Chapter Fifty One – On Your Knees

  Nonna Conti had been inside St. Stephen's Catholic Church since the early morning. She had taken her old wooden cane and banged on the side door off Harris Street until the caretaker had reluctantly opened it for her. It did not take her long to intimidate the older man into running over to the rectory and waking up Father Alfredo.

  Once the long serving priest had arrived at the church her first demand was for him to close and lock the church up tight.

  Already grumpy from having been woken so early in the morning Father Alfredo shook his head tersely. “No, no, it is not possible, there are too many that depend on this church daily for their needs they…”

  “They can go pray and do penance at Sacred Heart or St. Leonard’s, I must be kept safe here, no one must know.”

  The old woman held out her finger and turned from Father Alfredo to the caretaker and then let her eyes linger on him. “No one must know I am here. You must not speak my name to anyone.”

  The caretaker, an older bachelor named Giovanni prided himself on a lifetime of service to the community and the church, one of the many unknown, unacknowledged servants of God whose reward would be there for him once he was called home. The last thing he wanted to do was to get mixed up with this old woman who played with the Vecchia Religione.

  That was Father Alfredo’s responsibility, to save her soul if there was anything left to save in that old, wretched woman. He did not give her an answer, he turned his eyes towards the floor and made the sign of the cross as he walked away. This was the limit of his courage, this small show of disdain from him would be all that he was able to muster in front of Nonna Conti.

  She watched him slink away, a lifetime of using her reputation and her aura to intimidate had taught her that a man like Giovanni would never dare to cross her.

  Nonna Conti waited until the small man had disappeared behind the columns on his way out of the Nave and then she turned to Father Alfredo with real fear in her eyes and held out her arms in a pleading gesture.

  “Bless me Father for I have sinned…”

  Soft morning sunlight pushed through the arched windows above the gallery pews and spilled into the church giving it a soft, welcoming glow. Bathed in this light, millions of dust motes eddied and swirled within the minute currents in the air and then disappeared into the darkness beyond the light.

  Over a century of sweat, smoke and candle wax had been sealed into the plaster walls of the church, the smell permeated the church and provided a feeling of familiarity and comfort to her. She would embrace the church and devout her life to God, surely he would have her if she did this.

  Nonna Conti was on her knees on the Prie-dieu behind the thick red curtain of the confessional. She was waiting for Father Alfredo to enter to hear her confession. It had taken a while to get to this point. He had been unwilling to hear it until she had explained what had been happening these past few weeks and what her role was in all of it.

  Nonna Conti had changed and she had done so almost overnight. The power she had gained from the curse had ebbed from her body. A little bit each day and much more every time those wretched kids had attacked her neighborhood, her family.

  Soon she felt weak, frail and every bit like the tired old woman she was. When the girl had fired into her bedroom while shouting at her from the street Nonna Conti had felt completely powerless and afraid for the first time in decades.

  Once the girl had left, she had peered through the broken glass down to the street below. Her neighbors were outside, wearing masks and standing vigil out front of her home holding makeshift torches. At this moment she knew that the torches were for her and that soon, they could easily decide to burn the house down with her inside of it.

  Ever since then Nonna Conti had been wracked with terror, and she had sought refuge with Father Alfredo as soon as she could do so. She knew that her last days were upon her and she needed to atone.

  She needed to make things right with God, to avoid the hell that surely awaited people like her who did not make amends. She had little time to do this but perhaps Father Alfredo could help save her.

  Father Alfredo had assured her that no one was beyond salvation if….. if they truly repented and the old woman was prepared to do just that, to spend what remained of her time on earth on her knees.

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  She told Father that she would say the Rosary endlessly and pray to the Saints. She would pray for salvation, for forgiveness, for Alessia and Silvio but Father would have none of that now.

  “You must lift the curse. You must forsake all of this black magic. All of it.”

  Father Alfredo stared at her; she could tell from his intensity and his excitement that this was an opportunity for him within the church and the community. To be this close to dark magic and to be the one to free her soul, he would stand out for sure, even against those from the much larger and more important churches like St. Leonard’s or the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.

  Sensing her judgment, he pulled his shoulders back and intoned in his deeper oratorial voice “You have done the work of Satan himself and you must reverse this if you are to ever ascend to God’s kingdom. There will be no other way.”

  These words terrified the old woman and she asked him if he would call the only person she knew that could help her find a way to lift her curse.

  Fausto smiled as gouts of flame poured out of the upper windows of the farmhouse and started their assault on the red metal roof. Smoke billowed out from under the eaves and through the soffits as the fire raged inside of the home. He could hear the roar of the flames and the shattering of the old-fashioned glass panes as windows started to explode from the heat and the pressure of the fire inside.

  “Fuck…fuck.. they’ve got fuckin’ dogs here…holy shit…Alessia get in the car.. get in the car.”

  Fausto sighed and opened his eyes, his daydreams of the torched farmhouse ended abruptly and the unfamiliar helplessness of his current state returned with a vengeance.

  Anthony was running down from the small rise in the open field as two German Shepherd dogs were streaking towards him from the barn. They were fast and silent and pushed through the tall grass in the pasture like a pair of sharks racing through shallow waters.

  From his angle it was hard to tell if Anthony would get back to the car before they reached him and he was morbidly curious about what the dogs might do if they did get him. Perhaps he would learn a lesson in the importance of following instructions when others have the upper hand.

  The door beside him was thrown open and Alessia slipped inside onto the rear seat of the Denali and slammed the door shut. She shuddered with relief and pushed back some of the dark masses of curls that had fallen across her face.

  “All the windows are down my dear, do you not think that the dogs will be able to jump into the car?”

  “Oh shit, he’s got the keys ….Anthony hurry, get in here!”

  The burly driver was about twenty feet from the car and the dogs were the same distance away from him and gaining fast.

  A loud whistle slowed the dogs to an abrupt stop and the two animals assumed a still but alert position with their eyes focused on Anthony as he lumbered back the final few feet to the Denali.

  The big man leaned on the driver’s door and paused to catch his breath “Fucking hell, I just went for a little walk is all…Jesus Christ….”

  “You were told to stay under this tree. You didn’t listen and you decided to go scope out the lay of the land in broad daylight. At least now we know that they have trained guard dogs. I suggest you stay near the car from now on Anthony and don’t forget about the rifle that is most surely pointed at you as well.”

  Fausto stared beyond the dogs and seconds later Randy strolled into view and with another low whistle called the dogs to his side.

  “Won’t be long now, just stay near the tree and the dogs won’t get ya. If I don’t call them offa ya’ then they’re gonna’ drag you down and hold you in place and you won’t like that much at all. Come on boys, on me then.”

  Fausto felt the heavy bulk of Anthony shift the car as he settled into the front seat. He closed his eyes and took a deep inhale from his cigarette and started to imagine flames consuming the hayloft of the barn that Randy had been walking back to with the dogs loping along behind him.

  His fantasy would have to wait for another time. Just as soon as he closed his eyes Alessia’s phone started to trill and buzz.

  “It’s Father Alfredo. Fausto, it’s Father Alfredo...what do you want me to do?”

  Fausto felt better almost immediately, he felt sure this was one of his problems potentially going away. “Answer it and be sure to find the location of your mother if you don’t speak to her.”

  Almost forty minutes later Paul’s Jeep drove past the entrance to the farm and continued onto the next farm beyond. There were several large pickup trucks waiting for them at the end of the driveway. Randy had contacted several friends and acquaintances who were working nearby and had managed to get them to wait at the next farm as a muster point for Paul, Amos and Alanah.

  “We don’t want to let them think you are weak or to have any idea what our true numbers are. This is a good plan of Randy’s. Just look at those trucks. Covered in mud, big tires and off-road lights on the front bumper and jacked up suspensions. They look pretty badass if you ask me and to some City gangsters, they won’t know what to make of em’.”

  “So are we just going to run them over then in one of those monstrosities?” Alanah was not impressed with the big trucks or the scruffy men standing around them in boots and overalls. She had lived in a small town for several years and as a “townie” she was naturally skeptical of the “country folk”.

  “Nope, they are just our escort. Three big trucks and a bunch of men with guns. They just need to be seen. Randy and I will do the talkin’, you just need to manage Amos here so he doesn’t miss anything.”

  A few minutes later, after Alanah, Amos and Paul had squeezed into a large black truck with dually wheels under its comically flared rear fenders, the trucks pulled out and headed over to the farm.

  “Here we go then…. here they come.” Anthony pulled out his revolver and pulled the slide back slightly to make sure he had a round chambered.

  “Put that down and be calm Anthony. We are outgunned here and out of our element. If they want to shoot us then they will and we can do nothing about it. There is no need for you to give them any extra incentive to do so.”

  Fausto sighed and rubbed his chin. “We just need to listen to what they want and get them to make a deal. I will do the talking. All of it. Do not speak unless I tell you that you can.”