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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Zubkavich" data-source="post: 475023" data-attributes="member: 8810">Session Two: A Box of SnapdragonsObviously paranoid after the discovery of the license plate, Karen thoroughly searches her apartment and the surrounding area, but comes up with nothing. Although she’s scared, she tries to carry on a normal routine while watching her back. Almost a week goes by with no sign of the hooded stranger or anything out of the ordinary.Stopping at the Parmesan Street Café, Claudio’s right hand man named Stevie asks to sit down with Karen. He explains that Claudio’s gone out of town on business, but that he’s going to make sure she’s taken care of. The mob assigns two men to keep an eye on Karen’s neighborhood. The first is a no nonsense tough named Conroy. He prides himself on taking orders well and not asking questions. The other is an ox of a man named Mr. Melt. Melt speaks only when he has to, and only when he has useful information to impart. He’s a careful individual considering his massive size and methodically checks Karen’s apartment for any bugs or other electronic devices. The Italians don’t want to take any chances. If there’s a new gang on the street, the FBI or something else entirely, they don’t want to be caught off guard.Checking her mail, Karen finds a package pick-up slip. Her mob “escort” insists that they go with her and check it out before she cracks it open. It’s a medium sized box with Karen’s name on the sender address and the delivery line. Knowing that Karen hasn’t sent herself any packages, Conroy calls the mob’s explosives specialist, Paggio, to open it up. Paggio’s a dirty little man with a creepy grin who seems to delight in looking Karen up and down as well as playing with bombs. After determining that the box is safe, he peels back the packaging and finds a simple jewelry box inside. The jewelry box is empty and there’s no distinguishing markings or notation.“I guess you’ve got a secret admirer.” he remarks.Although disgusted by him, Karen wants to know more about how explosives work and asks him for some training. He happily agrees to do it for a thousand dollars cash, specifically “...used twenties wrapped with a red rubber band. The red and green looks nice together.” Paggio’s got some weird hang ups.Before she has a chance to go home, Karen is invited to visit an old lady named Regina who is close friends with Claudio. Dropping Karen off at the woman’s house in the suburbs, Conroy tells her to watch out, as Regina is quite the harsh old vulture.Karen’s nostrils are assaulted by the smoke in the air as she enters the old residential home. Regina has terminal cancer, but chain smokes anyways, rasping her words in thick Italian through her cracked lips. The old woman claims that she’s no psychic, but that she “plucks truth out of the air, polishes it and take a good look at the reflections it gives off.” Karen’s confused look makes the Regina smile and with her gnarled and wrinkled fingers, she deals Karen some cards so that the two of them can play some Black Jack.As the rounds of cards go by, Regina compares Karen’s life to the game; the risks she takes, the rounds she wins or loses. Each hand unveils something about the way Karen lives her life and the things that have brought her to this point. Regina sees something big on the horizon for the young Italian girl, and wants her to grab it instead of letting fate slip through her fingers. Once it’s over, Regina tells Karen to book off the 20th of the month, “for respectful reasons.” Not understanding, she agrees to anyways. She has a lot to think about once she gets back to her apartment, but exhaustion from her long day puts her to sleep.</blockquote>

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