Chapter 13
CLARISSA
Cole looked surprised, and so did everyone else. Lucy came out running. Apparently, there was an emergency.
“Doctor, doctor. You’re needed right away. Mr. Moretti needs you,” Lucy said with bated breath.
“I must leave you. I’ll answer your questions later,” the doctor said to Cole as he took off with Lucy back inside.
Cole looked very surprised, speechless even. Michael looked confused, and Rocco didn’t know what to say.
“I need answers,” Cole demanded. “And I need them now, Clarissa.”
I panicked and ran out the double doors. Cole went after me. Michael and Ralph followed. They caught up to me, and Michael convinced me to come back inside.
We sat down, just the four of us. Cole and Michael were in front of me, and Ralph was beside me.
“What’s the chauffeur doing here?” Cole asked.
“He’s my son,” I admitted.
Cole got up and grabbed his head with both hands.
“I thought he was my new chauffeur.”
“Please sit down, Cole.”
Michael grabbed Cole’s hand and pulled him down so he could sit.
“This is my son, Ralph. You know his name. I’ve told you that. He’s the son of John Rodriguez, my high school sweetheart.”
“I thought you said he was my son,” Cole said, raising his voice. “I knew something didn’t add up. I knew it. I knew it. All this time you’ve been trying to gaslight me. Now, I know there’s no way he’s my son.”
Ralph stayed quiet and looked down. Michael shook his head.
“You’re right. He’s not your son. I just needed to get some money for the treatment I was telling you about.”
“What treatment?” Michael asked. “Are you sick? Am I only finding out now? What the hell is going on, Mom?”
“Yeah, Mom. What the hell is going on?” Ralph chimed in. “Just tell them the truth, please. This way this whole thing can be over with,” Ralph pleaded.
“What truth?” Cole asked.
“Exactly, what truth, Mom?” Michael added.
There was a long pause. Rocco was in a different section in front of us, far away from earshot. He looked worried, and I was freaking out on the inside.
“Look, you’ll probably hate me for this, but I must come clean. I’m not sick. I don’t have a tumor. I’m very healthy. John is sick. Ralph’s father has the tumor,” I said softly and quickly. “We don’t know how long he has to live.”
“What the fuck, Clarissa?” Cole exploded. “And you couldn’t have told me that from the get-go? Who does that?”
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I was desperate. I didn’t know what else to do at the time.”
“Maybe, but just maybe, try telling the truth for once.”
There was a pause.
Cole sat down again. He looked at Ralph.
“Look, kid. I don’t know you, but I’m very sorry you’re going through this. I know this is hard at any age, but maybe at your age it is harder to deal with.”
Ralph nodded. His tears started rolling down his cheeks.
“I recently went through a similar situation with my dad,” Cole continued. “He just passed away in his sleep.”
Cole gulped.
I saw Rocco stand up. The doctor and Lucy were visible. They didn’t look too happy.
We all got up to meet the doctor and the nurse.
“What’s happening, doc?” Rocco asked.
“I’m sorry, your dad didn’t make it,” the doctor said.
Lucy looked very sad, like it was her dad or someone close who had died.
“But I thought you said with the blood transfusion he would make a full recovery,” Rocco said.
“The loss of blood and his cancer just took a toll on his heart. I’m so very sorry. We did the best we could.”
“They did the best they could,” Lucy said.
Silence struck the room.
“Hey, doc,” Cole said. “May I talk to you for a moment, please?”
Cole pulled him aside, but his conversation was still within earshot.
“Yes, of course. How can I help?”
Cole looked uneasy, and the doctor looked calm. Rocco was crying. Lucy was trying to comfort him. Michael and Ralph walked away and started talking.
“You said earlier that Michael was AB negative. That he was a match for Moretti. How is that possible?”
“It isn’t, really.”
Cole’s expression changed. His face turned red.
Before things got uglier, I interrupted and hugged Cole. I embraced him as hard as I could. I didn’t want to let him go. He finally embraced me back.
“I’m sorry. I am so sorry. Michael is not your son,” I whispered in his ear.
Cole pushed me away with such force that I almost fell backward. The doctor was able to catch me.
My heart was pounding. I didn’t know what Cole was going to do or what he was going to say.
“HE’S NOT MY SON?!” Cole yelled at the top of his lungs. “What the fuck do you mean he’s not my son?”
Michael rushed to hold back Cole. He was furious.
Cole looked at the doctor.
The doctor shook his head.
“He’s not,” the doctor mouthed.
Cole broke down and started crying.
“You fucking bitch, you’ve ruined my life!”
I didn’t know what to say.
“How could you have lied to me all this time?” Cole screamed.
“I didn’t know. I just found out today, just like you did.” I lied.
I had to lie. I had to defend my dignity.
“Liar, you’re a fucking liar and a whore.”
When I heard that five-letter word, it hit me hard. He ignited something in me that infuriated me. I could feel the rage coursing through my veins.
Michael kept holding Cole back. He wanted to hurt me, but Michael wouldn’t let him.
“He is my son. I don’t care what you say. I raised him. I cared for him. I was there for everything he needed. Don’t tell me he’s not my son.”
Cole continued to scream with tears running down his cheeks.
“And you’re a fucking bitch and a whore!!” Cole yelled again. His grief turned into anger.
“FUCK YOU, COLE!”
The doctor tried to calm me down, and I shook him off. Ralph came to my side and tried to calm me down as well, but I shook him off too.
“Who was the one who made you feel good in bed when you felt inadequate? Who was the one who put up with all of your infidelities after we got married? I looked the other way, didn’t I? You said you needed to relieve your stress. That you needed more than me to do that. And I bought your bullshit.”
“I don’t care,” Cole shot back. “How could you lie about something so sacred as a child?”
“Well, I don’t care that you don’t care. But you’ll care about this,” I said.
“And what is that, genius?” he mocked.
“When John called me several months ago, telling me he was sick, I had to divorce you so I could get the money to save the love of my life. Because he is and always has been the love of my life, my high school sweetheart that I dearly love. You’re nothing. You never have been.”
“You, you fucking bitch. Let me go, Michael. Let go of me, dammit.”
Cole struggled to get loose, but Michael wouldn’t let him.
“You humiliated me. You made me work for Moretti after we got married. You made me a bona fide whore. And now you complain about it and act all surprised. FUCK YOU, COLE! Simply, FUCK YOU!!” I screamed at the top of my lungs.
Cole looked defeated, and Michael looked devastated.
“And yes, I fucked Moretti. I fucked Moretti many times. And he was better than you, if you must know. I was his Candy Spice.”
Cole shook his head. Michael looked embarrassed. I felt bad for him, but I needed to get the truth, my truth, out of my system. This was the right time and the right opportunity to release all the resentment and emotional abuse I’d endured being his wife.
“Every time you were getting off with some other slut, I was getting off with Moretti. And I loved it. It was good, and I enjoyed it. The best sex I’ve ever had. But I’ve never been anything to you more than a glorified side piece. Moretti knew how to treat me. He was a true gentleman.”
I felt exhausted. My mind felt like it had been cleansed, purged of all the bullshit and humiliation I’d experienced in a marriage of convenience. In the end, I knew it was my fault, but who goes through life knowing exactly what to do? Not me.
I made good money working for Moretti. Cole was also very generous with me when things were good between us.
I sent enough money to my parents on a monthly basis to take care of the bills and Ralph.
I visited them every summer, including John.
That became my routine. That was my escape from everything.
It was my consolation prize for not making it as an actress.
But everything had caught up with me.
I turned my attention to Michael, my beautiful baby boy.
“Michael, I didn’t know until today. I swear.”
I lied. I knew he was Moretti’s kid. I didn’t keep the secret from Cole; I kept the secret from Moretti. I did not want my son to grow up to be like him. If Moretti knew he had another son, he would have turned him into a mobster like Rocco.
I paused and looked at Rocco.
“Rocco. I’m sorry about your dad. I really cared for him. But now you have a brother.”
I looked back at Michael.
Rocco stayed quiet.
“Darling, will you ever forgive me?”
Michael shook his head.
“I don’t care, Mom. I love you both.”
He looked at both of us, drying his tears with his shirt.
“I’m sad I don’t get to know my real father.”
Cole’s expression turned from rage to sadness on a dime after he heard those words. He was devastated; he looked defeated, but in my eyes, he was free; the truth had finally set both of us free.
The double doors opened. Vito walked through.
What now?