Mobster's Girl (3 page)

I typically don’t run into kids from school
too often here. There are five different times Mass is run on a
weekend and usually we go to the less crowded one late on Sunday.
Today, I’m not so lucky.

“Ugh, it’s hot already.” My mother complains
as we climb the massive stone steps into the church. Behind me are
a couple of senior boys from my class. One of them was in a bunch
of classes with me last year, Louie Ferretti.

We walk down the aisle and my mother selects
the emptiest row she can find. The three of us kneel and make the
sign of the cross as we slide down the hard wooden bench. Louie’s
family and his friends slide in the row behind us.

I pick up the Missal in the bench pocket in
front of me. I need something to do. I can hear whispering behind
me. I know it sounds paranoid but I always worry. I can’t hear what
they’re saying. I hope it isn’t about me as I pretend to read.

A cell phone drops down directly next to me
on the bench onto the skirt of my dress that is draped around me.
It startles me for a second. No one notices but me. My mother is on
the kneeler praying and Erin is texting someone (probably Connor)
while waiting for Mass to start.

I turn my head to look behind me. Not two
inches from my face is black Cadillac guy, Vito. He whispers
seductively in my ear.

“Why don’t you put your number in that phone
so I can call you sometime?” I could feel his breath on my neck
blowing some loose curls that had fallen out of my bun. My breath
hitches from his closeness. What I really wanted to do was drop his
cell phone in the Holy Water fountain at the front of the church.
Why doesn’t he just leave me alone?

I notice movement out of the corner of my
eye-behind Vito. Standing and waiting for his family is Antonio
Delisi. Vito’s face becomes distorted and out of focus in my vision
as I stare at Antonio in a striking black suit. What a breathtaking
sight! He always carries himself in a suave and regal manner like
the royalty he is around here. He and his mother are waiting
patiently while his father speaks to one of the Priests.

Antonio spots me watching him while Vito was
still leaning into me. He speaks to his mother, takes her hand and
leads her towards us. I quickly turn around.

I hear Vito stand and hug Mrs. Delisi and pat
Antonio. Others behind me say their hellos as well. I strain to
hear what is going on. I steal a glance at Erin and she is still
texting away. I suck in a strong breath, cross my legs and rest my
folded hands in my lap like a young lady who has got herself
together.

Then something happens. Something I never
would have expected. Antonio Delisi sits down next to me. I quickly
look his way unbelieving. His eyes are smoldering and he has a
knowing look on his face. “Good morning.” he says to me.

“Good morning,” I return then repeat it to
his mother.

The cell phone still lies next to me resting
on the silk of my dress that spills around me. Antonio reaches
down, grabs it, and holds it behind his head without turning
around.

In a deep guttural voice, he says,
“Vito.”

Vito’s hand comes around and snatches the
phone from Antonio. He knew. Antonio knew what Vito was doing. I
blush. A couple of seconds later the organ begins to play and Mr.
Delisi slips into our pew next to his wife.

At some point my father sat down next to my
mother at the other end because I could see his burly hands resting
on his thighs. I am hyper aware of Antonio next to me. I find
myself noticing every twitch or movement of his body.

When it is time to stand and sing. Antonio
opens the hymnal to the correct page and holds it for me to share
with him. I notice his hands. A dark tan color and his fingers are
long and slender. It must have been awkward for him to share with
me because of our height difference. It is sweet. I am singing with
the Mob boss’s son in church. It is terrifying and seems right all
at the same time.

Over the loudspeaker, the Priest announces,
“It is now time to pass the peace of Christ.” Everyone stands. I
didn’t know what to do first. I turn to Erin. I lean over and give
her a sisterly half hug. I kiss my mom and dad. Murmurs of ‘Peace
be with you,’ are heard throughout the church. I shake hands with
Louie and his family. I am glad Vito is absorbed in Mr. and Mrs.
Delisi.

I turn all the way around and Antonio is
there facing me, inches from me. I look him straight in the eye and
he is smiling devilishly at me. I notice his eye. It’s black and
blue. I have this uncontrollable urge to reach out and touch it. I
want to clutch a cold pack to it and whisper to him that the pain
will go away soon. My thoughts of touching him run away from me-I
am in a surreal bubble.

He takes my hand in his, gently, then leans
down and kisses my cheek. A bolt of excited shock pierces through
to my stomach. He whispers, “Peace be with you,” in my ear. He
stays there a fraction of a second longer than necessary. My heart
speeds up even more, and I feel tingles from where his lips touch
my cheek and it radiates all the way down to my toes.

I am frozen-stuck in one place. Everyone is
starting to sit down and I am still standing there like an idiot.
Erin reaches up and yanks me down. My butt connecting with the hard
wood bench jogs me back to reality.

How much of a stunad can you be, Delisi?
Stupid, stupid, stupid…

We all slowly file out of the church. I can
sense Megan behind me. It takes every ounce of strength I have not
to reach behind me and put my arm around her waist to guide her out
of the church like she is mine.

“Oh, Antonio.” Father Gio says, “A senior
now, school starts tomorrow.” Father Giovanni always tries to
remember something about everyone in his church. He shakes my hand
then he turns his attention to behind me. “My beautiful Megan!
You’re a senior too… Oh, that reminds me. Do you think you would be
willing to play your harp one Sunday? What a treat that would
be?”

I hear the hesitation in her voice as I move
forward with the crowd. “I would love to Father.”

“Great, great. How about next Sunday this
same Mass?”

“Okay.

“Bless you child.”

I linger so I can be around her a little
longer.
The harp? She plays the harp?
My thoughts are
interrupted when Vito comes up to me and lightly punches my
arm.

“Slick, Delisi-that was very slick,” he says
smirking.

I shrug and walk through the Sunday crowd
following my parents to the car. I hear her before I see her. No
one can mistake the whiney twang that accompanies Maria Silvati’s
voice.

“Tony! Wait up!” Maria yells repeatedly,
“Wait up! Her hand comes down on my arm, and I spin around to face
her. “Didn’t you hear me calling you?” she asks. I plaster on my
best smile.

“Sorry.”

“Hey, I was wondering, you busy this
afternoon? Nonna Silvati is cooking today. You want to come for
dinner?”

“I can’t,” I say looking away from her. I
catch myself scanning the crowd for Megan. After all these years,
it’s like an obsession.

My mother hears Maria and my response. She
hits me on the arm. “Tonio! Don’t be so rude.” My mother scolds me.
“You can go with Maria’s family. You were just with your Nonna the
other night. Go with your friend.”

If my mother only knew! Maria is the senior
class whore. When guys want a lay, they seek her out, and she
delivers. Me, I never want anything to do with the skank. I don’t
want someone else’s leftovers or know my
goods
have been the
same place as my friends.
Ugh, fuckin’ gross!

“Tonio, I am talking to you.” My mother
continues to berate me, and I hang my head in defeat.

“Yes, Maria. Thank you. What time should I be
there?” I reply tonelessly.

Maria squeals, “Yay! 2pm. See you then.” She
gives me a ridiculous wave and walks away. I scrub my hand down my
face in annoyance. Great, the last day of summer and I’ve got to
spend it with her. Fuckin’ great.

“Eh, what’s tha matta wit you?” my mother
slaps the back of my head. Her words are clipped off, she’s pissed.
“I raised you betta than that!”

I sigh and say nothing.

“What’s wrong wit you? You neva have a
girlfriend. You don’t want to go anywhere except with your friends
or Alessandra. You got somethin’ goin’ on with her?” I’m surprised
by this outburst from my mother. We never talk about this shit.

“What are you crazy? She’s like a sister to
me.” I half yell back.

Speaking of Alessandra, my phone beeps with a
text:

Alessandra; What’s goin on today? You hangin
out?

Tonio: No I have to have fuckin dinner at
Maria’s!

Alessandra: LOL See ya later

My mother and I stand there waiting for my
Dad to finish talking with Donny. Most of the church goers have
gone. Actually, new people are starting to arrive for the next
Mass. I squint, the sun in my eyes. I see Johnny Nero slowly coming
up the steps giving my family a wide berth.

He’s limping slightly. He has his arm in a
sling. I catch a glimpse of his face and he has long red scratches
down his cheeks and above his eyes. I know he knows I’m watching
him. I know by the way his eyes stay focused on the stone of the
steps and the change in his gruff breathing.

Some serious
large
must have been in
the envelope last night and Johnny Nero must be in some deep
shit.

Nonna (naw-na): Grandmother. (Watch out! She’ll
smack you just as hard as your mother.)

At 1:59pm, I stop my car in front of Maria’s
house. Her cousins are outside. They all go to high school with us.
She’s probably slept with some of her cousins, too. I shudder at
the thought as I walk up and say hello to everyone. Dino Prazzo,
Luigi’s son, comes strolling out of the house eyeing me warily.
He’s always been fuckin’ scared of me so I’m not sure what this
look is about but I give it right back. He’s Maria’s cousin. I
wonder what he’s doing home. I thought he left early for college.
He wasn’t at the meeting Saturday night.

“Tony!” Maria screeches and runs over to me
enveloping me in a hug. I graciously and lightly hug her back and
step away. She slips her hand under my arm and leads me into the
house.

During dinner all I can think about is
Megan-being next her, her silk dress, and the way I wanted to shove
Vito’s cell phone down his throat. I know he’d never do anything.
He’s too afraid of my Dad. It’s just when it comes to Megan my
thoughts get oobatz.

Three hours and five courses of food later, I
am ready to leave. I can’t take another minute of Maria hanging on
me, and I’m ready to smack the smug look off Dino’s face.

I stand to give my regards to Mrs. Silvati
and her mother. “First day of school tomorrow, I’ve got to be
getting home.”

“Oh no, Tonio, stay,” Maria’s grandmother
pleads. “Maria, was so looking forward to you coming today.”

“I can’t. My Dad needs me.” I say. If I ever
have to get out of something, the only thing I have to say is ‘My
Dad needs me’ or ‘My Dad’s waiting for me.’ No one argues with
that.

“Okay, Tonio.” Nonna Silvati says, “I hope we
see you again soon.”
Not if I can help it.

Maria grabs my arm to walk me to my car. I
say my good-byes and let her lead me.

“Thank you for dinner, Maria.” I say politely
while pulling my hand away from hers.

Maria doesn’t take the hint though. She tugs
me into the empty living room. Everyone is still in the dining room
at the table. I feel the need to get away again but I don’t want to
hurt her. She’s got a tough hold on my hand. Maria spins around and
reaches up practically jumping to smash her mouth with mine.

I am momentarily stunned, but I recover
quickly. I grab her upper arms to delicately push her away.

“What’s wrong with you Tony?” she says. That
is the second time someone has asked me that today.

“Nothing.” I say. “Then why don’t you want
me? You’re the first guy to ignore me-to say no to me.” I don’t
want to tell her that the reason is that I have absolutely no
interest in her or girls like her. I really don’t want to tell her
that my skin crawls when she’s around. So, I do what I do
best-
lie
.

“Maria, I have a lot of responsibility. I
don’t have time to have a relationship. You deserve more than I can
give you.” I don’t like lying like that on Sunday. It feels more
wrong than it does during the rest of the week.

Her brown eyes start to glisten like she’s
going to cry.
Oh, no.
I hate it when girls cry. Then she
surprises me by hugging me quickly and saying, “That is so sweet,
Tony.” She sniffles once and lets me go.
Whew! Close
one.

Megan:

When people say their walking on cloud nine,
I totally know what they mean now. After church, I was totally
beaming. A butterfly flutters its wings in my belly every time I
think of Antonio leaning down to kiss my cheek. In fact, this
morning is the first day of my last year of high school and it
isn’t even giving me same depressing feeling I get at the start of
every year. I’m invigorated. I catch myself smiling in the mirror
as I brush my long hair. I know that Antonio was probably just
playing with me because of Vito but who cares. Just looking at
Antonio makes my blood race. My phone chirps with a text from
Troy:

Good luck on ur 1
^st
day!

Antonio and I are never in the same classes.
I only know him by chance meetings, the neighborhood, and by
reputation. No one messes with him. He walks on water at Palmetto
High. Every girl wants to date him. I’m not sure if it’s his good
looks or the fact that his father is Antonio Delisi, Sr., ruler of
all Palmetto.