Say Goodbye and Goodnight
Page 23
*****
Now that my story is all said and done, it wasn’t so bad after all. Sal and Angie married, and despite my father’s wishes, they moved to the Island and had six beautiful kids. Their firstborn? You guessed it, Anthony!
My cousin Angela married that moron Georgie Robusto from the barbershop, who later became the bank manager of the Manufacture’s Hanover on 86th Street. Go figure.
My mother and father found some appearance of solace through their wealth of grandchildren. My father, though, did suffer terribly, planting a forest of figs to get through it all.
Carla ended up having a miscarriage, while Finkleman was disbarred after a group of his clients came clean about his practices. He ended up selling used cars on Empire Boulevard, till he was arrested for molesting a thirteen-year-old girl. Later in life, Carla became a reality star on some TV show about housewives and sold her own brand of tomato sauce in the supermarkets. Who would have thought?
In his overly ambitious climb to become a made man, Louie Baldassari was gunned down over a drug deal that went bad. A few months after, Jo-Jo Restelli was arrested for Louie’s murder and is now on death row.
A few weeks after I was murdered, the infamous Son of Sam was captured and identified. As ridiculous as it all sounds, this monster who terrorized a city for a summer, claimed to take his orders from a dog named Harvey.
Vito took my advice, and not only dated, but married Gina Romano. He adopted her daughter; they found joy and never left the neighborhood. Sonny was discovered by a big Hollywood producer to star in a TV series about a mob family in New Jersey.
Danny Gallo still rules the roost in the neighborhood, although what little hair he has left is as white as snow, and his suits are not as sharp anymore. Most days you can find him sitting alone in a beach chair in front of the golf store, gesturing to people who no longer exist.
Several days before I perished, I ran into that ancient man who for years pumped his meaty fists in the air, yet never uttered a single word. That early morning, unlike any other before, he stopped me. He leaned close and in a raspy voice, whispered to me in the mother tongue what unknowingly was an omen;
Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up.
It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion, or it will be killed.
Every morning a lion wakes up.
It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle, or it will starve to death.
It doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle:
When the sun comes up, you’d better be running. (a)
I guess I should have hated less, and learned to run faster.
Gia never returned to Romeo and Juliet’s, and rarely came back to Brooklyn. She married something called a hedge fund manager who moved her into a million-dollar apartment on the Upper Eastside of Manhattan and treated her well. The power of love made me both warrior and angel. The love we had for each other was pure and free, never possessive or jealous, always kind and loving. She could never find a way to let go. On a clear night, she would gaze up to the sky above, her hand reaching for my star. She had my son, Anthony Jr, and at night when she tucks him tightly away, safe from all the evils of this world, she hugs him close and tells him tall tales of a fighter from Brooklyn, and a love to last an eternity.
The End
Bibliography
(a) “The World is Flat” by Thomas Friedman
(b) Romeo and Juliet (Act 2, Scene 2) by William Shakespeare
(c) New York Daily News
(d) Malcolm X
(e) Salman Rushdie
(f) The great Benny Leonard by Damien Burton.
Cover artwork- “Cliff Dwellers” by George Bellows.
About the Author
David Ruggerio is a celebrity chef. He was honored in 1995 as one of the thirteen best young chefs in America. He went on to star in his own popular PBS series; Little Italy with David Ruggerio, and his iconic series on Food Network; Ruggerio to Go.
David has written two cookbooks, Little Italy with David Ruggerio and David Ruggerio's Italian Kitchen. David has also penned his first novel in 2019 entitled, A Wistful Tale of Gods, Men, and Monsters.
Note from the Author
Word-of-mouth is crucial for any author to succeed. If you enjoyed Say Goodbye and Goodnight, please leave a review online—anywhere you are able. Even if it’s just a sentence or two. It would make all the difference and would be very much appreciated.
Thanks!
David
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