“I’m not going to do anything to them, Chiara, breathe.” I look at him, and he gives me a small smirk, making my body react automatically. “Although I wasn’t yet initiated, my father was preparing me for it; I already knew how to fight perfectly and shoot better than many soldiers. That night, they entered the house because there was a traitor among the guards; they killed many of the soldiers and entered silently. I woke up because they dropped something in the hallway. It didn’t make a loud noise, but even then, I knew that I should always be on the alert.” I look at him, but his gaze is focused on the wallin front of us, seeming to see that night pass through his eyes again. I rest my head on his chest and stare at his handsome face as he speaks. “I grabbed my guns and pretended to sleep; when he came into the room, he came over to my bed, and as soon as he was close enough, I attacked, plunging a knife into his arm, then into his chest, hitting him over the head with my gun making him pass out. I left my room with the gun in my hands and went to my sister’s room, woke her up, and put her in the panic room so that no one would hurt her. My head spins when Luca mentions his sister, a sister I never knew existed. When I went back to my room, he was waking up; I knew I had to get information to find out who was behind the attack. My sister was there, and I was blinded with rage, knowing that they could have done something to her, so I tortured him and made him tell me everything he knew without leaving a single detail. When my father came into my room, he was barely breathing; he was alive by a thread, my whole room was blood red, and I was covered in blood from head to toe with a knife in my hand, ready to attack the enemy. Two days later, my father called a meeting, the biggest Camorra meeting in years; all the bosses and soldiers were present, the traitors were killed as an example, and I was initiated that day I received my burn and swore loyalty to my father and the Camorra.”
“I didn’t know you have a sister.” I don’t know anything about you, I add in my mind, and yet you look at me, and I’m hopelessly in love.
Luca looks at me with a soft expression on his face. “She is not often shown in publicfor her own protection; she is sixteen years old, andher name is Bella.”
“I’d like to meet her…”
“I’m sure she’ll enjoy meeting you too! When you get back to Italy, I’ll take you to meet her.”
“Luca, do I have to take an oath too?”
His laugh is rough and nasal. “No, Chiara, only men do it; only they become soldiers.”
“That’s old-fashioned; women are perfectly capable of fighting.”
“These are the rules.”
“How does it work? What happens?”
“The Capo and some high-ranking members gather for the oaths; mine was an exception because of the meeting and because I was the future Capo. During the ceremony, a bonfire is lit and in front of it you must take the oath of the Camorra and prove that you stand for the cause.”
“What do you mean?”
“You must cut the palm of your left hand until blood gushes out. The blood must bathe the picture of the Virgin Mary because you are making a promise to your Capo before God. When the picture is almost covered in blood, it is thrown into the fire, and your hand is placed against the flames until the fire closes the cut. Proof that you will bleed and burn for the Camorra if necessary.”
“What is the oath, may I ask?”
“You will belong to the Camorra soon, Chiara; everything you want to know, I will tell you.“I swear on this omertà dagger immersed in blood and in front of the honorable society, to be faithful to my companions, that I will fulfil my duties, with blood if necessary. Let my flesh burn like this Saint if I fail to keep my oath.”
I take Luca’s left hand and slide my finger along the scar left by the blade. It is a large, burned scar. The skin is hard and calloused, and all I can think ofis that he was only thirteen.
“Has any woman ever taken the oath?”
“No, as I said, the women belong to the mafia, but they are not part of the structure, so it is not necessary to take the oath. Besides, no woman born into the mafia or married has everasked to do it, and even if they did, I don’t know if it would work; after all, none of them work for the organization.”
“Trophy wives!”
“Not all of them…”
“How does the structure work?” I feel completely lost, and soon that will be my reality.
“At the top of the pyramid, you have theCapo dei capi, which is the position my father occupies; there is the Consigliere, which is occupied by my uncle, so he is my father’s right-hand man. Then there are the Underboss, who are usually based in the cities we occupy; in order to organize the men in those areas, he works as an intermediary; he is the boss according to the Capo’s rules and orders. Then there’s the Caporegime, who acts as a communication string between the bosses and the soldiers, essentially leading the soldiers on missions where the high-ranked members aren’t present. The Executioners are exactly what the name implies: they are trained to kill, torture in the worst way, and keep the tortured alive for as long as possible so that the torture is long and painful. Then there are the Soldati, who basically do what they’re told, from murder to drug trafficking, loan sharking operations, extortion, and debt collection. Finally, there are the Associates, who are possible candidates for Soldati, who are put to the trial in order to test their reliability.”
“And in the middle of all these people, I’ll be the trophy wife…”
“No offence, but you don’t really look like a trophy wife.”
“Are you implying that I’m ugly?” I immediately detached my body from his, feeling anger mixed with disappointment. Why on earth would you want to marry me when you don’t even find me attractive? Luca pulls my body toward him again, I make a move to pull away, making him tighten his hold on me.
“For God’s sake, you really don’t understand your worth!You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. You’d be a queen in another era, andI have no doubt about it. But you don’t look like a trophy wifebecause I know you don’t want to be one, given your family history; it’s obvious whyyou’re in university. If you were a daughter of the mafia, you’d be married, not in school. Our women get married earlier and generally don’t go to university; you’re different! Which is good; my wife will be the first… I amgoing to modernize the Camorra when I become Capo, and the fact that you’re studying will be the first proof that I don’t intend to remain stuck in the past.”
“What do you want to change?”
“Nothing to worry about now; let’s leave the future for the future and concentrate on the now.”
“What if I wanted to take the oath?”
“Do you want to take the oath?”
