by Tiana Laveen
“Hey, uh, Gio…” His asshole cousin, his senior by about six years approached from the half dead mob. “I know Aunt Emma didn’t mean anything by it. It’s just surprising, ya know. I’m confused by this though. Is this some sorta joke?”
“Tony, don’t!” someone yelled out, but Giovanni kept his eye keenly on the man.
“I’m not a comedian, so nah, not doing any funny business tonight. You want to know what’s fuckin’ surprising, Tony?” He placed his hand on his hip and looked the fucker up and down. “You comin’ to me and giving your two cents. That’s what has me clutching my fuckin’ invisible pearls. Some nerve. Oh, and Dad, I’ll take that beer now. Seriously.”
“Oh, cut tha shit, man. I’m just asking a question. I’ve got the guts to speak my mind is all.”
“If you were really speaking your mind it would be like your cock and balls… shootin’ blanks.”
“Yo, fuck you, Gio!”
“All right… Come on, guys.” It was then that Gio realized why Dad was so agreeable and friendly even in the midst of such an argument. He was sloshed.
“Gio, this is going to live down in history.”
“Just like your first and second marriages…” Gio rolled his eyes.
“You brought a fuckin’ Black girl to Grandma’s seventy-fifth fuckin’ birthday!”
Dad thrust a beer in his hands, probably hoping it would somehow appease him. He kept his eye on Tony as he removed the cap and guzzled half of the beverage down within seconds.
“You’re right, I did. Maybe Vanessa is a present for Nonna.” He smirked.
“Oh, really? How thoughtful of ya! The bitch isn’t even Puerto Rican or Colombian or somethin’ like that. That’s bad, but not as bad. No, you had to go straight to the dashikis and bones in their fuckin’ noses, didn’t you? Grandma’s going to blow her damn lid!”
“Oh, blow it out cha ass, and speakin’ of blow, why don’t you worry about your third wife blowin’ Pete’s meat last year instead of puttin’ your nose in my fuckin’ business, huh?! Worry about that!”
Suddenly, a fist was launched in his direction and he launched back, only to have Dad step in between them. His beer spilled from the bottle as they tried to get a piece of one another. Others joined in, trying to keep them from tearing one another apart.
“Ya fuckin’ dick!” Tony screamed, his big face all red and his wavy, dark hair shining under the lights. “You a big shot now, huh? This is what you do now? Out of all the women in New York, you go get a fuckin’ mulignan… a goddamn jigaboo, a fuckin’ eggplant. Gonna make some fuckin’ zebras, mess up the family!”
“Mess up the family? Wow!” Gio smiled then burst out laughing before polishing off his beer. Hanging onto the neck, he swung it back and forth like a pendulum between his fingers. “If I do get ’er pregnant, I’ll be takin’ care of mine at least.”
“What are you talking about? I take care of my kids!”
“Do ya? How’s that child support goin’ for your second wife who had your three mentally deranged ass kids? Isn’t Debra like your third cousin on your father’s side? And you wanna talk to me about all the women in New York I could date, but here you stand, bold as shit, a man who fucked his own cousin and knocked ’er up three times. You sick bastard! Stay tha fuck away from me!”
Gio shoved the man across the room, making him stumble and almost fall on the floor.
“Don’t put your hands on me again, Gio. It’s not my fault you made a bonehead move. Fuckin’ disrespectful to bring her up in here!”
“A, Tony, cool it. Don’t talk to my son like this. You two have got to stop. You’re going to ruin the party,” Dad warned, his voice slurring.
“Keep it in the family, right? Keep it pure!” Gio cackled though he didn’t see a damn thing funny. “Your I.Q. is 7, and that’s on a good day, fuckin’ moron. You’re in no position to talk about bonehead moves. Come at me, bro! I dare you!” He beat his chest with his fist.
“Come on, Gio! That’s enough!” Dad gulped a swallow from his beer, not sounding too convincing.
“Nah! I’m just gettin’ started, Pops!” He swung the empty bottle harder and harder, practically tasting the victory after a violent outbreak. Boy, did he crave it.
“They’re not even human!” Tony blurted.
“Ohhh, good one, Einstein! I see that 5th grade education came in handy! Hey! I got a suggestion for ya. Don’t worry about who tha fuck my dick is in, aiight?! You just make sure you take your little blue pills and keep tha fuck outta my way before I rip ya fuckin’ head off your neck and toss it around like a soccer ball.” Gio jetted his finger in his cousin’s face, but people kept holding him back.
I’m ready to turn this fucker into target practice.
“Fame gone to your fuckin’ head! A liberal snowflake! I bet you voted the Democrat ticket, ya fuckin’ pussy!”
“Awww, Jesus! Shut your trap, Tony! Let it go! He’s gonna pound ya!” someone yelled.
“At least I can read the options in the voting booth, you illiterate little shit! You probably voted Dem too and don’t even know it!” Someone burst out laughing. “Dumb motherfucker! Eggplant, huh? You call my girl an eggplant, fawkin’ shithead! Suck my eggplant.” Gio grabbed his crotch. “’Especially since incest is your thing, you retarded fuckface! You’d probably like it!”
The man charged towards him but his advances were thwarted once again. “COME ON! LET HIM GO! He’s bankin’ on you all doing this so he can look good. Let’s see him try to take me, ya big sloppy fucker! You can’t kick my ass. Only in your wet dreams!”
“All right, that’s enough you two! Stop it!” someone yelled. “Grandma will be down any minute!”
“Who’s really stupid, huh? I know the golden rule about Black bitches, Gio! You screw ’em, not ‘I do’ ’em!” The man turned his back and walked away.
Oh no you don’t!
Gio darted after him, the fury within him bursting painfully free. Slave ships sailed then sank. The Nile river rose with tears and the curve of the elephant’s tusk penetrated his heart. Strange arms and hands tugged at his body, but no one was any match for a man in love. He broke loose and slammed the bottle upside Tony’s head with a huge crash, it broke in a million pieces.
“FUUUUCK!”
The man slumped to the ground, bits of glass falling all around him.
“You talk too fuckin’ much! All you see is Black? Then black the fuck out!” He turned towards the crowd, feeling like a fucking cobra out for a meal as he waved the jagged, broken beer bottle in the air. “This also goes for not only this asshole, but anyone else in this house that has a problem with who I choose to be with!” Gio roared, drawing everyone’s attention.
Tony tried to get back to his feet.
Oh no, you son of a bitch. We can’t have that…
“Ahhhh!”
Tossing the bottle to the ground once and for all, he landed fist after fist across the bastard’s back, neck and face, the flesh bending and breaking from his blows. Tony tried to block the knocks and punches to no avail. Gio was determined to make an example of the son of a bitch, tenderize him like a steak. He kept on going until a voice cracked through the room like a bolt of lightning.
“Basta! Tutti basta!” Nonna yelled for them to stop at the bottom of the steps, his mother by her side, her face twisted in an expression of shock.
His father and several others finally got him off Tony. His heart raced a mile a minute, thumping like a drum. Feeling an all too familiar presence, he turned and saw his aunt and Vanessa standing there behind him, their arms laden with shiny gifts adorned with big bows. He faced his mother and grandmother once more, and the music went from a quiet whisper to completely turned off. Ma wrapped her arm around Nonna’s and helped her towards him as someone he didn’t know helped Tony to his feet. Blood was all over his cousin’s face, and the man gave him a death glare as Nonna approached, now standing right before him.
“Tony.” Nonna shot his cousin a gl
ance from over his shoulder. “You broke my lamp.” The old woman coughed into her hand. She looked lovely in her beaded blue gown, her hair piled up atop her head like some prom queen.
“Nonna, I’m sorry,” Giovanni stated, his adrenaline still running wild within him.
“Turn the music back on. Eat.” The old lady waved her arm about lazily. Her eyes looked tired, yet still held joy. After a brief silence, the crowd did as Nonna said.
“Giovanni Alessandro Luciano, you come with me…” The old woman curled her finger in his direction, turned her back, and he followed…
CHAPTER TEN
Black Skin and Blue Diamonds
He walked behind Nonna, her blue, glittery gown swaying back and forth. It felt like a long, painful walk of shame. Not because he regretted knocking Tony the fuck out—in fact, that was a good day’s work—but because it had happened on his Nonna’s special day. In her home.
He focused on the back of her, the way her body moved and her hair shone like silk. Long spirals of curled silver hair were pinned up to perfection with a silver and blue diamond butterfly hair clasp. The sounds of Frank Sinatra’s “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” filled the air as she led him into her small bedroom, which she’d filled with knickknacks collected over a lifetime. On the walls hung old framed photographs of her wedding, her children at birth, and other good times immortalized before he’d even been a blip on the radar of life…
The bed was elevated from the floor with construction blocks and dressed with frilly shades of pinks and cream. A canopy covered the whole thing, providing a roof of sorts to the gaudy, yet pretty, display.
He looked about for a place to sit and spotted a stool where the old lady did her makeup and hair. Nonna’s vanity was covered with fragrant face powders, bottles of thick lotion, pink lipstick, an old gold hand mirror, a container of blue hair grease, and a glass box filled with peppermints and cherry flavored Jolly Ranchers. He sat there, the small seat upholstered in the color of mulberry, embellished with hanging clear beads that clanked together in a pretty little melody every time he shifted his weight.
Nonna sat across from him on her bed, perched like a bird. Her small feet, clad in satin blue ballet slippers, dangled as she sat up high, looking much like a tiny doll. Resting her hands on her thighs, she looked at him. Her eyes were the Anapo river in Sicily and the curve of her smile La Costa degli Dei. Yes… a smile.
He was certain she’d be angry and give him a scolding like he’d never heard. Instead, she beamed like a brand-new sun rising from behind the clouds.
“Giovanni… my dear, crazy Giovanni. You’ve always been a very bad boy, you know that?”
He swallowed and clasped his hands as she looked at him with judgment, despite the curl of her lips.
“I’m sorry, Nonna…”
“Eh, you’re not sorry, so don’t say you’re sorry.” She huffed, waving her pink painted fingernail in his direction, the digit covered in multiple rings. He dropped his head.
“And what’s the matter with you, huh? I thought you had good sense.” She snapped her fingers. “You know better than to pay your cousin any attention. You have to ignore Tony, Giovanni.” She sighed. “He’s not well.” She tapped the side of her head, denoting the bastard was a fucking nutjob.
“Yeah, but crazy or not, he crossed the line. Do you know why we were fightin’, Nonna?”
She looked at him for a spell, then slowly nodded.
“Yes. Your mother was doing my hair, and she heard your voice. That’s how loud you were… angry as hell. Your mother stepped away from me and listened from the top of the stairs. I came out and we both heard you and Tony yelling at one another. What a thing to happen on my birthday!”
He dropped his head once again, now feeling a bit ashamed that Nonna had been privy to some of the things he uttered in a fit of anger.
“You’ve always had a bad temper, Giovanni. Rage, like your grandfather. You have no self-control when you’re upset. Tony wanted to upset you and he got what he needed.”
“And now he’s got a busted face… We’re even. You’re right, I’m not sorry I socked him. Far from it!”
The woman shook her head.
“Nonna, you don’t understand. He wasn’t the only one! He was just the mouthpiece. He called my girlfriend an eggplant…” he tried to explain. “You know what that means, Nonna. He’s calling her a Moolie… means the same damn thing. I’m not gonna take that kind of disrespect. He’s crazy, but he knew what he was doin’.”
She sighed, a deep exhale, and ran her hand against her forehead as if a budding headache was breaking free and taking over.
“Yes… maybe so. So, this fight between you two… The only time men fight like that, boy, is either over money, honor, or a woman. You brought a woman you’re seeing to my house tonight?”
“Yeah, Nonna. She’s downstairs.” He couldn’t help but smile as he thought about Vanessa, looking pretty in her subdued dark blue dress. “She might’ve left for all I know.” He shrugged. “I hope my father and Sibilla are still with her. This shit, I mean, this crap ended badly.”
Nonna nodded once again, her chin high, exposing a Tanzanite and blue diamond necklace that sparkled under the light.
“Here’s what it’s come down to, Nonna… This is about what I’m willin’ to do and not willin’ to do for the people I love, okay? So, let me ask ya somethin’.”
“Okay. Ask me.”
“I know you’re old school. You come from a time when races didn’t really mix a lot. But see…” He placed his hand over his heart. “I’m from a different generation, Nonna. Race is still an issue. There are quite a lot of problems, but we’ve come a long way.”
She cocked her head to the side, her eyes never leaving his. “Now, everyone is with everybody, ya know? It’s not about who’s Black, who’s Italian, who’s Asian, and all of that. It’s about how that person treats ya, makes ya feel… Do they understand you, do they care for you, do they love you? Like… really love you? When you walk away from ’em, do you miss them? Can you see being with them for more than a day? Would they make a nice husband or wife one day and do they pull their weight in the relationship, whether it’s a friendship or more, ya know? So, with that being said, I won’t beat around the bush. Here’s my question. Do you approve of me and Vanessa? That’s my girlfriend… like, are you upset about me dating a Black woman, Nonna? Is that an embarrassment to you? Some sort of smear on the family?”
“Would it change anything if I was upset about you and your lady friend, Giovanni? I mean, really?” She rolled her eyes and smirked. “Would you break up with her if I tell you I don’t like it?” She threw up her hands and smiled.
“Nah, can’t say that it would change things for me and Nessa, but I’d feel bad about you. It would change our relationship for sure. I’d see you differently. It would break my heart.”
“Why’s that?”
“’Cause then I’d have to choose someone over my Nonna… because then I’d know that Nonna only loves me conditionally—only if I do what she tells me to do, only if I don’t bring shame to the family because I love a woman who’s not White. I can’t operate like that. I can’t be the man who has no honor for himself.”
He pointed to his heaving chest, the emotions budding and tearing him apart. “That’s a cruel, wicked thing, you know?”
“I imagine the whole world is cruel and wicked, Giovanni. Just look around you. Even the people we love can be evil. We just may not find out until the right conditions present themselves. Many can turn into a tyrant if you force them up against a wall. Even a grandmother.”
Her words sent a chill down his spine.
“Ya know, I can understand that but I tell you this much: even if Nessa and I didn’t work out, I’d still have tuh choose ’er, even if I knew that you’d disown me and she and I would break up ahead of time, like if I could read the future or something. And do you know why? Because this is my life, Nonna.”
He pointed
to his chest. “Because of you and your sacrifices, I’m alive. You gave birth to my mother, but now, it’s up to me to run it. And I respect you… you know that I do, and you mean the world to me.”
He began to choke up inside, reading between the lines. Tony had been right… Nonna did not want this. She didn’t approve. She was from a different time, a different land.
“I’d do almost anything for you, Nonna, you know that, but you and Ma and Pop raised me better than for me to turn my back on someone I love if they didn’t do nothin’ wrong but be Black. My family has been my whole life, but I can’t break that rule for anybody… not even you.”
They were quiet for a spell. The music downstairs vibrated through the house. Bursts of laughter came through every now and again but the last thing he felt was merriment.
Nonna said nothing for quite some time. At last, he broke the silence.
“Do you mind if I text Vanessa real fast to make sure she’s okay?”
He slid his phone out of his pocket and waved it towards his grandmother. Nonna shook her head, then rested her eyes.
Giovanni: Chinky, I’m talking to my grandmother. Be down soon. You okay?
Seconds later, he received a text back.
Chinky: I’m fine. How about you?
Giovanni: Honestly? I don’t know yet. LOL
Chinky: Fair enough. Your cousin blacked out for a minute after you left. He’s okay now.
Giovanni: IDGAF. He can go fuck himself. Be there in a jiff.
Chinky: Take your time. I am having dinner with your brother and your parents in the dining room right now. Your Aunt Sabella is with us, too. She made some chicken fettucine that looks really good, but I will have to pick the chicken out of it.
Giovanni: Eat it. You’ll love it. They’re not making you uncomfortable, are they? My aunt and father are drunk so take anything they say right now with a grain of salt.
Chinky: LOL. Everything is fine. They’re really nice. Your brother is great, too. I love them.
