by M. D. Melai
It was just a few days ago that Alfonso Dapprima died. It is rumored that he was shot, although some sources say that it was due to a long term illness. Whatever the reason may be, the biggest question everyone has been asking is which twin brother will take over the family business? Enrico Dapprima is rumored to be the successor, but Sergio also has his eye on being the new boss.
“In my honest opinion, I believe that Enrico deserves it more than Sergio. He is more mature and is respected by everyone in the business. Sergio has been known to disappear at inappropriate times and is very careless,” a source close to the family stated.
Most of the people are in favor of Enrico becoming the head of the business and would feel safer with him in control. But, no one knows what Sergio could have up his sleeve.
“Sergio definitely wants the position. I think he will go to any extent to get it,” another source says.
Only time will tell. The rumor is that it should be settled by the end of next week. I, along with the people of Palermo, will be awaiting the news.
Until next time,
Antonio Lenzini
I pulled back in amazement as I finished reading the article. I didn’t have to read the next article to know who took over the business. Somehow Sergio had become the new boss and Enrico had become scarce. I wanted to know more. I had to know more. My fingers flipped the page over before I even decided to. I focused on the next article and began reading.
It has been two weeks since the decision that Sergio Dapprima would be the new owner of the family business. While it came as a shock to most, there was one person that was completely devastated, Enrico Dapprima.
“Shortly after the news was announced that Sergio was the new boss, Enrico became a different person, and before we knew it, he disappeared,” a source says.
When I asked if anyone knew where he went this was the answer:
“No one knows where he went to. He and his wife, Maria, took off. It had to have been in the dead of night; otherwise they would have been recognized. I’m not sure if Sergio ran him out of town or if he elected to go. All I know is that he is gone and I don’t think he will return.”
With Enrico Dapprima gone, we can only guess what will become of the city. As stated by a source in my previous article, Sergio is a ‘careless’ person, so we can only hope that nothing drastic changes and that things will stay exactly as they are.
Until next time,
Antonio Lenzini
I read through the article so quickly I had to go back and reread it twice. At this point in time, they had no idea where Enrico had gone to, but I knew. I was a descendent from him and that must have been when my family came to America. A family rivalry drove them apart.
For the next twenty minutes, I searched in each manila folder for any more stories. There was nothing. I even did a search for Antonio Lenzini, and from what I found, that was the last article he ever wrote. I could only assume that things did change after Sergio took over.
I cleaned up my space and put everything back in their places. I waved to the librarian as I walked out of the library and headed down the road to my apartment. I thought a lot about what I just read until I had an epiphany.
Enrico had left for America, but Sergio had stayed. That could mean that I had distant family living right here in Palermo. And Elle had told Bianca that she was helping out family in America. Was it possible that Elle was telling the truth? If she was helping out my family, then that meant that she and I were related. The descendants from Sergio and Enrico were in contact again and Elle was the link.
***
I spent the next week holed up in my apartment. There were a few times that I would go out and run, but for the most part, I stayed there not wanting to be seen. If I did have family here, then they would be able to recognize me just as fast as Bianca had. I wanted to stay off the radar as best as I could.
Luckily, I would be heading to Germany for the next two days, so staying under the radar wouldn’t be very difficult.
This entire trip I hadn’t even thought of what I might find out about the Heinrichs. I had been so focused on finding out about my family that their secrets might be just as surprising.
Once I was done packing my duffle bag, I headed down to the bottom floor and waited for the taxi to arrive.
After waiting for ten minutes, it arrived. The driver took my bag and asked where I was going. I told him to the airport and we quickly sped off and were on our way. I hadn’t ridden in a car since my first day here and I remembered why—it terrified me.
The driver helped me with my bag and took off as soon as I paid him. I walked into the airport and made my way to the check-in counter. There were a few people in front of me, but since multiple counters were open, I was out of there in a matter of minutes and made my way to security.
The line for security was longer than I expected. Ropes were brought in to wind the line throughout the area. I had to wait a good forty minutes before I made it to the front. I took off my shoes and placed my belonging on the conveyor before walking through the portal. After I was clear, I gathered my things, put on my shoes, and headed to my gate.
I had some time before the plane took off, and I had forgotten to eat before I had left the apartment, so I found a nice bistro and sat down to eat while I waited.
Shortly after I was done eating, I texted Violet to let her know that I was on my way to Germany. It wasn’t too much longer that I was called to board.
As I settled into my seat, my mind was already working. I thought about where I would need to go as soon as I arrived. I needed to find out as much about the Heinrichs as I could. The library in Palermo had been a great place to start, so I would start there when I landed.
The flight was short and didn’t take more than a couple hours to get to Germany. I quickly exited the airport upon arrival. It was easier since all I had was a carry-on and didn’t need to go through baggage claim. I found a taxi and he took me straight to my hotel. I checked in and made my way up to my room. It was very small and didn’t have a television. I was only here for two days anyway.
I made my way down to the front desk to ask the concierge if she knew where the best place to find information about someone’s family would be. When I made my way back to the desk there had been a shift change, because now it was a man.
“Excuse me, do you speak English?” I asked.
“Yes, how may I help you?” he said with a thick German accent.
“I’m helping out a friend while I'm here in Europe. She asked me if I could try to find out some of her family’s history. Do you know a good place to find that? Her family lived here in Berlin, but I'm not sure if they still do.” I spoke so quickly I wasn’t sure if he completely understood. Violet had helped me find out information about the Heinrichs before I left. We knew they were from Berlin, or at least we thought.
“What is the last name? Maybe they are still here,” he replied.
“Heinrich,” I said.
“Oh, the Heinrichs?” he said as if he knew exactly who they were.
“Yes, do you know them?” I asked.
“I have some neighbors with the last name Heinrich. Maybe they are the ones you are looking for?”
“I guess it’s possible. Do you think they would meet with me? It could at least be a start.”
“I’ll see what I can do. Once I'm on break, I will call. Would you like to try to meet tomorrow?”
“That would be awesome! Yes, thank you!” I said smiling.
“I’ll give you a call when I talk with them.” He looked down at his watch before looking back up at me. “Its seven-thirty and I get a break in about an hour.”
“That’s fine, just call up to my room. By the way, my name is Caterina De Luca,” I said extending my hand to his.
“Nice to meet you Mrs. De Luca.”
“It’s Ms, and thank you for your help. I appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome,” he said as I waved and walked back toward the
stairs.
That was easy. Why couldn’t it have been that easy when I arrived in Palermo? Berlin was a big city, and the fact that the front desk clerk just happened to know a family with the last name Heinrich sounded surreal. I guess that I was meant to find out about the Heinrichs. I just hoped they were the right ones. I didn’t want to have to extend my trip.
An hour and a half later, I got a phone call from Amell, the front desk clerk. He said Mrs. Heinrich had agreed to meet me. Amell gave me her address and said to meet her at three p.m. I thanked him once again and hung up the phone.
I was happy and nervous at the same time. I had no idea what I was even going to say to her tomorrow. I hoped she held the answers to a few questions I had.
I went to sleep that night thinking about how to strike up a conversation with her. No matter how many times I tried to practice, each time came out differently. I knew what I wanted to say, but I felt stupid trying. Tomorrow I would just wing it and whatever information I got I would accept it.
Tomorrow would be my only full day to do research, and I wasn’t going to leave Germany without something. I was determined.
***
The sun glaring straight into my eyes woke me up the next day. I rolled over onto my side and put the covers over my face. I wasn’t prepared for today. This was going to be a big day for me, which made me nauseous.
I pulled back the covers and quickly found my phone. It was eleven in the morning and I was scheduled to meet Mrs. Heinrich in four hours.
What was I going to do until then?
I laid in bed for another thirty minutes and then willed myself out. I took a shower, and did my hair and makeup before heading out for the day. It was getting close to one and I knew I had to eat before going to meet her. If I didn’t, then I might make myself sick.
I found a small restaurant that was apparently famous for its potatoes. The waitress ushered me to a small table fit for two and handed me a menu. I looked it over and was thankful to see English written under the German. I ordered a sprite and the mushroom schnitzel.
As I waited, I called Violet. She answered fairly quickly.
“Hey, are you doing okay?” she asked as usual.
“I’m fine, Violet. I was just checking in with you and seeing how you’re doing.”
“I’m doing fine. How was your flight?”
“It was good. The craziest thing happened too. The front desk clerk at my hotel knew a couple with the last name Heinrich, and I'm scheduled to meet the wife in two hours.”
“That is crazy,” she said with a yawn.
“I’m sorry. I woke you up, didn’t I? I'm still not used to the time difference yet.”
“No, it’s fine. I was about to have to wake up for the day anyway,” she assured me.
“Okay good. So I promised myself that the next time I talked to you that we would only talk about you. I feel terrible since the conversation is usually directed toward me. So tell me everything. How’s work? How are you and Dante?”
Violet went on to tell me that work was good. It had slowed down a bit since she finished a few projects last week. My father had told Violet not to stress out about his projects. With my absence, he didn’t want to overload her. It didn’t sound anything like him, but she assured me that those words did come from his mouth.
She then told me about her and Dante. They had been doing really well, although she was pretty sure Dante knew something was up. It was possible he was aware that Violet knew where I was, but he never asked and kept that to himself.
I talked to her the entire time I ate and we hung up shortly after I finished. It was almost eight in the morning in New Jersey and Violet needed to head off to work. I didn’t know how she managed to dodge everyone while we were on the phone, but she did. She wished me luck as we said goodbye and told me to call her if I found out any useful information.
I still had an hour before I had to meet Mrs. Heinrich, so I paid my bill and walked around for a while. She lived close by and was within walking distance of the restaurant. From what my phone said, it would take around thirty minutes by foot to get there, so I started in that direction.
I took my time as I passed each building and house. Germany was so green and beautiful. In New York, all we had were skyscrapers and a park here and there, but in Germany there was so much history. The fields went on for miles and not one inch of it was brown. The buildings were worn down with age, but still stunning.
It felt as if it didn’t take me long to reach her house. In reality it took me a little over forty-five minutes. I was a little early, but hoped fifteen minutes wasn’t too early for her.
I took a deep breath as I made my way up to the front door. I lightly knocked and heard the television shut off, and then footsteps approach the door. As the door swung backwards, there stood a short older woman in front of me. She had green eyes just like me that were framed by glasses. Her hair was white, but she barely had any wrinkles.
“You must be Caterina. Hello, I’m Stefani,” she said as she shook my hand.
“Hello,” I replied as she ushered me in. “Thank you for allowing me to meet with you.”
“It’s my pleasure. I enjoy the company. My husband is gone during most of the day, so I'm usually here by myself. May I take your coat?” she asked.
“Sure, thank you,” I replied shrugging it off. She put it in the nearest closet and led me to the kitchen and dining room area.
“If you don’t mind me saying,” I continued, “you speak English very well. I can hardly tell you have an accent.”
“My husband and I lived in America for many years. Even though we have been back in Germany for nearly thirty, I still know English fairly well.”
I nodded in response, and then an awkward silence took over until she made her way to the table.
“So dear, Amell told me that you are here to help out a friend,” she said as she poured both of us some coffee and set it on the table.
“Yes, I really hope you’re the right Heinrich family I'm looking for. She doesn’t know her family history that well and asked me to help her out while I'm over here,” I explained.
“Well, what is her name? Maybe I can try to recall who she is.”
“Faith,” I said without hesitating. Faith was the sister to Nikolas and Lucas. She had also owned a furniture and fabric store that Violet and I had got our décor from for many years.
“Ah, Faith,” she said, knowing exactly who she was.
“So, you know her?” I asked.
“Of course, she’s my granddaughter,” she said, and I knew immediately I could have just put myself in danger. I knew I wanted to learn as much information about the Heinrichs as possible, but I never thought about the ramifications of actually meeting someone who knew them.
My heart leapt from my chest, and I prayed that Faith and her grandmother had not been in contact all these years.
“Unfortunately,” she continued, “my husband and I haven’t been in contact with our family in over thirty years. We lost touch shortly after my son, Faith’s father, took over the family business. He was extremely greedy, but we only had the one child and we didn’t feel like leaving it to anyone except him.”
I had just dodged a bullet. But, if what she said was true, her husband used to be the head of the German mafia. I was in the house of my family’s greatest enemy. I clinched at the thought of it.
“Anyway dear, enough about the bad blood in my family, did Faith say exactly what she wanted to know about us?”
“Not exactly. I think she just wanted to make sure that you and your husband were okay. I don’t think she feels the same way about you as the rest of her family.”
“I thought that might be the case. Every once in a while she will send me some pictures of her and Nikolas, and if she finds a picture of Adela, she sends it to me too.”
“I don’t think I'm familiar with Adela?”
“Oh, she was Faith and Nikolas’s much older sister. She died about twenty y
ears ago. It nearly killed me when I found out.” She choked up as she said it.
“I’m so sorry for your loss,” I said as I put my hand on her arm. She laid her hand on mine and squeezed tightly.
“Would you like to see some pictures? I have a box in my room. Let me go get it,” she said as she stood and made her way to her bedroom.
I waited for a little while and listened to make sure she had made it. I heard her open her closet door and then heard a box slide off a shelf. Then there was the click of the light going off and the shuffling of her feet as she came back into the dining room.
She opened the box and started to pull pictures out.
“Here is a picture of my husband, son, and me,” she said handing it to me.
“Wow, your son has your eyes.”
“Yes, he gets a lot of things from me. Oh and here is a picture of Adela. I think she is about eighteen here.”
I took the picture and looked so intently at it. Faith and Adela looked so much alike it was scary. Adela had blonde hair and Faith had brown, but that was the only difference I could see.
Stefani continued to pull out more pictures, and before I knew it, I had a nice pile in front of me.
She continued to talk more about her family and I absorbed every word. She explained how she met her husband and then they had their son, Viktor. Stefani restated how greedy her son was and how she regretted leaving the business to him. I could tell she was angry with him. He had taken something very precious away from her. She said Adela was young when Viktor left, and that she had never had the pleasure to meet Faith or Nikolas in person.
The more she talked about it, the more I hated the Heinrichs back in New York. This woman was so lovely and sweet. I didn’t understand how Viktor could have done this to her and her husband.