6. Sisi
6
SISI
C losing my eyes, I let the warm water pour over me, hoping to remove the cold that had seeped deep into my bones. I should have known Mother Superior would not let me out without a good reason. She'd let me stew in that dark room for close to three days until she'd come to get me, ordering me to get dressed and make myself presentable.
I'd been confused about her behavior, but when I'd found out my brother, Marcello, had come to visit, it had all made sense. She didn't want Sacre Coeur to get in trouble for abuse.
Tired and chilled to my core, I'd tried to put on my best performance, even though I'm sure I must have stressed my happiness a little too much, my smile strained as I'd tried to convince him my life was perfect.
I hadn't seen Marcello in almost a decade, Valentino being the only one visiting every couple of years or so. But this time, Marcello had a good reason for dropping by.
Valentino's dead.
I'd been shocked when I heard that he'd taken his own life. But I couldn't muster any other feelings aside from pity, since we'd never been close .
He would come by every few years to make sure I was doing fine, but it had always seemed more like a duty than his own desire to see his sister.
Marcello, though, had managed to surprise me this time. He'd implied he might bring my younger sister, Venezia, to visit.
I sigh deeply at the thought.
I've never even met Venezia. All I know about her is from Valentino, but even that isn't much.
It's funny how most girls brought up here are orphans, with no one to turn to. And while my own parents are dead, I do have family out there. They just don't want me...
When I finish washing, I go back to the room, once more putting on a mask and pretending everything is fine. Lina's curiosity about my brother is not helping either, since she can't seem to stop herself from asking questions.
A smile plastered on my face, I recount everything we'd talked about. I try to ignore the way my heart contracts when I think about the family I have behind the walls of Sacre Coeur. Because in the end, do I really have them if I can't count on them?
Time passes, and a new priest arrives at Sacre Coeur. Father Guerra's entire persona is shrouded in mystery, the rumors about his affiliation with the mob proving to be the most interesting thing Sacre Coeur has seen since Cressida's disappearance years ago.
Regardless of his potentially dangerous reputation, everyone is taken with the guy, including Lina. She'd had her reservations in the beginning, but seeing how he'd been kind to her and Claudia, she'd decided to put aside her prejudice against him.
Well, I'm still on the fence.
He's tried numerous times to talk to me and invite me to confession, but I'd declined each time. There's something entirely too fishy about the man. It's in the way his eyes move around the room, as if he's cataloging everyone. His gaze is more that of a predator than a man of God.
But while my instinct tells me not to trust him, the fact that he hasn't been outwardly nasty to me like others before him has earned him the benefit of the doubt. I may not like him, but that doesn't mean I will be rude.
It all comes crashing down one late afternoon when Claudia goes missing. Lina and I both split to look for her around, but it's like she's simply vanished.
After looking everywhere, I return to our room to find Claudia huddled in her bed, her eyes red from crying.
"Claudia?" I gasp, going to her side at once. "What happened?" I take her in my arms, hugging her to my chest.
She's sobbing uncontrollably, and I do my best to calm her down.
"Did someone bully you again? You promised you'd tell me," I say gently.
She shakes her head, burying her face deeper in my chest.
I just hold her, letting her cry until her tears dry out. But when she starts talking... I feel like my entire world is being shaken.
"Father Guerra," she starts, her voice strained, "he touched..." she trails off, swallowing deeply before raising her eyes to look at me. " Mamma caught him..."
Her eyes tell me everything I need to know, and the reason why Lina is not back yet.
My hands ball into fists at the thought of that man raising a hand against Claudia. I just hope Lina's okay too...
While waiting for Lina, I do my best to calm Claudia down, once again assuring her that she's done nothing wrong.
A while later, Lina slowly opens the door, sneaking her head inside.
"Lina?" I ask, my brows furrowing when I see her pale features and her eyes full of fear.
"Can you come out for a second? And bring me a dress." I frown, but comply.
I leave Claudia on the bed and I quickly rummage for a dress. Exiting the room, I'm greeted by a sight I never thought I'd see.
"What is going on?" I ask as my eyes rove over her bloodstained clothes.
Is she hurt?
"Something bad happened. Like terrible." She gives me a slight smile, her entire body trembling .
"Lina... you're scaring me."
"Did Claudia tell you anything?"
"No... she only mentioned you were with Father Guerra." I don't say that I gathered what must have happened. Instead, I just wait for her to tell me.
"He was touching her..." Her voice comes out as a whisper as she breaks down, her entire body convulsing with sobs.
"What do you mean?" I ask, holding my breath.
"He was touching her under her clothes..."
"No!" My hand goes to my mouth. I'd imagined something bad must have happened, but I would have thought Father Guerra hit her or punished her... not this. "Where is he? What happened?" I continue, my mind already working on a plan. That scourge needs to pay for this.
"I... I killed him," Lina says in a small voice, and I still.
"You're kidding." I look at her for any sign that this is a joke. But it's not.
"No... I really killed him. I didn't mean to, but..."
She starts telling me all the particulars and I listen attentively. She is already in shock, so I know I must tread carefully. Still, I would have never expected this of Lina. She'd struck at Father Guerra in self-defense, and the knife she'd used had caused him to bleed out and die.
In her shocked state, she'd tried to hide the body by placing it in the confessional booth. The more she's talking, the more I'm shuddering, thinking what a close call this had been — for both her and Claudia. But I'm proud of her for defending herself and her daughter.
"We need to do something about that," I start, steering the discussion toward a more logical course of action.
"You... I killed a man." She looks at me in confusion. I don't want to tell her I have some experience dealing with murder, so I just react as naturally as I can.
"Yes, and I would have killed him, too. That wastrel! Now, about the confessional booth," I say, thinking how to best get rid of Father Guerra's body. Since she's stuffed him in the confessional booth, we need to act fast before someone finds him .
"That's why I came back. I can't do it alone. I know this is too much to ask but..."
"No buts!" I immediately interject. "Come on, dress, and we'll figure it out."
I leave her to talk to Claudia while I try to think of a way to get rid of the body. In my case, it had been rather easy since the coffin had been right next to us. But this... we'd have to transport Father Guerra somehow and bury him in the cemetery. It's the only way.
When Lina comes back, I tell her my idea, as well as the fact that we could use her empty suitcase to transport the body. It might get a little messy, but at this point, it's our best shot.
"Sisi, are you sure you want to do this? It's my fault... I can just tell them what happened," Lina stops to ask me when we're closer to the church.
"And who'd believe you? You already said he's from a prominent family. They probably have enough influence to make sure you get blamed for everything. Think about Claudia. What would happen to her without her mother?"
While I'd been perfectly fine with going to prison, since I wouldn't be leaving anything behind, it's completely different for Lina. She has Claudia, and I would do whatever is necessary to make sure mother and daughter are not separated.
Including, should the time come, take the blame myself.
We discuss the circumstances more in depth, realizing that Father Guerra's opportunity to get Claudia alone might not have been a fluke. Usually, Lina and I take turns watching Claudia, but since Mother Superior had been adamant about increasing my workload even more, I'd had less and less time to spend with them.
I don't want to think that anyone, not even Mother Superior, would sanction such an action, but knowing what I know about the woman and her hate toward us, it's entirely too possible.
When we reach the church, Lina shows me where she'd stuffed Father Guerra. Opening the door to the confessional, I see his puny body drenched in blood, and I feel a small degree of satisfaction at knowing he can't harm anyone anymore.
He should have suffered more .
Forcing myself to focus, I assess the situation and comment. "He's too big."
"We just need to fold him a little," Lina says, and I try to visualize how it could fit.
"How about we try a fetal position?" I suggest, going around the suitcase and finding the best position to lay him in.
"Let's try," Lina agrees, and we start stuffing his body in the suitcase, folding his limbs in different positions until we manage to get all of him inside. Then, pressing on the flap of the suitcase, we try our best to close the zippers and lock the luggage.
"Damn," I breathe out, a little tired from the exertion.
The journey to the cemetery is rather easy since the wheels of the luggage make it easy to carry it. The hard part will be digging a hole so we can bury it.
Since I'm extremely familiar with the cemetery, I know the exact spot that should pass undetected. This specific parcel is unmarked and situated under the shade of the tree, which should mask the freshly turned earth.
Going in the back to procure some shovels, both Lina and I start digging.
"Honestly, this wasn't that bad," I comment when we've finished digging. "I think I'd rather dig up graves than wash dishes. Do you think I can apply for the position?" I say half-joking. Honestly, I wouldn't mind it that much. Dead people can't hurt you. The living, however,...
"Sisi..." Lina starts laughing. "You really want to trade dishes for graves?"
"It's still work." I shrug, but my lip is twitching.
Days pass and we try to put the Father Guerra incident out of our minds, convinced that the worst has passed.
We were wrong.
And we get to find that out the worst possible way. By coming face to face with Father Guerra's rotting body on display in the convent's grotto. All the nuns are kneeling in a prayer to be delivered from evil, some fainting at the sight and odor of the desecrated body.
Lina, on the other hand, is horrified. Because whoever's done this must know she killed Father Guerra. In fact, a message written in blood confirms it.
We don't linger outside more than we have to, and once we're back in the room, Lina starts talking.
"They know... and they're coming for me," she says, terrified. She proceeds to recount that both our families are in fact deeply involved with the mob. I listen in shock as she tells me about the five families and how they are all involved in illegal businesses, a fact which makes them extremely dangerous.
"I may have limited knowledge about the mob," she takes a deep breath, "but I know most live by one principle—retribution. His family will want justice for what I've done to him."
I don't speak for a long time. Mostly because I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around everything.
That means Valentino... and now Marcello are mafia bosses.
"I need to call Enzo, tell him everything," Lina says suddenly, getting up and taking out her phone.
While she's talking to her brother, I take a moment to digest everything she's just told me.
It's in my veins... this evil.