap."


Isabella

Hank chuckled and shook his head apologetically. "I'm afraid my dance card's full tonight. You go on and have fun with the shebas, bubeleh." Hank finished his drink and got up from his stool and picked up his coat and hat and started heading for the door. He stopped after a few steps and looked over his shoulder at Isabella. "Oh yeah, and would it kill ya to dress a little more feminine for the occasion?" He teased.

"Ffff," Leonard chuffed, blowing smoke out of his nose. He didn't exactly know if he believed Hank...but what the man said had at least the veneer of plausibility. Maybe he had done a good job for his employers...his REAL employers, not Harvard University...along the way and just not known about it. The discretion Hank observed and which Andreas evidently valued was second nature to him. You couldn't be a kid named Leonardo Malatesta in King's College and not know how to keep your mouth shut, if you wanted to get through unscathed.

"All right," he said. "Tell Mr. Giovanni that I'll be there. That's my RSVP. In the meantime, if you need anything, you know where to find me."

Isabella rolled her eyes and got up from the table before sauntering over to Hank with a smile. She lightly ran her hand down his face before landing a solid slap across his cheek with her other hand.

"Not on your life, sweetheart. Put some ice on that, I'd hate to see you get a bruise," she said coyly, walking over to the dance floor with a sway in her step and sliding her arm around Claire's waist as she watched the dancing couples with the blonde.

Serafina took a moment to think through the question before she shook her head and stood up. She could not imagine how Hank could answer any question she might have about Andreas or what the meeting might be about, so she just smiled to him.

"I am sure I have a lot of things to do to prepare for the mass if mother lets me go, so I will let you go. Thank you for visiting signore Rothstein."