by Sienna Mynx
“Ever been out West?” she asked.
“West? No. Why?”
She shrugged. “Just wondering. They say it’s a wild frontier. Coloreds own their own towns, and lots of land. I was thinking when this is said and done I might like to travel out there. See it for myself.”
“Stop singing?”
“I suppose. I could see myself teaching, yes, getting me some schooling and being a schoolmarm.”
Romano accepted the sandwich. “Maybe I’ll take you one day.”
He didn’t read anything into the nonchalant shrug she gave him. He supposed he should have paid attention. The things left unsaid between them would leave him unprepared for the loyalty and devotion she would show him in the weeks to come. For now he’d been too absorbed with his needs, his wants, to hear anything regarding her desires. He took a large bite and fell over to his back. Harmony removed the bottle of wine Mabel added to the basket then eased down on the blanket and scooted close to him. They both stared up at the sky.
“When I was a little girl I used to dream songs. I would close my eyes like this and see pictures of my ma, my daddy, God, you name it and then I could just sing to them and it would feel like I had them with me. Used to call them my prayer songs.”
“You always wanted to sing?” he asked.
“I just always knew I could sing. Did you always want to paint?” she asked.
Romano pondered it for a moment. He too realized that his paintings were something that came from a place inside of him he knew little of. Maybe his mama loved to do it when she was a girl. She never shared much of her desires, only tended to her children and her husband’s needs and read her bible. “I suppose I’m like you. It’s something that I could just do.” His gaze slipped over to her. Her expression prompted him to roll to his side. He popped the rest of the sandwich in his mouth, chewing fast and then swallowed.
There was something wistful that shone in her large brown eyes as she stared up at the sky, and he wanted to understand it. God help him, but she was still a mystery to him. Her energy drew him at every turn. Have I actually fallen in love with her? She would doubt him if he told her he had. Who would believe a man could secretly desire a woman for months from afar, then love her after a few days of meeting. At first he thought it was her singing, because her voice was straight from heaven. Now after having her the past few days he knew it was more. I love her.
“I want to know about you Vinnie.” Her gaze switched from the clouds to his. “I want to know about you and her. Tell me.”
It was a simple request. Still the painful memory of his history with Annie soured his gut. He felt encouraged by the understanding and sweet presence of his Harmony. Truthfully the only thing left between him and Annie was his guilt. And that had been enough to keep him immobile over the past two years. It was time for him to let go of the past and move forward.
“If you don’t want to talk about her still I understand. It’s just that…”
Romano pressed a single finger to Harmony’s lips. She silenced. He traced the seal of her full lips then pinched her chin to lift her face to caress her mouth with his. Her eyes closed and she visibly relaxed.
“I’ll tell you. I came to America when I was sixteen. I did what I could to survive but this place was so different than home. I spent the first year stealing and eating whatever scraps I could find, catching odd jobs here and there. Then I met Annie and her kindness changed everything.”
“How did you meet?” she asked, keeping her eyes closed. As if she could see his tale unfold behind her lids.
“You could say we met by accident. That’s how a lot of my fortune came to me, and was lost, by accident.”
Romano remembered their meeting. Annie had skin the color of sable, and thick curly hair she wore tamed from her face in a single braid down her back. She would tie a baby blue ribbon on the plait. He used to stare at that soft ribbon for long moments before she ever allowed him to touch it, or touch her. Back then she was no more than fourteen herself, and the prettiest girl he’d ever seen. In Sicily he’d never encountered brown skin people. The dark olive skin of Sicilians was nothing compared to those he saw in America. For some reason the people fascinated him. Their style of dress, their music, even some of the foods he could scavenge out of their neighborhoods.
“The first time I saw Annie she nearly lost her life.”
“How?” Harmony gasped. Her eyes remained closed.
“I was running with my friend Lucky. We were looking for a kid who stole from us that day. Lucky took one side of the street and I had the other. We searched the crowds and the stores, thinking we had him cornered. I was the one to spot him first. He ran hard through the outside market darting in and around the street vendor’s carts and tables. Annie and others were there, shopping, not paying attention. I went after him. I was faster and closer when he panicked and started to shove people out of the way. Annie appeared from a vegetable stand with a bag of groceries. She didn’t see him coming. He crashed into her and she fell toward the street. I got to her in time to pull her back from the cars. If she were to tell the story she’d say I saved her life.”
“And you? Do you think you saved her life?”
“If I hadn’t been chasing the kid he would have never pushed her in the first place. So what do you think?”
“I think she was lucky you caught her before the front end of a car did.”
The praise was lost on him. He’d been the lucky one. Living on the streets and fighting for everything had taken its toll on him by the time he met Annie. He loathed everything and everyone until she showed him kindness. Romano had been blown away by the instant connection they forged. She offered him a ruby red radish from her bag as a show of gratitude. He was so hungry he bit into it as if it were an apple. He was so taken by her gentle sweet smile and almond shaped honey brown eyes, he couldn’t leave her side. But his limited English made it hard to express his interest without coming off too forward. Annie seemed to understand him.
“I didn’t know English then, but she didn’t seem to mind or question it when I offered to walk her home. I guess she could tell by my rags and scruffy appearance that I lived on the streets. When I walked her to her door she announced me to her mother and said I was staying for dinner for saving her life. That’s how Annie was.”
Harmony rolled in close to him. He lifted his arm so he could hold her and she rested her face on his chest. “Finish, I want to hear the story of how you two fell in love.”
“ Mabel and Annie didn’t seem to care that I was some vagabond. They even let me bathe and gave me some fresh things to wear that were left behind by Mabel’s dead husband. The clothes were kind of big but I was grateful. It started from there…”
“What started?”
Romano sighed. “My life with them. My life without them. My wanting to be somebody important. Every day I’d visit Annie, until my presence in the neighborhood became routine. She took to teaching me English and how to read it too. I was able to get a job with a bootlegger named Greco and a room down in Five Points. Soon I began to make deals on my own. Her brother was a kid then, he’d follow me around everywhere. I took to looking after him. He reminded me of Antonio. By the time I was eighteen Annie was my girl and I had enough money to send for Antonio, and while I did the bootleg runs for Greco, Mabel let Antonio stay with her. He and Teek were both fifteen then, getting into trouble. We were kind of like a family.”
“What went wrong?”
“I went wrong. Antonio and Teek wanted to imitate me. But the circles I ran in, I couldn’t let the others know about my surrogate arrangement with a black family. I kept them away from that life. Time passed and when I made enough money to buy a nicer place, and this one, I hired Mabel. Paid her four times more than any domestic. Antonio and Teek were both eighteen and wanting to strike out on their own. I had to keep everything under control. So I eventually moved them all in with me. Everyone knew Annie was my girl, but it was never officially s
aid. For those that didn’t know they feared me enough not to ask.”
“Is that why you know where you could marry legally?”
Romano nodded. “I would have married her. She didn’t believe me. Thought I was ashamed of her. The truth was I was ashamed of me. I had become my father. It’s why I broke up the gang, I had decided to go solo. Two years ago Teek was killed, Antonio barely escaped with his life, and I wanted revenge. The cost of it all was Annie’s faith in me. She could stand no more.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. Annie was right to blame me for Teek. I knew things were changing between him and Antonio. Teek could never be part of the world Antonio was drawn to. Antonio started to run with small time Sicilian gangs and Teek did the same with the blacks. By the time they were twenty they had separate lives. And when a young Sicilian kid got killed in Harlem it started the race riots.”
“I remember. That’s the night Lewis was killed. I think he got shot in the middle of the chaos.”
Romano sighed. “It’s the night Teek died. The cut on Antonio’s face came from a knife fight he was in trying to save Teek. Antonio barely escaped while members of his crew ripped Teek apart. Turns out it was the Five Points Gang that killed the kid and dropped his body over in Harlem. So, all of that bloodshed was for nothing.”
He stroked Harmony’s back focusing on the shifting clouds moving in and blocking the sun. “Annie couldn’t look at me after what we’d done. She couldn’t stand the sight of me. Mabel tried to convince her that we belonged together but that drove a wedge between their relationship too. I cost Mabel so much, her son and daughter.”
“She still works for you?”
“Calls me Mr. Romano when appropriate and Vinnie when she wants to remind me of who’s really in control.” He chuckled. “She’s like a mother to me and Antonio. I’ve done everything to try to make it up to her but she won’t leave, won’t take off the apron, won’t stop pretending that Annie and Teek are gone forever. And I don’t want her anywhere alone. I’ve given her money, bought her a nice place, but she’s stayed.”
Harmony’s head lifted from his chest. She rested her chin on the back of her hand and gazed at him. “What do you want from me Vinnie? I’m not your Annie.”
“And I’m not your Lewis, Songbird.”
“True.”
He touched her face. “I guess we can’t deny what we miss in them both.”
“Guess not.”
“Just as we can’t deny what we found in each other. Can we?”
“I suppose not,” she said.
“The truth is I want you, Songbird. It has nothing to do with Annie, though I will give her credit. It’s because of her I know what I want. It’s why I’ve not been able to look away since the first day I saw you.”
“It’s strange, you talk beautifully at times. Like a poet. Like your sculptures.”
“Does it scare you? My lion’s heart,” he asked.
“No. It makes me want… makes me feel warm inside. You could have any girl you wanted. You chose me.”
He chuckled. “Trust me Doll you chose me. I would have never been brave enough to approach you. You had no idea how surprised I was when you walked over and sat down at my table.”
She snuggled him closer.
“I don’t think of our being together as just a matter of choice. Something else is at work here Doll. I wasn’t looking for you, and you were looking for help for your bother, now here we are. Thing is, I’m pretty sure I can’t let you go. It is what it is.”
She nodded, as if his answer made sense.
“Does my answer surprise you?”
“No. Men are like that. They want what they want and don’t give thought to the reason.” She half-joked. “I doubt you would ever care to explore the reason why a little black girl with a blue ribbon in her hair fascinated you, or why a jazz singer in your arms makes you happy now. Got that lion’s stubborn streak in ya.”
A deep laugh escaped him. Harmony rose. She crawled over him. Placing her hands on either side of his face she straddled his chest and leaned in almost to the point of their noses touching. “Don’t matter anymore why we do what we do. All that matters is that you know you’re mine now too.”
Romano shook his head, fighting off a smile. He felt like a grinning idiot. “You test me woman.” Up close she was even more beautiful. With skin the color of autumn with a sea of swaying emerald green grass around them, she blended with nature encompassing the beauty of Eve.
The tease of a smile on her rose colored lips turned sensuous and a surge of pride swelled in his chest over his proclaiming her as his own. Inside he burned with the need to run his tongue over her succulent pair of lips and draw her bottom lip into his mouth.
At the base of his throat a pulse beat and swelled as though his heart had risen from it’s unusual place and lodged there. No words passed between them.
When he could stand it no longer he flipped her underneath him and pinned her down to the blanket. Oh, she feels so good, so good. She released a soft giggle and spread her legs so he could fit nicely. A slow aching throb pumped raw desire between his legs turning his groin into granite. Her gaze remained locked on his, daring him to go the distance, as she had the night she stepped to him and they struck a bargain. Beneath her soft breasts he felt the erratic beating of her heart pressed up against his chest.
The needful yearning to touch her upset his balance, and made him fumble over where to begin. Romano’s hand began to undo the top buttons of her dress. The tiny pearls pushed through the small slits of fabric and more of her beauty was uncovered. The buttons trailed down to her waist. She lay perfectly still with her knees parted and the hem of her dress gathered around her copper brown thighs. When the front of her dress opened and her bra was revealed he searched her face for a reaction. Her pupils dilated, her breath hitched, but she didn’t say a word. He eased her bra up slowly and released perfection.
Twin dark peaks hardened instantly and the swell of her areolas made his mouth water. Romano felt his temperature rise and swallowed hard to suppress his emotion. Her little fable of the lion with the fragile heart had made a believer of him. He failed with Annie and he understood why. He’d do things different with Harmony, if she gave him the chance. Even now with all his gentle words and kisses she only released a bit of a sigh under his touch. Another cool breeze blew in from the forest making him want to cover and protect her.
“I have something to confess,” he began. “I wanted to say it to you last night when we… after you and I talked and you told me about your man, and how he died. I didn’t. Guess I’m not as brave as that lion.” He traced his index finger around her nipple and she visibly shivered and heaved an affronted sigh. Her gaze lowered under a veil of dark lashes and she stared down the line of her body at him. “He didn’t deserve you. No man deserves a treasure this fine. Always had a thing for you, Doll. Not just the singing, though it’s part of you. It’s how beautiful you are inside too.”
He pressed the side of his face to her breast, against her heart. There beneath warm soft as silk skin, was the slow melodic vibration of her heartbeat. Romano could be lulled into just about anything listening to the sweet harmony of her breathing. Her small slender hand ran over the top of his head with such love. Romano closed his eyes and tried to focus on what he needed to say. “I’m sure he was a good man. Didn’t mean to say he wasn’t, Doll. I only mean a woman like you deserves the best. Annie helped me get over my anger about mi madre and mi sorella, some of it. I have many regrets. We are not one of them.”
The images of his exploits through the slums of the Bronx and lower Manhattan flooded him with dread. As the leader of the Black Hand his gang was the biggest rival to the Five Points Gang. The death of Teek had been a set up. The Five Points gang knew a race war would divide his heart. And by the time Teek lie in a street drowning in his own blood he’d lost everything. That suited him fine. The hell he raised garnered such a reputation that doors usua
lly closed to a poor immigrant cast out of Sicily were kicked open. He even had the Irish under his payroll. And it hadn’t stopped. Mickey Collins stealing from him helped his focus return. He had his men back. His famiglia. He took the sacred vows of the Mafioso, and no one could question him. He could marry her if he chose to. No one would dare question him.
Romano was no fool, and not completely blinded by his weakness. To ask her to become part of his world would mean great risk to her life and her brother’s. Just as it had been for Annie. But he had to ask, just as her man Lewis had to pluck her before she was ripe, and so soon after her grandmother had died. Neither of them deserved her. Romano eased his arm around her waist to hold tightly to her. Yes he had it bad for his Songbird.
“Vinnie?”
“Mmm.”
“Do you still love her?”
Romano opened his eyes. His answer was no, he didn’t still love Annie. He’d already told her as much, but Harmony needed more. This he understood. He needed to hear her say she’d be his. Permanently.
