Page 184 of La Dolce Vita

"I got something I kept just for you. I know Mia is having a hard time. The abortion thing is big to her. I understood. But it was never something that kept us from being close. It was secrets and lies that did." Minnie went to the trunk of the car. "Mia has a different view of life because of her devotion to her grandfather. Not like you. You just want to know your mother. Mia never really tried to understand what happened to Lisa. I guess she got her reasons for that. I swear in all the years I’ve known her Mia never asked one single question about her mother."

“Really?” Marietta frowned. She looked back to the farmhouse. Mirabella was staring at them from the window.

"Here," Minnie said. "I found this in the attic too. It was a diary your mother kept when she ran away. I never read it. I wanted to a few times, but I never did. It's Lisa's story. Maybe she wrote it so one day you could read it. And this here is a song she recorded and brought home. Album."

"What?" Marietta felt as if the key to heaven was put in her hands.

"Yes," Minnie grinned. "Ever heard the old Negro spiritual 'Motherless Child’? Folks say that song was sung by slaves when the masters would come and separate the fathers from the mothers, and the children from the mothers. It was the only true song that spoke of all the pain from back then. Nowadays Rock and Roll bands and musicians sing it without understanding the meaning. Lisa sang it. It was a gift she brought home to give to Bessie-Mae, who used to sing it on the ‘chitlin’ circuit. Lisa didn’t know that Bessie-Mae had killed herself when she ran away. So sad she was too late. Just like it’s too late for you to know Lisa. This here is your mother. You listen to that and hear her pain, and hear her love for you. It all make sense now sweetheart. Lisa went back for you. She had gotten a job and was going to raise her girls herself. I wish she had told me then. I would have found you. I don't know what happened in Chicago. But I do know she loved you deeply."

"Thank you so much," Marietta wept. She hugged Minnie. "For everything. For keeping this. For being a friend to Mama. Thank you."

"It's okay, baby. You gone be a mama soon too. You focus all that love and energy you got in you on that baby. Give your child what your mother wanted to give to you. Okay?"

Marietta nodded. She stepped back. She watched Minnie and her daughter’s pile in the car and drive off. She waved until they disappeared.

When Marietta returned inside she put the gifts Minnie gave her on the record player. Mirabella didn’t ask what they were. She didn’t seem interested. She seem more shell shocked than anything. Marietta could see the last of her sister’s strength had slipped away. Marietta went to her and helped her. She let her cry. She didn't tell her to stop. Sometimes crying helped. They went upstairs to the master bedroom where the children were. She and Mirabella stood at the door. "Look at your babies. You can't change what you did in the past. But you can make it up through them. Loving them." Marietta kissed her sister’s cheek. "We have a good life, Mira. The best life. We have the life our mother wanted. Men who love us. Family. That's what we focus on. Promise me."

“I promise.”

ChapterTwenty-Seven

American Gangster

Apple Grove, Virginia

The day spent on the lake fishing was one of the most relaxing ones he’s had. Fishing with his sons reminded him of when he was just a boy andPatriwould take him out on his boat. Giovanni found it ironic that he had to come all the way to America to make such memories with his sons when they lived so close to paradise.

Gino wanted to jump off the boat and into the lake. So Lorenzo had to hold him. Gianni would let no one hold him. Clyde and his sons talked about life in Apple Grove and their past. He found most interesting the story of Clyde's mother. Apparently, she was a singer like Mirabella's mom. Though he didn't say how she died, he shared some pretty wild tales of how unconventional of a mother she was.

When they day ended the men had agreed to take the boys to the local barber for their first haircut. It soon became apparent that the time in the sun and on the water had exhausted his sons. The children collapsed in complete exhaustion and never woke. So dinner and a beer was good enough for him. After the night he had with his wife he truly began to believe the worst of her issues were behind him. Coming to America was a good idea.

"The young-un’s go to the skating rink. It turns into a nightspot after dark but closes early. This is the only place that stays open late for a beer, and a game of darts is Larry's. I think you boys will enjoy it," Clyde said.

"As long as the pint doesn't take like piss I'm in," Lorenzo said from the backseat.

Clyde glanced over to Giovanni for his approval. It was something men did when in his presence without being told. There were some who would say it was because of his arrogance. The people in Italy and Sicily would say it was out of respect for his ties to theCamorra,and his father’s legacy. But he knew differently. There were men, alpha men in the world that always took charge. Just as there were followers who always stood a step behind. It was nature. And that was why Giovanni knew this man Cutter was as much of a threat to his wife’s happiness as Kei Hyogo ever was.

“Tell me about Cutter,” Giovanni said.

Clyde drove at a moderate speed through a neighborhood before he turned onto the artery of the main road through town.

“Not much to tell. He’s a bully Always has been. Tried to claim it was because he was a boxer, but some men are just that way.”

“How did he and my wife become so involved?”

Clyde glanced over to him and then back to the road. “She tell you about Cutter?”

“I know everything. She tells me everything.”

“Then you know how they got involved?” Clyde asked.

Giovanni considered the question for a moment. It was odd. He knew what Cutter had done to hurt his wife. He knew what pain she carried over their time together. And he knew her shame over her mistakes. But he still didn’t know the reasons why.

“I want to hear it from someone other than her. Were you around when they met?” Giovanni asked.

“Yeah. I was. Didn’t know she was sneaking out of the house to see him. Found that out later. Much later. Mirabella was a sweet girl. Very obedient. I think it's a shame that her only act of rebellion was with that scumbag,” Clyde said and came to a stop at a traffic light. He tapped his finger on the steering wheel. “She liked to see him box. That’s what the girls said. She would go to the recreation center and watch him and the boys box. He noticed her. Guess it went from there.”

"Is this where Cutter hangs his hat?" Giovanni asked.

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