Page 93 of Victorious Vice

My parents’ housekeeper—myhousekeeper—Phyllis, meets me at the door when I return home by nine a.m.

“Mr. Gallo,” she says, “it’s good to have you home.”

“Where’s Daniela?” I ask.

“She’s upstairs with our guest.” She thins her lips. “Miss Serena had a rough night.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“She’s not ill or anything, but she slept fretfully,” Phyllis says. “The nurse will be here soon. She texted me to tell me she had caught traffic and will be a little late.”

“See about finding a live-in nurse,” I tell her. “Serena is elderly, and she has been treated poorly. I believe she needs round-the-clock care. I don’t expect Daniela to do all of that.”

“Daniela is quite good with her,” Phyllis says, “but I understand.”

The intercom buzzes by the door.

“That’s probably the nurse,” Phyllis says. “Would you like me to take care of it?”

“Yes,” I say. “Send her up. I’m going to go up and see how Serena is doing.”

I ascend the curved stairway to the second floor.

This is the home where I grew up. Where I spent my first eighteen years, as the older son of Vincent Gallo Senior and his wife, Caroline Bianchi Gallo.

Funny. I’ve been back for a couple of months now, and I still feel like a stranger here. I spent nearly half of my life out of the country, away from this home.

I knock softly on the guestroom door where we’ve settled Serena.

“Yes, come in.” Daniela’s voice.

She looks up when she sees me. Serena is in her rocker. She looks good. Still too thin, and her face is wrinkled, but her eyes brighten when she sees me.

“Vinnie,” she says in her crackly elderly voice. “I’m so glad to see you.”

This is the second time she’s called me Vinnie. She’s making progress, no longer calling me Mario.

“Good to see you too, Serena. I have a surprise for you. You’re going to have round-the-clock nursing care.”

She frowns. “I don’t need that. I’m perfectly fine.”

“Serena, you were held captive for over fifty years in Colombia. The doctor says you’re in decent health, but you’re weak, and you need care.”

She swallows, her eyes sullen. “Only the first couple years were bad, Vinnie. After that, they left me alone. They fed me.”

“They kept you locked in a room.”

“Yes, but believe me. I learned to be grateful for that.” Her breath hitches. “Especially after those first years.”

“I’m not going to ask you what they did to you.” I turn to Daniela. “Did you know she was in your father’s home?”

“No, I didn’t. I was just a kid for most of that time.”

I rub my forehead. “Right. Sometimes I forget you’re only seventeen years old. You seem much older.”

“I was forced to grow up quickly,” she says.

I don’t press her on that. I know too well what she’s been through.

---