Page 23 of Takedown in Savannah
“Sheesh. I have better manners than that.”
Carlita’s eyes narrowed.
“You don’t think I do?” Elvira mustered up her best offended look. “I’m hurt.”
“I find that hard to believe. Remember what I said. Not a single speck.”
“Got it.” Elvira snapped to attention and gave her a mock salute. “Yes, ma’am.”
Carlita took Violet’s hand and led her to the other side of the yard.
“Can we go for a walk, Nana?”
“Absolutely. I could use some fresh air.” Circling around, the trio took a leisurely stroll down by the river, walking all the way past Gunner’s Landing before turning around and returning home.
A quick check of the backyard confirmed Elvira was gone. As far as Carlita could tell, she’d kept her word and hadn’t started digging.
“I’m hungry.”
“Let’s grab a quick bite to eat.” Back inside, Carlita assembled a crustless peanut butter and jelly sandwich for Violet before gathering the ingredients needed for the Garlucci family’s pizza recipe.
Because she’d made the pizza so many times, Carlita barely glanced at the directions. Instead, she tossed in a little of this and a smidgen of that, adding water to the dough. When it reached the perfect consistency, she set the dough aside and pulled out her well-seasoned pizza pans.
“Nana’s pizza recipe is for plain cheese pizza. We’re making two. Would you like to add extra ingredients to yours?”
Violet popped the last bite of her PB&J into her mouth. “Pepperoni.”
“Got it.” Carlita pulled a packet of pepperoni from the fridge. “What about olives?”
“Yuck.” The young girl clutched her throat and made a gagging sound. “Olives are gross.”
The doorbell rang. Carlita glanced at the clock. “Aunt Mercedes is here.”
Violet promptly hopped off the barstool. “I’ll let her in.”
“I need to check to make sure it’s her.” Carlita pulled up the camera app on her cell phone and tapped the screen, confirming it was her daughter. “It’s her.”
Violet flung the door open and scampered down the steps. She returned in a flash with Mercedes following behind.
“Hey, Ma.”
“Hey, Mercedes. How was work?”
“Busy. Paisley and I worked the same shift. We’re hanging out tomorrow since we both have the morning off.” She droppedher purse on the chair and stepped over to the sink to wash her hands. “What’s for dinner?”
“Pizza, Garlucci family style. With a fun twist for Violet.”
The trio got to work, rolling out the dough and placing it on the pizza pans. Violet helped Mercedes mix mozzarella cheese and ricotta cheese while Carlita cut lines in the pizza dough.
She finished cutting eight evenly spaced lines in each pizza before showing Violet how to place a spoonful of the cheese mixture between each of the lines. After finishing, Carlita pinched the dough together, forming a triangle.
“I know how to do it.” Violet carefully copied what her grandmother had done.
Carlita stepped back to admire her handiwork. “You’re doing great. Keep going.”
“This is fun.” Violet worked her way around the pizza pan until each cut formed a star.
Carlita held up the star-shaped pizza dough. “Look how perfectly you made a pizza star? Good job, Violet.”
