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Narration: Did you ever notice that like old photographs our memories start to fade with time. When you look back on your life, you tend to focus on certain things while the background and details are always kind of faded.
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Graziella: "Come on, Suzanna, you know the words sing for your Mama." The woman smiled at the young girl standing next to her in the kitchen. The girl looked up at her mother and shyly smiled. "I'll help you." She sings, "A girl went back to Napoli..."
Both, (Suzanna timidly at first): "because she missed the scenery the native dances and the charming songs but wait a minute ...something's wrong Hey Mambo! Mambo Italiano! Hey Mambo! Mambo Italiano! Go, go, go, you mixed up SicilianoAll you Calabraise do the mambo like a crazy..." The two of them dance around the kitchen. "With a-Hey Mambo! Don't wanna tarantella Hey Mambo! No more the mozzarella Hey Mambo! Mambo Italiano! Try an enchalada with da fish-a-bacala..."
The young girl continues on her own as her Mama sits down to take a rest,
Suzanna: "And then hey goombah! I love how you dance the rumba But take some advice Poisson, learn-a how to mambo If you gonna be a square you ain't-a gonna go nowhere. The Hey Mambo! Mambo Italiano! Hey Mam."
The girl stops mid-word when she sees her Papa standing in the doorway of the kitchen. She just stands there not knowing what to do. Her father looks from her Mama to her, Graziella stands up quickly.
Graziella: "We didn't mean to disturb you, MI Amour {my love}" He smiles warmly.
Giovanni: "It sounded as if angels had landed and decided to grace us with song, how could one work through that. Come give your Papa a hug Suzanna."
Giovanni stoops down and the young girl runs over and throws her arms around his neck. He hugs her and picks her up.
Suzanna: "I love you Papa."
He smiles broadly and looks over at his wife, she smiles.
Giovanni: "and what about your Mama?"
Suzanna: "I love you too, Mama. I LOVE YOU TOO MAMA...LOVE YOU TOO MAMA too mama mama mama..."
Suzanna awoke startled and disoriented. She peered around in the darkness trying to figure out where she was. It quickly came to her. She was dreaming, again. She was in her apartment, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, her Vito is there sleeping beside her. She shook her head and got out of bed and walked into the kitchen for a glass of water. On her way back to bed she paused and looked at the array of family photos she kept on her hall table. Her gaze fell upon the one of her mother. She smiled, kissed her fingertips and touched the frame.
Suzanna: "I love you too Mama."
Suzanna continued down the hall and slipped back in bed. She sighed as she felt his protective arm fall across her, in a half-groggy voice he uttered.
Kevin: "dreaming again?"
Suzanna: "um hum."
Kevin: "about your mother?"
Suzanna: "um hum. About the day they sent me away to school in Italy, she didn't want me to go but it is what Papa decided was best for me, Jon Carlo was there to help out and Tino was a terror even at that age, and Abby she was little and needed a lot of attention." Her voice cracks, "it was the last time I saw her alive. They didn't tell me how sick she was and then one day Uncle Fredo came and brought me home, too late though." She laughs sarcastically, "the story of my life, too little too late."
Kevin: "how old were you?"
Suzanna: "11"
He looks sad, she wipes her eyes.
Suzanna: "I didn't mean to wake you up and make you listen to a sob story."
He leans over and kisses her cheek. She gives him a half-hearted grin.
Kevin: "I have to leave soon anyway." He looks at her, she pouts. "Don't pout baby."
Suzanna: "Why so soon, you just got here this afternoon, couldn't you make up some excuse to stay another day."
He reaches over and brushes a strand of hair off her face
Kevin: "You know I can't, I've already been here longer than expected, any longer could draw attention."
Suzanna: "And we wouldn't want that."
Kevin: "No, I think attention is the last thing we need right now."
She looks at him and exhales deeply in an almost sarcastic way.
Suzanna: "Well exactly when did we become a modern day version of Romeo and Juliet?"
He chuckles.
Kevin: "Since birth, but since you brought it up. You aren't planning any suicide missions are you?"
Suzanna: "You may be cute, but you're not that cute."
She smiles. He grins, reaches over and pulls her to him. He kisses her gently.
Suzanna: "Please stay, just one more day."
She kisses him.
Kevin: "And if I do, then tomorrow we are right back to this same place again." She kisses him. "One day leads to two days." She kisses him. "Which leads to weeks." She kisses him. "Which leads to months." She kisses him. "And years." He kisses her. "You know I would never leave your side, if I had my choice."
Suzanna: "I know, I just can't help but feel that this whole affair is hopeless no matter how right it feels."
He pulls her close to him and she melts into him embrace.
Suzanna: "You do have time for breakfast, no?"
Kevin: "Yeah"
She smiles.
Suzanna: "Ok, lets get dressed and go now."
She gets out of bed gets dressed while they discuss.
Kevin: "It's 4:15 in the morning"
Suzanna: "I know, but we won't draw that much attention now, everyone is home from the bars and the two Goombahs that Genovesse has escorting me everywhere are undoubtedly asleep."
Kevin: "We are who we are and were reduced to shadow games."
He shakes his head in disbelief.
Suzanna: "You take the good, you take the bad. Now get dressed."
He groans and gets out of bed. He goes into the bathroom and comes back out wearing jeans and a black rib-knit turtleneck sweater. She is standing by the door clad in a pair of sweats, a tee shirt and a hooded sweatshirt. He raises an eyebrow at her attire.
Kevin: "You look like a real fashion plate."
Suzanna: "Well for your information I am wearing this for a reason. It's so when I come back later it looks like I went to the park for my morning run. It doesn't look that bad does it."
He smiles.
Kevin: "You could make burlap look good. Now lets go."
They walk out the door and out to the street where her Jetta is parked. They get in and drive across the bridge and into Boston.
Kevin: "So what places here are open at this hour, this isn't exactly like Vegas, where everything is open 24/7."
Suzanna: "Relax, I know just where to go."
He sits back and surfs the radio stations. Just as he is finding a song he likes, they arrive in front of an all-night dinner. He looks out the car window at the glowing neon light, proclaiming this place to be; THE HOLE-IN-THE-WALL CAF.
Kevin: "Are you sure its safe to eat here?"
Suzanna: "Appearances can be deceiving Vito, come on."
They get out of the car and Suzanna takes him by the hand and leads him inside the simple little restaurant. The inside was reminiscent of a soda parlor from the 1950s. There are a few late-night or early-morning patrons, depending on the individuals. She grabs two menus as they make their way to one of the back booths.
Kevin: "Are you a regular here?"
Suzanna: "Sadly no. Cause if I was, then I'd get my very own coffee mug, with my name on it. See."
She points to the wall behind the bar, where a menagerie of coffee mugs hang on pegs. He just shakes his head.
Kevin: "But you do come here often enough to suggest something good."
Suzanna: "Well, um. The Belgian Waffles are great, and oh, their blueberry pancakes are to-die-for, the omelets aren't bad. Oh and look, they have the blueberry pancakes on special." She notices him smiling at her. "What?"
Kevin: "Nothing. I just can't help but to be in awe of your ability to take pleasure in the small things."
The waitress comes over.
Suzanna: "Ok I'll take that as a compliment." He smiles. "Um, I'll have the blueberry pancakes and a cup of hot tea."
The waitress jots down her order and then looks at him.
Kevin: "I'll have the Western Omelet and a coffee, thank you."
Waitress: "What kinda toast you want honey?"
Kevin: "Rye?" She nods and takes the menus and hurries to get their drinks. "So what will Suzanna be doing for break?"
Suzanna: "I'm flying home, but I will be studying the whole time."
Kevin: "Don't you ever take a break?"
Suzanna: "I'd love to, but I have this one professor, he's quite the male chauvinist and well, lets just say he's a tad anti-Italian to boot, so I am just barely pulling a C in his class, even though my work is better than that. Oh thank you."
She smiles as the waitress brings their drinks.
Kevin: "Don't your exams prove you know the material?"
He sips his coffee as he listens.
Suzanna: "The exams are theory, taking cases and extracting the facts and citing the laws that apply and forming briefs and legal deductions from them." She sighs. "And well it seems my deductions and reasoning is all wrong."
Kevin: "And you feel this is because you are a woman?"
Suzanna: "An Italian woman." She takes a sip of her tea. "I know that is why, but to make a long story short, I have to do some extra work over Spring Break to try to bring my grade up so my GPA doesnt slip."
Kevin: "And a school like Harvard lets him get away with this?"
She smiles and laughs.
Suzanna: "Oh, Vito, open your eyes. Its everywhere, I will be the last person to preach feminism to anyone but there is definitely a large segment of the population that still feels that woman belong bare-foot and pregnant in the kitchen." She sips her tea. "A woman with a brain and the drive to use it is felt to be a threat. Forget all that crap about how women get special treatment and because of civil rights quotas they don't have to work as hard as men to accomplish the same goals. That is bullshit, in my opinion they have to work twice as hard to get half the perks, because they're women."
Kevin: "You're preaching to the choir, Anna. You know I fully support your determination for bettering yourself, and I admire women who use their brains for more than deciding which new shoes to buy and how many people to invite to brunch."
Out of old habit, they both stop speaking when the waitress brings their food.
Kevin: "So tell me about this professor, what's his name?"
Suzanna: "Don't worry about it. I was just venting, I apologize. As if it matters, his name is Marakoff."
Kevin: "What's that Russian or somethin?"
Suzanna: "Originally probably, but he's as American as they come. Probably has the little wifey, the 2.3 kids, and the Labrador Retriever. How is the omelet?"
He nods. "Not bad. Um, can we get another round of drinks?"
The waitress nods, she brings more drinks and they finish their breakfast over discussion of his fathers failing health, the new resort opening up on the strip and her upcoming trip to Italy over the summer. When they finish he pays and they leave.
Suzanna: "What time is your flight?"
Kevin: "8:30"
Suzanna: "It's only 5:40. Whatcha wanna do?"
Kevin: "What time do your shadows {the body guards} appear?"
Suzanna: "If they show up at all it won't be until at least noon."
Kevin: "Some protection your father has arranged for you."
He puts his arm around her shoulder and she slips hers around his waist. The two of them begin to walk down the still empty street, towards the waterfront.
Suzanna: "It's not Papa, it's Bruno Genovesse, his old man is in Palermo {Sicily} and while the cats away... Anyway they are all laxed. No, Papa would have a fit if he knew. You're not gonna tell him are you?"
Kevin looks at her, and then it dawns on her how silly a remark that was. Of course he was not going to tell her father, because to do that would mean he would have to admit her was here with her and that is not nor will it ever be common knowledge, for both of their sakes.
Suzanna: "Ok, I got my dumb blonde moment out of the way early."
Kevin: "No, I am just concerned for your safety. This is not Vegas, New York is not 4 hours from here, and with the mess going on between the Tatallias and the Delgattos..."
He suddenly shut up realizing once again what he always does, he forgets himself around her. He lets down his guard and talks too freely. He silently curses himself and smiles at her.
Kevin: "I am sorry, baby, I didn't mean to frighten you. I just think that while you are here under the protection of the Genovesse Family, perhaps they should, I don't know, protect you."
She smiles. "You are too worried about me, I'm fine. Besides, Sphinx," her body guard from Vegas, who has been with her since she was 15, and who is practically her best friend, and the only person on earth that knows all her little secrets, even the ones she thinks he doesn't know about. "will be here in 3 weeks to escort me home."
He nods. They walk to the waterfront and sit on a bench and watch the sunrise. Then they walk back to the car and she dries him to the hotel room he rented so he could get his luggage. She offered to take him to the airport, but he declined.
kevin: "Too risky, now give me a kiss and get out of here."
She smiled and walked over hugged him tight and kissed him.
Suzanna: "Have a safe trip, I love you."
Kevin: "Love you too, baby."
She walks backwards out of the room so that she can memorize everything about him. She gets to her car before she lets a single tear fall. Once she is gone Kevin sits down and makes a phone call. He gets a voice mail, he knew he would, its three in the morning in Las Vegas.
Recorded voice of Howie D: "Hey, this is Howie. I'm not in, but leave a message, bye."
In Italian Kevin leaves a cryptic message, takes a shower, and changes into a pair of dress pants and a polo shirt. Rumples the bedding and then calls the front desk for a bellhop to come take his luggage down to the lobby and requested a car take him to the airport.
Kevin is somewhere over Missouri when Howie wakes up and checks his messages. And then goes into the kitchen for breakfast. His long-time, live-in girlfriend Debbi is standing over the stove making pancakes and all the fixings. He smiles and walks up behind her, wraps his arms around her waist and kisses her neck. She sighs.
Debbi: "So when are you leaving and when will you be back?"
Howie: "Who said I was going anywhere?"
Debbi: "I know that look Howard, Kevin says jump, you say how high. I mean he's not even here and he has you jumpin through hoops. You are his puppet, that is what you are. You are a fuckin puppet Howie, and you don't even realize it and if you do realize it you don't care."
Howie: "You really shouldn't discuss that which you do not understand."
Debbi: "Maybe I'd understand if you'd tell me what it is you do for him exactly."
Howie: "I'm his legal advisor and his lawyer."
Debbi: "These ain't no lawyers hours you keep. So when you gonna be back, cause I ain't fightin with ya before you leave. I mean god forbid anything happens to ya, I'd feel guilty forever."
Howie: "So well fight when I get back."
Debbi: "Yeah."
Howie: "Fine. I have to go to the East Coast, I'll be back in 2 days."
Debbi: "Have fun."
Howie: "I will, don't worry."
He goes back upstairs to pack; she bites back tears as she scoops all the food she made into the garbage disposal and wonders to herself, why she lives like this. Deep down she knows the answer, Howie is a great guy, who treats her like a queen and is as loyal as they come, but she can't help but wonder if push came to shove where his loyalty would lie. He comes back downstairs and looks in the kitchen, Debbi is not there but on the table is a brown paper bag with a note attached. It reads:
HAVE A SAFE FLIGHT AND AN EVEN SAFER VISIT.
HERE ARE SOME BROWNIES.
LOVE DEBBIE
XXXOOO
Howie smiled to himself, picked up the bag and walked out the side door that led to the garage. About 15 minutes later he pulled up to a non-descript condo, he waited a few minutes and the front door opened. A man walked out with a bag slung over his shoulder. Howie popped the trunk and the man threw his bag in the trunk and then got in the passenger side.
Howie: "Good to see you, AJ."
AJ mumbled what could pass for a greeting as Howie put the car in reverse and backed out of the driveway.
AJ: "What did you find out about this professor?"
Howie reached into the backseat and retrieved a manila envelope and handed it to AJ. He opened it and inside were pages downloaded from various Internet sites.
Howie: "What exactly are we supposed to be doing with this guy?"
Without looking up from what he was reading
AJ: "Turning him into a feminist."
Howie nodded and shuddered at the same time.
Howie: "Do you have any idea why we care about his views?"
AJ looks up from the papers and shrugs. Howie nods, it really didn't matter if they understood or even agreed with what they were doing. He smirked to himself; Debbi hit the nail on the head. They are fuckin' puppets.
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