My Masters' Nightmare Season 1, Episode 8 Questions (7 page)

“
Where were you all
afternoon?” she snapped.

“
Cycling and
walking.”

“
You were supposed to be at your
English lesson.”

“
I forgot.”

“
You’re lying. I know you were
watching that D’Angelo boy.”

I shook my head. “I wasn’t with Jagger;
his uncle won’t let me see him.”

“
I told you that would happen,
but you never listen. And I wasn’t referring to Jagger; I meant
Frano D’Angelo.”

“
He’s not a
boy.”

“
He is to
me, young lady, and I had a
rather unpleasant phone call from
Padre
Donatelli, telling me he caught you spying
on Frano skinny dipping.”

“
I didn’t do it on purpose, and
he was watching them too. He’s a gross man; he was jerking off in
the forest.” I clamped a hand over my mouth, the words that had
fallen from it catching up with my stupid brain.

My mother walked up to me, her
face furious.
“You are already in enough trouble as it is, Sophia, you
don’t need to make things worse by defaming a holy man’s name.” She
breathed out. “You are to stay in your room until your father comes
home.” She turned and left, slamming my door shut.

I walked over to my bed and
slumped
down
on it, putting my head in my hands. Stupid idiot! I already knew no
one would believe what I saw, so why did I open my big FAT mouth?
Now my dad would give me the silent treatment, which was worse than
my mom yelling at me. God, why couldn’t I learn to shut
up?!

Just then, t
he phone rang. I went to my
desk and picked it up. Jagger’s voice came over the line, making me
fear that the
Padre
had told him too.

“
Sophia,” he
said.

“
S
ì
.”

“
Tell me it isn’t
true.”

I winced.
“What isn’t true?” I asked,
making sure he wasn’t talking about something else. Please be
talking about something else.

“
That you were watching my
cousins skinny-dip.”

“
Of course it isn’t true,”
I lied, feeling like the worst person ever.

He breathed out. “The
Padre
told me he caught
you.”

“
He got it wrong; I didn’t even
see your cousins. I was just going for a walk, but the
Padre
didn’t believe me.
He kept calling me weird names and warned me not to go near
you.”

Jagger breathed out again. “I knew he
lied, he always lies to me. I hate him.”

“
Then why
do you let him
visit?”

Jagger went quiet.

“
Jagger, you
there?”

“
I have to go now.
I’
ll see you
at school tomorrow.”

“
Okay,
ciao
.” I went to hang up, but stopped as
Jagger called out my name. “Yeah?”

“
I forgot; I’ve got vocal
lessons at lunch, so I won’t be able to see you. Do you want to go
out after school, maybe to the market?”

I screwed up my nose.
“I don’t think I’ll
be allowed; my mother believes the
Padre
. He’s a priest, how can I compete with
that?”

“
Maybe you can hang around a few
minutes after school then. I want to give you
something.”

“
What is it?”

“
A surprise
. So, can I meet you then? Say,
behind the gymnasium.”

“
Sure,” I replied, wondering
whether I should break up with him tomorrow, because he really was
too sweet for the likes of me.

“
Grazie
,” he said, sounding happy. “I’ll
look forward to it.
Ciao
.”

“
Ciao
.” I hung up. The doorbell rang,
making me run to my window. I looked outside, my heart coming to a
complete halt. The
Padre
and his twin brother were at the front door. The
Padre’s
twin looked up and
smiled at me. I shot away from the window, my heart pounding a mile
a minute.

V
oices started up downstairs. A minute
later, footsteps approached my room, the knock on my door making me
jump. “I expect you in the lounge in one minute, young lady,” my
mother said.

Even though I
really
didn’t want to go
down there, I left my room and descended the staircase. As I
entered the lounge, Christo stood up and held a hand out for me to
shake. He looked about forty, and had a head full of gray
hair
like
his brother. Except for their clothing, they were identical:
powerful enough to snap me in two.

I kept my hands to my side.

“
Shake Mr. Donatelli’s hand,
Sophia,” my mother said from the couch, her tone terse.

I took a hold of his hand, the man kissing
the back of mine. Unlike with Frano, who made me go weak at the
knees, Christo made them knock with terror. His bright blue eyes
were too fierce, as if he was looking into my soul and judging me.
I jumped as he nipped my knuckles, his body blocking my mother from
seeing.

He let go of my hand. “My
brother told me about you,
ragazza.
He said you are dating the D’Angelo boy. You do
realize this is not appropriate?”

“
Why?”

“
Because
Jagger—”

“
His name’s Gabriel,” the
Padre
snapped. “Don’t use
that evil name within my presence.”

“
Mi dispiace
,” Christo apologized. “You do
realize Gabriel is being trained as a priest?” he said, directing
the question at me.

My eyes widened.
“H
e never
told me.”

“
That’s why my brother got very
upset when he heard you were dating this boy. He spoke to me about
it, but I said it was just a phase. Though, I concede I may have
spoken too hastily, since Gabriel has now declared he wants to
marry you.”

“
He
’s never mentioned that to
me.”

“
My brother found a ring in his
room.”

My mind went to the present that Jagger
wanted to give me. “It doesn’t mean it’s a wedding
ring.”

“
I can assure you it is,
because Gabriel was questioned and admitted to it.”

“
I don’t want to get married,
not yet, anyway.”

“
I understand that, but
Gabr
iel gets
infatuated easily, and since there can’t possibly be a future
between you, you should cut ties with him.”

My back stiffened. “But, I like
him.”

“
And he loves
you.”

“
No, he
doesn’t.”

“
Well,
signorina
, he has told my brother this, and my
brother has also told me you have been watching Gabriel’s cousin,
Frano.”

I stiffened. “I was just walking through
the forest; I didn’t know he would be there.”

“
Well, you must understand his
concern. Frano is a ladies’ man, which means it’s best you keep
away from him. Not to mention, he’s engaged to be
married.”

“
I told you, I didn’t go
near him on purpose.”

He smiled, the curve of his lips wicked.
“Both of us know you are lying.” His gaze shifted to my mother.
“And trust me, she is. But that’s not what concerns me, what
concerns me is my brother’s apprentice. Do you know the
consequences of your daughter and Gabriel D’Angelo becoming
lovers?” he asked her.

Looking pale, my mother
nodded.

“
So, it’s best you keep your
daughter away from the D’Angelos or I will inform Frano’s father of
what she has been up to. Do you understand the consequences of Don
D’Angelo finding out what Sophia has been doing?”

My mother nodded again. “I will make sure
she doesn’t go near Gabriel—or Frano.”

“
Buono
.” He looked down at his brother. “We
shall take our leave now.”

The
Padre
pushed off the couch, his smile smug. He
turned and left without saying goodbye to my mother. Christo
instead took a hold of my hand and kissed it again, then stepped in
close, whispering into my ear. “I’d love to make you my
slave.”

I shot away from him;
the man laughing.
He turned to my mother and took a hold of her hand too, also giving
it a kiss. “A pleasure as always,
signora
.” He leaned in close, brushing her ear
with his lips, whispering something. He pulled back, then walked
towards the front door. I watched him leave, what he’d said still
playing across my mind.

My mother grabbed my shoulders and spun me
around, making me cry out. “You are not to go near the D’Angelos,
do you hear me!”

“
But Jagger—”

A slap struck my face, making
me cry out. My mother covered her mouth, looking horrified, then
she grabbed my face and kissed where she’d slapped. “I’m
sorry,
bambina
, I’m so sorry.” She pulled back, looking like she was
about to burst into tears. “But please, I beg you: don’t go near
the D’Angelos ever again. Christo Donatelli is a very dangerous
man, no, he is a monster. But, as long as you stay away from those
boys, he won’t do a thing to you.”

“
I can’t ignore
Jagger.”

“
Sophia! You’re not
listening. Christo will kill you if you go near him again, that is
what he said in my ear.”

I froze. “But ... why?”

“
I don’t know, but don’t
go near Jagger ever again.”

“
But, he goes to my school, and
we usually sit together during recess.”

“
Tell him to leave you
alone, that you want to break up.”

I nodded, not wanting to do that to
Jagger, except for the breaking up part. I only wanted to be his
friend, because I did genuinely enjoy being around him, he just
didn’t make my body tingle the way Frano did.

A
thought came to my mind.
“
Pap
à
has ordered hits before.”

My mother’s eyes widened. “Sophia! Why
would you say that?”

“
Since C
hristo threatened my life,
pap
à
should put a hit on him.”

“
I can’t believe my sweet,
innocent girl is saying that.”

I’m not sweet
nor
innocent
, I
thought, only acted it.

“
Please
don’t speak of such things,” my
mother said. “There are ears everywhere.”

“
No one’s here but you and
me.”

She leaned in close. “The FBI has bugged
our house.”

“
The Americans?”

“
S
ì
.”

“
Why?”

“
That’s not
your concern,” she whispered
into my ear, “just be careful with what you say.”

I nodded,
wondering what the FBI would
want with my
famiglia.

4

THE PADRE

I
applied a new Band-Aid to my eyebrow,
the last one having bled through. Matteo had attacked me, leaving
cuts and bruises all over my body, all because I had looked at him
through the shower door. I hadn’t touched him, yet he’d taken his
fists to me like some devil after holy blood. And Christo had done
nothing, other than punching Matteo once, as if he thought that
would appease me. Far from it, and now that Matteo had crossed the
line all vows were off, because I wasn’t just going to look—I was
going to punish.

The front door
banged
,
followed by Matteo calling for Christo.

I walked out of the bathroom,
making him stop in his tracks.
“He’s at the farmhouse arranging the
party,” I said, trying to tamper down my anger. I wanted to rush
him, but I knew I had to bide my time until the right
moment.

Matteo
sneered at me. “Your face isn’t
looking so good, Darth Wimpernator.” He quirked his eyebrows, no
doubt thinking it was funny to taunt me, but I was the wrong person
to taunt, especially now. He rolled his eyes at me. “You have no
sense of humor.” He strolled over to Nino, who was watching a
television program. “Why aren’t you helping Christo?” Matteo asked,
placing his hands on the back of the couch.

Nino looked up.
“
The Rossos
are helping him, plus I want no part in the blood bath.”

“
There’s not going to be a
bloodbath,
”
Matteo said.

I cut in.
“You are being naïve if you
think that. My brother has already said he wants to kill all
the
mafioso
on the island.”