The Woman in the Trunk

Celeste didn't immediately move to walk out. And I guess when you were caged for so long, there had to be some uncertainty about leaving your prison.

"You, a little girl, killed the Capo dei Capi of New York City?" she asked, disbelieving.

"I'm not that little. And, apparently, a woman can only be beat down so long before she starts fighting back. Luckily, men like Arturo never think women like us are capable of being a threat to them. I slipped peanut dust in his coffee," I told her, still finding it hard to wrap my head around that. It almost felt like it had been another person who had escaped that basement, done the deed, then locked herself back up.

"Okay. You are going to need to start from the beginning," Celeste told me, finally taking a few tentative steps forward.

So then I did, going through the whole ordeal.

"He killed my boy?" Celeste asked when I was done, eyes swimming, making me realize mine were as well.

"I can't say for sure, but I think so. It... it didn't look good. And I feel like if he was alive, he would have found a way to get back to the basement, or get me out."

"He was a good man, my son?" Celeste asked, needing to know. It had to kill her knowing her sons had become adults without her being there to see it. She'd likely worried herself sick that they might have turned into their father without her there to guide them to be better men. "He had to be to try to save his girl."

"I wasn't his. Not really," I told her, even though that stabbing sensation inside intensified.

"You would have been. If you two had a chance."

"You don't know that."

"I know these kinds of men. Women are background noise in their lives. Until the right one comes along and makes them pay attention. Enz was paying attention to you. If life was fair, you would have been his girl. What about Santi?"

"Santi?" I repeated.

"Santiago. Santi. Lorenzo's brother. Is he alive?"

"Oh," I said, feeling bad that I didn't know his name. "Yes. I mean... as of the last I heard Lorenzo talk about him. He didn't say much, so I don't know much. But his brother never joined the Family. He got married young and had a little boy. That's really all I know. He will be so happy to see you, though."

"I'm a grandmother," Celeste said, trying to wrap her head around that. "I barely got to be a mother, and now I am a grandmother. I guess I look the part," she said, reaching up to rub a hand down her hair. "What is happening with the Family? I want to go see my boy. He's all I have left. Is it safe?"

"I honestly don't know. I got out, found out about you, and came here. I have no idea what is going on there. If Arturo and Lorenzo are dead, who gets to be the boss?"

"War will break out," Celeste told me, calm, confident, knowing more about the mafia than I likely ever would. "The Five Families will all vie for power. Terry will likely try to take the position. But he won't keep it. He's not the kind of man who inspires loyalty."

"What about Emilio?" I asked. I knew that Christopher, the other guards I had met, even Brio seemed lower on the food chain. "Lorenzo always treated Emilio like an equal."

"If he wanted it, he could try for it. But if adult Emilio is anything like young Emilio, he doesn't want that. Can we go upstairs?" Celeste asked, gaze on the steps. "I haven't seen anything but this basement for longer than I care to think about. It would be nice to see something else. And maybe see if there is anything to eat up there."

With that, we made our way upstairs, Celeste finding an old block of cheese in the fridge, taking bites out of it like it was a sub as we walked through the house, Celeste claiming that there would be money hidden somewhere, that we would both need all we could get until she got back to the city, and I got wherever I was going.

We eventually found some, stashed in a faux book in the study. Crime & Punishment. A little joke on Terry's part, it seemed.

"How much?" Celeste asked, sitting down on the couch with a groan, not having touched anything soft in years.

"Looks like ten thousand," I said, shaking my head. I'd never touched ten grand before, but here it was, sitting forgotten in a book in a nearly abandoned house like it was no big deal.

"You take most of it," Celeste said, rubbing her feet on the carpet.

"What? No. We will split it."

"No need," she said, shaking her head. "I don't give a shit what goes on with the family, but I am Arturo's wife. And him being dead means I get everything. At least everything legal. I just need enough to get me there. And a lot of food on the way," she said, giving me a weak smile.