Chapter 52
ATTICA CORRECTIONAL FACILITY
The place had a smell and it wasn’t anything like the joyful scent of the fabrics in La Facon.
Here it was disinfectant and body odour, the two fighting each other for dominance.
Steffi had given Luca some gum before he entered the penitentiary and then just as quickly had grabbed it back remembering it was contraband.
Apparently the inmates could use it to jam locks and, if he was caught with it, his visit would be cancelled.
So, here he was, the stench hitting his senses in this soulless visiting room where tables were spaced apart and other family members looked far more comfortable with this procedure than he was.
Finally, a door opened at the end of the room and men in matching jumpsuits began filing into the area, slowly, guarded, until Luca saw one he recognised. Il Babbo. His father. Renzo Marcello.
Luca felt like he was stuck to his chair, like he was fourteen years old all over again about to be admonished for a bad report card.
His father looked entirely the same but absolutely different all at once.
Older, greying at the temples and in his eyebrows, his posture a little hunched… yet he smiled.
‘Luca,’ Renzo said, approaching the table, the eyes of the guards piercing the stinking atmosphere.
Luca didn’t know what to say. ‘Hello’ didn’t feel appropriate. He stayed unmoving.
‘Get up and hug me,’ Renzo said. ‘There is this one opportunity. But only if you do it fast.’
Before Luca had a chance to do anything, one of the guards spoke. ‘Sit down, Marcello. You know the rules.’
‘Yeah, OK, Mickey,’ Renzo said, waving the comment away. He sat down opposite Luca, the square of table between them. It had been three years without communication. What did you say after three years?
‘Hey, stop looking like that.’ His father clicked his fingers in front of Luca’s face. ‘Eyes on me, not the décor that needs a do-over.’
‘How is someone supposed to look in jail?’ Luca asked him.
‘The ones who don’t have overnight accommodation, fucking more grateful than you look right now.’
Luca nodded. ‘Is that why you wanted me to come here? Why you got Ronnie to put the pressure on? For a pity party?’
‘No,’ he replied.
‘Then what the fuck was it all for?’ He gritted his teeth. ‘You got someone to hurt one of my clients, you roughed up my friend, you broke into my boss’s house and—’
‘Keep your voice down, Luca.’
‘Why?’
‘Because walls have ears. Even these ones.’ He paused. ‘Actually, especially these ones.’
‘So what? I have nothing to hide.’
‘And regarding these “issues”, neither do I.’
‘Bullshit.’
‘Ronnie told me what you did,’ Renzo carried on. ‘Going psycho in the bar. I didn’t know whether to feel proud or afraid.’
‘Maybe both,’ Luca bit back. ‘So unless there is a real reason for this visit I will tell you how it’s going to go from now on. You get Ronnie and whoever else to stay away from the family and the people I care about and—’
‘Luca,’ Renzo began. ‘I know it was you who told the police everything they needed to put me in this place.’
Luca’s heart dropped to his sneakers, a freezing chill shooting up his spine. ‘I… don’t know what you mean.’
His father couldn’t know, could he?
Renzo sighed. ‘We don’t need to play a game. The time for doing that is long passed.’
Luca shook his head. ‘I don’t know what you’ve heard but—’
‘Luca, please, why do you treat me like a stupid man? I have never been that. And if you really didn’t want me to ever know you should have taken witness protection when they offered it to you.’
Luca was shaking, on the inside as well as the outside.
Yes, he had turned down witness protection.
He had known the risks – even when the culprit involved was his own father, maybe more so because of that – but the detective had sworn his identity would be protected as far as humanly possible. Now what?
‘Stop shaking. Believe it or not, family visits where a relative pisses themselves is not a good look.’
Keep breathing. Remember why you did it. Stand by your morality. He sat a bit taller in the chair.
‘You know I’ve had a while to reflect on the fact that my own son ratted me out to the cops,’ Renzo said, nodding. ‘I went through all the stages like it was grief and then I realised that ultimately this was a good thing, a golden thing.’
‘Yeah?’ Luca replied, unconvinced.
‘For a time.’
‘And now? Should I be looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life? Or am I gonna end up in a barrel of acid like Guiseppe?’
He saw the fury imbedding itself in his father’s face. That was the man he knew. The ruthless leader of a relentless gang. He watched the storm gain momentum and then just as quickly begin to rescind.
‘Want me to shut up?’ Luca asked. ‘What if I don’t?’
‘Why are you angry, Luca? Shouldn’t I be the angry one? In here for years already, missing out on everything freedom offers, thanks to you.’
‘It’s not my fault you’re in here. Your actions had repercussions.’
‘And now your actions are having repercussions for you and your friends,’ Renzo hissed. ‘And how long before things escalate and include your mother and Stefanie?’
‘What?’ He didn’t understand.
‘I’m not the only one who now knows it was you who turned me in, Luca,’ his father said. ‘And these people are concerned about how much you do know. And how much your blabbering mouth might affect their own affairs.’
He contemplated exactly what his dad was telling him. ‘Your enemies?’
‘Let’s call them contemporaries. But, I’ve had my warning.’ He parted the collar of his jumpsuit, a jagged scar on his neck. ‘And when Ronnie told me what’s been happening with you, I knew you’d had yours too.’
‘You were attacked? When did that happen?’ Luca asked. ‘Does Mom know?’
‘Shh,’ Renzo ordered. ‘It’s unimportant. What is important is what I’m going to tell you next.’ He took a breath. ‘OK?’
‘I’m listening,’ Luca replied.