Climbing Stairs
“There has to a be a hundred stairs here.” She stared upwards. “And they’re all rickety.”
“I’ll walk behind you and if you fall, I will catch you.”
“I’ll slow you down.”
“More time to look at your ass,” he winked at her and pushed her forward. “The men use these every day, Zorah. They are safe.”
“Yeah, but now I’m very much aware you’re looking at my butt.”
“I promise not to touch.”
She huffed and began climbing the stairs, holding onto a small thin wooden railing. Every once in a while, she heard someone call out to Icaro and he would call back a greeting. She would see the men working on the side of the hill. She used the pretense of pausing to search through the trees to see if you could see who he was talking to in particular but by the time they reached the top stair onto the plateau, her heart was pounding and her lungs burned.
“Wow. I can’t believe how out of breath I feel.”
“Different elevations,” Icaro shrugged. “It’s a mountainous country with volcanoes and the lot. We have to work the soil we’re given so much of it is cliff side.” He turned her to look back where they came from.
She gasped at the sight and was stunned, “wow.”
“Right? It’s beautiful here. This is our home, this is your ancestry, right here, Zorah,” he waved his hand dramatically at the scene below them.
“I didn’t realize we were so high up.” She was amazed at the scene below. Houses dotted the landscape all the way down, the winding road below cutting through the mountain.
“We drove in through the night, so you didn’t get to see much.” He pointed to a spot in the distance, “do you see the church in the distance there, on the hill?”
“Yes.”
“That is the church from the small town where your great-grandfather came from. His name was Emilio Grasso. He was my grandfather’s closest friend and confidante. The church is where his family attended.”
“Really?” she leaned forward and Icaro pulled her back from the cliff’s edge.
“Yes. I was talking to my grandfather earlier this morning and he said if your great-grandfather was alive, he would be horrified to learn what you’ve been through.”
“He was a good man?” she looked to Icaro with wide eyes. Surely someone in her family needed to be good.
“My grandfather says he was the best friend he ever had.”
She was quiet, “he was part of the Lucchesi family then?”
“He was. In our family, every head of the family has someone who is supposed to be their voice of reason, I guess is the best way to explain it. For many, like my grandfather and his grandfather before him, the person chosen as consigliere is unrelated to the family but more of a best friend. Usually, close to the same age and who understands the reality of the family. They are an advisor if you will to the Don.”
“And my great-grandfather was your grandfather’s consigliere?”
“Yes. He worked very closely with my Nonno.”
“He must be quite elderly.”
“Yes. Nonno is eighty. My father is fifty-five. I am thirty-five. My Nonno was quite ill for a time and my father was needed to step up and take over the family.”
“Who is the consigliere,” she stumbled over the word, “for your father?”
“Calogero, Vodingo’s father.”
“They’re brothers.”
“Yes. It’s why I said most of the time they are unrelated but, in this case, while my father is the eldest, Calogero is actually only eleven months younger than my father. They grew up very closely. They were almost like twins would be, I imagine. They are close.”
“Would Vodingo be your consigliere? I feel he’s your best friend.”
“Yes. It is the plan.”
“And my great-grandfather, your Nonno knew him very well.”
“Incredibly well.”
“Why did my grandparents leave here? It’s beautiful.”
Icaro leaned his hip against a thin rail and looked out over the land, “when my father was younger, there was a war with a rival family. Nonno was Don at the time of our family and the other family were trying to take over our businesses. There were a lot of deaths and casualties. Your grandmother’s family were impacted.”
“How so?”
“The rival family found out your grandfather, the son of the Lucchesi consigliere was newly married. They went after your grandmother’s family. Your grandmother’s family refused to take sides, and it doesn’t work this way in this country. By not pledging to either family, they left themselves without protection. Your father marrying a woman who was not pledged for protection, put them at risk. Her mother and father were both killed in an ambush as a way to try to weaken your grandfather’s family. Your grandmother was devastated and gave your grandfather an ultimatum. He could be part of the family, or he could be married to her. She was moving to America, and he needed to make a choice. He and your great-grandfather came to blows over it. Your grandfather disavowed the Lucchesi family and moved without any forwarding address.”
“I can understand why she was upset though.”
“We avenged her family. The men who went after them, the people who ordered the hit and the entire upper family were held accountable. Your great-grandmother was devastated, and her heart was broken when her only son up and left without a backwards glance. She died not long after her left, and Emilio swore it was because he turned his back on her. Your grandfather didn’t even acknowledge the deaths of either of his parents.”
“Really?”
“It was particularly hard for my father as well. Your grandfather, Calogero and my father were thick as thieves. Your grandfather and his father were remarkably close and did a lot together. When your grandfather moved to America, he found Jesus and was reborn without sin and cut everyone off.”
“I didn’t know.”
“You were two when they died. The funny thing is your grandmother’s sister and cousins all pledged to the Lucchesi family after the death of your great-grandparents. The Esposito family are an integral part of the family.”
“Why would they pledge if they were killed because of you?”
“They weren’t killed because of us. They were killed because of another family’s greed. We had nothing to do with their assassination. We gave them vengeance, but your grandmother wanted no part of it.”
“It’s how my grandfather knew to call your father when my father hurt my mother.”
“Actually, my father refused to take his call or help him. My father and I only went to America to see your father because we were ordered to by Nonno.”
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