“It’s the meeting you wanted.”
“No!” He fumbled the envelope open and pulled out the sheaf of paper inside.
“How did you?” All sadness was gone from his face now, and his eyes brimmed with excitement. In his hand was the key to something he’s wanted for years. In the life, there are some things you must do in order to go legit, some palms you must grease, some eyes you must blind to your past. Here, in Sicily and neighboring Italy, it’s a little bit different than in the states, I’m sure, but it follows the same tenets all the same.
For all of them, no matter where in the world they are, it comes down to money and the church; you need both those things to buy your way into legitimacy. Sal had been trying and failing to get with the church, and I don’t mean going to Sunday mass; I mean he needed to meet with one of the higherups and get them to listen to him before he could even think of washing the blood off his name. He has the money, but Nana has the connection.
In most Italian families, there’s always a priest; as long as a woman has had three sons, one of them is for the cloth. Nana’s family here has plenty, and since they’d been at it for generations, and the church can be sometimes clannish, she was able to find a distant cousin who was willing to help us. He’d done the legwork and got Sal an invite. “Cardinal Contarini!” Sal all but kissed the paper in his hands.
Alonzo gave me a hateful look but surprisingly, Jr. smirked into his pastry and snickered. What the hell is that about?
“What does this boy know about our business?”
“He’s my grandson.” Sal quelled him with a glare. Alonzo looked ready to lose his shit. I’m sure he knows the significance of the cardinal and what it meant that I’d procured the meeting for Sal when he couldn’t. I bet you can see your place in the family slipping away, can’t you, Ricci? Being snatched from right under you, just like my mother’s innocence, the innocence you took with violence.
“Niputi, did you hear me?”
“Yes, you said we should celebrate!” Shit, lucky for me, I can multitask, I can listen and go deaf with rage at the same time because for a second there, while Sal was talking to me, I was too busy fighting back the rage brought on by my thoughts to answer.
“Maybe we should wait until after the funeral.” My voice remained deceptively calm.
“Of course, you’re right; we will wait. But you must tell me how you came by this, yes.” I hadn’t meant to gain points by pointing out that we should wait, but the reactions of Jr. and Natalia, the way they lifted their heads in my direction, and the looks of confusion on their faces told me that I’d surprised them. I ignored Alonzo.
I knew Sal would be busy for the rest of the day, and the house would be full again come evening, so I headed out for another sightseeing stroll and doubled back to the hotel where Pop was staying. “How did it go?”
“I gave him the letter of introduction; he seemed pleased.”
“So, that Felice woman is gone; how sure are you about the next one being over soon?”
“Very, it should be any day now. Pop, you’re not planning to stay here the whole time, are you? It could be weeks, months.”
“I’ll stay until I know you’re safe.” Something about what he was saying sounded off. I hadn’t promised not to end myself after taking down Ricci, but Pop didn’t seem to have the same urgency he had before. He’s up to something.
I hung with Pop for a little bit before heading out again. I couldn’t pretend to be lost this time, so I knocked on the closed and locked door of Teresa’s store, where I knew she came each day to pack up stuff and make sure that no one was vandalizing the place. I knew she still had hopes of reopening again when things died down, but that won’t be happening. Not if I had anything to say about it.
“Gabe, you’re back; how are you? Come in.”
I followed her inside, holding out the bouquet of flowers and another bottle of wine.
“What’s going on? Why are you closed?” She got a pout on her face and tried playing it off like she wasn’t devastated.
“It’s the economy, you know. What brings you here?”
“Oh, I was back in town and remembered how nice you were to me that day when I was here last, so I thought I’d bring you some more of your favorite wine as a thank you.”
“Grazij! I could use this after the day I’ve had. I guess you’ve heard about your stepmother yes, it’s so sad.” Did she just call that woman my…? This filthy witch. She was there that night. Is she laughing at my mother? At me? She searched around in the back, where she’d led me for a wine glass and an opener.