Page 41 of Beguiled and Broken

With my head resting on my fist, I put the pencil down and watched a dandelion seed fly by the window.Mio piccolo fiore.I missed my kids and made a wish. Suddenly,my phone went off. It was Cole.

Nervously, I said, “What’s up, man?”

“Are you sitting down?” That hadn’t sounded good at all.

“C’mon Cole, out with it. I’m on the edge of my seat over here.” Actually, I was pacing again.

His voice was intense. “Ok, listen, I found some shit. Ten years ago, a woman named Sophia Romano was listed as having an address at 1212 Maple Street in Lynn Falls. A few months later, at the exact same address, a new tenant was listed for that address. Her name: Catarina Rossi. I think she changed her name to Catarina Rossi.”

“Fuck! Sophia has been here fortenyears? So, what now?”

Carter knocked on the door and came in, so I put the phone on speaker. “Carter’s here too.”

“Hey, Carter.”

“Hey, Cole. So, from what I heard Vinny yelling, Sophia has been here for ten years. That’s a hell of a long time to stalk someone.”

“Yeah, well listen to this. I do have one piece of good news. I found a phone number for Sophia’s dad, Raffaele Romano. So, you don’t need to worry your mom by asking for it. Here, I’ll text it to you.” My phone buzzed with the message from him. “Also, there’s something else. My Italian isn’t the greatest, but an Italian newspaper published an engagement announcement for her sister. Her name is Elizabeth, and Elizabeth was supposed to marry…” He paused.

“Marry who? Spit it out already.” I was flustered.

Cole said, “Your cousin, Damiano,” then he went silent.

It finally felt like we were getting somewhere. “That makes sense now why Ma said something happened with Damiano and his arranged marriage, but she wasn’t sure what. I’m wondering why they didn’t get married and what it has to do with Sofia?”

“Well, I ran a search for Elizabeth in the Italian white pages and her address matched the address of a mental health facility. So, that could be why they didn’t get married. I don’t know the details, but I do know the name of the place is...” He slowly tried to pronounce the name in Italian. “Transizione dal Centro di Salute Mentale.”

“Transition Out Mental Health Center. Lemme guess, it’s in Vomero?”

“Bingo. She’s been there for at least five years, Vinny.”

Carter chimed in. “Sounds like mental illness runs in the family. We know Catarina has some issues that need attention. Obviously, her sister did too. I think you should call her father. Figure out what’s going on with her family.”

Cole sounded sad. “Now I feel bad. Sorry. I didn’t mean to crack the two tacos short joke. I know mental illness is real and nothing to joke about. Obviously, the woman is dealing with some shit, but we need to keep your family safe and get her the help she needs.”

I said, “It’s ok, man. I’ll call her dad and get back to you. Thanks for looking into all of this.”

“Any time.”

I hung up and prepared myself for the next call I was going to make. I’d never spoken to the man my mom called Raffe, and had no idea what to expect. Before I could make that call, my phone rang. It was Bianca.

Chapter 27

Vinny

Bianca said she wanted to talk, so I took the opportunity to see my wife, and hopefully not screw it up. Pulling into the driveway felt foreign even though I’d only been gone a couple of days. I turned off the car and took a deep breath, preparing myself for the conversation. I didn’t know what to expect, but I wanted to tell Bianca everything.

I knocked on the door to my own house and it felt weird too but I wasn’t sure how Bianca would feel about me just walking in. It was a reminder of just how bad everything had gotten. The door opened just a crack before Bianca opened it all the way. “Come in,” she said and looked down at the ground. I could tell that she didn’t want to show me her eyes. She’d been crying and there were dark circles under them.

“Hi, B.” I stood in front her not knowing what to do next.

“Hi, Vin. The kids are gone right now. Amelia and Hudson came and got them. They took them out for shakes at the diner.” She still wasn’t looking at me.

“That was nice of them. I miss my kids, Bianca, but I’m glad that you and I have a minute alone.” I didn’t move. I didn’t want to break the little bit of closeness between us.

She said, “Let’s sit down. Do you need anything?”

“Just you, Bianca.” I could hear her breath catch. “B...” Her back was to me. She wouldn’t face me. I walked up and tried to touch her and she flinched, turning around.

---