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“You around?”
“On the way to your Ma and Pop’s place. What’s up?”
“Got a special package for you to pick up.”
He laughed a little. “Right behind you.”
The yellow taxi pulled up close to my bumper before it careened to the side, sped up, and jumped in front of me. He slammed on the brakes after he got her attention. She smiled at him and he said something to her, his arm against the door, his fingers tapping. She looked between us, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, then got in the back of his ride.
“Milk-shake,” Minnie said, turning in her seat to stick her finger in the cage. “Milk-shake!” She laughed. “You bit Min!” She pointed her finger at me to show me.
I pretended to bite her finger, too, and she cracked up laughing. She had the most severe eyebrows I’d ever seen on a child. Even when she was younger. Not even her childish laughter could soften the set of them.
“You so sil, Lilo.”
A smile I couldn’t control stretched my face. She might not look like Lucila, but the kid shared something deeper with her older sister. She was a bright spot in my world. Maybe because I knew how much Lucila loved her. My entire family did.
I pulled up in front of my parents’ place and Sebastiano, who was standing on the front porch, crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes when he noticed Minnie in the car with me. He hated that Lucila allowed Minnie around me. He hated it even more that Lucila was even in the same city as me. After we got out of the car, bunny carrier and all, his features relaxed as Lucila stepped out of my uncle’s cab.
He ate it up when she denied me.
His wife stood behind him, watching as his heart pumped through his eyes. For another woman. Ghetti got so much slack for being an asshole. But he never hid who he was. He never pretended to be anything but a womanizer, a cheat, a general stain on humanity.
Sebastiano was who he was, but only to a certain degree. He held a dark secret that wasn’t hidden. He married a woman knowing he was in love with another one.
The one walking toward him, pretending like she didn’t know how he was looking at her, for his wife’s benefit.
“Norah.” Lucila smiled at her. “Sebastiano.” She nodded at him.
Norah gave her a tight-lipped smile back. Sebastiano went to take Lucila’s bag, and she stilled. She wanted to protest but didn’t want to make it obvious, or then it would seem like something was off. Because it was. Everyone knew it. But the not-so-hidden desire took on the shape of a secret, and everyone treated it like it was.
Everyone but me and Ghetti.
“Why don’t you just get down on your knees and kiss her feet,” Ghetti said, striding up, a hand in his pocket.
“Eat something poisonous and die, you piece of shit,” Sebastiano said.
Ghetti looked at me, ignoring him. “I need to talk to you.”
Rarely did the three of us get this close. I ran into Ghetti sometimes. I broke bread with Sebastiano every Sunday out of respect for my ma. Respect for her was the only reason why Ghetti and Sebastiano didn’t spill blood on her front doorstep. It was the same reason I didn’t do the same when Sebastiano disrespected me every time he looked at Lucila. His thoughts were always written in his eyes.
“Make yourself useful,” I said to Sebastiano, holding out the carrier to him.
He went to open his mouth about it, but Minnie clapped her hands, telling him how excited she was. He looked at Lucila, who was staring at the door, before he took it from me. He strode up the steps like he owned the fucking place.
He thought he had every right, because Michele treated him like a son. A welcome son. I was only welcome on Sundays or when ma wanted to see me. Just like Ghetti used be. But after his ma died, he was no longer welcome inside the doors to what used to be ma’s house. Michele took over that, too. Whenever something happened to ma, I suspected I’d be locked out forever. No better than Ghetti. Maybe even considered lower.
Once the door shut behind them, I turned to Ghetti.
He was digging in his pocket for a cigarette. He found a lone one and lit it up, blowing out a cloud of smoke. “You were at The Cigar Bar last night.”
It wasn’t a question. He knew. His old man was close to Mo. Mo had a big fucking mouth, unless it came to money, or things he wanted to keep in the dark.
“Business, right?” Ghetti smiled. A stream of white blasted from his nostrils.
He was tall and thin, like a spaghetti noodle, but the shark behind his smile could never be hidden. He could scent whatever was considered blood in our world from miles away.
“Get to the point,” I said.
