Chapter 23: The Kiss of Life

"Young man, what on Earth are you doing?"

The stern voice shocked Joey so much he almost dropped his daughter. He glared at the female cop in front of him.

"I'll thank you not to startle me while I'm doing this," he snapped. "I'm not doing this diaper thing often."

"Is this your child?" the cop asked looking at him suspiciously.

"You mean, am I the father? Yes, I am. Still I'm not out with her on my own a lot, so please lay off. This stuff scares me."

He must have looked genuinely desperate and the cop's lips twitched.

"You wanna wipe from front to rear with a girl. You don't want any of the nasty stuff ending up in her vagina," she advised him matter-of-factly.

With the cop giving him a few more hints and the things he remembered, Joey was able to finish the job, albeit with glowing ears.

"Thanks," he said, looking up to her.

She was tall and she had authority about her. Her hair was in short, tight curls close to her head. From her face, he guessed her to be late twenties, but he was not sure. She was African American, and Joey always found it difficult to gauge the age of people outside his own ethnic group. Then he remembered her as one of the cops who had responded to Maureen's call, after Karen's burial. She did not recognize Joey, obviously, but that did not surprise him. The black beard he had grown and the long black hair had changed him a lot over the last two years.

"So, where's the mother?" she asked casually.

"At her office. I have a free afternoon and the nanny needed time off."

"Now, don't take me wrong, but I would like to ascertain that this little girl is really yours to stroll with."

Joey had to smile. Of course, he was acting so awkwardly with Carla that it had to look suspicious.

"You want to talk to the mother? Call the District Attorney's office and ask for Ms. Maureen Darling, Assistant DA. The number is 686-8000," he added helpfully and with a grin.

The cop stared at him incredulously. "Maureen Darling is that baby's mother? And you ... Wait a minute, young man! I know Maureen, I mean I..." she blushed furiously under her dark skin.

Joey understood. Maureen and even more so Karen had been part of the Lesbian scene, and obviously the cop was also part of it. He looked at her name plate for the first time. Sgt. N'gomo, it read.

"I remember you, Officer. You responded to Maureen's call when Karen's parents made a nuisance of themselves."

The cop swallowed. "Yes, you're right. You were with the pretty Italian girl." She blushed under the dark skin. "How is Maureen? How does she cope with Karen's death?"

Joey wagged his head. "At first it tore her up bad. I mean, with Karen gone and her daughter gone, she was really alone. That's how we came together. We both needed some comfort, I guess."

"But how come you knew her?"

"I was her daughter's boyfriend before."

"Little Deirdre? You were ... Wait! You were her boyfriend when she was abducted and ... You know?"

Joey nodded, making a grimace. He didn't know why he confided so much in this policewoman, but she was nice and she knew Maureen and Deirdre.

"She wasn't the same afterwards. She refused to stay with me. She just up and left for California."

"But you got her free from those swine, right?"

"My cousin did. I had help from my family."

The cop lowered her voice. "I hope they buried those fuckers!" she growled.

"The abductors were paid the ransom they demanded and they fled," Joey answered succinctly. "I have no knowledge of their current whereabouts."

Sgt. N'gomo grinned and nodded. "Sure, whatever you say. So this little one is Maureen's? Give her a kiss from me, will you. Tell her, we'd like to see her again."

Joey nodded. He knew who 'we' were. He also knew that Maureen was not over Karen yet and loath to join the scene again. "She needs time to get over Karen," he said apologetically.

"O.K. I'll see you around," Sgt. N'gomo said, resuming her patrol.

Joey put Carla in the stroller again pushing her through the park. Looking around at all the women pushing strollers he realized how unusual he must look, a young man of twenty-two with a baby.

During the next loop Carla fell asleep and Joey sat on a park bench and opened a textbook to get some work done. He had not been sitting long when a young, black-curled woman, also pushing a stroller, walked past. She looked at him with amused interest.

"Is this seat taken?" she asked with a noticeable Italian accent.

Joey looked up and shook his head. He resumed reading but he noticed that the young woman sat down with a sigh and stretched her jeans-clad legs. He looked at her. He judged her at around twenty or younger. She was slender but not skinny, with long, well-formed legs and prominent breasts. Her face was something to behold, with a strong nose and expressive mouth. A lioness, Joey thought.

She smiled and said something. It sounded Italian.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I may look Italian, but I don't speak it."

"I said, you like what you see?"

Joey grinned. "There's nothing wrong with the way you look," he answered.

"Mhm, I can say same about you," she grinned back, obviously enjoying the flirting. "Whose baby is that?" she pointed at Carla's stroller.

Joey poked his thumb at his chest and the girl's eyes opened wide.

"Bad boy!" she scolded him. "Making girls pregnant that young!"

"Carla's mother is older than me," he defended himself. "Besides, we didn't plan her, but we wouldn't give her up for anything."

The girl's eyes softened. "At least, you take-a care of ... her? What's her name?"

"Her name is Carla, after my mother," Joey said proudly. "And you, who are you pushing around?"

"Her name is Megan. Her parents host me here in the USA. I'm an au-pair. I'm from Napoli. And you?"

"I was born and raised here in Philadelphia. My family's been living here since the 1920s. Originally, they're from Castelvetrano, though."

"Siciliano, eh? What is your family name, no, what is your name?"

"I'm Joey Di Rosa."

"You are-a joking, eh? Di Rosa? You related to Don Vincente?"

Now it was Joey's turn to look in surprise. "How do you know my uncle?"

"When I come here, I visit your uncle and give him a letter from my grandfather. My grandfather, he's old fashioned, worries about me. So he writes to your uncle, asking him to 'have an eye on me'. Wait! He did not send you here to watch me, eh?"

This made Joey laugh, despite the realization that this girl must be the granddaughter of a Camorra capo.

"No, really not. I haven't seen my uncle in a month. I go to college."

"Ah, so you're the wayward nephew?"

"He talked about me?"

"Yes, he said he'd bring you together with me. You're a good kid and you'll be a scientist and your girlfriend left you. He said nothing of a daughter."

"Oh, man. Your grandfather is a friend of Uncle Vince? A 'friend of the friends'?"

She made a face. "I guess he is. My father is a professore at the University of Naples. He teaches physics. Oh, I am Fabiana. Fabiana Zimariano."

"Pleased to meet you, Fabiana. Do you go by any nickname?"

She blushed. "Yes, Faba. I didn't grow these," she pointed at her breasts, "until after I turned seventeen; I was tall and skinny."

Joey smirked. Back then the nickname had been cruel, meaning beanstalk. Now nobody would make that association.

"I guess you grew out of that. Okay if I call you Fabi?"

A smile was his reward. "Yes, I like that," she answered. "Maybe we can go out together when you have time. I have Sundays off."

Briefly Deirdre's image flashed before Joey's eyes but he gave a mental shrug. She had left him for good over two years ago. He would not even know how to contact her. He had put his life on hold for too long.

"Sure, let's exchange cell phone numbers."

She gave him her number and programmed his into her own phone.

"Don't call me during the days. Megan's parents are strange. They don't allow me to use a cell phone. They say the rays can hurt Megan. I'm keeping this hidden and on vibration, so please only call me after ten. I'll give you the family phone number, too."

When she left Fabiana waved at him and wiggled her behind. He was smiling broadly when he steered Carla's stroller back to where he had parked his car.

Fabiana was slightly subdued when he picked her up at the curb in front of the apartment building. She talked little on the way to the mall where they wanted to see a movie. Joey picked up on her mood but he knew her too little to know if this was a normal mood swing for her.

On the three weekends before they had visited the zoo, an art exhibition, and they had made a trip to Lancaster County to see the Amish country. Joey had the impression that Fabiana liked to be with him and that their relationship was moving ahead.

They watched a movie, the sequel to a hugely popular comedy/adventure flick, but Joey left the theater disappointed. Fabiana commented negatively, too, and they bitched about Hollywood sequels for a while.

Rather than opting for the mall food court Joey drove them to Toni Minetti's Blue Grotto. Toni served them in person and he and Fabiana hit it off right away. Joey could only shake his head at the deluge of rapid fire Italian he could hear but not understand. Apparently, during that shouting match Fabiana had also specified their order since Toni left without a word to Joey.

It was not necessary. The Involtini di Vitello alla Siciliana, veal roulades, were heavenly. The food lifted Fabiana's spirits but over the espresso coffee she started to brood again.

"Listen, Fabi? Is something the matter? Would you rather I drove you back? Didn't you want this date really?"

Her eyes opened wide with realization. "Oh, I'm sorry, really. It has nothing to do with you. I just ... I saw something yesterday evening, and I can't stop thinking of it."

"Must be pretty bad if it survives Toni's food," Joey probed.

"It is bad. The Everhearts, my host family, Megan's parents, had a terrible row. I think Mr. Everheart he beat up his wife. I heard her crying and screaming, and I want to call the police, but then it stops. I hear the door slam, and next, Mrs. Everheart, she knocks on my door. She has switched off the light, but I can see that her lip is split. She say I not worry, she just has been clumsy.

"I offer to look after her lip, but she say it is nothing. Then, when she turns to go back to the bedroom, I can look into her robe. Joey, she has bruises all over! I could hardly sleep all night.

"Then, this morning, Mr. Everheart, he come to the breakfast table. I set the table for three, but he tell me Mrs. Everheart sleep late. And then he lean into me and grips my arms and say, 'Don't you go and run your mouth, little girl. I don't like uppity brats, and I know how to treat them.'

"I tear myself loose from his hands and tell him not to touch me, but he just grins at me. Then he says I cannot have a free day because he and Mrs. Everheart have plans for the evening. I tell him I have the right of a free day and I haven't had one in over a week. He can call the agency if he want but I'm going out today. He get all red in the face and give me nasty looks but he don't say anything."

Joey heard all this incredulously. Did things like that still happen? And why did they always seem to happen with people he knew? He shook his head to clear his thoughts.

"Fabi, most importantly, don't go back there. Not alone, at least. Let me call Uncle Vince. He promised your grandfather to look out for you, and he'll be pissed at me if I don't tell him. Let's see what he thinks, okay?"

"He won't go and..."

"No, not personally, but if something happened to you, your Mr. Everheart would end up as road kill. Now let's call him, okay?"

Obviously too worried to object, Fabiana acceded to his idea. Joey called the special number that would get him rerouted to Felix's prepaid cellphone du jour. Felix was in town anyway and he agreed to meet them at Toni's. Ten minutes later Toni's boisterous greeting could be heard and soon after Felix and Gabi sat with them. Felix did not know Fabiana but Joey quickly explained her kinship to Don Emilio Zimariano and Uncle Vince's promise to look after her.

Then, to the sympathetic noises of Gabi, Fabiana related last evening's events. Felix knew Everheart as an upper echelon manager in a local investment firm. Long term, the Di Rosa could take care of him but on a Sunday evening there was no way to help Fabiana retrieve her possessions.

"Look, Joey, why don't you call your DA girlfriend and collect some favors from her? She can even have the Blues accompany her and Fabiana. You can tell her we would consider it a personal favor to Pops."

Maureen had promised Don Vincent any favor she could legally do for helping to rescue Deirdre. Joey kicked himself for not thinking of Maureen first. He called her and found her stressed out over a crying Carla. Thus, when he explained Fabiana's problem and promised to have Tess watch over Carla while they handled it, Maureen told him to be at her house with Fabiana in twenty minutes.

They quickly said good bye to Felix and Gabi and Joey drove them to Maureen's house. It took them over twenty minutes and when they arrived, a Plain Jane police car was already parked in her driveway. Maureen waited for them. Joey introduced Fabiana, and Maureen introduced Detective Horrigan, on duty for the DA's office. Again, Fabiana told her story. Maureen decided she could do nothing for Mrs. Everheart if the woman did not come forward but she would accompany Fabiana to the apartment to chaperone her while she retrieved her possessions.