Kudos of Mafia

'XIX'

"My wife?", Senor startled after hearing Bruno. Senor contemplated for a while. "Agatha. Yes, her name. It's Agatha."

"Agatha is a beautiful name. What happened between both of you?", Bruno questioned with the curiosity he hesitated to put out in front of Senor.

"I know it.", Senor stood up to bring a photo album. Senor prepared himself to surrender his unsung past. He went to the basement and Senor carried a photo album covered in dust. Bruno never heard or saw any photo album. How could he? Basement always remained close. Senor wiped the dust with a piece of clothes.

"The memories created and curated in this very photo album.", Senor turned the album."Syracuse, the first place where my eyes met her's."

"How you ended up in Syracuse? Did you live there?", asked Bruno, floating his hand as a gesture of his bewilder condition.

"No. I didn't live there.", continued Senor in a relaxed posture. "I had a business trip to Syracuse. After our business skyrocketed, we needed more suppliers. In search of one, we contacted Mr. Giovanni. Agatha was the daughter of Giovanni. The journey to a beautiful life started thereafter."

"She seems pretty, doesn't she?", Bruno's eyes sparkled with a continuous gaze at her photo.

"Indeed! ", Senor coughed in an attempt to bring Bruno back from his fantasy.

"And you both married?", said Bruno, being more attentive in their story.

"Wedding happened after a lot of struggles. She didn't seem interested in me during the initial days. I had to make her believe, believe that she would spend the rest of her hours happier than the day before, with me. I promised her she won't regret the decision she made. I promised her.", said Senor with an apologetic tone.

Bruno felt Senor in his expression. It didn't go as he promised her. But Bruno had no courage to hit the question on what fell upon them.

Senor boosting himself up continued," Can't explain how close we came in achieving what we desired. After a few years of marriage, we gave birth to this gladiator, Mario. We couldn't ask for anything better, a business escalating at one side and a cherishing family on others."

"What made her leave you then?", Bruno paused. "I heard you mentioning that she left you when you used to rage."

"Life is a roller coaster, isn't it? You get the ride you never imagine, lots of ups and downs. Our good days didn't last for long.", Senor closed the photo album."The death of Salvo proved to be the red light. Agatha blamed me for his demise. The barriers exploded in business as well as in the family. The time turned out to be corrupted. The death of Salvo triggered Sicilian Mafia too. The major funding source died. In an attempt to revive the mafia, they contacted me which I denied. We got into their radar, dozen of threatening letters and bunch of abusing calls."

Bruno kept quiet amidst the thrilling circumstances being told. The eyes widened and the sound of hearing beat buzzed in the hall.

"My ambition to revive the business never faded despite the rough days. Agatha got frightened. She urged us to shift to America and give it a try. The only destiny we could choose for ourselves, but I failed her. The appetite for revenge of Sicilian Mafia grew larger day by day. My denial formed a massive humiliation at their prestige."

"What did they do?", said Bruno in a sympathetic voice.

"An inexplicable event shot us to ground.", Senor continued in immense pain, eyes welled up in tears."One night, I returned home and found Agatha crying helplessly. She lost her voice in grief. She pointed her fingers to a photo lying on the bedsheet. My gladiator, Mario shot dead. The moment my sight fell upon the photo, I lost the tiny bit of courage I had till the day."

"Sir..."said Senor handing Senor the handkerchief.

"The next day police recovered the dead body from the coastline. Sicilian Mafia did what we never thought they would. But maybe we forgot, demon exists in the world.", said Senor weeping his tears." After the funeral, the distance between Agatha and me expanded by miles. She ignored my existence. All the blame dropped over my head. She couldn't deal with it. She had to make the decision and her intuition led herself to abandon me and since the day I am all alone living in impeccable agony."

Bruno got tears in his eyes too. The moment for both Senor and Bruno turned out to be emotional.

"Don't cry my boy. What are those tears for? The worst has been done. It's irreversible.", consoled Senor." The letters received were sent by her including the one from yesterday. She is here in the town and I am going to visit her."

"Really?",Bruno's eye sparkled in excitement."Do call her to our home."

"She is married to someone else", said Senor glancing at the clock on the wall."I guess it's getting late."

"Married?", surprised Bruno.

"Yes, married to Alberto, and they have got a daughter.", Senor stood up heading to the door.

Hearing the name of Alberto, Bruno got lost in utter silence and amusement. Bruno felt a sudden heavy blow to his head.