Page 71 of The Killer Cupcake
"Name's Carmine Boanno. The woman we carried out is my wife, Janey. She's half Negro, Kathy's aunt. That's what brought trouble to your door. And I’m here to collect her and pay for any damages. With apologies from Don Marcello."
"You one of them Sicilians? Don? From where?"
"New Orleans." Carmine removed his hat.
"Ah, so that's how you marry a mulatto. Not my business." Mabel's grip stayed steady. "Kathy told me she don't want to see you. She's under my protection now. So like I said—six seconds to get gone."
"I understand. Her and her aunt had words. Bad ones. She's got every right to her anger." Carmine kept his voice even. “I’d like to speak with her with your permission before we go. I’m asking you to relay my request—just me, nobody else. You can supervise. Then we leave."
"The hell we will!" Matteo snapped.
“He’s young and stupid, Mabel. Kill him so that we can speak business,” Carmine said without looking back.
Mabel's shotgun swung toward Matteo, and she lifted it high to aim. “Wait! No! Don’t shoot!” Matteo gasped, hands up. He stumbled backward. She cut Carmine a knowing look. They had now understood each other. Matteo was still a weakling, especially in the dirty South. He had no clue about the politics here. Mabel was sure that Boanno was the one in charge.
She lowered the gun, murmured something to the man beside her, and handed it off. Smart woman—killing Sicilians would bring more heat than one scared colored girl was worth.
"Fine. But your time's short. One of them twitches wrong, my boys start shooting."
Carmine glanced at Matteo. "You heard her, tadpole. Keep your fucking mouth shut and your men in the cars. Let me handle this."
"You caused this!" Matteo's control cracked. "You told your wife, she told Kathy, and now we're all dead if Carmelo doesn't fight!"
"Death's coming regardless," Carmine sighed. He settled his hat and climbed the steps, cane clicking against wood.
Matteo ordered his men back to the cars. Watching Carmine disappear inside, he prayed to any saint listening that Kathy would see reason for all their sakes.
Kathy had little to pack.She stood still in the middle of the room. She held the lilac dress she'd sewn to wear on the night of his big fight. Even cut the fabric to look more beautiful for him. Tears fell freely. Last night, he'd painted pretty lies about Vegas, about their perfect life in the desert. All while his wife and babies waited at home.
What about the baby she'd carried?The shame of being cast out with a child? The endless months toiling in Butts, separated from everyone she loved? All for his fairytale. All lies.
She'd never thought herself capable of hating anyone more than King Redmond. But this betrayal cut to the bone.
She shoved the dress into her bag and pulled on her shoes. The door opened. Mabel entered first, but Carmine Boanno followed, making Kathy take several steps back.
“It’s okay, sweetie. He said he is married to your aunt and wants to speak, and then he is gone. It’s still your choice. My thinking is that speaking with him may settle the matter and prevent whatever brought you here from following you home. So you can have that conversation while I stay close. What do you say?”
Kathy’s gaze volleyed between Mabel and Carmine. She was so wound tight with emotion that she could barely summon her voice, so she nodded her agreement, her vision permanently blurred through tears.
“Janey left our bed in the middle of the night. I fell asleep in a chair watching over her after our fight. I need to clear some things up with you, Kathy. Last night, Janey heard me and Carmelo fight. I confronted him about what I saw on my trip to New York.”
Kathy sank onto the bed. She fought the urge to cover her ears and block it out. She was barely holding herself together. To dissect the many levels of Carmelo’s lies and deception may send her straight back into madness.
Carmine spoke with the weariness of a man confessing sins that weren't his own. Mabel leaned forward, her curiosity sharpening with every word.
"I went to New York to meet with his father about business." His cane tapped once against the floor. “Wasn’t long before his wife and his twins walked in." He watched the words land like blows. "I was as blindsided as you are now, Kathy. Standing there, knowing what this would do to my Janey, to you. But this fight and Carmelo winning it was already written in my blood with the Marcellos. So I came here with the secret. Something I figured he would share with you after we discussed it."
Kathy closed her eyes and practiced breathing through the trauma.
“Carmelo lives in a fantasy world. Said you two were already married, and the marriage to that young girl is a lie. A suicide wish from his mother that he fulfilled to lift the black death from your father and you. That the babies came after one drunken night, and he doesn’t remember. He had many reasons and excuses. It’s not my place to tell you to forgive or even discuss it with him. I’m here for another reason.”
“For Janey?" she managed.
"No. There is no cure for Janey. Her rage is the other half of her soul. I know how to deal with my wife. I’m here to plead with you to save all of our lives,” Carmine looked over to Mabel, who was now staring at them both with a wide-eyed expression. He looked back at Kathy. “If Carmelo doesn’t get in that ring and fight andwin, none of us will leave Tennessee. My bosses have lost all patience with me. There is no room for error since the battle of the Thibodeauxs. I must see this through. And hewill not fight for anything, including his own brother’s life, if you break his heart."
"His heart?" Kathy exploded. "What about mine?"
Carmine raised a hand. "Say everything you need to say to him, not us. But do it after the fight. Come with me now. Dry your tears. See him, comfort him, pretend his crimes with you can be forgiven, pretend you don't know about the marriage if you have to. After he wins, I'll personally get you wherever you want to go. Back to Butts if that's what you need or straight to Harlem.”
