She turns her head and stares at the fireplace before launching herself from the chair. She runs her fingers on the underside of the mantle, then down the ornate frame. One piece moves slightly, and it opens a hidden drawer. She looks inside and frowns. “A gun.” She closes the secret compartment and sighs. “Paranoia has kept this family alive for fifty years.”
Alana, Uncle Gio, and I exchange ‘what the hell is going on?’ glances. Seeing Alana confused is unsettling. Uncle Gio, not so much. He still doesn’t understand the ending of Inception.
The front door opens, and we stop our silent conversation. Aunt Dawn turns her whole body around and smiles at her son. The dog barks at Donny, and when he goes to pet Kingston, the dog steps back and trots toward the window. He jumps up onto a stool and parks himself there like he’s guarding the house.
Donny grumbles, “Stupid dog,” and walks into the living room, slapping me on the shoulder. “What did I miss?”
“Joey didn’t know Nonna had a dog, and your mom doesn’t want to have a funeral for a few weeks,” Alana supplies.
Donny pushes his hair back and exhales. “What? Why?”
“Because the dog was always out with Jenny when he came over for lunch. And your mom thinks the Four Families are under attack.” Again, Alana fills in the gaps.
Aunt Dawn moves to the statue of Mary in the living room and lifts it up. There’s another secret compartment at the base of the statue. She slides it open, and a key falls out. Aunt Dawn lifts it to the light, counting something—the cuts, maybe?—frowns, and puts it back inside the statue and returns it back to its spot.
Nonna had stuff hidden all over the house. She told me the location of emergency money under the floorboards. I think she did so I wouldn’t go snooping for anything else. During my years in her home, I stumbled on a few other things—mostly pendants, a crucifix, and a few knives—so I’m not shocked Aunt Dawn knows a few hiding spots. But I am surprised at how quickly she’s moving around the space.
Donny sits next to me on the couch, taking up as much room as he can. I don’t want to scoot over, but I don’t want him touching me either. It’s a battle of wills.
“Well of course we’re under attack,” he fires back and points to Alana. “She started a war with the Deviant, destroyed all of the Majesty in the world, and put a giant-ass target on our backs.”
The Deviant is one of our known enemies. A few months ago, he abducted our kids. Two of the five were Alana’s goddaughters, the other three were kids of family friends. She was pissed, but it was one of those eerily quiet angers that means death is around the corner. In two hours, she burned down all the fields the Deviant used to harvest Majesty—an addictive drug the Four Families refused to sell. Alana also had all of his crew arrested and converted to her side. Plus, she somehow got the US Chief of Staff to resign. The message was loud across the crime world: Do not fuck with Alana.
Super fucking cool, but it did put the Four Families squarely in the spotlight.
“You were paid for your inconvenience,” she scoffs. “I used my money to upgrade the security at Mastodon. What did you use your money on?”
“My giant bulletproof hamster ball is on backorder, and we have to retrofit all the doors,” Donny grumbles.
“Why don’t you take the dog?” I suggest. “Clearly he’s a protector.” I point at him staring out the window, his ears up, alert and focused on something.
Donny crosses his arms and sinks into the couch, spreading his legs further into my spot. “That dog hates me.” My cousin slaps me on the leg. “You should take the dog. It’s not like you have anything else in your life.” Ouch. “Besides, we’re all going to be dead in a few weeks anyway. Why not spend your final days picking up shit?”
Uncle Gio is about to sit in Nonna’s chair when Aunt Dawn drops back into it. She shrinks down so her skull fits into the indent in the headrest. Her eyes light up and she claps as she hurries to the kitchen. The cabinets and drawers creak open and closed. “Found it!” Aunt Dawn comes back into the living room, triumphantly holding a key in front of her like it’s the damn holy grail.
Uncle Gio finally sits on the chair, mimicking the position my aunt took in it. “My love, what did you find?”
She stands in the room, the key in one hand and her cellphone in the other. “Nonna kept copious notes on our enemies on an off-site secure server. This is the key to the storage locker that has the password and location of the server, plus any of the old papers she couldn’t digitize.” The three of us hang our jaws open, only Alana seeming unfazed. My aunt pauses and looks at me. “Nonna had secrets, and she spread those secrets around. No one person knew all her knowledge. She kept the dog from you for a reason. Probably this exact one—when she was gone, she didn’t want you to be alone.”
Aunt Dawn taps on her phone, and a few seconds later, it buzzes. After kicking Donny’s foot she orders, “drive your father home.” Then turns to her husband, “I’m taking the car.” After petting Kingston’s head my aunt rushes to the door and calls, “Love you.” It’s implied she meant all of us but could be talking to the dog.
And Hurricane Dawn has passed through the area, leaving chaos and confusion in her wake.
Donny grabs one of the pillows on the couch and holds it to his chest. “So, we do nothing? No funeral? No church services? Not even a family dinner? It feels weird.”
Uncle Gio sucks in all the air from the room. “It’s vice night.”
Oh, right. When a family member dies, those in the immediate family get a vice night.
Donny smiles as he tries to narrow down his choices. “What are you guys going to do?”
“I haven’t put much thought into it, but the Uncles will have my back,” Uncle Gio says.
That’s the rule with vice night. You can give in to any of your deepest darkest indulgences, as long as you’re supervised, and nothing is life-altering.
“You’re taking Uri and Dimitri,” I say, pushing Donny back into his space with my knee. “They’ll keep you safe. I’ll ask Thiago to watch me.”
“I’ve got Izzy,” Alana says. “I can’t imagine her vice being anything too bad.”
