DeLuca (Mafia Romance)

Enzo

Age 22

8 years ago…

“We’re here!” I called out as my mother, aunt, and I walked through the front door to Frankie and Claudia’s house. There was no need for knocking; Claudia would just complain about having to come all the way to the front door.

I’d been home for almost a week after my final tour overseas and Claudia had invited us over for dinner. By the smell of garlic mingling through the house, she’d pulled out all the stops. There was no response, but I could hear low voices coming from the kitchen, so I made my way towards them, my mother and aunt trailing behind.

“It’s okay, we’ll figure something out,” Claudia cooed over Frankie who was sitting at the kitchen table with her head in her hands. The second she looked up at me I knew something was wrong. Her nose was red and her face was blotchy, which could only mean one thing; she’d been crying.

“What is it?” I asked concerned, rushing over to Frankie. Even when we were kids I couldn’t stand to see her cry. I didn’t know why but there was just something about seeing her upset that made my gut twist and a panicky feeling take over my body. I’d do anything to make it better for her.

I crouched down in front of her and took her head in my hands. “Franny, what’s wrong?”

She shook her head and pushed a piece of paper towards me. “They denied my financial aid.”

“What? How?” I asked grabbing the letter and standing up. I skimmed the contents of the letter quickly. “They’re denying you because your dad died last year?” I asked disbelievingly.

“No, they’re denying me because we cashed in the life insurance policy last year and apparently they count that as income.”

Frankie’s dad had finally drunk himself into an early grave late last year when he’d been driving drunk and ran his car into a tree. Since he and Claudia had never officially divorced, and she was still listed as the beneficiary on the policy, all the money went to her and Frankie. It wasn’t a lot in the grand scheme of things, but Claudia had used the money to pay off the loan on the house. There wasn’t even a dollar left.

“What am I going to do?” she asked aloud, resting her head in her hands once again. “It’s already June; it’s too late to apply for scholarships. I can’t take out that much in student loans.”

“We’ll figure it out,” Claudia reassured her again.

Frankie let out a frustrated sigh and raised her head again. “They look at the past two years’ taxable income, so it won’t be until after my sophomore year that I’d qualify. I guess I’m not going to Gonzaga.”

“No,” I said immediately. “You’ve been dreaming about going there for years; we’ll figure it out.”

“There’s nothing to figure out; even just two years there without financial aid is just too expensive. With tuition, books, room and board, it’s going to be almost a hundred grand, and that’s just for two years. Not to mention whatever financial aid doesn’t cover for the last two years. We don’t have that kind of money, and I’d never be able to pay that much back in student loans.”

“I’ll help,” I pleaded with her, but she just shook her head.

“You have other people that depend on you; I’m not going to let you help pay for my school when I can go to community college.”

“But-” I started, but my mother cut me off.

“Let’s just take a breather; we can pick it up again after dinner. We’ll figure something out, sweet girl,” she said, kissing Frankie’s head as she passed by.

Dinner was a quiet, everyone’s mind clearly occupied. The empty chair where Eddie usually sat was a stark reminder that he was behind bars for the better part of the next two years. That, coupled with Frankie’s news, curbed the idle dinner conversation.

“I wish you could just use my GI Bill. I’m not going to use it,” I said halfway through dinner.

“What’s a GI Bill?” Frankie asked around a mouth full of garlic bread.

“It’s basically guaranteed financial aid for people who’ve served at least four years in the military and it’s transferable to your children or spouse. It wouldn’t cover the entire cost of Gonzaga but it’d cover most of it,” I said shrugging. “I don’t know all of the details, because I never planned on using it.”

“Huh. Too bad I can’t just marry some guy in the military; that’d solve my problems,” Frankie laughed and everyone else laughed with her. Except me.

“What if you could?” I asked, interrupting their laughter. My mother’s eyes darted to me from across the table.

Frankie furrowed her eyebrows. “What? Get married?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

“To who? I’m eighteen. Who’s going to want to marry me just to help me with school?”

“Uh, me, obviously.” I was starting to feel less than confident with the strange looks I was getting from around the table, but I pushed on. “Franny, think about it. I’ve got a GI Bill that’s just going to go to waste, and you need money for school. It’s a win, win.”

Frankie’s cheeks flamed and she let out a nervous laugh. “Wow, Enzo, you have such a way with words. Every girl dreams about getting proposed to at the dinner table with the words ‘it’s a win, win’ being the selling point,” she said sarcastically.

“I’m being serious, this could work,” I implored.

“I guess it could…” She shook her head, a disbelieving smile spread across her face. “God, Enzo, this is crazy. Holy crap, are we getting married?”

“Yeah, I think we are,” I said, locking eyes with her before we both burst into laughter.

“Am I the only one that thinks this is a ridiculous idea?” asked my Aunt Rosa.

“If it helps Francesca get a college education, I’m not going to stand in her way,” Claudia said firmly.

“Marcella, you can’t be okay with this. The church will never approve- ”

I interrupted before my mother had a chance to answer. “The church doesn’t have to approve. It’s just a piece of paper. We’ll go down to the courthouse and get it done.”Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“Marcella?” Aunt Rosa exclaimed again.

“My son is an adult; he can make his own decisions. Who he takes as a wife and why is none of my business,” my mother said, with a wink in my direction.

I smiled broadly. “We’ll go down to the courthouse tomorrow and get the application. Problem solved.”

Frankie shook her head again. “This is fucking insane,” she muttered.

“Language!” Claudia scolded. “You may be eighteen and about to get married but you’re still under my roof.”

“Yes, ma’am,” she said and had to stifle another laugh.

The rest of the dinner went by uneventfully. My aunt didn’t say anything else for the rest of the meal; instead, opting to stab forcefully at her ravioli. We left the Delrossi home with plans for Frankie and me to meet up the next day so we could go get the application for a marriage license. By the end of the week I was going to be a married man-at least on paper.

When we got home, Aunt Rosa headed straight for her bedroom without a word to either of us.

“Why is she so upset?” I asked my mother.

“I think she always wished Eddie and Frankie would end up together one day.”

“But we’re not really together. You understand that, right?”

“Hmm, for now. We’ll see how time changes things,” she said, patting my cheek.

“Mom, this is just so she can go to school,” I protested.

She smiled softly. “One day, your eyes will open and you’ll see what I see, then you’ll know.” She kissed my cheek and headed to her bedroom without another word.

If she only knew how clearly I was seeing.