Page 49 of Legend
“Si, si. They will want to take her shopping till there is dropping…”
Both men laughed.
Tito was chuckling as he went on, “Take her to have her nails done, hair, and makeup.”
“You will feel like a Barbie doll.” Rocky laughed.
“Or like some reality TV star, maybe?” Tito added.
“Oh, no…” Glory laughed. “I’m notBarbie or Kardashianmaterial. So I won’t be doing any of that.”
The two men stared at her and then slowly shook their heads. They looked as if they knew it was inevitable. They did believe that Glory would be getting the full treatment.
I listened to this as I smiled. I remember Maria well. Her cooking was a delight unto itself. Dinners at home were better than any five star dining out. Now that I thought about it though, Francessca or Francie as they called her, had been just a teen when I left. But she was already a powerful force, an extension of her mother. It just occurred to me as my two cousins explained what we would encounter once we arrived at the Moon Estate…those two women could probably hold their own when it came to Glory. They were more than likely right. She would be trying dresses on and having makeovers.
Even on her own, Maria was a force to reckoned with. The only person who ever stood up to my father, Stephano. Yes, she was his sister but if the subject was important enough, she would go toe to toe with him. In fact, she had done that very thing over me. I now had flashes of the argument they had over me. Maria knew I wanted to be a doctor and she supported that. Two days before I left, she and my father had a huge fight. I didn’t like thefact that my choices were tearing the family apart and that had been in part…what ultimately pushed me to leave.
That had been over ten years ago. Did I feel bad that I just up and left my family? Yes, I did. Did I miss them like crazy? Yes. But if I had contacted any of them or if I went to visit…I would have been trapped in that mafia life by now.
“Legend?”
I raised my head to smile at Glory. “Yeah?”
“You looked a bit lost there for a couple of minutes.”
I shook my head. “I was just remembering Aunt Maria. You are gonna love her. Best cook in the world. Pushy and loud when she needs to be and a force of nature all on her own.”
“Otherwise, she is just like you,” Justice interjected as he laughed.
“Oh, sarà acceso. It will be on!” Tito laughed with him.
“No, they will get along great,” I said. “But I think my dad might end up on the wrong side of the stubborn fence.”
Tito and Rocky stared at me then they both looked serious as they slowly nodded their heads.
“Forse,” Tito said. “Maybe.”
I stood then grabbed our plate and my cup. “Ok guys, give us about an hour.” I turned to my girl and said, “Let’s go and pack.”
Nodding, she stood with me and asked, “How do you say ‘road trip' in Italian?”
“Viaggio su strada,” my cousins, Justice and I all replied at the same time.
Laughing at the joint answer, she took the dishes from me and exclaimed, “Viagra astrada!”
We all stared at her then laughed at her mangling of the language.
She stuck her tongue out at me in defiance then said, “I’ll come to your room when I’m packed.” She turned to Justice and said, “Better let the two enforcers know.”
He nodded. “They’re ready. I left them in the garage. They were having their bikes checked.”
“We’ll be waiting,” Tito said as he waved at Glory.
She smiled at him and his brother then hurried away.
“Wow, she really looks excited,” Justice said as he watched her go into the kitchen.
“Yeah, I noticed that.” I nodded.
