“Buddha told me. He explained that he was kidnapped because he was having an affair with Edwardo’s wife, Catalina.” Victoria narrowed her eyes at me, almost as if she was shocked.
“I knew I was right about you,” Victoria said, smiling warmly at me. I became confused because I had no clue what she meant.
“Right about what?”
“You are good for my son. Buddha has never spoken about that kidnapping…ever! Tomasso and I have tried many times, but nothing. The only thing he mentioned was that bitch Catalina introduced him to Buddhism. I hate that woman for taking advantage of my son. I hate it even more that he believed what he felt for her was love,” Victoria’s voice dripped with malice, the hatred she felt for Catalina was clear as day.
I sat back and processed what she said. Drinking the last of my cappuccino, trying my best not to feel jealous to learn that Buddha loved Edwardo’s wife. I figured he did when he was talking about her. I could sense it in his voice and the look he had on his face. Just as I was about to ask Victoria another question, Buddha suddenly appeared with Tomasso.
“Buongiorno, Dior (good morning),” Tomasso walked over to me. I stood up to greet him as he kissed both sides of my cheek.
“Good morning, Tomasso,” I answered, with a slight smile, knowing that this man was someone I still feared.
“Buddha said you will be making the trip with us to my home country, Italy?”
“Yes, I hope that’s ok with you?” I swallowed the lump in my throat nervously.
“Of course, after all, you two should be on a wonderful honeymoon, trying to make Victoria and me some grand-babies.” I damn near choked on my coffee when he said that shit. Tomasso definitely had more than a couple of screws loose. I think his entire toolbox was missing at this point.
“Jesus, Tomasso. Dior, let’s go,” Buddha said, shaking his head at the preposterous thing his father just said. Getting to my feet, I kissed Victoria before I left. She was slowly growing on me, and I could tell she already liked me. Waving goodbye to Buddha’s parents, we left the main house.
Gnawing on my lower lip as Buddha drove us to the mall, I thought about my conversation with Victoria. Buddha was still in a shitty mood, so I decided to try getting him out of his slump.
“Buddha?”
“What?” His response already had me wanting to mush his face. I took a deep breath instead and sucked it up.
“Umm, can I know about your family’s business?” That seemed to do the trick, because I swear I could see he was visibly beginning to relax.
“What do you wanna know?” I smiled to myself, happy that my plan worked.
“Well, what businesses do The Ricci’s own? And how do I come in, now that I’m your wife?” Licking his lips as he thought about my question, I waited in anticipation to hear his response.
“Tomasso started a laundromat when he first migrated to the U.S, which eventually grew into two. My mother foresees those. We have a nightclub mostly run by Snow. A real estate company that Sofia handles. An Italian pizzeria that I’m supposed to be in charge of, but I hate running that shit. I pay someone to look after it for me so I don’t have to,” I listened attentively, turning to face him as he spoke.
“This trip to Italy is also on business?” I asked, finding this conversation very interesting because I always felt running a business was my calling.
“Yeah, this trip is all Francesco’s doing,” Buddha shook his head as though he wasn’t happy.
“Why the head shake? Don’t you think it’s a good idea?”
“No, that’s the reason I insisted on going. I don’t trust Francesco. There’s something about him, I can’t put my finger on it. He was all right at the beginning, when he and my father started the first laundromat. Then, as the businesses grew and the illegal money started rolling in by the millions, that mothafucka became greedy. I’ve told Tomasso countless times he needed to be careful, but he believed that Francesco was his brother, blood wouldn’t double-cross him.” Buddha shook his head again before he continued.
“I reminded Tomasso that fucker was his brother purely because of marriage; there was no real blood between them. My father is hard-headed and refused to listen to my warnings, so I decided to stick around for this business trip. Francesco says that if he and my father open affordable apartments in the place where my father grew up, it will be successful. It’s all a bunch ofmerda di toro(bull-shit) if you ask me. That mothafucka is up to something. I could be wrong, but my gut tells me I’m not,” Buddha scoffed as he spoke about Francesco. One thing I did agree on was that something about Francesco did seem off. He and his son gave me seriousick vibes.
“Well, I’m glad you’re following your gut. I think it’s the right thing you’re doing, looking out for your father.” Unconsciously, I reached over and gently rubbed his shoulder. Buddha looked at me briefly, and I could see a change in his demeanor; he was less mean. The Buddha I wanted was back!
*****
I just know Buddha is tired of my ass by now. I’d been in store after store buying just about everything I could get my hands on. Money was no limit according to Buddha, so I was in this store acting a fool, trying on damn near everything.
“Aye, I gotta take a piss,” Buddha peeked inside the changing room as I tried on a dress.
“Ok, I promise this is the last thing I’m trying, and then we can leave,” I reassured him, even though he made a face as if he didn’t believe me. After our little conversation in the car, his attitude improved, and he stopped treating me as though I had an infectious disease.
“I’ll be right back,” he said, before he disappeared to find a bathroom. Satisfied that this dress would work. I removed it and put my clothes back on. Making my way to the register, I handed the cashier Buddha’s card and stood waiting.
Casually, I looked around the store at the shoppers and damn near had a heart attack when a familiar face walked into the Christian Dior store. I narrowed my eyes in disbelief because I just knew I had to be seeing things. I looked longer this time, but sure enough, my eyes weren’t deceiving me. It was Lewis.
