Page 145 of La Dolce Vita

"Take off the pictures and lift the lid. See for yourself."

"I will!" Marietta grinned.

"I may not have been able to do much when I was growing up, but I had my music. When I turned sixteen, Granddaddy surprised me with it. He even tolerated my music. It was just him and me then. He would rock in his chair on the porch and read his paper, while I played every new record I could get my hands on, and dance until I was exhausted. Some of the best memories for me."

Marietta pushed back from the table and walked over to the cabinet. She removed the pictures, plant, and doily cover. Mirabella turned in her chair and watched. Her sister opened the chest to find many albums and eight track cassettes inside. She looked almost overcome with giddiness.

"Girl, you have everything!" Marietta exclaimed.

"Shhhh... The kids, remember?" Mirabella warned.

"Diana Ross! Upside Down, boy you turn me!" Marietta rolled her hips. "We got Michael Jackson 'Off the Wall,' Kool and the Gang 'Ladies Night' and oh my God! Pointer Sisters 'He's So Shy'. Everything!"

Mirabella smiled. "Go ahead. Play something. Just keep the volume down."

"Oh, okay!" she grinned. She put on the S.O.S. Band 'Take Your Time (Do it Right)'.

"Baby, you can do it..." Marietta said dancing around the room. "Take your tiiimmeeee!"

Mirabella laughed.

"Get up! Dance! C'mon. Dance with me," Marietta said.

Mirabella got up. The two of them moved the coffee table to make room in the living room. She snapped her fingers and swayed her hips. Caught up in laughter and the rhythm, they danced around the living room bumping hips and working their shoulders. It was the best of times.

***

"It took us forever to find this fucking place," Angelo Gambini said. He zipped up the duffel bag with the approved weapons of choice for Giovanni and Lorenzo. He tossed them over to Lorenzo who caught them mid toss. "Why the hell are you out here? In the woods. Not enough of this backward shit in Italy?"

"Family," Giovanni said without a hint of smile.

"Eh, Gio, ignore my brother. He runs at the mouth like diarrhea. He only means you are welcome in Philly. Dad would love to see you," Reno said. Angelo looked over to his brother Reno. Giovanni knew the look. He waited for the men to speak their mind. Lorenzo did as well. Angelo wasn't pissed about the drive into Virginia. No, he was pissed like his father, over Giovanni's declaration. He would need to have the balls to say it to Giovanni's face.

"I hear there's trouble in Sicily now. A lot of confusion," Angelo said what his cousin Reno couldn't.

Lorenzo dropped the bag to his feet and stared down at Angelo. Why was it the little ones who always had the biggest mouths? Giovanni cut his gaze over to Lorenzo to remind him to keep his cool. His children were inside, and they weren't at home.

"All business has stopped, Gio. We have our concerns. If the Dons of Sicily decide to turn against Mancini, then we too have to make a call. Decide where we stand. You understand. We got a lot invested inla Camorra."

"My wife is a Mancini. Your father knows it, and now the Dons of Sicily know it. This is a family matter, not a business matter. And when it does become a business matter I'll speak to your father about it.Capisce?"

"Capisco--I understand.” Angelo nodded and grinned. "You still a tough motherfucker. Still, eh, this ain't Italy."

"Angelo! Let's go," Reno grabbed him by the shoulders and massaged them as if Angelo was a prize fighter. Giovanni shook his head at the brothers and their pathetic display of bravado. He saw the defiance in Angelo's glare but wasn't shaken by it. He'd be happy to teach him a lesson in America.

"Just saying. You one tough motherfucker who likes to do it the hard way. First the Russians, then the Triad, now the Mafiosi. What's next? Us?"

Giovanni winked.

Angelo glanced to Lorenzo; he then glanced to Giovanni. He shook his head with a sly smile and turned and walked away. Reno stuck out his hand to shake Giovanni's. Giovanni didn't return the gesture. He was insulted, but not angry. He wanted that message clear. Reno lowered his hand and nodded respectfully, then got back inside with his cousin. The two men sped off the farmland, leaving a cloud of dust behind.

"I feel better now that we have these," Lorenzo said. He picked up the bag he dropped and shook it with the guns.

"You think there will be trouble?" Giovanni asked.

"There is always going to be trouble, Giovanni, as long as we are at war with the Mafia. The Gambinis are right. We need to neutralize Armando before he gains more support with the other families, here and at home."

"Have a little faith, cousin. That news conference made him look weak, not strong. The families never air their problems to the world. We have him on the ropes, and I'm just getting started."

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