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PREACHER
"There'sno reason to be nervous," I said to Dante as we waited backstage for his cue to go on. "You've worked hard on this. It's an important thing for these people and for the family. We're going to be able to do some great things from here on out."
Mitchi clapped me on the shoulder. "You tell him, boss. This is the best thing I've ever seen. I wish there'd been something like this when I was a kid."
We were all standing behind the curtain in the gym of the new community center we'd just opened. Well, we were about to open it. The grand opening was in a few days, but tonight the place had been transformed to be a welcome to all the people in the community who would need it most.
Dante had heard Mitchi's words that day in the butcher shop. He'd expressed a need for something that my boy had wanted as a child as well. His father might have had more money than Mitchi's family, but there was still a sense of danger in the home. Dante still longed for a place to escape to.
That's what the center was.
"I promise to be right beside you the entire time, baby. You'll be fine after a short speech. Then we can go meet some of the kids and teens."
If there was one thing my husband had been clear on early in the process of getting this off the ground, it had been that he wanted this to be an open space for all people up to the age of twenty-one. We offered a safe haven even for those who might be old enough to take care of themselves.
For the little ones and teens, they could come learn and play while keeping clear of the dangers the neighborhood might have held. For the older kids, it was a whole different ball game. There were tutors available to help with school, counselors to discuss trauma, and job recruiters prepared to stop by regularly. No matter their stance in life, we had a plan in place to help them become functioning adults in society.
Not too bad for a married pair of vigilantes, I'd say.
"... Welcome Mr. Dante Romano." The audience clapped as Ravina spoke from the front stand.
As we passed through the curtain, Mitchi took up his stance at the back corner of the stage to watch for anyone who might wish us harm. We might be doing something good for the community, but you never knew when danger might appear.
I took my boy over to where Ravina stood. We each gave her a hug, then I positioned Dante in front of the microphone stand. "You've got this," I whispered, just loud enough for him to hear.
He nodded his head before stepping forward. "Thank you all for coming tonight. This is a bit of a dry run for us really. We don't officially open for a few more days, but I couldn't wait to show you what all we have. Many of you might know me from the news articles about my father or the gossip around the city. What you don't know is that I grew up with a man who didn't know what love was. He understood only violence and obedience. In turn, that was what I thought life was about too. Until I met the man standing beside me. My husband showed me there was more to life than living in fear or being confused over if today would be another day of hiding from the life I'd been dealt."
I rubbed along his back, encouraging him to continue. Tears filled my eyes at the memories that flashed one after another, though I held them back. Tonight was about Dante, not me. He deserved all the attention and recognition.
"A few months ago, I met a young man who reminded me of what that time in my childhood was like. He was on the precipice himself of having to choose where and how to live his life. I made him a promise that day that I would find a way to fix that problem in our city. And here we are. I hope you enjoy the festivities of the night. Feel free to hunt me or my husband down if you have any questions or if you can think of something you'd wish to see. This is a joint effort, so the more we know, the more we can help. Thank you again for coming. Goodnight."
He stepped away from the microphone, his arm wrapping around my waist like a life raft. "I've got you," I said as I dragged him back behind the curtain.
Public speaking turned out to be the one thing my boy struggled with most. Murder and mayhem? He was a pro at it. But put him on a stage with an audience and his anxiety could get rough.
"You did awesome, boss! Choked me right up." Mitchi said as we moved past him down the hallway to the back office.
Once we were behind closed doors, I took Dante's face in my hands and kissed him for everything we were worth. The tension in his body evaporated as he let me ravish his mouth.
When we pulled apart, his face was one of bliss, not fear. "What was that for?"
"Because I love you. Because I'm proud of you. Because of a million more reasons I can't say right now. You've created something amazing here, Dante. I don't think you realize the weight of it yet, but you will one day."
EPILOGUE TWO
DANTE
Daddy had been right.I hadn't realized the weight of my opening the center at first.
But I did with time.
The more children we helped, the more families that healed, the more we found ourselves an integral part of the community. When we weren't making deals with other mafia families or cracking skulls together in the butcher shop, Daddy and I were at the center playing basketball with the kids or playing video games with the teens.
And then there were the older ones. The eighteen to twenty-one crowd that I'd been adamant about helping turned into one of our greatest assets. For every three people we placed in a traditional job role, two came to work for the organization. It was its own little recruiting industry without us having to hunt anyone down.
People saw how I ran the center and figured my role in the family was much the same. While that was true, I always made sure to tell the hopefuls the truth of what we did. If they had a blood phobia or some type of moral dilemma against us, they couldn't join.
Lucky for us, there were many, many more who didn't care. It was a better option for them than joining a street gang or getting addicted to drugs. Plus, I offered them a sense of family they longed for.
