Page 186 of Golden Atonement

Giving the goof my undivided attention, I narrowed my eyes and glared. “Jesus, Massacre. I don’t know the exact time. I don’t have his ass LoJacked. And what’s with the interrogation? Are you hiding something you don’t want Max to know?”

“Who, me?!” he sputtered, then hightailed it out of the kitchen as Maria snickered.

“That boy will never change. Always the prankster. One of these days, he’s gonna play a prank and it’s gonna bite him in the ass. Then he will learn.”

“Not so sure about that, Maria. Massacre lives to annoy.”

Wiping her hands on a tea towel, she pulled out a chair and took a seat. “Has he ever told you why he likes pranks?”

I chuckled. “You mean there is a reason for his madness?”

Maria nodded. “Oh yes. It started right after his father left. The boys were still young, but old enough to know. Dwayne, being the oldest, tried to shield Reggie from most of the family gossip. I don’t need to tell you how fast gossip can spread within a family and the Valentinetti’s were no different. While Valentino and Nicoletta rallied around Donatella, the boys, well... they were ignored. No one in the family thought to explain anything to them.”

“How old were they when their father left?”

“Dwayne had just turned thirteen, and Reggie was eight.”

“That’s a hard time for boys to lose their father,” I muttered while Maria nodded and continued.

“Very true. More so for Reggie because he adored his dad. They were so much alike, and when Colin left, Dwayne felt it was his responsibility to step in and take care of Reggie. Can you imagine a thirteen-year-old boy raising and molding his younger brother? It became too much for Dwayne and well, that’s when the pranks began. Reggie was a sullen boy. Shy, he preferred books to people, which wasn’t conducive since he was born into a boisterous Italian family. The only one he really talked to back then was Catarina. Anyway, Dwayne, being the light-hearted and loving boy he was, decided it was time for Reggie to step out of his shell.”

I smirked. “Bet that went well. Player is still a sedate and reserved man.”

Maria chuckled. “Yes, he is. But never tell Dwayne that, because he firmly believes that Reggie is the man he is today because of everything he did.”

“What do you mean?”

“Back then, the family was different. More reserved and appearances were everything. Valentino ran the family with afirm hand and believed that the boys should always act a certain way and no matter what, the family came first.”

Shaking my head, I muttered, “Yeah. Why do I get the feeling that Massacre didn’t agree?”

“Because he didn’t. With no father as the buffer, Donatella couldn’t stop her brother from taking charge, and that’s when Dwayne exerted his own personality.”

“Pranks.”

Maria nodded. “Pranks. At first, the family said nothing because the pranks were harmless, and we all thought that Dwayne was just a typical teenage boy. However, as the years went by, the pranks became more elaborate and soon, Valentino’s own son was involved.”

“Sal?” I smirked.

“Yes. Dear Salvatore. I don’t care what anyone says, Salvatore and Dwayne were kindred spirits. Oh, don’t get me wrong, those two butted heads often, but when it came down to it, those two were thick as thieves. Where one was, you would always find the other. Anyway, as the pranks became more elaborate, Reggie slowly came out of his shell. Before any of us realized it, Reggie was laughing again. Even Giovanni noticed and sometimes helped the boys with their pranks. Then everything changed when Valentino died and Giovanni took over the family. It was like the laughter just vanished again and once more Reggie sank back into his shell.”

“When was this?”

“Reggie had just graduated high school.”

“The same time he and Catarina...”

“Yes,” Maria whispered. “All Dwayne ever wanted was for his brother to be happy, and when he found Reggie beaten and left for dead at the hands of Angelo Demarco, Catarina’s older brother and the right-hand man to Giovanni, Dwayne saw the family for what they truly were for the first time in his life.”

“Mafia.”

“Yes.”

“I don’t understand. How could Dwayne not see it before?”

“Because like most, Dwayne only saw what he wanted to see, but seeing his little brother fight to breathe, Dwayne quickly put two and two together as to why their dad left. Not that the family didn’t love Colin, we did, but he wasn’t Italian. The family considered him an outsider and always would be. Dwayne knew that if he and Reggie stayed, they would suffer the same discrimination as their dad.”

“That’s why they left.”

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