by J. D. Griffo
Tugging and pressing down on the seatbelt latch, she finally felt it release. She grabbed onto the roof of the car and hoisted herself up so she was standing on the seat with half of her body wedged inside the window frame. Then she crouched down and pushed off, propelling her body upward, her hips and thighs scraping against the sides of the frame. This time Memory Lake offered no sense of peace and freedom, only desperation: She had to reach the top of the lake before she ran out of breath. And that moment was quickly approaching.
All sense of reason left her brain as her mouth was fighting to open and take a deep breath. Kicking her legs and thrashing her arms wildly, Alberta pushed herself up higher and higher until she could see the dark black water lighten in shade to navy blue. No, not navy blue, she thought, that was what started this whole adventure. Lucy’s damn navy blue suit. She’d have to remember to rid her wardrobe of that color once she was able to wear dry clothes again.
Finally, Alberta burst through the water for the second time in one night and started gasping for air. She looked over and could see Marion silhouetted against the moonlight, one arm stroking as he swam toward the edge of the lake, the other extended at his side, still attached to the briefcase that followed him like a persistent buoy.
“Help me!” Alberta screamed.
She didn’t wait to see if Marion turned to look at her, but threw her arms up in the air and let herself sink. Opening her eyes underwater, she couldn’t see if he was swimming toward her, all she could see was darkness.
Rising up again, she thrashed herself from side to side and screamed even louder, “Help me! I’m drowning!”
Taking a deep breath, she let her body submerge under the water, and this time when she opened her eyes she saw the faint image of Marion, still clutching the briefcase, swimming toward her.
“Hurry!” Alberta screamed, water spitting from her mouth. “Please Marion, hurry!”
This time Alberta allowed her body to submerge even deeper and didn’t put up any struggle. Arms out to her side, legs unmoving, she was starting to drop to the bottom of the lake. And she would have, had Marion not reached out to grab her.
He wrapped his right arm around her chest and together they broke the surface of the lake, but when he tried to swim to safety with only his feet to motor them, it became evident that he would need both arms to be successful.
They floated there for a few moments, Alberta’s body pressed close to Marion’s, neither of them speaking, their choppy breathing making the only sound, and finally Marion made the decision Alberta was confident he would make: he opened his hand and let go of the briefcase. It was a turning point because they both knew that he wasn’t just letting go of the money, but also of any hope he had of starting a new life.
With both arms free, he was able to hold Alberta tightly and swim toward land. He was a few feet away before he saw the twirling red light in the distance and the people standing along the shore. The intrusion surprised him so much that they switched roles, and Alberta had to pull a dumbfounded Marion to the banks of the lake or he might have been the one to sink to the bottom.
“Grandma!” Jinx screamed, running toward her. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine, lovey,” Alberta panted as she dragged Marion’s unhelpful body behind her. “But how in the world did you find us?”
“Aunt Joyce put a GPS tracker in the briefcase,” Jinx explained. “Just like the one on her business card.”
“Ah, Madon, that one’s full of surprises, ain’t she?”
On his knees, Marion sat back on his haunches and looked at the spectacle in front of him. He looked as if he was bearing witness to one of the great wonders of the world, not members of the Tranquility police force. “But I said no police.”
“Didn’t your mother ever tell you that women don’t do what they’re told?” Jinx asked. “My cell phone was in Aunt Joyce’s car. You should’ve checked before kidnapping my grandmother!”
Still lost in his own reality, Marion turned to Alberta and said, “But you were the only one Mother would ever approve of.”
Not knowing whether to laugh in Marion’s face or hug him tenderly, Alberta replied, “Well, you know what they say? Mother does know best.”
Even when Vinny told Marion that he was under arrest for kidnapping, drug smuggling, and attempted murder, and Detective Miyahara handcuffed him and started reading him his rights, the faraway look never left his eyes. He didn’t resist arrest, he didn’t scream to the heavens that he was innocent, nor did he break down and cry for Mommy, he accepted his fate like the good little boy that he was. And even after everything he did and all that he wanted to do, it still almost broke Alberta’s heart.
“Don’t hurt him,” she said watching Kichiro walk Marion to a waiting police car.
“Don’t worry about him, we’re doing this one by the book,” Vinny assured. “Now, Alfie, did he hurt you?”
Shaking her head dismissively, she said, “No, not at all. The only thing he did was point a gun at me and make me drive his car off into the sunset so the two of us could live happily ever after.”
“And how did the car wind up in the lake?” Vinny asked.
“Oh, I swerved off the road.”
“Deliberately?”
“How else was I going to snap him out of it?” Alberta asked. “He was determined to run off with me, and I knew the cops would be after him and it would not end well.”
“You could’ve gotten yourself killed!” Vinny exploded. He shrugged his shoulders and threw his arms out in front of him with his palms up. “Quanto stupido si può essere?”
“That’s what I’d like to know,” Helen said joining the group near the edge of the lake. “Just how stupid are you, Berta? How’d you know that Marion wasn’t going to let you drown so he could run off with all that cash in the briefcase?”
Alberta wrapped the thin gray blanket that one of the policewomen had given her tighter around her still wet body and shook her head. “First of all, Helen, I didn’t need Marion to save me from drowning because I’m a damn good swimmer, thank you very much. Second of all, I knew that deep down he would make the right choice. Marion’s guasto . . . damaged . . . but in his own twisted way I knew that he cared about me and wouldn’t hurt me. Yes, I know that he hurt Lucy, but Denise is the cold-blooded killer. You know that, Vinny, don’t you?”
“Yes, Alberta,” he replied, gritting his teeth. “Your fellow detectives filled me in on that.”
“Good! She’s the evil one,” Alberta stated. “Even though Marion did all those other things, I knew that in his heart there was still some goodness left.”
“Ashpet!” Helen cursed. “You think deep down everybody’s good! Looks like I have to teach you some things about the world.”
Helen turned away from her sister, but not before Alberta saw her wipe away the tears that had gathered in her eyes. Joyce put her arm around Helen and for once the woman didn’t try to escape the embrace.
“Oh, Joyce!” Alberta cried. “How’s your head?”
“I’m fine,” she replied. “A bit of a headache, but it’ll go away.”
“Maybe you’ll feel better when they pull your hundred grand out of the lake,” Jinx said, trying to console her aunt.
It did the trick, because Joyce roared with laughter. “Oh honey, that money’s fake! My friend keeps it as a decoy in case she needs to impress a client with how liquid her cash flow is.”
Stunned, Alberta replied, “You bet my life on a briefcase full of fake money?”
Still laughing, Joyce replied, “Sometimes, Alberta, you have to take a really big gamble to fully appreciate life.”
“Next time, let’s roll the dice with your life, okay?” Alberta said, shaking her head, but unable to resist laughing right along with Joyce.
The laughter proved infectious, and soon Jinx and Helen joined in. The four of them wrapped their arms around each other, thankful that their adventure, while not going exactly as they had planned, had end
ed safely. Vinny watched the women in disbelief, but couldn’t hide his admiration.
“I have to hand it to you, Alfie,” he started. “If it weren’t for you, we would’ve thought Lucy’s death was just an accident and Denise would’ve gotten away with murder. And Marion would have kept on selling drugs to those international dealers.”
“If that’s your way of saying thank you, Vinny,” Alberta replied, “We accept.”
“Chief, what’s going to happen to Beverly?” Jinx asked.
“Well, even though she set all of this into motion, technically the only thing she did was steal Lucy’s TV Guide collection,” he conveyed. “I think in light of the ordeal she’s been through, we can forget about charging her with theft.”
“The real question is, will she be able to forgive herself?” Helen asked. “If she hadn’t stolen Lucy’s property and tried to get a marriage proposal out of it, Lucy would still be alive.”
Helen’s comment made the air so thick it was difficult to speak. But as with all of life’s events, no matter how terrible the situation, there’s always another way to look at things.
“At least now Lucy can rest in peace knowing that her killer has been brought to justice,” Alberta said.
“Thanks to her worst enemy,” Jinx added.
“You mean thanks to all of us, lovey.”
Clearing his throat loudly and assuming his no-nonsense chief of police stance, Vinny added, “And about that, Alfie. Promise me that you and your cohorts aren’t going to try anything like this again. You got lucky this time, but in the future leave the crime solving to the professionals.”
Holding Jinx’s hand and flanked by Helen and Joyce, a mischievous smile slowly formed on Alberta’s lips. “The only thing I can promise is that we’ll try very hard not to make the professionals look bad,” Alberta said. “But it looks to me like the Ferrara family detectives are just getting started.”
EPILOGUE
Finché c’è vita c’è speranza.
Memory Lake looked so much different basking in the morning sunlight. It looked calm and peaceful, majestic and strong, nothing at all like the setting of fear and chaos from the previous night.
Alberta and Jinx sat next to each other in the Adirondack chairs drinking coffee and sharing the silence. Lola couldn’t decide which lap was the ideal napping spot, so she chose to lay on the grass between the two chairs, her eyes half-closed, and every once in a while letting out a throaty purr to let the women know she enjoyed their company.
“You must be tired, lovey,” Alberta said. “Staying up all night to finish your article.”
“I guess I’m still too excited,” Jinx gathered. “It’ll be my first real byline, shared of course with Calhoun, but my first published news article about something really important. And Wyck’s promised that I can start to work on more hard news stories and not just fluff pieces now that I’ve proven myself.”
“I’m so proud of you.”
“Thanks, Gram, but I couldn’t have done it without you. Or Aunt Helen and Aunt Joyce. Lucy’s been vindicated and Denise and Marion are in jail because of the four of us.”
“And Beverly gets the chance to start her life over, I’m happy about that,” Alberta added. “Vinny said she’s selling her condo and moving to South Jersey to be with her sister. Family really is the only thing you can count on when you hit rock bottom.”
“Unfortunately, you can’t always count on them to do the right thing,” Jinx sniped. “Lucy’s worthless daughter, Enza, didn’t care about her mother for years, but she’ll still get to benefit from selling Lucy’s TV Guide collection now that they retrieved it from the bottom of the lake.”
“Maybe Olive Berekshnyav will decide not to buy the collection after all,” Alberta mused. “And even if she does, I don’t think the extra cash is going to make Enza any happier. Some things even money can’t buy.”
Like a new romance. Or two.
Lola didn’t move from her sunshine-soaked location, but raised her head and purred loudly to greet Freddy and Sloan as they entered the backyard. They had not arrived together, but they came with the same thought in mind.
“I’m so glad to hear that the two of you are all right,” Sloan said. “The entire town is talking about how you ladies single-handedly found out who killed poor Lucy Agostino.”
“And took down the local drug cartel!” Freddy exclaimed.
“For a quiet little town, gossip sure spreads quickly around here,” Alberta joked.
Laughing along with her, Sloan replied, “Oh you’ll soon learn that nobody around here minds their own business.”
“Speaking of business, Jinx,” Freddy said. “I kind of have to work the Waterfest, you know, giving scuba lessons and all that, but I was hoping you’d be my date for the Aqua Ball Saturday night.”
Until that moment, Jinx had absolutely no intention of attending the party that was going to close out the Waterfest celebration, thinking that the entire event was ridiculous and small-town nonsense. But when she looked up into Freddy’s blue eyes and saw his big ears practically flopping in the wind, she suddenly knew there was no place she’d rather be than dancing in Freddy’s arms on Saturday night.
“I’d love to,” she said.
“That’s quite a coincidence,” Sloan said. “Because the real reason I came here was to ask you the same question, Alberta.”
Before Alberta could even process that she was being asked out on her first date in over forty years, Jinx shrieked. “Oh, say yes, Gram! We’ll go on a double date!”
She felt the same tingling feeling in the pit of her stomach when she looked into Sloan’s smiling eyes as Jinx did when she looked at Freddy, and her response to the invitation was the same: “I’d love to.”
“If the couples are done contaminating the fresh air with romance, we have some business to attend to.” They all turned to see Helen and Joyce standing behind them. Joyce was carrying a bottle of vodka and four red plastic cups and Helen was wearing her usual disgruntled expression. “Sorry, fellas, this is a girls-only party,” she barked.
Having succeeded in achieving what they had each come for, Sloan and Freddy instinctively knew not to push their luck. They quickly said their good-byes and left. Once the men had gone, Helen pulled two more chairs closer to Alberta and Jinx and Joyce started pouring the vodka into cups.
“Joyce, it’s ten in the morning!” Alberta cried
Handing Alberta a cup filled with vodka, Joyce replied, “Since when have we ladies played by the rules?”
“Plus, it’s bacon-flavored vodka,” Helen said, allowing Lola to move languidly in between and around her legs. “So, consider it your breakfast.”
Alberta had pushed the boundaries of her comfort zone lately, but when she smelled the vodka, she wasn’t sure she was adventurous enough to taste such a concoction. “Ah, Madon, this doesn’t smell so good.”
“Basta! It’s no worse than anything Jinx has ever made us eat,” Helen said. “Drink up!”
The four women raised their plastic cups in a silent toast and then sipped their vodka. To their surprise they all enjoyed the taste. Looking straight ahead they enjoyed the sight as well. Slowly they watched Marion’s car being removed from its watery grave so it couldn’t pollute the lake with its rust or its reminder of recent events.
“È fantastico! It’s like cleansing a body and starting all over,” Alberta remarked. “Getting rid of the trash so only the good parts remain.”
She reached out to grab Jinx’s hand and was so grateful to have her back in her life. Sitting in the company of her family, she realized she had been so wrong. She whispered to herself, “Finché c’è vita c’è Speranza,” and for the first time understood the power and the truth of those words.
Where there’s life, there really is hope.
RECIPES from the
Ferrara Family Kitchen
ALBERTA’S HOMEMADE MEATBALLS AND GRAVY
MEATBALLS
1 pound chopped meat
, 70 – 77 percent lean
1 pound ground pork
1 cup of grated pecorino Romano cheese—Locatelli brand, that’s all I ever use
2 eggs
2 slices of bread soaked in whole milk or water
Garlic—not too much, but just enough—you’ll know when it’s right by the smell
A couple of pinches of parsley
1. Mix everything together in a large bowl.
2. Roll into meatballs about the size of golf balls—remember they’re Sicilian, not Swedish.
3. Fry them in a large pan in about ¼ inch extra virgin olive oil—Partanna if you can find it, or Colavita. I don’t know for how long, but practice and you’ll figure it out.
4. Drain on paper towels—not the cheap brand either!
GRAVY
2 28-ounce cans of crushed tomatoes—Cento brand, do not use Hunt’s no matter what my sister Helen says
1 6-ounce can of tomato paste—again, only use Cento Garlic—as much as you want, but remember a little goes a long way
1. Put everything in a large pot, cover, and bring to a boil.
2. Add in your meatballs and let it simmer.
3. Cook on a low simmer for at least 45 minutes. I cook the gravy for 60 minutes, no less, because I like a thick gravy.
JINX’S VEGAN MEATBALLS
¼ cup couscous—Bob’s Red Mill brand is my favorite
¼ cup water
1 15-ounce can of chickpeas
½ cup of chopped onions
3 tablespoons of ketchup
Some pinches of Italian spices—McCormick works, but I only use Oh My Spice gluten-free spices
A pinch of black pepper and sea salt
½ cup of brown rice flour
1. Bring a small pot of water to boil and stir in the couscous until it gets to a crazy boil.