I shrugged. "When you move out of the house, you get a little more latitude."
"Yeah? Well, I can't wait to move out. Then I can swim whenever I come home and won't have to act like a lady." She crossed her arms and stared longingly at the pool.
I didn't have the heart to tell her she wouldn't get that much latitude.
Mamma called for Luciana from the kitchen.
My baby sister laid a finger to her lips to hush me and ducked down, hidden from view by the knee-high cobblestone divider that separated the pool from the lawn. Then she looked over her shoulder at the bushes surrounding the yard. I could almost see the wheels spinning in her head as she calculated whether or not she could make it into hiding before our mom spotted her.
"The bushes will tear your dress," I warned. "Then you'll really be in trouble."
Her shoulders drooped. Head tilted to the side, she asked, "Angel, what's ee's dropping?"
"Eavesdropping?" I asked.
She flung up her hands in a gesture way too dramatic for a seven-year-old. "Whatever."
"Why do you ask?"
"Because Mom and Aunt Mona were talking to Sonia about a boy and I tried to tell Sonia that boys were stupid. Then Mom got mad and shushed me, saying I shouldn't eeeeevees drop, but I didn't drop anything."
Fighting to keep from laughing, I stood and collected her shoes. Then I walked over and offered her a hand. "Eavesdropping, Luci. It means listening in on a conversation you shouldn't be."
"Well that's stupid," she replied. "Why would they talk right in front of me, if they don't want me to listen?"
From the mouths of babes.
"I don't know. Doesn't make sense to me either. But you better go help Mamma before you get in trouble. You don't want to end up spending the evening in your room."
"Maybe I do. It's a lot more fun in my room than it is in the kitchen," she argued.
I kissed her on the forehead. "Yeah, but I barely get to see you anymore. Dinner's gotta be almost ready, and I want to sit by my beautiful little sister."
"Fine." She trudged toward the house like a captured inmate heading back to her prison cell. She was almost to the door when she paused and called over her shoulder, "But it's a good thing I love you, Angel."
Laughing, I straightened my suit and went to see what the men were up to. Cousin Alberto stood in the corner, talking politics with the neighbor. I stayed well away from that conversation and made a beeline for the grill. Uncle Michael wheeled his chair onto the deck and joined me. As Father's older brother, Michael should have been the family boss, but a bullet had left him paralyzed the same day my grandfather had been murdered. Now Michael was one of my old man's many advisors.
Great Uncle Carlo showed up with Nonna and a car full of fresh pastries, so Bones and I hurried out to help unload trays of homemadecannoli,frittole, and macaroons. Nonna kissed my cheek and popped a frittole in my mouth before offering one to Bones. Still warm from the oven, the Italian fried donuts filled with custard and sprinkled with sugar were the best part of the meal.
My brother, Dante, opened the door for us while talking on his phone. "Hold on a sec, babe," he said into the phone, then covered the mouthpiece with his hand as Nonna kissed his cheeks.
"Hey, Angel. Bones," Dante said, walking past us and resuming his phone conversation before we could respond.
Bones leaned over and muttered, "Look, even your little bro has a honey."
I flipped Bones off and followed Nonna into the kitchen.
***
After dinner, I tucked Georgio and Luciana in. They begged me for a story, so I readWhere the Wild Things Areas my two favorite monsters piled on top of me and passed out. I carried Georgio to his own bed and headed back downstairs to say my good-byes and collect Bones.
Bones was in the middle of a game of horseshoes with Great Uncle Carlo and a few of my father's goons, cash piled high on the card table beside the horseshoe pit attesting to the seriousness of the game. I stood back and watched the men pitch horseshoes for a moment, ready to head home but not wanting to interrupt.
My parents joined me. Father pulled up a chair and sat, tugging Mamma onto his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled up at him adoringly. A small pang of loneliness speared me, making me realize I wanted a relationship like that, with someone who knew all the messed-up shit I did but still looked at me like I hung the fucking moon.
"Wanna put some money on the game?" Father asked.
Who would I bet on? The man who was practically my brother, or my great uncle. "Never bet against family," I muttered.
