Battaglia Mafia: La Famiglia Part 33

"Of course not!" Catalina yelled back with a laugh. "Follow me!"

A tall lean woman with blue black hair that had blunt bangs over deep set brown eyes shouted in Italian at Catalina. Marietta looked up to see the woman waving them through. Catalina reached back and clasped Marietta's hand and she soon knew why. They were pulled hard through the crowd nearly knocking over several women. It was crazy. After reaching the woman they were ushered into a room and the door closed.

Marietta could at last catch her breath. The women embraced and spoke fast in Sicilian. Marietta could only catch a few words. Turns out from what she could tell Catalina and the lady were related, or considered each other family. Marietta looked around the office. All around were swaths of fabric and sewing material.

"Francesca," Catalina turned and grinned at Marietta. "Posso presentarle la signora Marietta Battaglia!"

The woman couldn't mask her confusion. Catalina had just introduced her as a Battaglia.

"Non capisco?" Francesca replied that she didn't understand.

Marietta extended her hand and told the woman in Italian that she was Lorenzo's wife. They had just married. The woman's eyes stretched. Her mouth gaped. Marietta braced for an insult but the lady released such a gust of laughter that Marietta smiled. She then charged Marietta and hugged her neck.

"Congratulazioni!" The woman cheered.

"Grazie! Millie grazie!" Marietta said overwhelmed by the sincerity.

"Francesca isn't like the rest of them. She's married to an African!" Catalina grinned. Marietta's brows lifted. She knew Catalina meant nothing by it. Francesca grinned in agreement with Catalina.

"I. Speak. English," she said pointing to herself. "I. Am. Coooo-zin to Giovanni and Lorenzo!"

Marietta nodded.

The woman hugged her again and Marietta shook her head smiling. Francesca informed them that the day had been crazy since she announced the shipment of Mirabella's clothes to the community. The women were lined up to get their hands on the designer originals. She thanked Catalina for giving her the business and went behind the desk to get a small gift wrapped in pretty pink paper. "For the bambina and Donna," Francesca nodded.

"Prego. I'll give it to her." Catalina kissed Francesca.

The women went around the desk to discuss the next delivery and Francesca whispered some additional wishes and concerns to Catalina. Marietta felt a bit charged. She never considered the sense of self-confidence she felt when visiting these dressmakers as a Battaglia woman. At first they'd ignore her or cast her a dismissive look. And always Catalina would introduce her as Lorenzo's wife. Immediately the att.i.tude would change. It was an air of importance she never truly had in her prior life.

The business between the women concluded. Marietta loathed making her way back out of the door.

"Piacere di fare la sua conoscenza," Francesca said she was glad to meet her and hurried over to Marietta. Before she could respond the woman hugged her again. "Mia Dio!" Francesca took Marietta's face in her hands. "She looks like the Donna," Francesca glanced back at Catalina. "Do you see it?" she asked.

Marietta wasn't sure what to say. Catalina just stared at Marietta and didn't respond. Francesca laughed. "Lei mi emolto simpatico!" she kissed Marietta on both cheeks and told her she liked her very much.

"Ciao," Marietta said looking to be released from the uncomfortable a.s.sessment.

"A piu tardi," Catalina said as she kissed Francesca on both sides of her cheeks. Together Marietta and Catalina braved the crowds to elbow their way out of the store. Leonardo smoked a hand rolled cigarette outside on the street. He looked up when they emerged from the front doors of the boutique. Behind the dark lens of his sungla.s.ses his stare remained fixed on them. He tracked their every move in and out of the stores. Smoking a cigarette was the first time she saw him take a break. It felt weird to have a shadow for the simple task of shopping. However, Catalina prattled on as if Leonardo didn't exist.

"How about we eat? I know a great place. Benissima!" Catalina emphasized her point by kissing her pinched fingers and gesturing to the sky. "On my life, they have the best food in Palermo. The cook is a family friend."

"I suppose." Marietta agreed. Though she tired of being a tag-a-long she knew the alternative was the mundane existence at Villa Mare Blu. They started up the smoothly worn cobblestone street together. The shade of the joined three story buildings with medieval architecture along the narrow alley veered obliquely left casting her in the spa.r.s.e sunlight. She looked down at herself and how she was dressed. Maybe she should have reconsidered her attire.

"It's just around the corner," Catalina pointed.

"Okay," Marietta said. She noticed a few people, men mostly, step out of their stores to stare at her and Catalina as they walked up the street. At first she ignored the stares but soon it became hard to. "Did I miss something? Why are people staring at us like this?"

Catalina chuckled. "You are in Mancini territory. They are really staring at me."

"Why?" Marietta asked.

"Let's talk about it over a gla.s.s of wine," Catalina smiled. She gestured for her to go to the restaurant with sidewalk seating to the left. Marietta was the first to step inside. It was quaint and noisy but the smell from the kitchen had a smell and heat to it that made her stomach muscles clench with spasms of hunger.

"Catalina!" A woman said. Startled Marietta stepped aside as a short round-bellied woman pushed through the diners and rushed over to greet them. The woman kissed and hugged Catalina to the point of squeezing her too tight.

"Prego!" the woman then said to Marietta.

Marietta smiled her response.

The woman then solely focused on Catalina. "Come sta la sua famiglia?" she asked.

"The family is good, Belina. Thank you for asking. We are all very good. And Giovanni sends his love," Catalina smiled.

"I hear we have twins coming? Bambinos!" Belina exclaimed.

"We do." Catalina winked.

"Ah! Saints be praised!" The woman clapped. She stared at Marietta curiously. Catalina again made the same introduction she had done earlier. Belina's eyes stretched. She laughed. "Lorenzo! He is just like Giovanni, no?" she said.

Marietta didn't get the comparison but Catalina chuckled.

"Come." The short lady started for the back of the restaurant. She pulled Catalina by the hand. Marietta and their bodyguard-chauffeur followed. Together they climbed a narrow stairwell barely wide enough for one person. At the top of the stairs they entered another dining area. This one wasn't as crowded. The few diners were all men. Several gave respectful nods to Catalina and others leered from their tables. A few watched them with scowls to their faces and said nothing.

"Here... have a seat. I have something special for you both from my oven." Belina announced. A young boy arrived with a wooden cantor and wine gla.s.ses. He poured dark wine into their gla.s.ses and filled them to the rim. Leonardo took a seat at the table next to them. He sat facing the men who kept cutting him deadly looks. He seemed unfazed by the tension. Marietta felt more jumpy than she ever had.

"Are we safe?" she whispered to Catalina.

"Huh? Oh them," Catalina laughed. "Trust me they know better."

"Where are we?" Marietta asked.

"I told you Mancini territory. This place is friendly to my brother, not the people, but the owners. That was Belina. She was a friend to my mother. And Ma-Ma didn't have many friends," Catalina said softly. Marietta looked over to the men staring at them. One of them with the darkest eyes lifted his gla.s.s and sneered at them. Catalina dismissed him and returned her gaze to Marietta. "Those men staring at us, they all work for Armando Mancini. He hates my brother."

"I thought the Don's name was Marsuvio?" Marietta asked.

Catalina's eyes stretched. "You've heard of him?"

The slip was unintentional. Over and over Lorenzo warned her to not speak, but to listen and observe. Today her curiosity got the best of her. What she knew of the Don and Capriccio was very little but intriguing. It hurt deeply that there was nothing she could find to tie the man to her mother. "I heard Lorenzo mention him," she answered.

"Oh," Catalina said. "Well Armando Mancini is his son. He runs the family. I believe his father is ill. Either way, he and my brother have a truce. They've had it for years. Those a.s.sholes won't harm us."

Marietta let her gaze sweep the men. A few met her stare. One winked. All of them had the same dangerous aura that drew her to Lorenzo. She sipped her wine, cleared her throat and spoke. "So you were going to explain why people stared at us on the walk over? If there is a truce between the Battaglias and Mancinis why do I get the feeling that we aren't wanted?"

Catalina chuckled. "You will have to learn to live with that feeling. Whether we are here or in Sorrento you will get stares, and a few scowls. It comes with the life."

"Mafia?" Marietta asked.

"What do you know about our family?" Catalina asked.

"That you're in the mafia. That your brother is the Don and my husband is one of his hired guns I think."

"The Don huh?" Catalina grinned. "Is that what you think he is?"

"Of course. Isn't he?" Marietta glanced around. Where was the joke in all of this? It was evident the man wasn't the leader of the boy scouts.

Catalina leaned forward. "The Mafioso is birthed from Sicilians. My father is Sicilian. My mother is Irish. That makes me and Giovanni mix-breeds."

"Mix breeds? Are you kidding?" Marietta laughed.

"I'm serious. He could never be a Don of the Mafioso. But he can be boss of all bosses of the Camorra. And trust me the Camorra makes the Mafioso look like toddlers." Catalina sipped her vino. "My brother is the first capo di tutti capi in the Camorra in sixty years. Not even my father had as long of a reach as Gio."

"So he is the Don and boss, right?" Marietta asked.

"Yes. Think of him as both and the two aren't the same." Catalina nodded.

"They sound the same." Marietta replied.

"No. The Don of the Mafioso runs a single family, a region, and his reign is rarely challenged by the men in his famiglia. Traditionally his sons are the future, and their sons. If the family dies, then another family may take years to establish the respect he has gained. The Camorra isn't just one family. It consists of family clans. In the Camorra you have a boss and he is respected but replaceable. No clan boss is higher than another. And if he is the boss of all bosses he must be the fiercest, most ruthless of them all. Giovanni has earned the right to be both. And that is why they stare at us. They stare because I 'the half-breed' and you 'the black American woman' are from a famiglia able to command respect where we go only because of the blood my brother has shed," She tossed her chin a little higher. "We are Battaglia. We are the alpha and the omega."

"You say all of this with so much pride," Marietta said without judgment. "How does your faith fit in with this?"

Catalina smiled. "Everyone is given a path in life. G.o.d chose mine at birth. I have no problem with my faith or my lifestyle. To me one can't exist without the other."

"Well that doesn't make me feel better. In fact it only confirms that we are in danger in here," Marietta whispered.

Catalina laughed. "Possibly. There is always danger. But we don't live our lives according to it. I've made this trip many times with no trouble. We're safe. Trust me."

For some reason Marietta doubted Princess' confidence. It seemed like she purposefully walked into the lion's den. Possibly to make sure her Prince learned of her actions and would react with concern. h.e.l.l Marietta has played those games before with men she wanted to tame. She knew how to p.i.s.s a man off, or at the very least get a reaction. Maybe staying at Villa Mare Blu was the best.

Food arrived. Marietta's mouth watered.

"Focaccia is the very best here. Belina makes it so it melts in your mouth." Catalina pointed at the hot bread roll filled with meat, cheese and onions. "Because it's close to summer she's given us a taste of alfresco too. Yummy!"

Marietta chuckled. After three gla.s.ses of wine all flavors exploded on her tongue. She ate voraciously. Stopping to comment on one thing then another. Swallowing and stuffing her face some more.

"Hungry?" Catalina asked amused.

"It's good," she said with an embarra.s.sed smile.

Catalina nodded her head in agreement. "I told you!"

Marietta learned a lot from Catalina about the young girl's life in the family of men. She also learned about Lorenzo's likes and dislikes. Especially when it came to cooking. For instance Marietta never knew that he hated fruity dishes. She hadn't made any and couldn't recall him ever eating any fruit when around her.

"I'm allergic to mushrooms," Marietta volunteered.

"Really!" Catalina exclaimed. "So is the Donna. They make her ill. She told me once she got really sick as a child when she ate a pizza with them on it."

"Oh my G.o.d! I gag as soon as they come in my mouth." Marietta shivered. "Guess she and I have more in common than I thought." Marietta smiled. She downed the last of the wine. "Where's the bathroom?"

"Downstairs, to the back of the restaurant. And dn't be alarmed but Leonardo will go with you." Catalina shrugged. "You get used to him after a while."

"What about you, up here alone? With them?" Marietta looked over to a few men now drinking and laughing.

Catalina smiled. "Trust me. I'm la picolletta." She tossed a challenging look toward a table of men. "They wouldn't dare."

Marietta liked her style. Catalina had an edge to her that reminded her of some of the hard chicks she used to run the streets of the south side of Chicago with before she ran away for good. She pushed back her chair and stood. When she did, so did the tall brooding bodyguard that shadowed them. Marietta picked up her purse and started to walk toward the exit. A man to the left said her p.u.s.s.y smelled like chocolate. He thought because he said it in his native tongue she wouldn't understand.

She leveled her glare. "Your breath reminds me of s.h.i.t!" She shot back in Italian.

The others at his table roared with laughter. The man's stare darkened and his face flushed pink with rage. When Marietta looked back Catalina raised her gla.s.s in a mock toast. Marietta descended the stairs and headed to the back of the restaurant with a bit more confidence. h.e.l.l Lorenzo was her man. She had nothing to be afraid of.

She found the bathroom to be more than just a private one. There were several stalls and a separate room for changing. Odd to see such a layout in such a quaint place. She wasted no time locating an empty stall to go in and relieve herself. She wiped and flushed. The manic urge to release had now pa.s.sed. When she left the stall she found herself alone in the bathroom. So she took the time to adjust her skirt and her halter-top. She then washed her hands.

The door opened behind her.

Marietta turned off the tap and lifted her eyes to the mirror. "Gemma? What the h.e.l.l are you doing here?"

Gemma grabbed her by the hand and dragged her to the closest stall. She forced her inside and closed the door. She looked frazzled, her cinnamon hair loose about her face, perspiration dotting the top of her brow and lip. She wore a green dress and sweater which didn't really suit the warm summer weather.

"We don't have much time," Gemma said, or rather panted.

"What's wrong-" Marietta was silenced when Gemma's hand went up abruptly over her mouth. Startled her eyes stretched. Gemma leaned in close to whisper her words.

"You married him. How could you? After I told you not to trust him."

Marietta forced her hand off her mouth. "How did you know I was here? What are you doing in Sicily?" she demanded.

"I can't believe you married him!" Gemma said in a hushed angry tone.

"I wanted to call you. I couldn't find you. I love Lorenzo. You're wrong about him." Marietta hugged her neck.

"Listen to me." She brought down Marietta's arms. Her eyes bordered with tears, her nose was red as if she had indeed been crying. "You're in danger. This is my fault. Forgive me," Gemma wept.

"Okay you're scaring me," Marietta said.

"It's time you know the truth about the Battaglias," Gemma said.

"What is the truth?" Marietta asked.

"Lorenzo lies to you. He knows who your father is and what happened to your mother. All the lies are connected to Giovanni's wife."

"His wife?" Marietta couldn't digest the information. "Mirabella?"

"Yes! Mirabella. She's your sister!"

Marietta double blinked. She wasn't sure she heard her right. "Are you insane?"

"Dammit, Marietta! d.a.m.n it! I can't explain it to you here." Gemma opened her purse. She forced a letter into Marietta's hand. "Take this. Read this. It has everything in it. My number is in there. Promise you will call me tonight? So I can help you get out of there."