After Karen left, Moe and Nichole were in the living room. Moe was working on business plans for his upcoming pizza business while Nichole was just sitting in the chair with various thoughts going through her brain.
"Moe," she said rather slowly. "Can I ask you something?" Moe paused in his work as he looked over his glasses at Nichole waiting for her question. "How can you be so...so...calm about this? I mean, you gotta be freaking out like I am."
Moe took a breath as he put his work down and took off his reading glasses. "Well, I suppose a part of it is trust. I mean, I've known Danny since we were kids in school. We go way back, Danny and I. Even further back than you and Fran. I know he wouldn't do anything to hurt me and even us. He wouldn't pull the strings to get us here if he didn't care about us." Moe looked over at Nichole before he continued. "The other part of it is that I've seen more of Moon Lake. When I went to the police station, I met people who were weres, but I've also met people who were normal, just like you and I. The people here aren't too different from anywhere else we've been. If anything, they've been more helpful than anyone else." He paused as he looked over at Nichole. "I know the past few days have been rough for all of us. I'll admit that this place is unique, and it concerned me a bit. But the more I learn about this town, the more I like it. I honestly think we can get a new life in this town." He smiled at Nichole as he said that. "The only thing I can ask ya is to trust me and keep an open mind. Things might not be as bad as they seem. At least it's better than having the Gamboni's chase us."
Nichole sighed and said, "My trust in you, Moe, is the only thing stopping me from packing my bags and getting out of here. As far as keeping an open mind...well..."
Moe smiled and said, "Look, what's driving our fear is what we don't know. This is an unusual situation we're in and after being chased around the country, I suppose we're both on edge."
"I'll try," Nichole said, "Maybe I just need to learn more. I look at Francine, and she seems to be happy about the changes that she and Danny made. Maybe I should talk to her tomorrow. It's just...it's hard right now. With everything going on."
"I know," Moe replied, "and all I can ask is that you try." Moe pulled Nichole into a hug and whispered, "Everything'll be all right. You'll see." Nichole smiled as she buried her face into his body.
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Meanwhile, while Moe and Nichole were having their discussion, Karen was walking home from the Brooks home thinking about her experience with the Saxons. She had to say that she was very impressed with what she saw when she saw Mrs. Saxon as a weretiger. It wasn't quite what she imagined, but she was amazed nevertheless. Mrs. Saxon was certainly big and looked plenty strong. And she certainly wasn't shy about being a weretiger. What really impressed her was how beautiful the fur looked, especially on Mrs. Saxon. If Karen had to choose right now, she wouldn't mind becoming a weretiger. However, she'd like to meet with a werelion or a wereleopard first before making her choice.
However, there was one thing that was really bothering her, and that was what Peter told her about becoming a were. Karen didn't consider herself a prude, but before Marcus Gamboni got his eyes on her, she never really had a real boyfriend. She'd been on a couple of dates, and the furthest she'd gone is a bit of petting. But to go all the way...she rubbed her arm rather nervously as she thought about it. Marcus tried to push himself on her, and with her moving from city to city, it made it hard for her to form any sort of relationship. She wasn't sure if she could take that step, and she started to wonder if she made a mistake to volunteer to be the family were.
Karen reached the front door of her home as her parents were having their discussion.
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Vito answered the door the knock on the door of their motel room. He noticed it was one of the members of the local gang. "What do you want?" Vito asked.
"My boss wants to give you a message. The cops are after ya," the gang member answered. Vito raised an eyebrow at the news. "Boss told me that he can cover ya for a couple of days, or you can leave now. Your choice."
"Christ," Vito muttered to himself as he rubbed his forehead. With Albert in jail and a dead body on Marcus's hands, Vito could make only one decision as the head of the family. "Tell your boss we're staying. And tell him that we owe him a favor."
"All right," the gang member replied, "I'll give the message to the boss."
Vito closed the door as he sighed. He could hear Marcus in the room behind him. "What was that about?"
"We got too much heat, Marcus," Vito replied.
"What about getting my girl?" Marcus asked, his voice rising in pitch.
"We'll get her later," Vito replied, matching the rise in volume and pitch. "Right now, we need to stay put. The cops are looking for us because of what YOU did."
"But the sooner we get that girl and her parents, the sooner," Marcus yelled before he was interrupted.
"Listen," Vito said in a whisper. Marcus knew that when Vito spoke like that, it meant that Vito was getting angry, and Marcus knew to shut his mouth when that happens. "We've sacrificed alot for you. Albert's in jail, we're on the run from the cops, and we've lost Moe. It's not been a good day for me. We're gonna do things our way, hear me? I want to rub out Moe for disrespecting us, and you'll get your girl. But we gotta do it right, and that means doing it my way. We're gonna stay here and wait for the heat to die down. Once we get out of this rat trap, we'll find the Charlestons and get what's ours. So, right now, I don't want to hear a peep out of ya." Marcus looked pale as he sat back down on his bed. If there's one thing that he's learned is to never get on Vito's bad side.