AMORE RAGAZZE
By SomeguyJim
CHAPTER 14
Amy Giovanni sat in a private waiting room holding her jade necklace in her hand. She always kept it hidden under her shirt, but felt like rubbing it between her fingers. Normally, the brains behind the Giovanni family would be analyzing everything that had just transpired, formulating her next move. But now, she was in shock. Getting her wounded step-mother rushed from Flushing to the hospital in Cypress Hills was intense. Jackie had been rushed into the emergency room immediately into surgery. The Consigliere personally made sure that her boss was getting A class treatment. Some time later, Rachel had been rolled in. She was bruised and beat up, but no serious injuries to attend to.
Angelo never made it to the hospital. Rachel didn’t know what happened to him, she only saw his face one more time before the coroner placed her brother in a body bag.
Dealing with her wounded boss and step-mother was frightening enough, but learning about her step-brother’s death led the calm collected Amy Giovanni to break down in her private waiting room. She wasn’t loud, but emotions were getting the best of her. Shortness of breath, clenched teeth, teary eyes, it felt so uncomfortable. The memories she had worked so hard to repress began to resurge. Amy was too young to fully comprehend her father’s death. Uncle Marlon had always been like a father to her. However, Amy remembered her mother, Jade. When her mother was in the hospital for months on end, Marlon, Jackie and Angelo were all there for her. Losing her mother could have destroyed Amy forever had it not been for her wonderful uncle’s family. Marlon had only left her a month ago, the most devastating loss since her mother. Now her brother… her step-mother in critical condition. Why were her loved ones being taken away from her? She couldn’t help but cry.
That is until Rachel came into the room: her closest cousin, her most distant sister.
Amy immediately hid her necklace back in her shirt and wiped her face away; trying her best to hide the tears from her eyes. She quickly grabbed her glasses lying on the table next to her and appeared somewhat composed. Rachel’s eyes were slightly closed. A bandage was on her cheek where Columbo had smacked her. She was holding her stomach, but otherwise she appeared fine.
Amy sniffed before she asked, “Are you okay?”
Rachel sighed and sat down, “What the fuck do you think Amy?”
The brunette didn’t know how to reply. In fact neither of them said anything for a long time. Finally, Rachel began to break down into tears. She held them back as best she could, but Amy noticed it. She picked up her chair and moved it closer to her sister. Rachel immediately clang to Amy,
“This is all my fault Amy!” She began to cry heavier, “It’s all my fucking fault! Angelo’s dead because of me! Mom’s in the hospital because of me! It’s all my fault!”
“Rachel,” Amy tried to get a word in still holding onto her sister. What was she going to say? It practically was Rachel’s fault.
“I’m a f…” Rachel was begin to grow hysterical barely breathing inbetween whining, “It’s my fucking fault!” She said it over and over like a broken record.
Amy spoke up, “Rachel stop it!” Her voice was very commanding as she nudged Rachel’s face up, “Okay? What’s done is done.” She still couldn’t talk over Rachel’s hysteria.
“I don’t want to be here Amy! I can’t take it! I can’t TAKE IT!”
“LISTEN TO ME!” Amy jumped up from her chair grabbing Rachel by the shirt. The younger girl winced in pain from her stomach, but she was shocked at Amy’s intensity. She had never seen her cousin this angry and intense. The Consigliere’s voice was not loud, but certainly intimidating, “LISTEN TO ME RACHEL! We are going to get through this! Okay?” By now, Rachel’s hysteria was dying down. “Angelo was as much a brother to me as he was to you, but screaming about it isn’t going to bring him back.”
Amy began to loosen up her grip, tears began to form in her own eyes, “I need you, Rachel.”
Rachel began to take deep breaths.
“Breathe,” Amy sat back down and dried her eyes.
The other sister managed to calm down slightly, “What are we going to do Amy?”
Amy sighed and closed her eyes. She didn’t speak for a few seconds, “I don’t know yet.”
“Ms. Giovanni?” The voice of a doctor came in. She opened her eyes and saw the tall doctor standing in the doorway.
“Hold on,” Amy got up and led the doctor into the hallway.
Rachel couldn’t see or hear her sister and the doctor. She was trapped with her own thoughts and shame. The guilt made her sick to her stomach.
“Rachel,” she looked up to see Charlie holding a fast food bag. He put the bag down on the table and held his arms out for Rachel to stand up. She reluctantly did and allowed her mother’s colleague to hug her. “My God!” is all he could bring himself to say. Charlie’s embrace was soothing, but not even to keep her stomach from turning. He let her go.
Sal also walked towards her and gave her a hug. “Poor Angelo,” he embraced her as tight as he could, “The kid was in a bodybag the minute I got-“
“Ow!” Rachel pushed him away holding her sides.
“Oh sorry!” Sal said keeping his distance. “I’m sorry Rachel!”
“It’s fine Sal,” She sat back down still holding her sides.
“Don’t worry Rachel,” Sal reassured her, “That fucking cocksucker Columbo is gonna pay for what he did!”
Charlie pulled a couple of burgers out of the bag, handing one to Sal, “Let’s worry about Jackie first. Any word from the doctor?”
“Amy’s talking to him,” She answered. Charlie handed her a burger but she waved her hand.
“You should eat up kid,” the grey-haired capo suggested, “You’ve been through a lot, need your strength.”
“I’m not hungry Charlie!” She spat back at him.
“All right, all right,” He backed up. “Took us a fucking hour at this burger joint. I went straight to the line, they told me to go to the back.” He raised his arms in protest.
“That’s bullshit!” Sal agreed. Rachel tried to tune both of them out.
“Fucking Giovanni family goes into a restaurant, you give them whatever the fuck they want!”
“There’s no loyalty in this town anymore!” Sal said.
“Fucking burger joint,” Charlie pulled out another burger from the bag, “Think they’re fucking Wall Street, they can push anyone around?”
“Fucking pieces of shit!” The taller man spoke up.
Rachel finally got tired of Charlie’s whining, “So why do you keep going there if you hate it so much?”
There was a short pause. Charlie and Sal looked at each other, “Cause,” Sal said, “They make a good burger!” He then took a bite and moaned slightly, “Amazing!”
“Best burger in Brooklyn without a doubt!” Charlie took a bite as well.
“Oh yeah! In the world maybe!”
“Eh… I dunno,” Charlie waved his hand slightly, “You ever had an In-N-Out Burger? West Coast?”
Sal scratched his chin, “Those are good…”
As annoying as these two were, Charlie and Sal’s meaningless dialog was helping Rachel get her mind off of her mother and brother. Unfortunately, Amy came back in.
“Hey guys,” Amy looked drained. Charlie handed her the other burger which Amy took without questions. Without looking at the others she took one bite and picked up a soda as well. “So the doctor’s working on her. It’s not looking great.”
Sal opened up his mouth, “What’s wrong?”
Amy now sat down next to Rachel taking another bite of her burger. She offered a bite to her sister, but she turned it down again. Amy dunked her soda down, gulped, and spoke up. “Long story short, they can keep her alive, but she’s gonna be in a coma.”
“Fuck!” Charlie said. This was going to be a long night…
-------------------------------------------------------
The door was closed. A few men stood outside it. Amy and Rachel had been sitting in the same chairs, Sal and Charlie were now seated next to each other away from the girls.
“All our sources said Frank is held up in some hotel in Midtown Manhattan.”
“Safest place he can be,” Amy was now drinking water.
“Why is he hiding in Manhattan?” Rachel asked, “Shouldn’t he be on a plane to Lilyhammer by now?”
“Because he knows we can’t touch him in Manhattan,” Amy turned to her sister, “Otherwise Gotti will take us out for killing him on his territory.”
There was an uncomfortable silence for a moment. Charlie pulled out a cigarette before speaking up:
“Well Amy, your in charge with Jackie out of commission. What do we do?”
Charlie lit his cigarette, and another uncomfortable silence came over the room. Amy sighed feeling the weight of the world now on her shoulders. She never expected to be head of the family, but she was ready to do what was necessary:
“Not much we can do right now. Like I said, Gotti will kill us if we go after Columbo.”
“Fuck Gotti!” Sal’s temper began to rise, “Columbo killed Vinnie, he damn near killed Jackie.”
“I know Sal,” Amy tried to keep Sal from getting emotional, but he couldn’t be contained. His voice got louder and louder:
“The woman’s like a sister to me. I’m the one who put Marlon and her together!”
“No you’re not,” Charlie spoke up.
“And Angelo,” Sal now began to gather tears in his eyes, he tried his best to hide it. Holding his hand to his mouth he continued, “The kid was like a fucking son to me!” He began to break down in tears; a sight none of them had ever seen before. Charlie embraced his friend, holding his smoke out.
Amy was speechless. She felt like breaking down in tears herself, but she felt the need to stay strong.
Rachel did begin to weep, “This is all my fault guys!”
“Don’t say that Rachel!” Sal sat up and tried to gain composure, “It’s not your fault. What happened was between Angelo and Columbo.”
“He’s right Rach,” Charlie pulled out a hankercheif. Sal took it and blew his nose.
“Guys,” Rachel hesitated, “Angelo is dead because of me!”
“Rachel,” Amy looked to her. Once again, Rachel could read Amy’s mind. The younger sister wanted nothing more than to confess her horrible secret. Her Amore Ragazze relationship with Julia had caused Angelo’s death. The brother sacrificed himself because of her. She wanted to shout it out at the top of her lungs for the whole world to hear. Maybe somehow she would unburden herself. But Amy had bigger problems to deal with. She was now the de facto head of the family. So the injured sister brought her head down. By now, both Sal and Charlie were staring curiously at her.
Amy stood up holding her head up high, “Listen guys, this has without a doubt been a terrible day. But going after Columbo isn’t going to bring Angelo back or get Jackie out of this hospital. As cold as it may sound, I think we have to focus on business moving forward as Gotti always says.”
Some grumbles came out of Sal and Charlie.
Amy brought her head down and groaned, “Look, by being diplomatic and civil, we may win some points with Gotti and gain some ground. We’ve lost our muscle, we’re gonna need to do some serious rebuilding.”
“You may be right,” Charlie said.
“Only,” Amy sat back down, “We’re gonna need to find an acting boss.”
Charlie, Sal and even Rachel looked curiously at Amy. “Amy you should be the acting boss, you’re the brains of the family.”
“I’m better suited to be an advisor. I don’t have the balls to be a boss.”
“You don’t have any balls period!” Rachel interjected.
“Thank you Rachel,” Amy said sarcastically.
“I don’t know who else in the family,” Charlie pondered back in his chair, “Is suited for the job.”
“I can be the boss,” Sal raised his hand in enthusiasm.
Amy stared at him uncomfortably, “Thank you Sal, that…” She hesitated, “That might not work.”
Sal slow and apprehensively put his hand down.
For a moment Amy looked to Rachel. Rachel looked back at Amy. This time, neither of them could tell what the other was thinking. Within a few seconds, Amy shook her head and looked back to the others, “We’re gonna need to have a meeting soon with the other families. We need to take away some of Columbo’s power. That would be five times worse than killing him. And somebody’s going to have to step up for us.”
-------------------------------------------------------
A week had gone by. Angelo and Vinnie had been buried, Jackie remained comatose in the hospital. And standing in a lobby outside a large round-table room were the grieving members of the Giovanni family: Amy Giovanni, assumed to be the acting boss, in a black pantsuit, Charlie and Sal in matching black suits, and Rachel in a black trench coat with black leather gloves. Rachel was more there as a symbol than anything else. The family was surrounded by a number of bodyguards.
After some small talk with members of the five families, the doors opened and the meeting began.
“Sit tight,” Amy whispered to her sister as she began to walk in.
Rachel stayed in the lobby watching everyone move inside: her family, Don Gotti, and Columbo’s crew. Frank Columbo walked right by her with Snakes, Bobby and more men next to him. Columbo looked bigger than ever, but turning his head to see the woman who had witnessed his murder made his eyes widen. Likewise seeing the man who killed her brother caused Rachel’s eyes to burn with rage. A second or two of staring seemed like an hour. Columbo attempted to ignore her and walk in without a care. The door closed behind them and Rachel was left alone.
“Well,” Gotti stood up and spoke. He looked to Amy who was seated not far from him, with Charlie and sal seated closeby. “This isn’t going to be easy. First Amy, I want to offer my condolences to Angelo and let you know my prayers are with Jackie.”
“Thank you Don Gotti,” Amy appeared a little more intimidating than she usually did, her face was not covered by glasses. Unfortunately, Amy’s kind nature couldn’t produce an menacing poker face.
Gotti looked to Columbo, seated on the other side of the table more unremorseful than ever. A large amount of disdain could be seen in Gotti’s eyes, but he had to be diplomatic. He looked back towards Amy, “I’m sure Frank would like to explain his actions…”
“We know all about his actions,” Sal spoke up. Amy tried to calm him down.
“Let me know next time someone rapes YOUR daughter,” Frank spoke, “Then you can talk about-“
“Raped your daughter?” Sal stood up, “Frank you lying cocksucker!”
Just before a big argument broke out, Gotti stopped it, “ENOUGH!” His presence was still as powerful as ever. Columbo and Sal sat down. “Frank,” Gotti was very direct with him “You are in no position to argue. Even if Angelo did what you say he did, you killed Vinnie Montana, a made man, and you almost killed Jackie, a boss. You know better than that.”
“She was on my turf!” Columbo whined.
“And you should have come to me about it. It would have been dealt with.” Gotti turned to address everyone, “You all have to understand something. This isn’t the 1940s anymore. Hell this isn’t even the 1970s! New York is Disneyland now. The Mets are playing in Queens, college kids walking around Brooklyn. The cops have their eyes on us 24/7. We have to watch what we do people! If we want business to move forward, we can’t allow these pre-war scuffles to take place, especially between The Giovanni and Columbo family. Media’s already having a field day with Jackie out of commission.” Gotti took a deep breath and sit down. “Now before we get moving here, I gotta ask you Amy, who’s acting boss for the Giovanni family?”
“I am for now,” Amy said, “My top priorities-“
“Oh Jesus Christ!” Columbo spoke up, “Another fucking woman as the boss?”
Gotti finally had it. He got out of his chair in anger and walked towards Columbo’s. He looked down on him, “If you don’t keep your mouth shut, I’m gonna cut your fucking nuts off!”
For once in his life, Frank looked like a scared child. In fact everyone looked frightened. Gotti was not known for being so direct with his fellow mobsters. Obviously, Columbo’s actions had caused Gotti a lot of problems. How he managed to keep the cops off these murders was beyond a mystery. Sal and Charlie looked to each other smiling, but Amy remained stoic.
The long silence was broken as Don Genovese stood up, “Don Gotti,” His groggily voice and white shiny hair commanded authority, “All due respect, I think Don Columbo might have a point. Amy seems to have been a fine Consigliere, but I’m not sure she’s boss material.”
“She’s fine Ralph,” Charlie spoke up.
“Look the boss has to command some authority, like a king. Marlon was a strong authority figure. And Jackie proved herself to be a convincing boss, but I don’t see that in this girl. No disrespect.”
Amy sighed.
“Usually the son,” another man spoke up, “Or in this case the daughter, automatically takes up the position no questions asked, but technically she’s not Marlon’s real daughter.”
“My mother was Marlon’s sister.” Amy reassured everyone.
“Columbo murdered Marlon’s son remember?” Sal spoke up again.
Gotti held his hand out and sat down, “Well everyone makes a good point. You’re a great addition to this organization Amy, but I do have my reservations about you being boss.”
Amy nodded her head slightly. Charlie nudged her as if to say ‘What are you doing?’
“We’ll find somebody,” Amy spoke.
“Amy?” Sal whispered.
“All right well let’s get some business taken care of,” Gotti said, “Maybe you can prove yourself worthy Amy.”
Outside, Rachel could hear everything. Amy was getting bullied by everyone, maybe she wasn’t the right person for the job. Business talk continued.
“Rachel?”
A feminine voice Rachel recognized instantly. She turned around and saw Julia dressed in all white. She looked more sad than ever. Seeing her girlfriend made Rachel’s stomach turn. Here was the girl responsible for the death of her brother. Because of this girl, her mother was in the hospital. Her sister was now struggling to keep the family afloat. She was nothing but trouble. Rachel wanted to turn back to the door and keep her ear on what was going on. But she couldn’t look away. That beautiful innocent angelic face. It wasn’t really Julia’s fault. She didn’t kill anyone. And for that matter, Rachel hadn’t really done anything wrong other. It was unfortunate a girl like this had a father so crazy. Two conflicted views. Rachel said nothing.
“I’m so sorry,” Julia sounded like she was about to start crying.
Rachel remained cold. She couldn’t handle Julia’s immaturity right now, “So am I.” She turned to face the door again.
A loud sigh came from behind her. Soon footsteps lead to a handhold, “Rachel he knew from the getgo. He saw the marks on my neck. He locked me in my room, took my phone away, I couldn’t get to you.”
“Julia,” As beautiful as that voice was, Rachel wouldn’t turn around, “What’s done is done.”
A long pause.
“Look at me Rachel!” Julia tried to spin her girlfriend around.
Rachel could now see her face, filled with guilt.
“I understand if you hate me, but just tell me if you do.”
Rachel sighed, looking down at Julia’s dress and then back to her face, “I don’t hate you Julia.”
“Rachel,” Julia was now very direct. She hugged her girlfriend, “Let’s get out of here. We’ll run away, far from this city. We’ll go to California. We’ll live in Venice!” She looked her in the eye and smiled, “You’ve always wanted to leave this city. Let’s just get the hell out here! We’ll be gone before they ever knew we left.”
It sounded like something she always wanted, but Rachel couldn’t leave her sister behind. She was all she had.
“Look,” Julia pulled out her camera. With her usual white gloves on, she scrolled over a few pictures until she found what she was looking for, “I saved this just like you asked.” Julia smiled.
Rachel took the camera with her black gloves and saw the picture of Julia and her kissing in the middle of times square.
For what must have been ten seconds, Rachel stared into the camera. Her mind was turning. A realization, some revelation was bringing light before her eyes. In that moment, Rachel realized what she wanted to do.
“Rachel?” Julia tried to bring back her attention.
“Has your father seen this picture?”
“No thank God,” Julia spoke up, “Why don’t we-“
Before Julia could finish her thought, Rachel put the camera in her pocket and stormed into the office. Her and Julia were now in plain sight as everyone’s heads turned. The bodyguards all immediately stood up in panic, but relaxed when seeing the girls. Gotti stood up as did Amy.
“Rachel?” Amy said.
Columbo didn’t stand up, but his eyes were fixated on her. Rachel stared directly into Frank’s eyes as she walked towards her family. Julia stayed in the doorway. The young black-haired girl addressed everyone in the room.
“I am Rachel Giovanni,” Her deep voice sounded off better than Amy’s. A strong somewhat frightening presence surrounded her, “Daughter of Marlon and Jackie Giovanni and sister to the late Angelo Giovanni.”
“Rachel,” Amy whispered discretely, “What are you doing?”
Rachel spoke to everyone in the room with guts:
“And I am the acting boss of this family!”
Commotion overtook the room. Pure panic overtook Columbo’s eyes. Rachel turned to see Julia in the doorway standing with a frown.
“Hold it, hold it!” Gotti tried to get everyone’s attention. Eventually the noise died down and he looked to the black haired girl, “Rachel would you explain yourself please?”
“I believe someone already explained,” Rachel had a certain coolness to her, “That the boss’s son, or in my case daughter, takes up the position no questions asked.”
Silence overtook the room. Rachel looked down to Amy and smiled. Amy couldn’t help but smile back.
Don Genovese stood up, “I thought you were a civilian? You know nothing about the family business!”
Rachel laughed and looked at him, “Are you really that naïve? I was born into this business. I’ve been listening to my father ramble on about the family before I learned to walk. My mother, brother and sister talked about it non-stop. I know almost everything about the family business. And what I don’t know, Amy knows. That’s why she’s the perfect Consigliere.”
Amy felt a sense of power and command coming back to the Giovanni family.
“Don Gotti,” Columbo spoke, “May I please say something?”
Gotti nodded his head. Rachel smiled and watched Columbo make a fool of himself.
“Look this has gone on long enough! All right, this is the mob, not some equal opportunities for women bullshit. I refuse to work with a girl so young, inexperienced and related to that asshole who raped my daughter.”
Julia sighed hearing her father’s lies.
“Raped your daughter,” Rachel shook her head, “Frank you are the most impulsive, reactionary man in this organization. I know for a fact Angelo didn’t rape Julia. He didn’t touch her, he didn’t even talk about touching her.”
“He fucking confessed it to me,” Columbo spat back at her, “He gloated about it.”
“I know that,” Rachel said, “I was there!”
A gasp came over the room. Gotti gave Rachel his full attention. Nobody knew that Rachel was in the room when Columbo killed her brother. That made things complicated.
“Julia,” Rachel looked to her standing in the doorway, “Did Angelo-“
“Leave her out of this,” Julia’s father shouted.
“She’s a grown woman Frank,” Rachel looked back to him, “Stop treating her like she’s six years old. Julia,” Rachel looked back to her. Julia looked nervous standing in the doorway with all eyes on her. “Did Angelo do anything to you?”
Julia looked more nervous than ever. Her father’s eyes were on her, the mafia boss’s Amy’s and Rachel’s eyes. But Rachel was the one person in the room Julia had to help. And so Julia mustered up enough courage to speak up:
“No.”
Another gasp from the room, talking amongst themselves.
“I was with Rachel that night,” Julia spoke up again.
“Don’t lie Julia,” Columbo was getting angry, “I found a mark on your neck!”
Rachel pulled out Julia’s camera. The blone became frightened watching her girlfriend walk towards her father. Fortunately nobody was looking at her frightened face. Rachel turned it on and placed it right in front of Columbo’s eyes. Only He, Snakes and Bobby could see the picture of Rachel and Julia kissing in the middle of Times Square. Frank Columbo began to hyperventilate. Gotti and some of the others tried to catch a glance of it. Rachel pulled the camera away mouthing to Don Gotti and her family, ‘I’ll show you later.’
“What what is it?” One of the mobsters spoke up.
“Not important,” Rachel put the camera away. Columbo was absolutely speechless. “What’s important is that we get down to some business. Now as I’m sure you’re all aware, my Consigliere and sister Amy knows Wall Street inside and out.” By now Amy was smiling towards Sal and Charlie. “With her brains and my command, we’ll have Wall Street working for us in no time. My friend Mr. Columbo seems to think killing people for the wrong reasons is more important than business. That’s why I propose that all Columbo operations in the financial district be turned over to the Giovanni family.”
Columbo still said nothing.
“Rachel,” Gotti spoke, “I admire your confidence, but forgive me if I feel your just out to avenge the death of your brother.”
“Don Gotti,” Rachel spoke eloquently, “I can’t say I’m not angry about my brother, or my mother for that matter. But I do know that what’s done is done and vengeance will not change anything. This is about Columbo’s ability to lead. As you always say, business must move forward. You all knew my father to be a man of loyalty, my mother as well, well I would just do the same thing they did. And with Amy beside me, we’re going to make a lot of money. I know you all like that. And please don’t think down on me because I’m a woman or young. I simply want to work with all of you fine gentlemen to make the most out of our profits.”
Somehow the other members of the family forgot that Rachel was a young woman and saw Marlon Giovanni’s offspring.
“I believe Rachel’s strong personality speaks for itself,” Amy added standing up beside her.
“I still have my reservations about this,” Don Gotti held his hands together, “But I’ll see where you two can take this family.” He looked to Columbo, still silent. “And I’m going to see Columbo’s operations in Wall Street administered by you.”
“John!” Frank yelled out.
“I’m sorry Frank,” Gotti looked to him, “But you have no one to blame but yourself.”
“She’s a-” Frank yelled again, but stopped.
Everyone wondered what he was going to say, but Columbo didn’t want to admit that his own daughter was in a lesbian relationship with Rachel Giovanni. And so he got up from the table and stormed out of the room.
“Frank sit down!” Gotti called to him.
Snakes also got up. Just as Columbo got to the doorway, he yanked his daughter by the hand and pulled her away with him. Snakes followed closely.
Julia and Rachel shared one last glance before she disappeared around the corner.
“I’m very sorry Don Gotti,” Bobby said as he stood up.
“You and I should talk soon,” Gotti said to him before the younger Columbo bodyguard walked outside closing the door behind him.
“All right,” Rachel said as she pushed Sal out of the way and sat down, “Let’s get to work.”