Dead Flower

Chapter 31

It was definitely a bit peculiar that I ran into Mr Bianchi, or more like he ran into me, at a cemetery. Several inquisitive questions ran through my mind as I now stood opposite Mr Bianchi with my grandmother’s tombstone being the distance between us. He was wearing a black tux and his long hair was in a ponytail as he gathered his hands behind his back. He was looking down at Daisy’s grave and I couldn’t read his emotions. I sniffled and quickly dabbed at my eyes to wipe the remainder of my tears. I definitely didn’t want Mr Bianchi to see me cry even though I’m very certain that he had been standing behind me while I had been sobbing uncontrollably. I’m almost too embarrassed to say or do anything else but I did want to break the awkward silence between us. 

Even though I would have much rather preferred being alone and being given my privacy, I couldn’t pass on the opportunity that Mr Bianchi gave me. I haven’t heard his side of the story yet and I’m eager to know what happened between the couple. “well, it looks bright,” he commented as his black eyes looked over the floral arrangement placed around Daisy’s grave and I smiled proudly, admiring my handiwork, “she loved bright things,” he continued in the usual monotone and robotic voice that I’m used to the Bianchi’s using. Their tones gave nothing away but you always knew where you stood because they were never the kind to keep anything from you. 

“I know,” I responded, noticing the very differences in our voices and tones. While his tone and voice was commanding and lacked emotion, mine was soft, timid and kind. I knew that Daisy liked bright things because she and I were very alike. If I hadn’t been born during her lifetime, I would’ve most probably been her reincarnate. 

“What do you want to know, fiore?” he asked me and I was surprised at the nickname. I didn’t think that a man like him would ever refer to me as a flower even though my name is a flower. It did feel very strange but I pushed away the thoughts of hesitation at hearing that and came to a rational explanation that it would be my nickname from him. 

I didn’t think that he would be so willing, but then again, he might not be and might just be leading me on. “everything,” I responded because I was still in the dark, even though I knew that they had an ongoing affair for many years, I still didn’t know much about it. “I want to know from the beginning, how you met, what you thought of her, what she thought of you, the ongoing affair, whether you were in love with each other, when did it all end…everything.”

If he was anything like his son, he was going to answer only one or two of those questions but I was content because I would at least know more than I did yesterday. “It was in the middle of winter and it was snowing that year, even though it never snows in Balerno but that night had been a first. I had just received new shipment and I needed to be at the port to check it out and see if it was all there and then proceed to separate so that we could distribute the product. After I was done dealing with the shipping and the product, I was strangely in the mood to smoke a cigar and take a walk around the port and surrounding shore. A few minutes later as I’m casually taking a stroll, I see a pregnant body washed onto the shore and she’s laying on her back, with her eyes swollen closed, her lips swollen and blue and her skin a terrifying colour of grey and blue. I rushed to get her medical attention and minutes later she was in the hospital, alive and well, maybe more than a little cold but she had her life and her baby was fine. I didn’t see her after that because I left that to my wife, who at that time was 14 years old and I was 17. Ladonna had a soft spot for Daisy Sunshine and I wondered what was so special about this woman that Ladonna wouldn’t keep quiet about. Daisy was offered a job as one of the housemaids and Ladonna gifted her the cottage home that she stayed in until her dying days.”

“I was rarely home and even when I was, I definitely didn’t seek out to see any of my staff. Everyone had the strict instructions to stay out of my way when I was there because I had a terrible temper and I didn’t want to see anyone around me besides my wife. 11 years went by and only then did I set my eyes on Daisy again and…” he paused and I was watching him to see any kind of reaction and his face as always gave nothing away but I could tell that pause meant something because Mr Bianchi was a confident man who never had to take a moment to pause. “she was the brightest thing in the room. She was wearing a light blue polka dot dress that had a large skirt and would spin and twirl wherever she moved. Her kitten heeled shoes seemed to be useless because she kicked them off at some point as everyone was dancing to the Latin music that was playing. When she made eye contact with me and smiled up at me after she accidently bumped into me while she was dancing, I fell in love with her then. I found myself dancing the rest of the night with her, my thoughts not at all about my wife or the fact that she was watching Daisy and I dance the entire night.”

I couldn’t help but smile, picturing a young Daisy and a young Mr Bianchi dancing away. Even though his wife was sadly forced to watch this happen, it was a sad and happy story. “one thing about love and being in love is that once you find that person, you never want to let them go. I actively pursued her for a few weeks but her heart was soft and she was quick to succumb to the temptation and we began our relationship. The love that we shared was the kind that you hear of in fairy tales, there was no pretending when we were in front of people, there was no awkward silences and it was the kind of love where you feel at peace. We could sit on a couch the entire day, watch cartoons while snacking on stale potato chips and it’s still the best time of my life. I have no doubt that she was my soul mate and there is no doubt that she was mine.”

“I was involved in a very shifty business and no matter how much I wanted to have Daisy as my wife, I couldn’t. She understood, even though she was heartbroken, she didn’t want to be involved in the mess that came with being my wife. You see, my relationship with my wife was one that I couldn’t and wouldn’t terminate because I loved her as well. I couldn’t afford to lose either of these women because they each gave me different things and I wanted the best of both worlds. I wanted to have a wife whom I shared children with and would know of my business and how to run it as well as I did, my wife was my righthand and I can’t do without my righthand. The relationship that I had with Daisy was one of the heart and you can’t fight what the heart wants so I never let go of her, no matter how much it hurt her that she was not the only woman, but she was the other woman. I was greedy in that regard but she couldn’t hate me, no matter how badly I hurt her, she was always willing and ready to please because in the same way that I was in love with her and not willing to respect the sanctities of marriage for her, she cared too much for me to let me go.”

“I once had to go to Italy for two months for important family meetings and I couldn’t leave my business alone, so I had to leave Ladonna in charge of Balerno. In those two months, she had forced Daisy to become the town’s whore and forced your father to become a drug mule. When I returned home and came to find out about what was happening, Ladonna would have died had it not been for Daisy pleading for Ladonna’s life as Ladonna lay unconscious with a bullet wound through her thigh, shoulder and stomach. I was going to shoot her in the chest and leave her in the desert so that she would die a slow and painful death but Daisy saved her life.”

“My relationship with Daisy became public but a year later your father fled from the town and even though I knew where he had gone, he talked to me and expressed that he didn’t want to be found and needed to be away from the town and his own mother. I respected his wishes because he was traumatised and held deep resentment for me, my wife and Daisy.”

“Daisy and I’s affair continued for many years. After Ladonna gave birth to Gregorio and then Giustina, the children were made aware of my relationship with Daisy and the love that I shared for her and with her. Many years later, her health began to decline as came her old age and I was by her side until her final days. That’s about as detailed as I can tell the story, fiore.”