Round Here

Chapter Forty Three

December '95

It's been a cold winter. I hated being cold. I was the exact opposite on my wife when it came to that. She hated being hot whereas I hated being cold. Since I couldn't bring myself to turn the A/C off I just suffered. It was the one thing I had to remind me of her constantly without it causing pain.

Since Rafi's little breakdown in July he's been sobering up. The occasional time he'll come home drunk after a game. He's been doing well with the NHL so far. When he plays here we go see him. Me and the younger kids. Sometimes Vinny comes along with Larry. It's cool since we're kinda celebrities here in New York especially since Lucy's movie was a hit. I mean when you hear the last name Corleone you now think of Rafi or Lucy. Sophia was famous too and the rest were content being not known. We're always featured on the camera's when we're there. I didn't mind.

Caroline had her first child this month. She had her at the beginning of the month on time like she was supposed to. Mathilda was her given name, but we called her Tilly. On the fifth Sophia had her babies as well. Gabriella, Alfredo, James and Allessandra were her babies. She was happier than a pig in shit with these new ones. Tom was too. I was happy for them. They were finally happy.

Today was a cold day. I was alone while everyone was away at work or at their own homes. Caroline's home was finally finished so she and her Sonny moved in. I was one less kid. I had just Rafi, Vinny and Leo. Leo could finally move into his own room after we cleared up some space up here. Vinny didn't like that idea but I told him it'd give him and Larry more privacy. He did lightened up after that. I was glad since I didn't want to argue.

I was caught off guard when Leo came into the living room. "Poppa where is daddy? I can't find him at all." I had to think. "He went to work an hour ago. Why what's wrong?" "I woke up and he was gone. It scared me. Why didn't he wake me up before he left?" "He said he was in a rush. He will be home at nine tonight. So it's just you and me til then since Uncle Rafi's on the road with his team." "Can we go outside and play?" "It's cold out there buddy." "But the others are outside. I wanna play with them." I sighed. I looked to see they were. "Does Poppa have to come?" "Yeah I want to be with you. Please come out." I sat up a bit. "Poppa is tired." "I know but none of them are gonna wanna watch me. They don't like me." "Uncle Marly and Junior are outside. They'll watch you. They like you." "No, I never get to go over to have sleep overs or anything. They always come over here, and Atticus is mean so I don't like him. Maybe I'll just stay inside." He was right. None of them invited him over. I felt bad for him. "How bout we have some Poppa time then and lay down? We can watch whatever you want." He smiled.

We were watching a movie when we were rudely interrupted. "Dad!" I sat up. I didn't know who was calling me. "What?" "Why the fuck would you give my son coffee?" I gave him this look. "I didn't give your son coffee." "He told me you fucking did. He's going fucking insane outside." "Well I didn't give him coffee. So whoever did you can go yell at them. I don't know why he told you I did since I haven't seen him since yesterday." Marlon sat on the coffee table. "Well he said he got it from you. That's all I'm saying." "I'm telling you I didn't give him coffee. He hasn't been here since yesterday. I never gave him coffee then nor did I now. Bring him in here." "Okay I will hold on." He left the room. I looked at Leo. He was a bit scared. "What's the matter?" "He was yellin' and it was scary. I don't like it when he yells." "It's okay. He won't yell anymore." They came back in. Marlon and Atticus. "Hi Poppa!" He was bouncing around. "Hi Atticus. Why did you tell daddy I gave you coffee?" "I don't know. Cause I wanted to. I never had coffee before and mommy said I wasn't allowed so I snuck some." "And why did you do that?" He shrugged. "I wanted some. I like it. I want more." I shook my head. "No you're not supposed to even have any. So you gotta calm down." "Daddy I gotta go pee." He said. "Then go." He ran out of the room. "Sorry dad. I didn't know." "Yeah I know. What are your kids doing?" "Sonny has them inside now since she was getting too cold. No one's out there anymore anyways. It's getting too cold." "Yeah it's cold. Were you at work?" "I just got home. There's supposed to be a storm coming." "Is there?" "Ya did you not watch the news this morning?" I smirked. "I only woke up at noon." He shook his head. "Alright well hopefully Vinny beats the storm. I'm gonna go check on Atti since he hasn't come back out yet." "Okay well I'll see you on the weekend." "Sonny not tell you we're going away for the week?" I gave him this look. "No she didn't. Where are you going?" "We're going to Florida with the kids." "Oh I see. So you're not gonna be here for your birthday?" He gave me this look. "Dad I was. My birthday was on Sunday." "Yeah this Sunday. It's only the eighth." "No dad it's the twelfth." I looked at my watch. "Oh jeez sorry. Where was I?" "We were here dad. Don't worry about it." "Oh, I don't remember." "It's alright. I'm gonna go now. See you later." He said as he left.