La Famiglia (72 page)

“I saw it firsthand. We were friends at this point. Lisa didn’t have many. She was scared by the gifts Manny sent her but James told her it was the way of the Sicilians. That Manny was sincere. He was. Sincerely obsessed with your mother.” Gemma’s gaze lowered to her hands. She shared the rest of her tale that way. “Manny had a job for James. According to Lisa, James was really excited about it. The payout would be enough for them to leave Philadelphia for good.”

“It was a setup,” Marietta said.

Gemma nodded her head yes slowly. “Lisa waited all night for him to come home. He never did. In the morning there was a knock to the door and it was Manny’s men. They told her she had to come with them. She feared James was hurt or in trouble so she went. They brought her to Manny. He told her James had killed a man, a white businessman that owned a rival club. Several men died in a fire and it was all pinned on James. It was a lie. He never had a chance to prove his innocence. Lisa begged Manny to help him. He told her the price.” Gemma looked up. “She paid the price.”

“I don’t want to hear anymore.” Mira said feeling sick.

“I do!” Marietta said, shaking with rage. “He raped her! The dirty bastard!”

Gemma nodded yes. “I found her afterwards in the bathroom throwing up. Never seen a kid so hurt and confused.  She never saw James again. She knew the moment she agreed to be Manny’s it was all a lie. That’s how your mother became part of our world.”

“What world was that?” Mira frowned.

“Whores!” Zia snapped. Her voice cracked like a whip. “I know who you are.” She leveled a finger at her. “You’re part of
la
Abandonato.
”

“Who?” Marietta asked. “What?”

Zia explained. “
Abandonato
is derived from the word forsaken. In the
Campania
there were many of these women, whores that provided services under the protection and for the profit of the
Camorra
. All of it was legal up until around…”

“1958,” Gemma said sadly. “
Sfruttamento della prostituzione
was established to outlaw pimping. Targeted more toward the mob bosses who were exploiting us. It was the Battaglias in the
Camorra
and the Mancinis in the Mafia who jointly ran the business out of the
Campania
. I was one of those girls who got passed between.”

Zia nodded. “When it was illegal for the brothels the
Camorra
and Mafia expanded their business beyond Italia and
Sicilia
.”

“To America.” Gemma cut in. “It was a miserable life here. Not much better in the States. I lived in America for many years illegally.
”

“Don’t trust this woman, Mira. She wasn’t your mother’s friend. She was a whore to your father. Weren’t you?” Zia asked.

Gemma’s gaze lifted. Marietta drew back in surprise. “Wait? Are you saying you were involved with this Manny Cigars too?”

“No,” Gemma denied it. “I was just a girl who he exploited like your mother. I was his victim.”

“She’s a liar! A whore! The kind our husbands keep on the side!” Zia shouted. “Don’t trust her.”

Mira grabbed Zia’s hand. She kissed it. “Please, let her finish, Zia. Then we will decide what is fact and what is fiction. Okay?”

Gemma gave Zia a hateful look. But it passed over her face quickly. She looked back down to her hands. “After a few days Lisa was told that James was dead. Killed in jail. To this day I’m not sure if it was true. But Lisa believed it. Manny, who you know as Mancini, kept her with him always. Locked away at his apartment. We saw her only briefly, dressed beautifully, shyly regulated to a corner he’d post her in under guard of his men. She was so beautiful, so sad, so young. I was her once. I knew what she endured.”

“So you two became friends?” Mira asked.

“Yes.” Gemma smiled. “And unfortunately I was not a good friend to her. What I’m about to tell you is my greatest sin.” Gemma lifted her face and looked to Marietta with weepy eyes. “It’s why I tried to protect you, to save you from your father and the Battaglias by keeping your birth a secret. I did it because I owed it to your mother. I failed her twice in life. The first time was soon after we became friends. Mancini would often have to go on these long trips to Sicily to deal with his father. I was chosen to be her companion, more like her jailor. She was so miserable at first. She suffered such guilt over her lover James, and the life she lost with him. And she was so naïve. She started to blame herself. And then she… actually began to fall in love with the evil bastard.”

“What did you do, Gemma?” Marietta demanded. “Stop stalling and tell us.”

“I turned her on to opium, and then to heroin.”

Before Mira could digest the news her sister flew across the table. Gemma was slammed back into the floor. Marietta was all fists. She beat on Gemma savagely. It took for Mira and Catalina to drag her off the poor woman.

“Let me go! Let me go!” Marietta screamed. “I’ll kill her!”

“Help me get her into the other room. Please!” Mira said, as she suffered a few smacks and blows to her sensitive stomach area. Winded she thought she’d lose the battle. But Catalina proved stronger than Mira imagined. She grabbed Marietta by the neck and dragged her with the tight hold beyond the door to the bedroom. Mira was quick to close it. When she turned around Catalina and Marietta were fighting.

“Stop it! Stop it dammit!” Mira yelled.

Catalina pinned Marietta to the floor. The women panted and snarled at each other. Both were so angry neither could verbalize anything beyond vicious curse words. Mira couldn’t believe the scene before her. She held her stomach. She suffered cramps and soreness to her midriff from the tussle and remained cautious not to get any closer. “Let her go, Catalina. It’s over.”

Catalina did so and Marietta got to her feet.

“You have to calm down,” she said to her sister.

“Shut up!” Marietta leveled a finger at Mira. “Don’t you tell me what to do! You have no idea the betrayal of that evil bitch!”

“Don’t I?” Mira asked. “Whether you thought she was your godmother or not she poisoned my mother too with those drugs. I’m just as pissed as you!” Mira shouted.

“You don’t look it to me.” Marietta spat and turned away with her hands in her hair.

“We brought her here for the truth and we haven’t heard it all.” Mira reasoned.

“I’ve heard enough! If I go back out there I’ll kill the bitch!” Marietta said. Mira looked to Catalina who shrugged and paced herself trying to calm down. It was all falling apart. Mira had to question her own sanity. Why did she think that speaking with this woman would give her the freedom to deal with her husband? If anything she felt more hopeless.

“Let me think,” Mira panted. She closed her eyes. She had no choice but to see this through. She opened her eyes and found both Marietta and Catalina staring at her. “Stay in here. I’ll talk to Gemma. Then we decide what to do. Agreed?”

Marietta rolled her eyes and flopped down on the bed. Catalina nodded that she’d stay with Marietta. Mira wasn’t sure that was a good idea after witnessing the violence between them.

“We’ll be fine,” Marietta mumbled as if she read Mira’s mind.

Without further delay Mira left them both and closed the door behind her. Zia was applying ice wrapped in a cloth to Gemma’s face. They both looked up when she approached. “I didn’t bring you here for violence. I am sorry for what my sister did.”

“And you? Do you want to strike me too?” Gemma asked.

“Even if I did, and I don’t, it would solve nothing. What I want to know is the truth. All of it. You turned my mother on drugs. Not Manny Cigars?”

Gemma lowered her towel. “At first we concealed it from him. But he found out she was using. Lisa didn’t want me hurt. So she lied and blamed it on another of his men. Neither of us expected the outcome. I’ll spare you the details. Manny killed him with his bare hands.” Gemma glanced to Zia and then averted her gaze. “Our lives weren’t our own back then. We were trying to survive. Lisa fell into the role of mistress. She struggled with her addiction, but she believed the lies Manny fed her. He put her up in a fancy penthouse. It was still very segregated in Philadelphia at the time. Blacks on one side, and whites on the other. America with all its false dreams nurtures the root of separatism to this day. The country itself is big fat hypocrisy.” Gemma spat with disgust. She continued. “But with Manny’s connections, wealth and reputation he got Lisa through doors closed to brown women. And then she was pregnant.”

Mira returned to her chair. “With us?”

“With you two, yes.” Gemma smiled. “She wanted to do things right. Be a good mother. She thought Manny would leave his wife and marry her. He vowed he would. And she soon learned that too was a lie. So I helped her pack up her things. She was going to return to Virginia and leave Manny for good. She was going to try to bring you girls into the world clean and sober. Do it the right way. She ran away.”

“She went home?” Mira frowned. “To my grandparents? Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Gemma nodded. “They took one look at her and closed the door on her. I guess Lisa being swollen with babies from a Sicilian mobster wasn’t something her father could accept.”

“My grandfather wasn’t like that. He was a good man,” Mira said.

“He was not always a good man to Lisa. I’m sorry,” Gemma said.

Mira wiped at her tears. “What happened to her?” Mira asked.

“She contacted me. She didn’t want to return to Manny. She didn’t trust him. But she had nowhere to go. She was an unwed mother in her third trimester. She had very little options. And by then Manny had found out she was gone. He was coming to America to find her. None of us thought he would. But he did.”

“Did you help her?” Mira asked.

“I tried. I swear to you I tried. I hid her at a friend’s place in Philadelphia. It was a roach infested dump. But at least she was free. We were going to wait out the babies’ delivery and then when you twins were stronger she would get a job, save up enough money and move to New York where work was good for her kind.”

“Her kind?” Mira asked.

“Forgive me?” Gemma sighed. She nursed her side of her head. “I don’t mean it as disrespect. Lisa was different. I was different. That’s all I’m saying. Jobs were better in New York for black people.”

Mira nodded. “How did we get separated? Me and Marietta?”

Gemma glanced up. “Manny found her. And it was a good thing he did.”

“Why?” Mira asked.

“She had some complications. Her blood pressure when she delivered. She had a stroke.”

The news hit Mira hard. She blinked at Gemma twice. Then looked up at Zia confused. “My mother, had a stroke? Like me?”

“She was in a coma for several days after the delivery. If he hadn’t found her when he did she would have died. You all would have died. And he never left her side. He was determined to help her. Got her into the best hospital and saw to her recovery. I will admit that.”

“Like Giovanni,” Mira said. She shook her head at the comparison. Zia put her hand to Mira’s shoulder. She was weak from the truth, but she had to see it through. “So what happened next?”

“It was too late. Lisa despised him. He had told her too many lies. And she was wiser now. She knew his men weren’t fond of her. No one believed in their affair. Most mocked Manny and made fun of him behind his back. They didn’t give a shit about saying it to Lisa’s face. And Manny’s father was growing angrier with him leaving his wife and son behind to chase after Lisa. We all felt it. Something brewing.”

“Did she run away again?”

“Not at first. There was no way to do so at first. She had to do things Manny’s way. He had her in another place, this time in New York. And Capriccio was her warden. After the first few months of living there with you babies she convinced Manny to let me move in as your caregivers. Lisa and I plotted daily on her escape. We thought of everything but nothing we considered could work. Manny had the resources to find her no matter what she did,” Gemma sighed. She looked haggard. The vibrant woman that arrived aged within the hour of sharing her mother’s sad story. And though it tore at her heart Mira had to hear it all.

“Please continue. What happened in New York?”

“Capriccio. He said a contract was put on her life and the life of her daughters.”

“By Tomosino Battaglia?” Mira asked. She looked at Zia and then back at Gemma. “It was him?”

“Yes.” Gemma nodded. “There was some nasty business going on with the Sicilians and the
Camorra
. Tomosino wanted her dead to end Manny going back and forth with her. Capriccio said he’d help her. Lisa had to leave. The babies needed to be hidden. Lisa didn’t think her poor mother and father could take care of both babies. She wasn’t sure what to do. And I…” Gemma’s voice faltered. “I wanted Marietta. I loved you both, but Marietta, I adored her. So I told Lisa to go home with you and I’d follow with Marietta. We’d split up in case someone was after her. She didn’t like the plan. Maybe she knew my fondness for her daughter made me untrustworthy. Capriccio told her she had to do something and decide quickly. Reluctantly she agreed.”