Why I Hated The Guy From The FBI Ch. 02

Frank turned this offer down. He told Antonia and me that he would not leave, because he had just been away from you, for two years and would not leave you for another four years, because he loved you, and wanted to be with you. I believe that your son is an upstanding young man. Now, I have to change his mind, and to do so. I have to make an offer that is not only palatable to you, but also to him.

I have checked with the real estate brokers in the area. Houses, in this area have an estimated value of Eight Hundred and Fifty Thousand Dollars. With our government, offering seniors, over the age of sixty-two, a capital gains holiday, on the sale of their primary homes, I am offering you $1.4 million, for your home. However, I am also going to offer you a home, on a vineyard I own, sixty miles south of Milan. When you accept owner-ship of the house in Milan, the agent will give you a key to a safety deposit box in the San Paolo Imi Bank. In it will be an additional Six Hundred Thousand Dollars. For obvious reasons, I cannot offer you two million dollars for your house here in the states. However, by doing it this way, I believe I am giving you an incentive to move to Italy, and making my wife, my children, and I, extremely happy. What do you two think?

Gloria grabbed Phil's shoulders tightly, as she spoke for both of them. "Anthony, do you know of any good moving companies?"

"I can have men here, as soon as you want, to start packing your house, Gloria."

"How much does it cost to move a home full of things to Italy?"

"Do not worry about it, Rose. I have a cousin in the business. He will take care of everything, for you.

"Phil, have you taken care of everything at work, yet?"

"Yes, Anthony, I filled out forms, as soon as, they gave them to us, at the union hall."

"Is it all right, if I tell Frank that he is going with Antonia, to Italy, or do you want to tell him?"

Gloria said, "You tell him, Anthony, and when he does not believe you, have him call home and we will tell him, personally."

"I want to thank both of you very much. Rose and I have always loved having you as neighbors, for all these years. Now you have made it possible for my son and my grandchild to be close to us, for many more years to come. You have made this a wonderful day for us. Thank you, again."

Gloria whispered to Phil, to keep his mouth shut, and wait until Tony closed the gate. When this was done, she said to him, "We were not asked to move. We were told to move, in the nicest way possible. I was afraid that you might have put up an argument with him, and I did not want to lose you. We will not be doing anything illegal. We will use our lawyer, and he will use his. We will move into the house he has provided for us, and take the extra money that he is leaving in the safe deposit box. Between what we have saved, your retirement from the union, the profit from this house, and the extra money in Italy, we will be set for life."

"Gloria, you are smarter than the average bear. I was going to tell Tony, I did not want to move, without thinking of the consequences. I will keep you for a few more years, before I trade you in, for a newer model."

"You had better hurry, Phil. I am nine years younger than you are, and when I get to Italy, all the men will be coming after me."

The aircraft landed at Kennedy Airport, at 9 AM. Both families met the newlyweds as they came through customs. The Skycap wheeled their luggage behind them as they walked towards their limousines. During the drive home, they stopped for brunch, and Donna regaled everyone with stories of everything they had seen. This once shy girl had now become a very demonstrative young woman. She could no longer talk, without using her hands.

Vincent proved this, to everyone's satisfaction, by pinning her arms to her sides. Donna screamed at him to let her go, but she stuttered through that statement, and everyone laughed, while she did it. When Vincent said to everyone, that it also happened in bed, Donna went red with rage, but Vincent still had hers arms pinned at her sides and she still could not say a word. When he let her go, there was hell to pay. Donna gave Vincent a verbal thrashing that had all his relatives laughing hysterically. Vincent sat there looking his bride in the face, nodding his head saying, "yes, my love; absolutely sweetheart; whatever you say darling; anything at all, dearest..." until Donna realized he was making fun of her, and she hit him on his shoulder and told him to "stop it." Vincent said, "Yes dear," grabbed her around her shoulders, and kissed her passionately. Donna's hands flew in the air, as if she did not know what to do. She finally gave in, and grabbed him by the back of his neck and kissed him back. When they surfaced from the kiss, Vincent turned to their relatives and said, "Oh, by the way, we are pregnant." For those few who knew it, this was not a great revelation; however, those who did not know applauded and whistled.

Tony clapped his son on the back, "Fast works son." Donna replied for him. Dad, it was my fault. I did not want him to have grounds for divorce by saying we had not consummated our marriage. He will never get away now."

Antonia yelled that she had Vincent's nose ring ready, whenever Donna wanted it.

Vincent yelled back, "You keep away from my wife. You have already been a bad influence on her."

Antonia leaned over towards her mother and said, loud enough for everyone to hear, "Apparently not bad enough, mom. He came back alive."

Vincent screamed, "Antonia," while everyone else, including Donna, laughed at him.

Tony stood up to make an announcement. "Donna, Vincent, I cannot tell you how pleased we all are that you are married and that our families are now one. We had to decide what to do with you, because we did not want to hear you bouncing against our walls in the middle of the night, as newlyweds do. For your wedding present, we decided to buy you a bedroom, where you can play to your hearts delight, and not bother your uncle, or either set of your parents.

Of course, it became problematic for the bedroom not to have a roof, so I decided to have the bedroom attached to a house, which is three doors down from where your mother and I live. Frank knows it very well. He lived there most of his life. However, as of yesterday, his parents and I have agreed to the sale of that house, so you two might have a place to stay, near your mother and me. If everyone would turn and look at Frank right now, you will see his mouth is open, so flies can go in and out. He did not know about this transaction, because I asked his parents to allow me to do it.

Phil and Gloria have agreed to move to a house on a vineyard I own, south of Milan. Antonia is going to go to the University of Milan. She wanted Frank to go with her. Frank has expressed an interest in going back to college, and possibly studying for the priesthood. What better place is there to study, then in Milan, where he can study, be with his parents, and guard my daughter? What do you say Frank, did I put you into a good-sized box or what?

Antonia screamed in delight and looked at Frank to see what his answer would be.

With as large a smile as he could force onto his face, he looked at Tony and asked, "Sir, correct me if I am wrong, but I thought you owned a roofing company. I did not know roofing companies made boxes?"

"Frank, when it comes to my daughter, I even make concrete boxes."

"In that case, sir, 'Does anyone here give Italian lessons?'"

Antonia jumped out of her chair, grabbed Frank by the neck, and kissed him. "I do!"

Tony was not bothered by this display of affection, or her choice of words, because he knew that no harm could come from them, or Frank.

"Tony, it would appear you have covered everything necessary, for me to accept your proposal. I will be with my parents. I will be able to study, at a wonderful university, and I will be able to keep Antonia in line for you. The hardest of these three things will naturally be the last. To that end, I demand hazardous duty pay to guard Antonia, while she is in a foreign land. I want handcuffs, leg irons and a ball gag, so I can keep her in one place, and quiet, while I am trying to study. I was thinking about a bed of nails for her, but I think that might be going overboard."

Vincent led the applause and laughter at his sister's expense. "It is about time somebody put you in your place, Toni. He is big enough, strong enough, and smart enough to keep you on your toes for all four years of college. If he keeps you in handcuffs and leg irons for all four years that would be nice. However, if he keeps you in that ball gag for all four years, I will reimburse dad for all your college costs.

Vincent knew he was in trouble when Antonia picked up her water glass and walked towards him. He started to get up and run the other way, but he was too late. Ice, and water and landed on top of his head, and he immediately tried to reach out and grab his sister. He missed as Antonia made a hasty retreat, to the opposite side of the table.

Before things were able to get out of hand, Rose stood up and said, "Children, stop it, or you will go to bed without dinner."

Everyone looked at her and laughed. However, it had the desired effect and everyone calmed down.

"I am going to get you for that, Antonia."

"Try not to stress your brain, Vinny."

Rose looked at Tony and asked, "Are you sure we took the right babies home from the hospital?"

"After nineteen years, you are asking me that question now?"

"Who else am I going to ask?"

"I'll call Tim in the morning and have him go over the records. If they made a mistake, we will own the hospital."

"Okay, but in that case, which one do we keep?"

"That is easy; the married one. He will be out of the house soonest. We give Antonia to the new family, and then she is there problem."

Antonia commented, "Remember dad, Vincent is only going to be three doors away. I am going to be several thousand miles away. If you are lucky, you may hear from me once or twice a year. Vincent can be on your doorstep every night. Once your grandchild is born, you will be on his doorstep every night. So getting rid of me is more permanent than getting rid of Vincent."

Vincent laughed as he looked at his father. "You see, dad, it is a Win-win situation."

"Yes son, it certainly is."

Antonia laughed and said "No, dad; it is a win-win-win situation."

As the afternoon wore on and the conversation wore thin, people started leaving and saying goodbye to the new couple. Donna and Vincent handed each person, a present they had purchased, specifically for them. They were expensive gifts, purchased from lists given to them from each parent. No one would be disappointed, and neither would the couple when they opened the envelopes they received at the wedding, which were safely tucked away at the bride's home.

8. Unemployed

Frank knew he had a problem, and he would have to get to the Veterans Hospital to inform them of his new situation. He believed that the only thing he could do, was to take a 'Leave of Absence' from the Bureau, and go with his parents, and Antonia to Italy. He thought that they would agree to leave him on the roles of the Veterans Administration, so he could report any activity that might be of interest to the FBI, or any other federal agency, charged with enforcing the security of the United States. Frank realized that it was going to be very hard, to serve two masters. He would do his best not to cross over that invisible line.

Antonia banged on the walls, "Are you two ever going to stop?"

Vincent yelled back, "Get a life, Toni. Once you lose your cherry, you will understand why we do not want to stop. Remember, dear sister, you are responsible for getting us together; so stop bitching."

"Donna would you please cut him off for a while, so I can get some sleep."

"Toni, he is the teacher and I am the pupil. Until I learn everything he knows, I am subject to his will, or should I say 'I am his willing subject'."

"Donna, he has turned you into a horny little devil."

"Yes, he has, and I love every minute of it."

"You two are going to kill me."

"Put your ear buds in, your volume up high, and you will not hear anything."

"What am I supposed to do about my bed, bouncing up and down, off the floor?"

"Go sleep on the couch downstairs."

"Fuck you, Vincent."

"I am sorry, Toni. I promised Donna, I wound never cheat on her, and that includes incest, my dear sister. Therefore, I will have to pass on your invitation. Do you see, dear Donna, how my own sister has tried to tempt me, into breaking my vow to you?"

"Yes, Vincent. Antonia, you keep your hands away from my 'angelic' husband."

"Donna, do not make me throw up."

'Vincent, we have delayed your lesson long enough, and I have forgotten most of it, already. Can we start from the beginning, please?"

"Anything you want my love, as long as we keep my sister awake, through the entire process. It would be a shame for her to miss any part of this lesson. Anal sex is a wonderful addition to the knowledge base, of any young couple."

"Vincent, you are a lying through your teeth. Donna would never allow you to do that to her."

"Would you like to lose another bet, like you did to Frank?"

"You two are disgusting."

"Do not knock it until you try it, Toni."

Rose knocked on both doors and announced her presence. "Children, I believe that is enough verbal jousting for one evening. Donna and Vincent, you are a married couple, and you may continue doing what married couples do. Antonia, you may either follow your brother's advice and 'Get a Life,' or move to Milan now, and set yourself up in an apartment, where no one can bother you. The choice is yours. Now leave your brother and his wife alone. Good night children."

Donna and Vincent said goodnight to Rose, while Antonia fumed at her mother, for taking their side. She said something to her she never expected to hear. She told her to get out of her house. She had no idea when Vincent and Donna would move into the Gennaro's house. She believed her father would probably want to renovate the inside, before they moved into it. All this took time, and right now, time did not seem to be her friend. She needed to talk to Frank, but it was nearly 1a.m., and she did not want him to get angry with her. She needed to talk to him desperately, so she called him on his cell phone and hoped for the best.

"What do you want at this hour of the morning princess?"

"Frank, I am sorry to wake you, but I really need to talk with you. Could you meet me on the porch, I really need to think aloud, and right now, you are the only person from whom I can get an unbiased opinion. I have some decisions to make and one of them concerns you."

"If you are getting me out of bed for some teenage problem, I am going to collect the two smacks on your ass, plus a dozen more."

"It is nothing like that Frank, honest."

"Okay, five minutes."

"Thank you, Frank. I really appreciate it." She waited for a reply, but realized that he had hung up on her, already. She put on some clothes, went onto the porch, and waited for him to arrive.

She nearly screamed, when he hopped up on the porch, because he did not come up the walkway. "Shit! Why the hell did you have to scare me like that, you prick."

"Antonia, watch your mouth."

"I do not have to take that shit from you, Frank."

"Okay, I am leaving."

"Frank, please stay. I really need to speak to you and get your opinion."

"Okay, but watch your mouth. One more time and I will be gone."

"I understand, Frank. I will stop cursing. Okay?"

"Yes. Now what is so important that I am not sleeping, at this hour?"

Antonia went through the entire situation, with Vincent and Donna, and the dismissal of her complaint, by her mother. She felt trivialized and unwanted. All of her life, she had been sent away to school, for nine months out of the year. She was allowed to come home for a few weeks, then she was shipped off to camp for six weeks, and before she knew it, she was back in school. Now she was finally free, and both her mother and brother tell her to "Get a life." How was she supposed to 'Get a Life', when she had never had one? She had never been on her own, and she was afraid. They are sending me to Milan, and they never asked her if she wanted to go. Now my mother tells me, if I want peace, I should leave now. I have been dismissed from my own home, like a piece of garbage. I will go, because I will not stay where I am not wanted. However, once I get to Milan that is the last time anyone will ever hear from me. I will disappear into Switzerland and from there; I can go any place in the world, I want. They do not want me here any longer, so they will not bother looking for me. The only other option available to me is you, Frank. I feel safe with you. I know I am a pain in the ass, and my mouth overloads my brain sometimes. However, would you be willing to leave here, with me, and meet your parents, when they get there? It should not be that long, before they leave here, possibly a month, or less, if I know my father. However, could you leave with me sooner, please?

Frank was looking at a very frightened, young woman. All her bravado was gone, and one more insult, by someone she loved, or respected, and she would shatter. He looked at her face, once more and asked, "When do you want to leave?"

"Tomorrow, if that is okay with you. If they want me gone, I want to accommodate them."

"I cannot do tomorrow. I have to go to the V.A. tomorrow, and get a checkup and a referral to a military base in Italy, for my medical care. After that, I will pack my duffel bag, and I will be ready to go. It will be Friday at the latest."

Antonia grabbed him again, cried on his shoulders, and thanked him.

Rose watched their interaction, from the living room window, and she smiled. With all her daughter's protestations, about Frank being 'the hired help', her daughter's heart was thinking something entirely different. Intellectually, she may not have realized it, but she was in love with him. She had watched their interaction. Every time they were in the house, the more comfortable Antonia got with Frank, the brighter her eyes became. She took every verbal competition personally, and each time she lost, she was furious. The next time it happened, she was sharper than the last time, which meant she was studying hard, trying to beat him. No one went through this trouble just to outdo the hired help. He insulted her dress; she went ballistic. She spent an hour on her hair to make it pretty for him, and he asked, "What the heck did you do to your head?" She screamed in frustration, as she ran back to her room. He knew exactly what buttons to push to keep her little darling off-balance. It might take a little help, from a few friends, to realize it, or maybe being alone in a foreign country, for a few weeks, would open her daughter's eyes.

Rose realized that Frank might be a problem, also. He might shy away from Antonia, because of his medical problems. He would also stay away because of his respect for her husband. He was there to guard Antonia, not too bed her. She believed this match was made in heaven. God would find a way to get these two young people together, and she would make a few phone calls to Italy, to help him along. It would be like making an 'Italian Wedding Soup:' put all the ingredients into a very large pot. You stir them together, and bring it to a rapid boil. Then, you reduce the heat, and let it simmer, and stir them, again. Just as it starts to cool, you increase the heat and bring the pot to a rapid boil, again, and 'Marry' the flavors of the ingredients, or in this case, the two people, who do not realize they are right for each other.' The results are a delicious soup that co-mingles the flavors of the twenty-seven different ingredients, into a special and delightful marriage, that the tongue, palate, and lips never forget.