by Sienna Mynx
"Magnifique!" Catalina corrected her. "If it's not too late we can have the men take us out for dinner. Near the Eiffel Tower."
"And dancing. A discotheque? Maybe?"
"Maybe," Catalina said.
"Grazie, Catalina, I am so excited."
Catalina nodded. "Yeah, I guess I am too."
***
The plane hit an air pocket, and Giovanni was jostled awake in his seat. The light above his head dinged to indicate the pilot wanted passengers to buckle their belts. He'd taken the aisle seat because of his long legs. In the First Class cabin, he felt restrained in his chair by the passenger in front of him. He wished he'd ignored Dominic's advice and used his private jet for the trip.
The thirst in his throat and fatigue were wearing him down. He signaled the flight attendant.
"Yes, signore, can I get you anything?"
"Water."
"I can make you a drink. Here is our wine list," she said and flashed a pearly white smile.
“No, water is fine,” he answered.
“Of course, but maybe something later? If you’d like?”
"He said water," Mirabella answered in that calm manner of hers that meant business.
"Oh? Yes. Yes, right away."
He glanced over to his wife. She cut her eyes away and shook her head. Mirabella held Gianni. Traveling was worst for the toddler. He screamed and hollered the first thirty minutes of the flight, refusing to be touched by anyone but her. And then he collapsed in exhaustion. Eve and Gino were the complete opposite. They babbled with excited banter and actually cheered when the plane lifted to the sky. His bambini sat in the seats in front of their parents chatting away and playing with each other. Marietta and Lorenzo sat across from the kids.
He reached over and touched Gianni's tiny hand. He worried over his temperament. He knew he was just a babe. Still his son didn't warm to change, or feel comfortable outside of his mother’s arms. He decided he'd spend more time with him. Encourage him to be a bit more adventurous.
"He's okay," Mirabella smiled. "Don't worry about him."
"I'm not worried, just concerned. You have to stop spoiling him so much, Bella."
She looked at Giovanni with the same heavy exhaustion in her eyes that they both felt. He regretted the remark. He could tell it hurt her feelings. She was more sensitive than ever to the needs of their children, and he understood why. Giovanni pinched her chin, he lifted her face and gave her a tender kiss. He then leaned in and kissed the brow of his son.
"What I meant to ask is, why does he behave so badly? Did the plane scare him?"
"He's just not used to this. And yes, he's spoiled," she smiled. "But one day he'll be taller, stronger, stubborn, and full of male pride, and he won't let his mother hold him to her breast. I plan to enjoy him like this for as long as I can." Gianni spit out his pacifier and his wife put it back in his mouth. Mirabella had recently taken pacifiers from the boys, but thankfully she decided to bring it for the trip. Gianni sucked it hard and seemed content.
"How much longer?" she asked.
"Another six hours," he yawned.
It made her yawn. She lifted the little window cover, and Giovanni saw daylight instead of darkness. The time difference was apparently the reason he felt so tired.
"Are you excited?" he asked.
"To go home, after all, these years? I don't know. I'm just anxious to get there. To show you and the kids where I grew up. And a bit scared."
"Why scared?"
"Haven't seen my family or the farm in so long. Now I'm coming home married, with kids. It's a lot different than who I was when I left."
"Papa!" Eve stood in her chair and looked over the top of it at her parents. Her brother Gino did the same, though he was shorter and unable to peek over the top. Eve grinned for him.
"Yes?" he answered.
"I see you!" Eve laughed. Gino howled with laughter. The kids began to jump in their seats as if they played some kind of trick on Giovanni.
"Sit down," Giovanni said in a stern voice. The kids giggled and plopped down. He glanced at his wife who was smiling at him. The trip did worry him. At this moment the alliances he made with the clan bosses meant attacks on the Mafiosi business from every angle. And it would be tough for Dominic to manage. That is why they would only stay a week instead of two.
"Giovanni?"
"Yes?"
"Thank you for this. It means so much to me."
"I wish we could have stayed longer like I promised."
"A week is fair, and it's fine. Besides if things ever settle down in our life, we can come back, maybe."
"Things, Bella? What stuff?" he asked.
"You've decided to tell them about me. To tell them all Marsuvio Mancini is my father. You've chosen to go to war with Armando. Kill my brother?" She looked over at him.
"It's far more complicated."
"What's not complicated, Gio is the fact that you don't talk to me. Especially about something as important as this."
Giovanni sighed. "First, I've always told you that I would have to share with my colleagues who you are. You know this."
"True," she said. "Why now?"
"Why not now? You were kidnapped. Tortured. My enemies got to you because I wasn't paying attention. I am now. And I don't care who in the world knows who you are. I am happy to share the news."
"Okay, I hope you are. Because what you did was bring the world into our lives. I'm not some unknown American woman you married. I have a reputation that goes beyond Italy. The press will seize on this, and I have a show that is going to launch in two days in Paris. The media..."
"I apologize, Bella. I should have considered those factors."
She sighed. "What about Armando? I thought you two had an understanding?"
"He and I will never have the understanding you want. I am not trying to kill your brother. I just want what is ours. And I've given him an opportunity to hand it over."
"He won't, Gio."
"Then that is his problem, not yours." He took her hand again. He kissed it. "Trust me, Bella. I know what I am doing."
She nodded, but her sad eyes turned away from him to their sleeping child. "I pray that you do."
***
"I thought you said you lived in Alpoca? That sign says we're headed to Apple Grove," Marietta said.
"Alpoca is the closest city to us. Most people from Apple Grove claim to be from Alpoca."
"I like apples, Mommy!" Eve said from the back of the passenger van.
"Well we have plenty of apples for you, baby," Mirabella said.
Giovanni was their driver. The highways were much wider than the ones he was used to traveling on until they veered off to a winding stretch of road between trees, so tall the outstretched branches blocked the sun. He didn't see many cars or houses. Mirabella was instructing the way. He wanted to hire a car service. Mirabella insisted they didn't. She asked that they arrive very low key, and just them--none of his men. He wasn't used to traveling that way.
"Mommmmyyyy!" Eve yelled from the back of the van. "I have ta peeeeeeee!"
"Me too. How much longer, Mira?" Marietta asked.
Giovanni glanced over to his wife. She stared out of the window as if no one spoke. He reached over and touched her thigh. She snapped out of whatever memory she was caught in and smiled. "There's a gas station a mile ahead. We can stop there."
"But how much longer?" Marietta insisted.
Mirabella glanced back. "It's not far, fifteen more minutes."
Giovanni saw the sign for the petrol station ahead. The journey had already been over an hour. He too felt aggravated. When they drove up the rocky dirt road to the pumps, little Eve cheered. Mirabella was out of the van before he could shift the gear into park. His Bella was very anxious, nervous, and a little jumpy. When he got out of the van and walked around, Lorenzo and Marietta helped the kids. Mirabella stood before the station staring at it. There were no cars or customers. But he could see the clerk peering at them fro
m the inside.
"Everything okay, Bella?" he called out.
"Huh?" She glanced back at him. "Yes, I haven't seen this place in a long time. And it looks the same. Exactly the same."
"People change, often times place don't," Giovanni said.
"Mommy!" Gianni said. He ran over to his parents. Eve walked behind him cupping herself between her legs. Lorenzo carried Gino. He tossed him in the air, and the toddler squealed with happiness. He put him down and Gino began to stomp the rocks on the ground. Mirabella picked up Gianni and peppered his face with kisses.
"The bathroom is on the outside of the building, but we have to get the key from the clerk. Come with me." Mirabella told them.
Giovanni watched the women take the children inside. He turned away and walked over toward the pump.
"Did you speak to our friends?" Giovanni asked.
"Do we still have any?" Lorenzo asked.
Giovanni chuckled.
"They will pay us a visit tonight. Still not sure about coming to America without our men. Mancini has many friends in La Cosa Nostra here."
"The week will be over before you know it," he said.
"Surprised you'd even do this, Gio. The clan bosses didn't receive the news about our wives well."
Giovanni nodded. The men said all the right things, but he saw through the facade. With Giovanni making a play for the Mancini fortune he was securing his position as the boss of all bosses, for generations to come. La Camorra was not the Mafia. It wasn't structured that way. Each ruthless clan wanted the kingdom. And they were all only biding time to find the day to overthrow the other bosses and claim it. Giovanni had a target on his back before Mottola turned the clans against him.
"We need more recruits. We need stronger men in the streets. And Isabella..."
"Let's be clear, cousin. This trip is for our wives. But, coming to America sends a message to our allies here. Let Armando strike with bullets and mayhem. We are after a much bigger bite."
"La Camorra is weak here," Lorenzo said.
"True. So, we make alliances how?"
Lorenzo’s eyes stretched. "The Gambinis have been with Marsuvio Mancini since before our wives were born. We can't make alliances there."
Giovanni shrugged it off as if he were innocent. "Like I said. Things are changing. What fucking kind of boss am I if I can't expand my business to America?" Giovanni unscrewed the gas cap to the van. Lorenzo dropped on the side of the vehicle and stared at the station. The women came out with the children. Mirabella had a plastic bag of candy and snacks. Eve had a soda pop in her hand, and the boys both licked lollipops.
"A week in this place? We aren't even in the city. Fuck, it looks worse than Chianti." Lorenzo grumbled.
Giovanni started pumping the petrol as his sons came running over to him. The vacation would be exactly what they needed. He couldn't wait to see where his wife's life began.
***
To be pregnant in the summer was this woman's nightmare. Marietta tried not to complain. She tried to stay positive. She tried hard to enjoy the time with her family. But if she didn't get out of the van soon she was going to scream. Mirabella rode shotgun in the front seat. She laughed and pointed out cows, and horses to the kids. Lorenzo had his sunglasses on. That meant he was sleep. He was slumped down in his seat with his head tilted left. He'd been in a sour mood and had been since they boarded the plane. It didn't help with her misery.
The van turned off the main road to one that wasn't paved. They drove along farm land locked away behind white picket fences, with tall emerald-green grass in open fields that stretched for miles. Marietta sat upright with her heart lodged in her throat. Eve and the twins sang their favorite nursery rhyme behind her. Mirabella explained the history of the town after emancipation, and how a freed black slave founded it. All the verbal chatter became background noise to the increased rhythm of her heart. Soon the voices of her family were drowned out completely, and a farmhouse appeared in the distance.
They had arrived.
"That's the farmhouse over there," Mirabella turned in her seat toward her. "Can you see it?"
Marietta nodded.
"My grandfather and his parishioners built it. After several years they were able to buy more and more of this land, now we own all of it."
"Really?" Marietta asked.
"Yep."
"I can't believe I'm finally here," Marietta whispered. She was happier than she'd ever been. She always knew as a child she belonged somewhere. Anywhere but with the family, she was forced to accept. And this was proof. She had arrived. Giovanni turned onto the road. They drove slowly toward the two-story farmhouse with a wraparound porch and large trees on either side.
"Someone’s here?" Marietta said.
"It's Clyde. Our cousin. The one I told you about." Mirabella said.
The man wore a flannel shirt, jeans and workman boots. He had on a dirty gray cap with the word CAT on the front, symbolizing the Caterpillar machinery he was used to working in during his days in construction. He leaned against his truck. From the inside of the car he looked to be at least six-foot-four, and close to three hundred pounds. He had facial hair, but she couldn't see much more of him. A door of the truck he leaned against opened, and a woman got out. She was much shorter than him, with wide hips and pecan brown skin. Her hair was cut into a short style and dyed platinum blonde to cover the greys. She had large round, brown eyes, and deep dimples in her cheeks. The married couple stared at the van as Giovanni slowed to a stop.
"That is his wife, Minnie. She's very sweet," Mirabella said. "I haven't seen her in so many years."
"Mama! Look!" Eve exclaimed from the backseat. Marietta glanced back. There was another tree a few feet away from the house. And it had a large branch where a long rope dropped down and was tied around a tire.
"What is it?" Eve asked.
"It's a swing. Your great-grandfather made it for me when I was a little girl. I used to play on it."
"Can I swing?" Eve asked.
"Yes, baby. You can do whatever you want. This place belonged to your great grandparents, and they would have loved to meet you."
Giovanni parked the van. Lorenzo grabbed Marietta's hand. "Don't overdo it, Marie. Been a long trip. The doctor said for you to take it easy."
"I'm all right," she smiled. It was the truth. She was better than fine. She was ecstatic. They had made it. Finally. Marietta was helped out of the van by Giovanni. When she turned, she saw Mirabella hugging her cousin Clyde and then giving a warm embrace to Minnie who patted her back and kissed her on the cheek.
"Marietta, come here, come!" Mirabella gestured. Nervous and humbled by the farm and the people she didn't know, Marietta approached vowing to make a good first impression. The two stared at her like she was a movie star. Their eyes were stretched. The husband and wife exchanged a look.
"Cousin Clyde, Minnie, this here is my twin sister Marietta," Mirabella said and took her hand. "God sent her to me. She's the reason Mama ran off and left me. She went looking for her. Mama had twins. Can you believe it? Twins!"
"I saw it on the news. Read about it in the paper. I still can't believe it," Minnie said. She stepped forward and looked up into Marietta's eyes. If she were a few inches shorter, her diminutive height would classify her as a little person. "Welcome home. You are so beautiful."
"Thank you. Ah, hi," Marietta said and looked to Mirabella.
"Hi? Girl, you better bend on down here and give Minnie a hug!"
Marietta did what she asked, and Minnie gave her one of the tightest hugs she'd ever experienced in life. Mirabella grinned.
"You's pregnant? Clyde, she pregnant." Minnie said and let her go.
"I can see that, Minnie." Clyde removed his hat. He had a nasty surgical scar on the side of his head where hair didn't grow. And his left eye was a little droopy. He had the nicest smile. He stepped forward and hugged her. "You look just like my mother. Doesn't she, Minnie? She looks just like Bessie-Mae."
M
innie nodded in agreement. "Clyde, you right. And Mirabella looks like Mary. Ain’t that something?"
Marietta hugged him and let go. She had a family. Real family. Not just what she saw in Mirabella, but people who shared her bloodline, and had a rich history. People who lived normal lives and looked after their own. And that was it. Marietta was reduced to tears.
Lorenzo protectively pulled her away from the greeting. Clyde and Minnie were immediately apologetic, but Mirabella made the introduction of Lorenzo and explained that it was probably hormones. The tears were of happiness. Marietta nodded that she was right, but held on to her husband. She was grateful. She couldn't speak further.
"Giovanni," Mirabella extended her hand.
The kids were leery of strangers. The twins stayed close to their father, and Eve held his hand. Mirabella couldn't be prouder of her family. But even still she was most proud of her children. Mirabella kept their unique beauty hidden from the world. The children were rarely photographed and only seen once on camera. That was when she did the interview at the show in Milano.
"Clyde, Minnie, this is my husband, Giovanni."
"Nice to meet you," Clyde gave Giovanni a firm handshake.
"And who are these beauties?" Minnie knelt before the children. "Clyde, get a look at these babies. Dey have pretty eyes! Oh my? I've neva seen anything like it."
"Mi chiamo Eve," Eve said.
"What you say, baby? Is that Italian?" Minnie touched Eve's hand.
"She said her name is Eve," Mirabella explained.
"She's the sweetest baby girl. Just a jewel. Oh, I'm in love. Can Aunt Minnie have a hug?" Minnie asked and pulled Eve over. Her daughter hugged the woman but pushed away and went to her father right after."
"I have a grandbaby your age. She's your cousin. You'll meet her tomorrow." Minnie grinned.
Gino walked over to Minnie. "Ciao!" he said.
Mirabella’s eyes stretched, she was so shocked. Gino said it clearly, no baby talk. Minnie laughed.
"Ciao to you too, baby!" she laughed. She pulled Gino into a hug and stood with him. She gave him over to Clyde who held him up in the sun and smiled at him.