Page 170 of Marcello

“But Luciano gets to go wherever he wants!”

“Luciano is an adult.”

“But Ezio gets to go!”

Papa got so angry that I cowered in fear. “Luciano is a fool, but I can’t control what he does. I, however, am not a fool – and you will do what I say.”

I didn’t bring it up again until I was a teenager…

Which is when I found out why Papa was so adamant.

Apparently, Papa and Luciano had knock-down, drag-out fights on the very same topic. One of those fights happened inside the castle when I was 14, and I overheard it from upstairs.

Papa wanted Luciano to move his family in with us so they could be safe.

Luciano refused. “I’m not going to be intimidated by the Camorra!” he shouted.

“Your carelessness will be the death of them!” Papa roared.

Little did Papa know, he was right.

51

The Camorra.

Every fairy tale has to have a villain, and they were it.

They were the Boogeyman, the Big Bad Wolf, and the Devil all rolled up into one.

As a child, I pictured them as shadowy monsters with fangs and claws who lurked outside the walls surrounding our property.

When I got older, I understood they were human – but I still thought of them as monsters. Deformed, ugly, slobbering Neanderthals.

By the time I was 21, I had seen enough movies to know they were gangsters like the ones in Gomorrah, which took place in Naples, and was specifically about the Camorra.

I also thought of them like Al Pacino in Scarface, or Joe Pesci in Goodfellas – frightening, psychopathic men.

But still monsters.

They were always monsters.

In reality, I never saw anyone in the Camorra –

But I heard about them constantly. They governed my entire life, and were the reason for all my misery.

No, you can’t go outside the compound – the Camorra will get you.

No, we can’t go on vacation – the Camorra will hunt us down.

No, we can’t go to the beach – the Camorra will kill us.

As a child, I had all the toys and pretty clothes I asked for – everything I could have ever wanted –

Except the freedom to walk outside the walls of my family’s property.

I could go outside in the sunshine, at least, so long as I was hidden behind a stone wall.

Otherwise the Camorra might shoot you.