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I look to Tino and Gian, both clearly shaken by Paulie’s lack of empathy, before stepping back.
“You’re going down a shit path, Paulie.”
“Worry about yourself, Dante.”
“When it starts to impact the men, we all gotta worry about it. That shit bleeds, Paulie.” And then I walk out, but the whole way I feel the men’s eyes on me and the looming doubt in the would-be Don.
Perfect.
TWENTY-ONE
-Lilah-
Two weeks after the engagement party, Teresa and I throw the community event in Dante’s mother’s name. I’m up early, the men meeting me at the large park in the middle of town where I instantly start bossing them around. Within minutes of us all arriving, I have them opening tables and chairs, hanging decorations, and running to stores to pick up food, drinks, and any other bits and bobs we forgot along the way.
By noon, it seems like the entire city of Hudson is in the center of town, celebrating a woman I never got the chance to meet.
The first handful of attendees looked hesitant, eyes wide as a handful of known mafiosos stood around, urging them to sit and eat, taking little kids to face painting stations, and handing out goodie bags.
But then more people started to come, the air moving from tense and nervous to welcome and excited. Now laughter can be heard on the thankfully warm late winter day. Families are sitting around and enjoying the event, members of the family mingling and reacquainting themselves with the community they once abandoned.
“You did good, you know,” Silvero says, leaning against the picnic table I’m standing next to as I overlook the party. I look at him and smile.
Over the last three weeks, since the family meeting, I’ve been able to talk with nearly all the men, giving them pretty smiles and learning a bit about them, but Silvero—he’s been standoffish.
He always says hello, he’s always polite, but he leaves it at that.
Being Carmine’s second, I knew he’d be tough, but it’s hard to get past tough when he doesn’t even bother to say more than hi to you.
So this is a surprise.
“You think?” I ask.
“Yeah. Kids are all having a blast; town is here. Fuck, I think this is the first time in fifteen, twenty years we’ve done one of these.”
“Here’s to making it a yearly thing, yeah?” I ask with a smile, expecting one in return from the older man, but I don’t get it. Instead, when I look at him, with his combed back hair and arms crossed on his chest, he’s staring at me intently, trying to read me.
“She loved this kind of shit, you know? That’s why she convinced her father to let her marry into the family. She loved this city and how the family nurtured it. The Romanos, the family Eliza was born into—they actually wanted to build ties with the Russos, you know.”
I smile at the new information, the irony not lost on me. Silvero smiles back.
“I didn’t know that,” I say.
“Would have been a different world, Liza marrying Alfredo. Instead, she hung her star on Carmine, and Alfredo Russo got sweet Antonia.”
Antonia.
My middle name.
And, apparently, my grandmother’s name.
I wonder just when I’ll stop getting hints of my past, of my family history, from other people. My heart warms a little at the thought of being connected to a woman I didn’t get to meet, but Silvero keeps talking.
“Carmine’s father, Anthony—he loved this shit. Giving back to Hudson City, making sure no one who deserved better was struggling. Loved helping good people who were on hard times. Used to say there was no need for us to be swimming in wealthy if the people next door couldn’t put food on the table. Not saying everything the man did was good, but he had good intentions, at the end of the day. A real Robin Hood, ya know?”
“I’ve heard. I’d love to be able to bring that back to the family. I think . . .” I look around, trying to decide how much to reveal before looking back at Silvero.
He seems like the kind of man who appreciates someone being honest, giving their opinion even if it doesn’t align perfectly with his own. He seems like that’s a trait he would respect in someone.
