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Previously on: The
Godfather movie by Francis
Ford Coppola came to my
mind: If I go, my laces
would be tied forever; if
I don't and ignore the
invitation, only God would
know what could happen to
me. Then, I drank the rest
of the wine in the glass
and made my decision.
Continuing...
I didn't have a
choice, by the way, as I
was already informed. Don
Cristallo didn't
accept no. So…
I went to his table, and
Don Cristallo said in a
very polite and staccato
voice, "Next Friday
will be my birthday party.
I want you to be my
principal guest. By the
way, if it weren't for
you, my party would be
canceled." He
laughed, and the two men
did too. Then, he stopped
laughing, and the two men
followed suit. He gulped
more water from his glass
and continued,
"You're now my
man! What is your name and
what do you do?" I
replied, "My name is
Rona O'Brien, I'm
a writer and..." but
before I could finish my
introduction, he cut me
off like an oriental
swordsman cutting an
apple, pointing to the
same man who had spoken to
me earlier. "Vincenzo
Big-Bang will take your
address. Just give it to
him." He then leaned
in close to me, whispering
in my ear, "From now
on, if you're happy,
I'll be happy too. But
if you're sad,
I'll take care of
whoever is causing your
unhappiness."
In my apartment, I Googled
and found out everything I
needed to know about Don
Cristallo, the powerful
mob boss in the city. A
wave of relief washed over
me as I glanced at the
Citizen Kane poster
hanging on my wall; thank
God I had given the
correct address to
Vincenzo Big-Bang. I had
nearly given the wrong
address to avoid going to
the birthday party. If I
had followed my initial
instinct, I would be one
less inhabitant on Earth
because these men always
find what they search for.
Finally, the day came, and
I was very nervous, so I
tried to calm down with a
shot of tequila. At the
appointed time, my
intercom rang; Big-Bang
was waiting for me in
front of my building. I
thought about having more
shots but gave up. I went
down and got into a sleek
silver Hyundai Santa Fe,
where Big-Bang and two men
were waiting for me.
Big-Bang waved and told
the driver to move on.
The car was parked along
with other cars in front
of a big house in New
Jersey. I felt like I was
entering an episode of The
Sopranos, but it
wasn't written by
David Chase. My excitement
soon turned into fear, but
I couldn't do anything
except follow my destiny.
At the birthday party, Don
Cristallo hugged me
tightly and announced to
everyone (in fact, there
were many guests) that I
was his angel. He said,
"This man saved the
Family. From now on, I
want this man to be
protected by all of us.
Nothing wrong can happen
to him. Do you all
understand?"
In the middle of the
party, Don Cristallo
approached and whispered
in my ear. He loves to
whisper. The Capo asked,
"What type of texts
do you write?" I
replied, "I'm a
screenwriter. I've
written for movies and
TV." He inquired
about what movies I wrote.
I explained that nothing
I've written has been
produced yet. A few years
ago, I had a screenplay
optioned by Amblin
Partners, Steven
Spielberg's company,
but it didn't move
forward. He expressed
regret, saying,
"Spielberg likes
horses?" I quickly
responded, "Please,
no, let's not think
about that." He
laughed and said,
"Just kidding."
I was already full from
the food and drinks, but I
would only leave after Don
Cristallo gave his
authorization. Since the
house was large, I decided
to take a walk in the
garden. Suddenly, I saw
something that would
change my life. It was
Allison, the girl I was
having an affair
with—the girl who
wouldn't go on our
date at the Italian
restaurant. She was
talking with a guy next to
the rose bed. Oh my God!
Why was she here? So, I
approached her and
exclaimed,
"Allison?" She
looked at me, clearly
pretending not to
recognize me, and said,
"Sorry! I think
you're confusing me
with someone else."
With that, she walked
away, much to my
amazement. The guy who was
with her also looked at
me, not understanding
anything, and walked away
too. I concluded that
something was wrong, and I
was determined to uncover
it.
(To be continued)
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