Page 6 of Sal Gabrini: Man on Fire

Gemma looked at him. A formal complaint? What was he talking about?

The judge was curious too. “Your cause of action, Counsel?” he asked.

“The fact that reputed mob boss Sal Gabrini has the nerve to be in this courtroom at this very moment when the jury is about to enter for the first time is the grounds on which we stake our cause of action, sir.”

But Gemma, knowing something slick would have been coming from the DA, but notthat, jumped to her feet. “Your Honor, I object! This is completely false and out of line, sir. This is just another last-ditch attempt by the prosecution to put every spotlight on everything and everybody except their weak case. Sal Gabrini is not a mob boss and the DA knows it!”

“We know no such thing,” said the DA forcefully. “In fact, just the opposite!”

“Alright, that’s enough,” the judge said as he banged his gavel.

Sal knew the DA might try some shit, too, but he never dreamed he’d try to use his mere presence as some kind of affront. As if the DA was trying to tarnish the trial before it even began.

“What is the basis for the State’s contention that Mr. Gabrini’s presence poses a threat to their case?” the judge asked.

“Jury intimidation, Your Honor.”

“What?” yelled Gemma incredulously, although she feared that was exactly where the DA would go with it.

“Your Honor,” said the DA, “Mrs. Gabrini’s defendant is a known mobster reputed to be a member of the Gabrini Crime Family. Mr. Sal Gabrini is reputed to be the head of the Gabrini Crime Family and he’s here in the courtroom. If that’s not jury intimidation, I don’t know what is.”

“Your Honor, I cannot object more forcefully!” Gemma said. “First of all, there is no such thing as a Gabrini Crime Family. And secondly, Sal Gabrini, which the Court and the DA knows is my husband, is not a crime boss and is not the head of any crime family. He is a well-regarded businessman in this community and the DA knows it. This entire episode is nothing more than grandstanding theater, sir.”

But the DA would not relent. “It’s jury intimidation of the highest order, sir,” he said. “Because if jurors see the man believedby manyto be the head of the Gabrini Crime Family,” he said again, “then they may be in fear for their mortal lives. They won’t convict the defendant, even though he’s guilty as sin, because of that fear, Your Honor. And for that reason alone the State request a remedy before the jurors are called into this courtroom.”

“This is nonsense, Your Honor,” said Gemma. “This isn’t Russia. This isn’t China or North Korea. We still have a right to exist in free spaces in this land. Mr. Gabrini has every right to be in this courtroom, sir.”

The judge didn’t have to think long. “I agree with the prosecution,” he said. “His presence can be viewed as the State has suggested. Bailiff, escort Mr. Gabrini out of my courtroom expeditiously. He is hereby barred from these proceedings for the duration of this trial.”

“But Your Honor!” Gemma declared, but he banged his gavel again, said, “that’s the ruling of the court,” and Gemma knew she had been defeated.

She looked back at Sal as the bailiff and another officer lifted Sal from his seat and scuffled with him to get him out of the courtroom. He snatched his arms away from them both as he walked out in his own way, in his own dignity.

And now Gemma was angrier at a system that always wanted to do Sal harm when all he was doing was existing in a space they didn’t want him in. He was no more there to intimidate a juror than he was there to intimidate the DA, and the DA knew it. That was why, once Sal was forced out of the courtroom, the DA turned to Gemma and smiled. “You married him,” he said, as if it was all her fault.

“Kiss my ass,” Gemma responded to him louder than she had intended, prompting the spectators in the courtroom to laugh and the judge to bang his gavel again. “Decorum, Mrs. Gabrini,” the judge said angrily. “And don’t make me tell you again.”

But Gemma wasn’t taking it back.

CHAPTER TWO

After court, Gemma made her way across the parking lot where she saw Sal leaned against the new Bentley he purchased for her a year ago. He had his arms folded and his legs crossed at the ankles. That was one of the things she loved about Sal: he always bounced back no matter the humiliation. But she could tell, lately, that it wasn’t as easy as it used to be.

“That was some bullshit,” he said to her when she walked up to him.

She leaned up to him and gave him a peck on his lips. She remained in his personal space. “He is in your gang,” she pointed out.

“They don’t know that to be a fact,” he shot back. “They’re just speculating because you’re defending him.”

“I told you not to come, Sal.”

“Your ass don’t tell me what to do.”

Gemma exhaled. That was Sal. He never let his guard down publicly, and she never made him. “Let’s just get out of here,” she said, moving to open her car door.

But Sal remained where he was, blocking that move. She looked at him. And her heart dropped. She saw the pain in his eyes.

“I’m sorry I’m an embarrassment to you,” he said to her.

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