~ La Sorellanza (The Sisterhood) ~

by

Barbara Wilson Wright

Her parents were waiting for her when she got in.

"What the hell are you doing?" Joe Ferrara screamed at his daughter. "Since when are you going to be a nun? You never said anything at all. We found out about it from strangers. Carmine Torino called me. You made me look like an ass in front of him!"

"No! You made an ass of yourself long before that. You sold me to Carmine Torino to pay off your business debts. You’ve been gambling again. You owe him twelve or thirteen thousand dollars."

"Joe, how could you? You said it was only five grand. You lied! You lied to me again!" Cathy’s mother covered her face with her hands to stifle her cries.

Joe turned on Cathy his face contorted with rage. "You little bitch. You know what they are going to do with me. They’re going to come after me. They’re going to give me a kneecap job. I’ll never walk again. Is that what you want? You want to see me on crutches?"

"Maybe it’ll take you longer to get to your bookie. You were going to sell me like a slave. You were perfectly willing to have me marry Nicky Torino, to live my life in a hell. You know, if I thought for an instant this would make you stop betting on every dog and pony show, I might even have considered it. But you won’t stop. You went through the money Nona and Poppa left us. You promised Mom no more that time. You swore you were through. My marrying Nicky wouldn’t stop you. You’d just continue. What next? What will you sell next time when you get in debt or should I say whom? Carol is much prettier than I am. She’s younger. Boy, I bet you could get twenty-five thousand for her and, why not Mom? She’s a good-looking woman. I think if she got dressed up real fancy she could work Times Square, three hundred a night maybe. This is a sickness with you. You need help!"

Cathy was not expecting what happened next. Joe raised his hand and slammed her so hard it sent her falling backwards. "If I get killed, my death is on your hands, Sister," he snarled.

Cathy’s mother ran to her and helped her to her feet.

"Cathy, he didn’t mean it. I swear to God he didn’t. He’s just scared. We’ll work something out. Just please don’t leave. I need you here more than God does. Please tell him you’ll forgive him. Forgive your Father. We’ll sell this house, we’ll move to something smaller in another neighborhood. You... you just can’t be a nun! Don’t do this, Cathy, to yourself. You know in your heart you don’t want to join the convent."

Cathy went to her room. She sat on her bed for a while. She could hear her parents arguing, then she heard the front door slam and the car drive away.

She reached for the phone and dialed a number. "Cele, I need your help."