by J. D. Griffo
“You know how much it pains me to agree with Joyce, but you’re right,” Helen said. “There’s been too much rancore, the both of you are too coccciuto, the two of you seem to be in a good place now, you don’t want to ruin it.”
“That’s why I’m afraid to say anything to her,” Alberta said. “I don’t know what I’d do if I found out that she knew about this and kept silent while her son’s in jail.”
“Berta, you can’t believe she’d actually do that, do you?” Joyce asked.
“Think about it,” Alberta said. “Lisa’s convinced that we’re going to be able to prove Sergio’s innocence. The whole reason she reached out to me is because she’s been tracking our achievements, which are reported in The Herald, so she knows we have a darn good track record. But what if the reason she’s convinced we’ll be able to prove Sergio didn’t kill Natalie is because she knows Sergio isn’t the murderer, but Tommy is?”
“Which means if she keeps evidence against Tommy hidden and the charges are dropped against Sergio, both her husband and her son will stay out of jail,” Helen explained.
“Il paradiso abbi pietà della mia anima,” Alberta said.
“Why do you need heaven to have mercy on your soul?” Joyce asked.
“Because I can’t believe I’m thinking something so terrible about my own daughter,” Alberta replied. “I have to be the worst mother on the planet.”
“I don’t know about the worst,” Joyce said.
“But definitely in the top ten,” Helen added.
“Let’s go!” Alberta announced.
“Where are we going?” Helen asked.
“Into the lion’s den,” Alberta said.
* * *
When they arrived at the den and Alberta explained why they were there, the lioness was not happy.
“You think I’d conceal evidence that could help my son go free?!” Lisa Marie shrieked. “I said I wasn’t nice, Ma, I didn’t say I was evil!”
“I never said you were evil!” Alberta cried.
“I thought we were making progress! I thought we were getting closer and bridging this huge gap between us!” Lisa Marie yelled. “Who’s the stunod now?”
“That’s why I’m here, to bridge the gap, to make sure that there are no secrets between us,” Alberta said.
“Like my husband’s bloodied shirt!”
“Well, now that you’ve mentioned it,” Helen said.
“If you could explain how blood got onto the tuxedo shirt Tommy was going to wear to the Mistletoe Ball, it really would clear everything up,” Joyce added.
“Is that what I need to do, Ma, to get you off my back?” Lisa Marie asked.
Alberta let out a deep sigh. “Yes, I need to know the truth.”
“It’s because I accidentally cut myself making Tommy a snack while we were getting ready to go!” Lisa Marie explained. “I was slicing some tomatoes, I got distracted, I nicked my finger, I turned around and bumped into Tommy, my hand pressed against his chest, and blood got all over his shirt. It was then that we pretty much decided we were in no mood to go to some ridiculous Christmas party and make small talk while our son was still missing.”
Lisa Marie paced back and forth a few times, shaking her head and exhaling like she was doing bench presses with a three-hundred-pound weight. A few times she waved her finger at Alberta but bit her lip before speaking. Finally, she stopped and faced her mother.
“What’s the verdict, Ma?” Lisa Marie asked. “Does that pass the Alberta Ferrara Scaglione smell test?”
“Is there a reason you’re not wearing a Band-Aid?” Alberta asked.
“Oh my God! It’s high school all over again and I’m living under a magnifying glass!” Lisa Marie screamed.
“Answer the question,” Helen demanded.
“I couldn’t find a bandage and then the bleeding stopped so I didn’t need one,” Lisa Marie said.
She held her finger in front of Alberta’s face so she could get a close-up look at her cut. “Satisfied!”
“If you would’ve just explained yourself in the first place, I wouldn’t have suspected anything,” Alberta said.
“You didn’t give me the chance, Ma!” Lisa Marie screamed. “You saw the shirt and hightailed it out of here. The only reason you came back is because Aunt Helen convinced you it was the right thing to do!”
“I appreciate the compliment, Leese, but Joyce is the one who convinced your mother to have an open dialogue with you,” Helen said.
“Seriously?” Lisa Marie asked.
“Why do you sound so surprised?” Joyce asked.
“I didn’t think my mother listened to anyone except Aunt Helen,” Lisa Marie said. “Things really have changed around here.”
“Another thing that’s changed is that I can apologize when I know I’m wrong,” Alberta said. “I’m very sorry for suspecting you. I should’ve had enough trust in us to ask you about the shirt when I first saw it. I should’ve known better.”
Lisa Marie shook her head, but this time it seemed that she was trying to clear it from the anger she had been feeling and not because she wanted to pulverize her mother. “It’s all right, Ma, and I’m not just handing you a line to make you feel better,” Lisa Marie said. “I can understand how it looked, especially to someone who’s always looking for clues around every hidden corner. I need you to promise me something, though.”
“What’s that?” Alberta asked.
“From now on, no more secrets, no more lies, if you want to ask me something, ask it, if you want to say something to me, say it,” Lisa Marie said. “Capisce?”
“Capisco,” Alberta said.
“Now, could you please make us some food? I am starving,” Lisa Marie said.
“Let me take care of it, I’ll make us dinner,” Joyce said.
“Seriously?” Lisa Marie asked.
“Again with the seriously?” Joyce asked.
“Sorry, Aunt Joyce, but you said you don’t cook,” Lisa Marie said.
“I don’t,” Joyce replied. “I’m ordering takeout.”
* * *
An hour later they were all sitting around Joyce’s living room finishing up their Chinese food. Empty China Chef cartons were lying on their sides on the cocktail table next to unopened soy sauce packets and used chopsticks. The ladies were sitting on the couch and the floor to allow their stomachs to settle until it was time to eat the frozen chocolate cheesecake that was defrosting on the kitchen counter. It felt like a normal night and they reveled in it, all the while knowing it was nothing more than a pause before the madness roared again.
Tomorrow Lisa Marie would have to go to the police station to say good-bye to her son, who was being sent to the correctional facility until the start of his trial, and inform him that his father had had to go back to Florida and wouldn’t be able to say good-bye in person. They were all worried that Bruno would stop representing Sergio after getting punched in the eye for simply doing his job. Up until now he said he had no intention of quitting, but everyone knew he was remaining Sergio’s lawyer out of respect for Alberta. It had nothing to do with his desire to be the boy’s counsel. Knowing tomorrow was going to bring more stress and anxiety, they decided they might as well enjoy the night. And maybe even some holiday cheer.
The balsam candle was lit, making the living room smell like they were in the woods, the lights on Joyce’s small artificial tree were twinkling, and a CD of golden age crooners singing holiday classics played on the stereo. Perry Como was currently singing “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” which the women all secretly hoped was a foretelling of their future. But if Mr. C. truly had an uncanny knack for both singing number one hits and prophesizing, proof of that would have to unfold on its own. For right now the women just wanted to unwind.
“Aunt Helen,” Lisa Marie said. “Make me laugh.”
“Who am I, Bozo the Clown?” Helen asked.
“The two of you do always wear the same outfit all the time,” Lisa Marie observed.<
br />
“It’s a holdover from my old profession,” Helen said. “After forty years you get used to wearing a uniform.”
“Tell us about your new job,” Lisa Marie said.
“Are the letters already starting to pile in?” Alberta asked.
“Also too, what’s your catchphrase?” Joyce asked.
“Wyck and I haven’t made a final decision on how I’m going to sign off the column just yet, but we’ve narrowed it down to two choices,” Helen said. “ ‘Peace be with you’ or ‘See ya, see ya, wouldn’t want to be ya.’”
“Let me guess,” Alberta said. “Wyck came up with the second one.”
“He did, he thinks it captures my humor,” Helen said. “Which it does, but I told him that I didn’t want this to be a joke column, and I’m not going to poke fun at people who are looking for answers to their problems.”
“Has he accepted that?” Joyce said.
“He has to,” Helen replied. “I told him that if he edits my columns to make them sassier or more sarcastic, I’d sue him for every penny he has.”
“As much as I hate that Wyck, I’m happy for you,” Lisa Marie said.
“Why do you hate Wyck?” Helen asked.
“Because that traitor in chief has plastered my son’s name across The Herald’s headlines for days but hasn’t once mentioned the name of the tramp who got Sergio’s name put there in the first place!” Lisa Marie explained.
“By tramp, you mean Natalie, right?” Joyce asked.
“Is there another tramp in Tranquility?” Lisa Marie questioned.
“According to the letters I’ve received there are at least seven,” Helen replied.
Once again Helen had been able to diffuse the situation, and Lisa Marie’s groaning quickly turned to giggling.
“Thanks, Aunt Helen, I needed that,” she said. “Seriously, I think it’s wonderful that you’re embarking on such a different career from what you had previously been doing.”
“Being an advice columnist is a lot like being a nun,” Helen said. “I listen to people’s problems and try to get them to face their truth by showing them they have choices. Take Mike DeDordo, for instance.”
“Is he one of our cousins on Mommy’s side?” Alberta asked.
“Oddly enough, he’s not a relative, he’s one of my readers,” Helen said. “He wrote in just today asking for relationship advice.”
“Is he having an affair, Aunt Helen?” Lisa Marie asked. “Please tell me he’s having an affair even if he isn’t, I just need to hear it.”
“He is having an affair,” Helen said.
“Dio mio!” Alberta said. “Really? A man wrote in to you and told you he’s having an affair?”
“Not the kind you think, it isn’t a physical relationship but an emotional one,” Helen said.
“Oftentimes that can be worse,” Joyce said. “A man sleeps with another woman and it could be blamed on lust, which is no excuse or justification for cheating, but if he confides in another woman, shares an emotional connection with her, that means their marriage is broken at its core.”
“That’s so sad,” Alberta said.
“It’s true,” Helen replied. “He didn’t tell me his age, but I assume he’s an older man because he said the woman that he’s having a relationship with is much younger and he said his wife is infirm. Not sick, but infirm.”
“That’s definitely an old person word,” Lisa Marie said. “Not that I would use that word to describe any of you.”
“Thank God for small blessings,” Alberta said.
“This man broke it off with the woman not because he didn’t want to start a new life with her, but because he couldn’t leave his wife,” Helen said.
“What kind of advice does he want from you?” Joyce said.
“How to rid the woman from his mind,” Helen said. “Despite their age difference and some problems that she caused with his job that he didn’t get in to, he loves this woman, but I think it’s more like a father loves a daughter than a man would love a mistress.”
“What do you mean, Aunt Helen?” Lisa Marie asked.
“He said he wants to protect her, shield her from her enemies, and give her the kind of life she deserves and the kind of love her family never gave her,” Helen said.
“He sounds like one complicated man,” Joyce said.
“What did you tell him?” Alberta asked.
“I told him that he tried to have his cake and eat it too and now he has to suffer indigestion,” Helen said. “He’s not going to be able to care for his wife in the way that she needs and deserves to be cared for by her husband if his mind is always thinking about how to care for someone else. He made a vow to his wife to be at her side in sickness and in health. God doesn’t take those vows lightly and neither should he.”
“Remind me never to write you for advice, Aunt Helen,” Lisa Marie said. “I don’t think I could handle the tough love.”
“Don’t underestimate yourself,” Alberta said. “You could handle anything thrown your way.”
“Sometimes people just need a reminder that they can do the right thing,” Helen said. “That’s what this Big Sister is here for.”
Alberta raised her cup. “I’d like to make a toast,” she said. “To my Big Sister, long may she reign!”
The evening was everything they needed. Simple, normal, filled with silly stories, funny comments, and the comfort that only the company of family can provide. Unfortunately, the outside world could only be held at bay for so long. At some point the safety net had to be cut down, the barrier to reality had to be removed, and the peace of mind that was so hard to find had to be disturbed. That point came when Vinny called.
“Vinny, Madon, it’s so late,” Alberta said. “What’s wrong?”
“We found another dead body.”
And with that they kissed their normal night good-bye.
CHAPTER 21
Anche il male ride.
It was a silent night, it was a deadly night.
The setting was ironic. Looking around, it appeared as if the pages of a classic holiday story had come to life. Christmas decorations filled every shop window in the Tranquility town square, the large pine trees that dotted the street were brightly lit, the gazebo in the center of the square was filled with a life-size nativity waiting for the miracle child to be born, and from the hidden speakers that played nonstop day and night came the sultry sound of smoky-voiced Peggy Lee singing “It’s Christmas Time Again” to caress the cold night air. Looking down at the dead body lying in the gutter told a different tale. This holiday season had not offered the townsfolk much to celebrate. It had offered the Ferraras even less.
Alberta, Helen, Joyce, and Lisa Marie had left their relaxing evening behind to join Vinny at the town square after they received his disturbing phone call. It was after midnight, and although all the stores were closed, the Christmas lights in their windows were kept on to create a serene glow throughout the square for any late-night strollers. When the soft blue lights of the Tranquility Book Store illuminated the young man’s dead body, the image was eerier than ethereal.
“Per l’amor del cielo!” Alberta cried. “It’s Rudy!”
“Rudy Lewendorf?” Vinny asked. “Natalie’s old roommate?”
“One and the same,” Alberta said. “This is horrible.”
“The only person we know of who knew Natalie is dead,” Lisa Marie said.
“This is linked to the man you found about a week ago in Newton,” Alberta stated.
“Yes, Rudy’s the fourth overdose in the area this month,” Vinny replied. “How are you certain these deaths are connected?”
“Rudy’s neck is swollen like the other man’s and they both seem to have burn marks at the corners of their mouths,” Alberta replied.
“My God, Ma, I can’t see without my glasses and you can zero in on details like that,” Lisa Marie said.
“Your mother’s got a detective’s eye,” Vinny commented. “She’s righ
t, it looks like they both OD’d from the same drug.”
“I can’t believe Rudy was a drug addict,” Joyce said. “He tried to help us, Berta, he even told us to warn Sergio about Natalie.”
“Even good boys can become drug addicts,” Helen said. “For some all it takes is one experiment with a drug and they find themselves hooked.”
“Alfie, did you notice any signs when you spoke with Rudy that might indicate he was using?” Vinny said.
“I think I told you he was fidgety and anxious, but I attributed his behavior to the fact that he had two strange women in his apartment asking cryptic questions and pulling out food from their bags,” Alberta said. “I’d be nervous too.”
“Do you know what he OD’d from?” Helen asked.
“Not yet,” Vinny replied. “Looks like there’s a new street drug making itself known and taking no prisoners. We have an undercover team working on finding the source, but we don’t have any leads yet. All we know so far is that it’s cheap and it’s deadly, which is not a good combination.”
“Have you done any outreach to local addicts?” Helen asked. “Maybe someone at the methadone clinic, or that rehab center in Hamburg?”
“How do you know about this stuff, Aunt Helen?” Lisa Marie asked.
“Your aunt is more than just a former nun, honey,” Joyce said. “She has degrees in social work and education, plus decades of experience working in both fields.”
“Here I thought you got the job being an advice columnist simply because you have a big mouth and you’re opinionated,” Lisa Marie said.
“Those were the primary reasons Wyck offered me the gig,” Helen said. “But I do have what the kids call street cred.”
“That you do, Helen,” Vinny said. “To answer your question, we have spoken to our contacts in the clinics and homeless shelters and they all confirmed that a new, highly addictive drug is making its way through this part of Jersey.”
“Is it odd for a drug to be isolated in one geographical area?” Alberta asked.
“Not at first,” Vinny replied. “Drug dealing is like any other business: You give out samples of your product to get people hooked, then you let the word out and suddenly business is booming.”
