Page 66 of Priestly Sins

“It’s been me and her against the world. My dad and mom, they sucked at being married.”

I snort at that. “I understand that.”

“My dad was great to us. So was my mom, but they could barely be in the same room with each other. Clara was sick when she was first born. I had a C-section. Think you noticed that…. I wasn’t in good enough shape to help her in all the ways she required after she was born. It killed me and I was ashamed of that, if I’m honest. My parents sucked it up for me and Clara and worked together to get us the care we both needed. Two people who couldn’t stand each other, a sick baby, and an incapable post-partum mother. It was rough.

“My dad borrowed money for her medical costs. I didn’t know that. He helped me with the shop not long after that, gave it to me, or so I thought. I had no idea he was in debt, but he was. He borrowed from Calabrese. And not a little.”

She pauses to let that settle in. I know my body reacts at that. I’m okay with that. This time it’s not about her.

“He borrowed a lot from Calabrese and he wasn’t quick to repay or even attempt to. I can’t prove it but I don’t think he died of a seizure as they reported. I think Enzo had him killed…”

“It wouldn’t surprise me. Although I don’t want that to be the case for you.”

“Enzo immediately decided that Dad’s debt was mine—mine to owe and mine to pay. He allowed most of the profits from my shop to go directly to him. He only accepted cash and liked the payments made in bags that were removed from my cooler.”

“How generous of him,” I mutter, sarcasm evident in my tone.

“When that didn’t happen fast enough, he started delivering things to my cooler. I don’t know if it was incentive or threat. It was both, for sure. Frankly, it could’ve been just convenient for him, but either way…”

“What was he delivering?”

“Bodies.”

“What?!”

“I’d arrive in the morning and there was a chance there would be a body in my cooler. Men would show at different times to deliver or remove. Most of the times, they let themselves in with keys they took the liberty of copying and made themselves at home in my bakery. Rarely was one still alive. That was what the hook was for. Did you see the hook? It was for the ones who he wasmotivating.”

“Oh, I know the hook.”

She nods.

The white box truck. The goons. The men who “nap” at the shop. It’s all coming together now.

“Even still the debt was accruing not dwindling.”

“When the museum happened and then Mom…” She pauses, lost in thought, seemingly lost in emotion since her chest heaves and her breathing becomes more ragged.

“Mommy!”

“Yes, Clara!”

“Is it almost time for our picnic?”

“In a few minutes. I’ll call you when it’s ready,” she calls back before continuing our conversation.

“Rocco was part of the repayment. He was the final nail in the “indebted to the mob and never getting out” coffin. I was a pawn, being forced to be bait for deals that were going down. I wasn’t sleeping, wasn’t eating. Couldn’t figure out how to get out. How to not have Clara raised in a life I didn’t know, didn’t want, and didn’t choose. You were an out.”

I stiffen.

“That didn’t come out right, you were… an escape. You were light in a dark time and humor when there was nothing to smile about. You were someone I could trust with my Clara, and a man I truly enjoyed talking to and being around.”

My body relaxes and I say, “All right.”

“I trusted you. I trust you now. It was never about—”

“Mommy!!” Clara comes bounding up, arms flailing. “The ocean hit me in the face!”

Sure enough, what little skin is exposed is wet.