Page 45 of La Dolce Vita

"In front of Gio and Domi?" Marietta’s eyes stretched.

"He breezed in like he belonged there after Giovanni granted him permission to enter. The clan bosses were all watching Giovanni. Things are tense now since my kidnapping." Mirabella sighed. "It was uncomfortable. I was glad when he left."

"What is he up to?" Marietta asked.

"Who knows? Zia and I talked about it. This is something we don't need. Right now Armando isn't our husband's focus. We are finally making improvements there. And if Giovanni found out..."

"Yes, I know. I know. So what? You plan to bring her here?"

"I can't leave her there. It's a disaster. I'm so tired of his little games," Mirabella sighed.

Marietta looked away. Mirabella waited for her to defend Armando like she always did but her sister didn't say anything of the sort. So Mirabella continued. "I'm thinking we do with Rosetta what we did with Catalina. Those two are more alike than they think. We can groom her, put her in the family business, marry her off to some Frenchman, and send her on her way."

The sisters laughed. Marietta's mood lightened a bit. "Tell me about Virginia. This farm our grandparents own. Who takes care of it now?"

"Our cousin. His name is Clyde. I send him money, and he makes a little of his own with the farming to support him and his family. It's been our arrangement since... since the first dress I sold. When I went missing after Fabiana died, Kei stepped in and covered the expenses for me."

"That was nice of him," Marietta said without a hint of sincerity.

"Clyde has seven sons. Three of them still live in Virginia. Two of them help him with the farm. The other is a preacher."

"And the other four sons?" Marietta asked.

"The others are everything from a doctor to a school teacher and scattered across the country. I don't know much about their lives anymore."

"Who is Clyde to you? I mean how is he related to us? Does he have brothers and sisters?"

Mirabella nodded.

"Go on girl... open your damn mouth and tell me about the man!" Marietta shook her sister’s arm gently.

"Let's see; there's cousin Tanya, cousin Melanie, cousin Timmy, and cousin Derek. All of them were the children of our aunt, Bessie-Mae. And there is Minnie. She’s Clyde’s wife. You’ll love her."

Marietta grinned with her hand to her heart. She looked riveted. Mirabella wasn't sure how much she wanted to share about their aunt, Bessie-Mae. But she decided it was time she shared what she knew. Mostly they had previously only spoken of their mother and grandparents when she filled Marietta in on the family.

"Bessie-Mae was Me-Ma's sister. She had five kids; Clyde is the fifth. They grew up with Mama," Mirabella smiled. "I grew up with their children as my cousins, and I guess our kids will need to know the next generation."

"Wow. Do they know about me? Hell, yes! They have to. Why haven't I spoken to them?" Marietta asked. “Call them. Now.”

"We aren't close.” Mirabella grabbed her arm “Like I said it's a long story."

"Is Bessie-Mae still alive?" Marietta asked.

"No. She died before Me-Ma. But I heard a lot of stories about her, though," Mirabella glanced over at Marietta. "She was Me-Ma's twin sister and a lot like you."

"Twins?" Marietta gasped. "Our grandmother was a twin?"

Mirabella nodded. "Yep. She was. Identical. Not like you and me. And Bessie-Mae was the spicy one. She used to carry a pistol. She would pull it on any man, black or white, that pissed her off. Her kids all had different fathers. But no one dared say anything to them about that fact. Bessie would show up at a schoolyard or a church pulpit and put a whoopin’ on anyone that bothered her kin."

"I like it when you talk that way, all southern and country fried." Marietta laughed. "How did she die?"

Mirabella shrugged. "She died. Let's leave it at that, for now. Okay?"

Marietta frowned. "Wait? Why are you acting funny? What's wrong with this story?"

"Nothing, for the first time nothing is wrong." Mirabella reached over and took her sister’s hand. "This doctor that Giovanni wants to take me to is a head doctor. A psychologist."

"Are you fucking kidding?" Marietta laughed.

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