Chapter 4
The old argument began with my grandfather.
I knew that by dinner.
One of the oldest capos, Thomas Greco, asked to speak privately after the guests dispersed.
He was seventy-two and had served three generations of Ravellos.
“You should know Miriam has said this before.”
I looked at him.
“When?”
“Years ago.”
“About Eli?”
“No.”
He hesitated.
“About you.”
That surprised me.
Thomas continued.
“When your father named you his successor, Miriam argued Conrad should share command because her branch had been ignored for too long.”
I almost smiled.
Conrad was two years older than me.
Same generation.
Different line.
“What did my father say?”
“That the organization was not an inheritance divided like land.”
That sounded like him.
“What happened?”
“Miriam stopped arguing publicly.”
Publicly.
Important word.
Thomas sat back.
“She never stopped believing your line took more than its share.”
I thought of the football.
Of course.
Children rarely invent the architecture of family resentment.
They inherit it.
“What has she been telling Conrad?”
Thomas shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
“Then what do you know?”
“She’s been inviting younger family members to Sunday dinners without you.”
My expression changed.
“How many?”
“Enough that I noticed.”
Conrad had been there.
So had Nathan.
Maybe Bianca—no, wrong family. No Bianca.
Several cousins.
A few junior capos.
Miriam was not raising one entitled child.
She was rebuilding a grievance.
I looked out toward the darkened backyard.
“What do they discuss?”
“Balance.”
I laughed quietly.
Another clean word.
Balance.
The word people choose when they want somebody else’s power to look excessive.
Thomas continued.
“She says your son’s existence means your branch could hold Ravello for another generation.”
There it was.
Eli.
Three years old.
Already treated like a political forecast.
I looked at Thomas.
“And Nathan?”
“Miriam talks about him as the natural counterweight.”
A child.
Not nephew.
Not grandson.
Counterweight.
I understood then why she stole a football.
It was rehearsal.
Give Nathan something that belonged to Eli.
Teach both boys to accept the transfer.
May you like
Small enough to look harmless.
Symbolic enough to become a lesson.
