by M. D. Melai
“Yes,” I replied.
“Welcome. Please follow me,” she said as she turned and made her way back to the door she had just come through. I followed her into a tightly spaced ground floor way. She took my duffle bag and opened a gate that guarded the elevator and we both squeezed in. The elevator could barely hold the two of us and my bag. She clicked a button and the elevator slowly crept up to the top floor.
As soon as we heard the ding of the elevator, the doors opened and we stepped off into the hall. She guided me to the right and pulled out a set of keys. They were abnormally long as if made to fit into a castle door. That was something I had never seen before.
She opened the door and led me inside. It was a small apartment that was mostly just one big area. In the middle of the room was a couch that pointed to the back wall, which held a small television. To the left was the kitchen and a dining room table. The stove and oven were one unit and had countertops on both sides. The right side held a small sink. Beside it was a refrigerator, and the only two appliances were a microwave and a coffee machine.
On my right was a door that led to the bedroom and bathroom. The bedroom had a queen sized bed and a wardrobe. I guess I would be hanging most of my clothes instead of folding them. Luckily hangers were supplied. I made my way into the bathroom next and saw that it had a sink, a shower with no bathtub, and a bidet.
After I was done exploring, I went back into the living area. The woman then explained that the kitchen was fully stocked for the two week stay and if I needed anything else there was a store around the corner. She then handed me a card that had the Wi-Fi name and password, and also gave me her card that had her number on it.
“My name is Gianna. Call if you need anything,” she explained.
“Thank you. Before you leave I wanted to ask you a question. I’m doing research on my family and I was wondering if there was a certain place I could go to that would have that information?” I asked.
“There is the University here. I know it has books on the history of Palermo, but I’m not sure about family archives,” she replied.
“Thanks. I’ll start out there and see if I find anything,” I said.
“Prego! Remember call anytime you need something,” she said before turning to leave.
“Oh, I forgot one thing,” she said as she stopped and turned. “There are three different keys on here. One for the apartment, one for the door leading in from the courtyard, and the third is to the big front door you first came to.”
“Okay, got it,” I said, a little less confident. I was sure I’d end up mixing the three up.
Gianna left after that and I locked the door behind her. I turned and thought about what I was going to do next. I still couldn’t believe that I was in Palermo and that I would soon find out more about my family. I really hoped that the library would have something about them. I didn’t want to mention to Gianna exactly what I was looking for. It was possible my family could still be known around here. The less she knew the better.
I carried my luggage into my room and opened it to get out my pajamas. I would unpack later.
For now, all I wanted to do was take a shower and go to sleep. Even though it was only eleven in the morning, I was exhausted. Today would be a day of rest, but tomorrow, I would get down to business.
***
I slept for rest of the day and woke up at around midnight. I hadn’t eaten since the plane, so I got up and made my way to the kitchen. My back ached as I walked across the hardwood floor. The bed wasn’t comfortable and I was sure the only reason I slept so long was because I was so tired.
When I opened the fridge, I saw plenty of food and three bottles of wine. As tempting as it was to grab a glass, I decided on a bottle of water instead. I found some noodles and sauce and quickly made some spaghetti.
I sat on the couch as I ate and switched on the television. I flipped through the channels, but nothing caught my eye until I got to MTV. I stopped there and listened to the music. There were a few songs that were in Italian, but to my surprise, there were a lot of American songs too. I made a note of which channel MTV was on. It would probably be one of the only things that would help me connect to home.
When I was done eating, I looked at my phone and thought about calling Violet. I had texted her after I had showered to let her know that I had made it and that I would call her later.
Right now it was around six-thirty there, so everyone would probably be home. I didn’t want to call when I knew everyone would be around. Violet was already doing so much for me. I could only imagine the scrutiny she must be getting from my family, each one demanding to know exactly where I was. I sent her a quick text and she shortly replied.
Hey. I just woke up. Am I clear to call you?
Give me a minute. I’ll call you when I'm alone. Can you wait about five minutes so I can discreetly leave?
Of course!
After the five agonizing minutes passed, my phone rang. Violet’s sweet face popped up on the screen and I immediately pressed answer.
“Violet!” I said as a smile crossed my face.
“Lily! How are you? How was the flight?”
“It was long, but I made it. How are things going there?”
“Everyone is freaked out and worried that you left. Emilio asked about you as soon as he got up and found me downstairs that morning. He was wondering where you were,” she explained. “I said everything I could think of to keep him from going upstairs, but it didn’t work. By the way, it took me almost three hours to get your room put back together after he and Dante ransacked it.”
“I’m so sorry Violet,” I murmured.
“It’s okay. I have pretty much been under interrogation since you left though. All I’ve said is that I did help you escape, but I didn’t know where you were going or how long you would be gone,” she explained. “I don’t know how long that will keep them at bay though.”
“Well, just keep trying.”
“After this I might need a vacation too. You owe me one,” Violet laughed.
“Yes I do,” I said smiling. I owed her more than I could possibly ever repay her for.
“I’ll keep you up to date with everything going on around here. They haven’t figured out you have left the country yet, so that’s a good thing.”
“As long as it stays that way I should be okay,” I sighed. “Thank you again Violet for everything, and don’t let them torture you over this. I’ll come home eventually.”
“That’s what I told them,” she said matter of fact. “They didn’t seriously think that they could keep you locked up and you wouldn’t try to escape. Any sane person would try to. They should know you better than that.”
“You would think they would have seen this coming—” I said right before she cut me off.
“I hear footsteps coming up the stairs. I got to go. I’ll call you soon. Love you,” she said right before I heard the click of the call ending.
I sat there for a while as I thought about what Violet had told me. The only thing I felt bad about was Emilio. Maybe I should have hinted to him that I was leaving, that way it wouldn’t have come as such a shock when I left.
I couldn’t believe that they had destroyed my room, but then after thinking about it some more, I could only imagine the fear Emilio felt when he found my necklace, credit cards, driver’s license, and passport in the drawer of my vanity. I felt awful, and hoped he would understand.
It was nice to talk to Violet though. I missed her already and it had only been two days. I wished she could have come with me. She probably would have if I would have asked her, and if it weren’t for Dante. I had already taken her away from him multiple times. But, this was my journey, and I needed to do it alone.
I flipped off the television an hour later and made my way back to bed. After eating, talking to Violet, and hearing about what was going on back home, I was ready to go back to sleep. The only thing keeping me from achieving that goal was the toughness of the bed.
***
My alarm woke me up at nine. I was thankful for the sleep I got before my phone call with Violet, because the sleep afterwards was restless. I had tossed and turned the remainder of the night and into the morning.
I took a shower, pulled my hair up into a bun, and put on minimal makeup before I headed out for the day. I had done a quick Google search of the university. It wasn’t too far from my apartment, so I decided to take a walk.
It only took me about fifteen minutes to get to the University. Even though I had already looked up the directions, I still asked Gianna on my way out. She made it very easy to understand, and I was at the library before I knew it.
When I entered, I didn’t know exactly where to go. The first librarian I saw, I asked her where the books and documents I needed were at. She gave me directions and I navigated through the library fairly well.
I walked up and down the aisles looking for any books about the mafia. I thought that it was best to figure out what all the mafia did and the history behind it before I started looking into my family. Three books quickly popped out at me, so I grabbed them and made my way to the nearest table to start reading.
The first book I opened was about the history of the mafia. It dated back to the latter part of the eighteen hundreds when the Italian government was trying to establish themselves in Sicily. They used the help of the mafia to go after criminal bands. The government thought that this was only a temporary solution, but in that time period, the mafia grew stronger. They were eventually used by politicians to get votes and other groups to help secure their money.
The mafia kept growing until the nineteen-twenties when Mussolini came to power. He tried to crack down on the families and it helped for a while until after the war and the mafia quickly rose back to power by the nineteen-fifties.
There was also a lot of information about the prohibition era in America and how the mafia dealt with the manufacturing, distributing, and selling of alcohol there. Although it was punishable by the government, the mafia found a way around that. They would ship in cases of alcohol to be sold, and made quite a bit of profit from it.
After learning some of the history about the mafia, I picked up the next book I had grabbed. It was more detailed about the inner workings of the group. I took a deep breath before I dove into it.
I skimmed over the first couple of pages before I settled on the page that listed the activities done by the mafia. It began explaining each and every one of the activities: political corruption, extortion, smuggling, bid rigging, loan sharking, and even murder.
As I kept reading, my eyes nearly bugged out of my head. I couldn’t stop. There was so much information, and I tried my best to connect this new information with my family. How could they do such terrible things? Did my family do the same? I knew my father was strong, hard-headed, and sometimes harsh, but I never would have thought this was the type of organization he would run. But, then again, I obviously didn’t know much about my father or anyone else in my family.
I eventually shut the book, not wanting to know anything else. There was no way my family could be like these people. Except for my father’s occasional stubbornness, he and my brothers never acted this way. They were so sweet and caring and never showed any violence.
Then an idea popped into my head. I started back toward the bookshelf and found a book that described the lifestyle of the mafia. I flipped to the chapter that described their home life. It started out saying that family was number one and that no matter what, they come first. Out of respect for their family, the attitude they had at work would not be brought into their home life.
I skipped down a few paragraphs and found the section on mafia wives. It said most women didn’t know or pretended not to know that their husbands, brothers, or any other male family member was involved with the mafia. If at some point they happened to come across it officially, then they were to immediately store it in the back of their minds and never bring it up again. The book described the women as discreet, loyal, and church-goers that had no profession outside of the home.
That was definitely my mother.
Everything was starting to make sense. The conversation my mother had with Violet and me came flooding back. “In this life we don’t ask questions. The men’s business is their business. They live their lives, we live ours. We live comfortably and are protected. We do not involve ourselves in their business. You and I, as women, just let them deal with whatever crisis may arise and trust that it will be resolved.”
We were supposed to act as if everything was the same way it had always been. We, as women, were supposed to go about our normal lives, because we were to never be associated with it.
I sighed deeply as I shut the book and laid my head on my hands. I was overwhelmed with everything I had learned today. I had already spent countless hours reading, so I decided it was time to go back to the apartment and unwind. I stood up, grabbed the books, and put them back in their respected places before I headed out.
Walking back to the apartment, I noticed I was walking faster than normal. My adrenaline was pumping and I couldn’t get it to slow down. I didn’t know what I had been expecting to accomplish today, but everything I read just made me more curious about my family. How far back did all of this go? Was my family part of the mafia here and then somehow immigrated to the states? Or did they join after? Hopefully I would find out more tomorrow. I needed to know more.
When I got back up to my apartment, I locked the door and threw the keys on the dining room table. The more I thought about some of the things I had learned today, the more upset I got. There was no way my family was anything like those people. They couldn’t be.
I paced around the place for a good thirty minutes before checking my watch. It was ten in the morning in New York, so I knew Violet would be at work. I didn’t care though. I needed her, so I texted her moments later.
Violet, call me asap! I’m freaking out!
Within two minutes of sending the text, my phone rang.
“Lily, what is it? What’s wrong?” Her voice sounding panicked.
“Everything Vi, just everything,” I said, my anxiety showing.
“Just calm down and tell me what’s going on,” she said in a calming voice.
“I just got back from the library. You won’t believe the things I read about! The things they do.... I just can’t take it. How could I have been born into such an awful family? They take extortions, they smuggle, and they even murder people. This is just all too much for me,” I said as I tried to take deep breaths.
“Lily, you need to just calm down for a second. Try not to think about it and just take some deep breaths. Are you sitting down?” she asked.
“No,” I replied.
“Well, sit down on the couch and put me on speaker,” she instructed, and so I did.
“Now close your eyes and take three deep breaths, slowly.”
I closed my eyes and tried to clear my head. I breathed in and out three times and I felt my heart rate start to slow down.
“Is that any better?” Violet asked.
“A little bit,” I replied, and she instructed me to do it again.
“Okay, I think I'm good now,” I said as my heart came to a resting pace.
Violet asked me to explain what all I had discovered. Any time that I would get worked up she would tell me to do the same breathing exercise again. She said she had been doing some of her own research and most of it mirrored the information I had found, but not to get discouraged by it.
“There are all kinds of families, Lily,” she said. “We just need to find out exactly what yours is.”
We stayed on the phone until she was on her way home for lunch. For some reason, she was alone all morning and it was nice to be able to talk to her without her needing to quickly hang up.
It was six o’clock here when I hung up with Violet. I hadn’t eaten since midnight and I was starving. My emotions blocked out the fact that my body needed nut
rition. I made some dinner and turned on the television. I found the equivalent of our soap operas back home. It was entertaining to say the least, and I mostly understood everything going on.
Once I was done eating, I did the dishes and then headed for the shower. I needed the hot water to calm my nerves and loosen my muscles. Today had put a lot of stress on me, so I decided that tomorrow would just be about sightseeing.
Chapter 11
I woke up the next day to the screaming voices of children outside my window. I didn’t understand what they were doing up so early. It couldn’t have been later than seven. I reached for my phone that had fallen onto the floor sometime in the night and, to my surprise, it read twelve o’clock in the afternoon. I couldn’t believe I had wasted half the day sleeping. I always heard that jet lag was terrible, but I didn’t think it would take this kind of effect on my body.
I washed my face twice as I tried to fully wake myself up. If this was any indication as to what my mornings were going to be like, then I needed to set an alarm. After I was done with my morning routine, I made my way to the kitchen to cook lunch.
As I was eating, I decided that while I was sightseeing today, I would also run. I hadn’t ran since I had come here, and after everything I discovered yesterday, I needed to decompress. And the best way for me to do that was to run.
After changing and grabbing all my essentials, I realized that I had no idea where I would go. I hadn’t done much research on Palermo and what it had to offer as a city. Gianna had given me a tourist map, so I quickly found it and circled some of the landmarks that I thought would be interesting to visit.
I started out on a light jog as I made my way down one of the main roads. The scenery here was absolutely astounding. I could see how much work and dedication went into building the city. Each landmark and building had specific details carved into them and each building had a story behind it. Though I didn’t know what they might be, I could see the passion of the architect in each and every one of them.
This place was full of life, and no matter where I ran there were always people. This place was so different when compared to New Jersey and Toronto. Mostly everyone back home relied on automobiles, but the people here walked everywhere. My ancestors roamed these streets and may have even lived in some of the buildings I passed. I felt like I actually belonged here. I guess that was the connection I had to this place.
