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“You’re the reason she turned down my offer.”
“What offer?”
“When she came to talk to me, she said she wanted a clean break from her family. Before he died, Father still owed Martino some money and I offered it to Pina, so she would have something to fall back on. She never came to collect it.”
She had a chance to purge herself of Martino and live the quiet life I knew she wanted, but I took it away. I was the only one to blame for the deplorable situation I found Pina in in Rome. Martino might have been the piece of shit that gambled her future for pocket money, but my actions put Pina in harm’s way.
“You should know, brother, that I used your name to convince Tony Balbano to let me pay for Pina’s debt.”
“It was the right thing to do.”
I raised my eyebrows. I wasn’t used to Giovani being so understanding, not to me. “Eventually, he’s going to come asking for something from you.”
“Pina is a good kid and she didn’t deserve to be treated like shit just because her sister was a manipulative bitch. She isfamigliaand we look out for our own.” He said calmly. “And she’s important to you, if you would have called, I would have come to talk to Balbano myself.”
“Really?”
“You seem surprised.”
“I’m not in a position to ask for favors from any of you.” I said, talking about my family. “I know it will take a while for us to be on good terms again.”
“Sometimes you are so fucking hard headed, little brother. We were never on bad terms. We were hard on you because you got caught on a destructive path. Can you blame us for being worried about you? We all like to party and have a good time, but you came too close to losing yourself.”
“You were worried about me.” They said it before, but only now I could see it was real. My brothers were trying to look out for me.
I’d always known what a blessing it was to share a name with my six brothers and Grazia. For them, blood and family came first and we were thought to not let anything come between us. It made the truth about my birth seem so much more terrifying because even at our worst, having my brothers was better than being alone. And if they were ever to find out, that would put me on the outside.
“I’m your Don and your oldest brother. I’ll always worry for you.”
I scoffed, trying to make the situation lighter.
“You sound like an old lady, Giovani.”
“We’ll see how you hold up when Pina gives birth and puts a baby in your arms. Trust me, little brother, you’re about to turn into a soft old lady too.”
“Never.”
“Sure.” He finished his drink and I did too.
“I should go. It’s late and Rebeca is waiting for you.”
“My wife is just fine. You’re not going anywhere.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m sure our brothers are itching to see you too and hear the good news.” He saw my hesitation before I could speak. “A child is a good thing, Garon, and it needs to be celebrated. We’re calling them.”
In thirty minutes all seven Caputo men were in Giovani’s living room and we drank like goddamn Vikings. The tsunami of judgment I’d been expecting never came, neither did the yelling or the fights. For a long time they were all too stunned to say anything until Gaspino finally broke the silence with a bad joke about me being just like dad messing around their behind their backs with a Bernoulli girl and I laughed it off, hiding the way my insides convulsed when I’d heard it. After that, the atmosphere changed. I received pats on the back, talks about honor and family, about the importance of having our name carried on through children, and our family’s legacy.
Lots of bottles of fine liquor were split between us and by the end of the night me and five of my brothers were trying to make our way out of Giovani’s house and get home. Goliath was the closest to sober and he dragged me through the gates of my home, making sure I was in one piece.
“Thank you, big man.” I said to the blurry shadow that was my brother.
“Where’s the girl? I want to say congratulations.” Even drunk I was surprised by him. Goliath was big, silent, and deadly, and most of the time he kept all his feelings to himself.
“It’s —” I was stopped by a hiccup, “—the middle of the fucking night. She… she’s sleeping.” To be fair, it was almost morning.
“Fratello, you are having a baby. This is worth waking up for.”
