Cavatelli
They were going out to beat up Tony Vernon.
Nonni and aunt Mary were over. That didn’t happen a lot. I don’t remember where Pa was or even really what time it was. I think maybe the sun was out.
What I do remember is the kitchen table. Gram, Nonni, and aunt Mary taking frozen cavatelli and putting it into socks and tying the socks off.
Everyone got a sock. I think Gram got two.
By then I knew all the secrets and didn’t have to try and listen in on things. I would just come and go. They were talking a lot.
A lot.
Talking and smoking and stuffing frozen cavatelli into socks.
Gram cooked a lot of cavatelli the day before and all of it went into the chest freezer in the basement in little bags. The cavatelli was too dense. Too heavy to eat. Pa and I didn’t like it.
Tony 5150'd my mother. I don’t remember which mental hospital but she was gone. Maybe the day before? Maybe two?
Her lies caught up with her. She wasn’t a princess and didn’t know Sarah Vaughn. She couldn’t really help Tony’s jazz career.
I think she stole and used his credit cards too. She was like that. That’s why we kept the metal box under the stove. She didn’t know about it and even if she came over when we weren’t home we would be safe.
How she even got this far with Tony was incredible. Who believes this stuff?
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They were living together at his apartment and she was taking him to lots of places I guess. All around New Haven and New York. My mother knew a lot of people. His friend Jeff, a bass player in the same quartet, bought into the lies too. She was really good at that — getting buy in. I don’t know how.
I liked Tony. He was really young and played chess with me. He introduced me to jazz. And classic Indian music, which I didn’t like. I remember seeing the quartet one night at Casa Mara. They were good.
But Tony had to go.
My aunt, Gram, and her mother — my Nonni — were going to take care of it that night.
I don’t even know if Pa knew what was going on. He had to know about his daughter being committed. He had to.
They came back that night.
It couldn’t have been too late. I don’t remember waking up or being tired. Maybe Pa was working at the school?
They were really happy. The beating was quick. I know Tony got a sock of cavatelli in the balls.
Probably Nonni.
Another across the face. And he fell. I think they pummeled him for a bit until he agreed to check my mother out.
No idea what that really meant or how it happened but the next day — at least I think it was the next day — Ma was out.
It wasn’t over. There was still something to “fix” but Art was going to fix that. I don’t remember meeting Art back then but everyone says I did a bunch of times.
I don’t remember my mother staying with us after. Pa went and got her things. Tony wasn’t around. Gram found it funny.
Nobody really talked about it ever again except when someone that didn’t know brought up “cavatelli”.
