“Why wouldn’t he want to remember?”
Mrs. Fiore pursed her lips and expelled a long breath. “Danny
never let nobody get close until you come along,” she said. “Oh, he has women,
plenty of women, from the time he’s fourteen or fifteen. He come home smelling
of them. What girl gonna resist that face? But he never bring no girl home to
Nonna until you, carissima . You good for him. You take care of him,
make him feel a little less alone. He don’t tell you this stuff, so I tell
you, because I think maybe this help you understand your man a little better,
no?”
“Yes,” she said, and picked up her cup of tea. “Of course.”
“My Anna is a beautiful girl. A face like the Madonna. But she is
wild. Smoking, drinking, swearing. Wearing too much makeup and running with a
bad crowd. She come home at thirteen, hair all messed up, lipstick smeared,
tell me she been at the movies. Hah! When she’s fifteen, some sailor give her
more than she bargain for, and she end up with Danny.”
“Good God,” Casey said, appalled. “She was only fifteen when he
was born?”
“Jus’ a little girl. And she try, but like I say, she is just a
little girl. She run around with men, leave Danny here with me. Sometimes
two, three days before she come back for the baby. And she love him to pieces,
but she love the men more. Every time she meet a new man, he don’ want no
little baby, some other man’s bastard. So Danny come home to Nonna. Before he
is four years old, Anna, she move that boy six or seven times. Is no life for
a baby, and I tell her so. But she get mad and stop speaking to me. She take
Danny away, and for six months I don’ even see him.”
Mrs. Fiore sipped her tea, her dark eyes watery. “Then she come
home,” the old woman continued, “all smiling. She got a new man, and I never
see her like this before. She tells me, ‘Mama, he is not like the others.
This one love me. He gonna take me to California’. She promise Danny she be back
for him real soon, and she get in this man’s car and they drive away. And that
little boy, five years old, he sit right here in front of this window, day
after day, waiting for his mama to come back for him. And he never cry, just
sit here, waiting. Only his mama never come back. After a while, he stops
waiting. He tells everybody his mama dead, and he never speaks of her again.”
Casey’s teacup rattled in its saucer. “Are you telling me,” she
said, “that Anna isn’t dead?”
The old woman shrugged. “She jus’ never come back. For a long
time, I worry about Danny, because he is so much like his mama. When he go to
the Army, I pray every night to the Blessed Virgin that he don’t come home to
me in a box. And the Blessed Virgin is kind. But when he come home, he is
different. He pace the floor and smoke cigarettes instead of sleeping. He
drink whiskey instead of beer. And he don’ talk to me. Just like that little
boy five years old, he is holding all the bad inside, where nobody can see it.
And then, like a miracle, he finds you, carissima . A good girl, like a
fresh wind blowing in his life. And he love you, like he love nobody since his
mama went away. I think maybe all these years, he is still waiting. Only now,
he is waiting for you.”
Casey stared at her in disbelief. Wet her lips. “He lied to me,”
she said.
“Yes. He lie to you. But you must understand that underneath
the man is still that little boy five years old, waiting for his mama to come
home. This trust, it is not easy for Danny. It takes time. I tell you all
this not to hurt you, but to help you understand why he do what he do.” Mrs.
Fiore leaned forward, reached out a wrinkled hand and clasped Casey’s. “A wise
woman, carissima , would see the truth behind the lie and understand.”
She patted Casey’s hand. “Now be a good girl and drink your tea
Mrs. Fiore pursed her lips and expelled a long breath. “Danny
never let nobody get close until you come along,” she said. “Oh, he has women,
plenty of women, from the time he’s fourteen or fifteen. He come home smelling
of them. What girl gonna resist that face? But he never bring no girl home to
Nonna until you, carissima . You good for him. You take care of him,
make him feel a little less alone. He don’t tell you this stuff, so I tell
you, because I think maybe this help you understand your man a little better,
no?”
“Yes,” she said, and picked up her cup of tea. “Of course.”
“My Anna is a beautiful girl. A face like the Madonna. But she is
wild. Smoking, drinking, swearing. Wearing too much makeup and running with a
bad crowd. She come home at thirteen, hair all messed up, lipstick smeared,
tell me she been at the movies. Hah! When she’s fifteen, some sailor give her
more than she bargain for, and she end up with Danny.”
“Good God,” Casey said, appalled. “She was only fifteen when he
was born?”
“Jus’ a little girl. And she try, but like I say, she is just a
little girl. She run around with men, leave Danny here with me. Sometimes
two, three days before she come back for the baby. And she love him to pieces,
but she love the men more. Every time she meet a new man, he don’ want no
little baby, some other man’s bastard. So Danny come home to Nonna. Before he
is four years old, Anna, she move that boy six or seven times. Is no life for
a baby, and I tell her so. But she get mad and stop speaking to me. She take
Danny away, and for six months I don’ even see him.”
Mrs. Fiore sipped her tea, her dark eyes watery. “Then she come
home,” the old woman continued, “all smiling. She got a new man, and I never
see her like this before. She tells me, ‘Mama, he is not like the others.
This one love me. He gonna take me to California’. She promise Danny she be back
for him real soon, and she get in this man’s car and they drive away. And that
little boy, five years old, he sit right here in front of this window, day
after day, waiting for his mama to come back for him. And he never cry, just
sit here, waiting. Only his mama never come back. After a while, he stops
waiting. He tells everybody his mama dead, and he never speaks of her again.”
Casey’s teacup rattled in its saucer. “Are you telling me,” she
said, “that Anna isn’t dead?”
The old woman shrugged. “She jus’ never come back. For a long
time, I worry about Danny, because he is so much like his mama. When he go to
the Army, I pray every night to the Blessed Virgin that he don’t come home to
me in a box. And the Blessed Virgin is kind. But when he come home, he is
different. He pace the floor and smoke cigarettes instead of sleeping. He
drink whiskey instead of beer. And he don’ talk to me. Just like that little
boy five years old, he is holding all the bad inside, where nobody can see it.
And then, like a miracle, he finds you, carissima . A good girl, like a
fresh wind blowing in his life. And he love you, like he love nobody since his
mama went away. I think maybe all these years, he is still waiting. Only now,
he is waiting for you.”
Casey stared at her in disbelief. Wet her lips. “He lied to me,”
she said.
“Yes. He lie to you. But you must understand that underneath
the man is still that little boy five years old, waiting for his mama to come
home. This trust, it is not easy for Danny. It takes time. I tell you all
this not to hurt you, but to help you understand why he do what he do.” Mrs.
Fiore leaned forward, reached out a wrinkled hand and clasped Casey’s. “A wise
woman, carissima , would see the truth behind the lie and understand.”
She patted Casey’s hand. “Now be a good girl and drink your tea
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