Page 113 of Vita Mia

“Fuck yooooooooooooooou!” Marietta sang.

“Giovanni Battaglia and all of his henchmen are in jail.”

Marietta stopped with her taunting song and blinked in surprise.

“It’s true.” The doctor reached behind her and picked up a newspaper. She handed it to her. “Read for yourself.”

Marietta snatched the newspaper and turned away from the doctor so the cunt wouldn’t see her face when she read the byline on the front page. It had an image of Giovanni being marched in jail. It said it was him. She didn’t now. The officers covered his head and the other men with him with black hoods. An attempt to thwart off any rescue or hit squads out to challenge the arrests of the Camorra. The article stated the crimes he was being charged with. One of them included her kidnapping and the disappearance and suspected murder of Lorenzo.”

“I told you baby,” Lisa said to Marietta as she peered over her shoulder and looked at the article. “It’s coming... freedom. It’s finally here.”

Marietta smiled.

“Freedom for me. Not for him.”

“Now can we talk?” Dr. Sera asked.

“About what?” Marietta mumbled and continued to read the article. She needed to memorize every detail. She wanted to carry its words in her head when she was locked away with nothing but her memories of her daughter and husband.

“Your release. You and I are going to start working on your release, together.”

“Are you going to be my doctor? Help me get out of here?” Marietta glanced back at Sera.

“No,” Dr. Sera said. “I don’t have a medical license. I’m here on behalf of the Générale. To prepare you for the tribunal who will certify you sane for the courts. With my help, you will tell the world your story and how after the murder of your husband Giovanni Battaglia had you committed into this place to keep you quiet.”

“That isn’t my story. That’s the Générale’s story.”

Sera smiled. “Doesn’t matter. Does it?”

“And what do I have to do in return for my freedom?”

“Nothing. It’s the truth that will set you free, just like me, tell them what the Battaglias did to you. Get your life back. Get your child back. Get revenge.”

Marietta narrowed her eyes on the doctor. “What did they do to you?”

“Do you want my help or not?”

Marietta looked at Giovanni on the cover of the newspaper. She smiled and nodded. “Sure lady, whatever you say.”

***

TWO DAYS LATER MARIETTAwaited. It was hard to sit still when her heart and mind both raced at breakneck speed with doubt. The doctors were convening. She’d been interviewed, examined, and reexamined. She did everything Dr. Marchetti told her. She even started her medication again. Since taking it the visions of her mother stopped. The homicidal thoughts she had toward her sister lessened. She felt a clarity she didn’t expect.

And now her fate was in their hands.

She closed her eyes and prayed. In her heart, she didn’t believe Lorenzo was in hell. He’d repented on the boat with her before Giovanni arrived. God, was a forgiving God. He was in heaven and he was an angel now like her mother watching over her and Lorenza. He was going to rescue her. She believed it.

The door opened. In walked Dr. Sera Marchetti and the Générale. She hadn’t seen the Générale since he tricked her and had her committed to Maddalena.

“Marietta,” Sera smiled. “We have news.”

“Did they make a decision?”

The doctor nodded. “You will be released.”

Marietta put her hands to her mouth to stifle her surprise. “Your physical exams were all normal. You passed your psych review. And the doctors have unanimously agreed that your depression and psychosis is a manageable emotion.”

“Oh my God. I can’t trust it.”

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