The Di Tramonto Story

There is never a moment’s peace in our family. I should be used to it by now, if it isn’t my husband trying to escape trouble then it is my son. Now it seems my grandchildren are in on the act too and as usual it falls to me to try and put right the wrongs.

For a long time now, Nico has not been acting like his typical self, but no one can work out what is wrong with him. He seems to be doing well in school and he is in a stable relationship with Jessica D’Arbury who is a nice young lady from a good family. A few days ago my lovely Anastacia started behaving oddly, she was quiet and withdrawn and seemed quite troubled, yet just as with Nico no one knew why. We even asked her friend Mitzi who lives with us, but she claimed not to know anything. Late one evening I noticed Stacey sitting alone by the fountain in our garden. I went outside and asked her what was troubling her. At first she claimed nothing, but I told her that her Nonna was wise and could see that was evidently not true. I asked her about school, was that what was troubling her? She assured me not. Then I asked her about work, she has a part time job at the local spa you see. She said she enjoyed her job. Then I asked her about her friends and whether her and Mitzi had fallen out……

I was a little taken aback when my beautiful Stacey started to cry. I pulled her towards me and hugged her and asked her to tell me what was wrong. What she told me shocked me. She told me how she had discovered Nico had been seeing Mitzi behind his girlfriend’s back. Nico had decided to end things with Mitzi after realising Jess was the one he wanted to be with and had written Mitzi a letter. Stacey had discovered the letter and had decided to confront Mitzi over her relationship with Nico.

“She was horrible, Nonna.” sobbed Stacey. “I thought she was my best friend. She won’t end things with Nic either. I begged her to, I even threatened to throw her out, but she just laughed at me and called me a loser.”

“She will be the one who loses” I replied, angry at what I was hearing. I had never really liked Mitzi. From the day she moved in I could sense there was something untrustworthy about her and now my feelings about her were being proved right.

“Nonna, she said she’ll make life at school unbearable if I say or do anything. You don’t know how much power she has had school. All the girls listen to her, and if she doesn’t like you then no one will have anything to do with you.” said Stacey as fresh tears poured down her face.

Putting a comforting arm around my granddaughter I promised her that I would sort this out in the best way possible.

The next morning after I sent a rather pale face and heavy eyed Stacey to school I got in my car and drove across town. It seemed that there were a few questions which needed to be answered about our house guest and there was one person who could provide the answers…. Mitzi’s sister, Sally. I rang the doorbell and was greeted by Sally. I introduced myself as Stacey’s grandmother. Sally invited me inside. She seemed such a pleasant young lady that I found it hard to believe someone as vile as Mitxi could be related to her.  I decided to get straight to the point and said I was here about Mitzi. Sally looked rather worried.

“What has she done?” asked Sally.

“She has done rather a lot, and none of it good.” I replied.

Sally put her head in her hands and sighed.

“I might have known” she said. “I suppose you want her out of your home?”

“What I want, is some answers.” I said.

I explained to Sally that ever since she had moved in with us Mitzi had refused to speak about why she had left her sister’s home, apart from saying they had an argument.

“It wasn’t as simple as that.” said Sally and she proceeded to tell me the whole story.

Sally told me how she had been responsible for her sister from a young age after their mother died when Mitzi was just a few months old.I must admit I felt admiration for Sally as she talked about how she had juggled her nursing job and bringing up a baby alone. It was whilst she was working at the hospital she had met a man she fell in love with.

“I’d never really had much time for relationships up until that point because if I wasn’t working then I was looking after Mitzi, but with Mitzi getting older I felt the time was right for me to start living my own life a little bit.” said Sally sadly. “I really believed that I had found ‘the one’. We even talked about getting married one day.”

“Mitzi didn’t like this idea?” I asked.

“Well I thought she did. She seemed to accept my relationship and the plans we had for him to move in here.”

“Then I do not see what the problem was.” I said puzzled.

“The problem was I came home from a shift early one night and found my sister in bed with my boyfriend.” said Sally, her voice breaking as she choked back tears.”At first I blamed him. Well you would wouldn’t you? A man who is old enough to know better and a teenager. You would blame the man wouldn’t you?” she asked.

“Well yes, I suppose you would.” I replied

“I did, I blamed him and stuck by my sister, thought she was innocent. He begged me to forgive him and insisted that Mitzi had been the one doing the chasing, but I didn’t believe him…. Then one night Mitzi was brought home by the police after being caught causing trouble in the park. I lectured her and said it wasn’t acceptable behaviour. She just laughed in my face and called me names saying that it was no wonder she’d been able to take my boyfriend from me so easily.” ended Sally.

Unsure of what to say I gently touched Sally’s arm. It was starting to make sense now the type of girl Mitzi was.

Sally continued “She wasn’t even sorry for what she’d done. She knew how I’d put my life on hold for her but she didn’t care. When I asked her why she had done it to me she just laughed and said she’d ‘done it for a laugh.’ I was so angry I told her to get out, I never wanted to see her again, and that is when she left. We haven’t spoken since.”

Shortly after I left Sally’s, thanking her for telling me what had happened and wishing her luck in the future. My mind was in a whirl. It seemed to me we had the most dangerous person living with us who threatened to destroy the happiness of my family for the sake of it. I had to sort it. I considered speaking to Valentino, but I knew his methods of dealing with problems and did not wish to see a repeat of the situation with Marcus Ashbury.

That evening I called Nico into the kitchen as I prepared dinner and decided to ask him about his relationship with Mitzi. At first he tried to deny it until I told him I knew about the letter and asking him whether he realised this girl was making threats to his sister. I told Nico what Sally had told me and asked Nico if he wanted the same to happen to he and Jessica. He said he did not, he wanted to be with Jessica and he realised that now.

“Then I must deal with Mitzi.” I said, a plan slowly forming in my mind.

arrivederci

Fiorella.

Why did I ever go near Mitzi? I knew what she was like, I had heard the rumours around school about just how horrid she could be.

After the party I decided I had to break things off with Mitzi, a future with Jess was the most sensible and hassle free option…. or so I thought. I left the note under Mitzi’s pillow in the hope she and no one else would find it. I wasn’t so stupid that I thought a girl like Mitzi would take being dumped without some kind of argument but when she didn’t say anything at all I started to wonder what was going on. It seemed like she was just carrying on as normal. I asked Mitzi to join me in the garden  and we sat down by the fountain. As casually as I could I asked a few questions and soon realised Mitzi hadn’t read the letter at all. If Mitzi hadn’t, then WHO HAD? Who else knew about me and Mitzi?

Later that evening I soon found out who knew our secret. I was in my room when I heard raised voices coming from the bedroom Mitzi shares with my sister. I quietly sneaked out of my room and listened outside their door. Inside I could hear Stacey and Mitzi arguing….. Stacey knew about about me and Mitzi, she had found the letter when she made Mitzi’s bed.

“Please, just leave Nic alone and end things.” I heard Stacey say.

“And why would I want to do that?” came the reply.

“‘Cos he’s better with Jess.”

There came a snort of disgust from Mitzi….

“That snob is better than me? Is that what you are saying?”

“Well…. yes if you really want to know.” said Stacey.

“And what are you gonna do about it if I won’t agree to ending things with Nic?” asked Mitzi.

“Then I’ll have to ask you to move out.”

Through the crack in the door I saw Mitzi move nearer to my sister.

“You are a loser Stacey. I’m not going anywhere and you can’t make me. You know what I can do if I wanna make life unpleasant for you. All I’ve got to do is click my fingers and you’ll be the outcast of the whole school. Anastacia Di Tramonto, the biggest loser in school.” she snarled making a ‘loser’ sign on her forehead.

I quietly slipped back into my own room. This whole situation had got completely out of hand and I didn’t know what to do about it.  It seemed like my only option would be to come clean, but that would probably mean losing Jess and a whole lot of trouble for our family.

Nic.

Oh. My. God! You so totally won’t believe what I’ve found out. My brother has been having an affair WITH MITZI!!!!! I don’t know what to say, I thought they hated each other and Mitzi was trying her luck with the housemate of the guy we met at the pool ages ago…. Obviously not! Okay, so you are probably wondering how on earth did I find this out.

I was making Mitzi’s bed yesterday afternoon. She never does it and Nonna seems to be looking for any excuse to try and throw her out of the house at the moment (she says she doesn’t trust her and after I read this letter I can see why.)So, anyway I thought it would save all arguments if I just did it for her, not that I expect any thanks from Mitzi. I was just straighening the pillows when I noticed a piece of paper poking out. It wasn’t in an envelope or anything and I know it was wrong, but I decided to have a sneaky peek…..

I hid the letter inside a book in case anyone saw me and asked what I was reading and went into the study to read it in peace. What I read shocked me. It was a letter from Nic saying how he had come to a decision and their ‘relationship’ couldn’t carry on and how he had to make a go of it with Jess for the benefit of the family (Jess’ family her loaded). There was a load of other stuff too but I was still in too much shock from finding out what my brother and best friend had been up to. I must admit I felt a bit sorry for Jess. I used to think she was a total snob, but we hung out for a bit at Carlo’s party and I discovered she’s actually really nice and not pushy like Mitzi. If I am honest Mitzi has started to annoy me lately. It is like she always has to try and put me down. She is clever though and never does it when any of my family are around. I guess I can see why Nonna doesn’t like her much.  I haven’t said anything to anyone about how Mitzi treats me because I know she has nowhere else to go and I don’t want to be the one who sees her out on the streets.

I told Nonna I didn’t feel well enough to go to school today, so giving me a hug she has allowed me to stay at home. At least this gives me some time to decide what I am going to do. My choices seem to be.

1. Say nothing and replace the letter for Mitzi to find.

2. Ask Nic what the hell he is playing at cheat on his girlfriend with my best friend.

3. Tell Mitzi I know about her and my brother.

4. Tell Jess about Nic and Mitzi and show her the letter.

5. Show the letter to Nonna even though it would probably mean Mitzi gets thrown out of here.

I dunno, I really need to think about this. I don’t really want to be the one who hurts anybody or gets Mitzi thrown out of here, but then I can see someone is going to end up hurt anyway.

Stace x

For months now I’ve had the whole family banging on and on at me “What’s the matter Nico? You aren’t your usual self Nico.” Blah blah blah! I didn’t tell anyone what was wrong, because I wasn’t sure what to do. That was until Carlo’s  first birthday party (he sure has grown quickly).

The last time I wrote here I had just got together with Jess. We are still together and I think our mother’s are hoping we will end up marrying. Maybe they won’t be planning what hats to buy if they hear what I am going to say next though…. The truth is for some months now I have been secretly seeing someone else. Worse still that someone else is Mitzi, my sister’s best friend who is living with us.

I had noticed her watching me from the moment she moved in but was determined not to give in to my thoughts. That was until one night when I was watching TV alone in the lounge. Mitzi came in wearing the shortest nightie you have ever seen. As she sat next to me on the sofa I pretended not to be checking her out, but there was a definite spark between us…..

Mitzi edged closer to me and leant in for a kiss, placing my hand on her thigh as she did so.

Even though I was thinking how totally wrong it was and how I should be faithful to Jess I couldn’t help myself and soon we were kissing passionately.

That is how my secret affair with Mitzi started.

It was so easy for us to sneak quiet moments together. To the outside world is seemed that me and Mitzi didn’t get along,but privately it was a different story. Mitzi would sneak into my room late at night ……

… and of course we would end up doing what all people our age do…..

Of course I felt kinda guilty about Jess. She was the perfect girlfriend in every way and I did…. do love her… but she didn’t have that same wild streak as Mitzi.

It wasn’t until Carlo’s birthday party (where both Jess and Mitzi were guests) and realised I had a choice to make…..

So after the party had ended I decided I had a very important letter to write….. How it will turn out who knows…..

Nic

I am pleased to annouce the safe arrival of our beautiful youngest son, Carlo Valentino Di Tramonto. His name was chosen in honour of Valentino’s release as Carlo means ‘free man’ and of course like all the Di Tramonto boys he carries Valentino’s name as a middle name. I have so many hopes for our latest addition, like with all my children. I have no doubt he will grow up to be a fine young man, just like his father and grandfather.

Bianca

My Father is a free man! Finally! The past couple of months have been pretty full on. It’s amazing how a quiet word in the right ears can produce desired results….. then again if ‘key evidence’ goes missing there isn’t much anyone can do is there?

My Father emerged from prison none the worse for his ordeal. If anything he seemed more focused than ever. As I drove us back home he told me how proud he was to call me his son. He’s never spoken to me like that before, so it meant a lot. He asked how Bianca’s pregnancy was progressing. I told him everything was fine, and Bianca was counting down the days until the baby was born.

“I feel the baby will be a boy to carry on the family name.” he said.

I glanced at him, “We aren’t sure if it will be a girl or a boy.” I said. “Bianca wanted it to be a suprised.”

“Well, boy or girl it will have good blood, blood of a true Di Tramonto.” he replied.

Seeing my Mother’s overjoyed faced as my Father greeted her once we arrived home made me certain my actions taken to secure his release were worth it. She complained my Father had lost a lot of weight “Surviving on those prison slops” and vowed to “feed him up” with some of her magnificent dishes.

Seeing my parents together after their brief separation made me think about my lovely wife. I found Bianca in the kitchen eating one of her wierd snacks of salami and strawberry jam (yuck). I hugged her and told her how much I loved her and how I was looking forward to us bringing another child up together. She seemed a bit surprised and suspicious about my display of affection at first and asked what I had been up to (why do women always think the worst?) I explained that seeing my parents reunited had made me realise just how important my family were to me and I vowed that I would always look after them and keep them safe in the best way I could.

The only thing that is worrying me at the moment is my son. For a while now he has been quieter than usual. I had thought it may be down to my Father being in prison, but Bianca said she had noticed something wasn’t right before then. Myself, Bianca, my Mother and Stacey have all tried to get him to talk, but he remains silent….. Nobody knows what is wrong with Nico! I asked my Father to speak with him, and although Nico greeted him and celebrated his return with much enthusiasm he still remained silent over what is bothering him. I hope it is nothing too serious.

Ciao

Ilario

My first contribution and it seems I am to be the bearer of bad news.

My dear husband, Valentino has been taken to jail. He is accused of murdering the local Police Chief, Marcus Ashbury. He says Marcus was his dear friend and he would never do him harm…. but the police, they do not believe him. When they questioned me about what I knew I said that in the last few weeks Valentino and Marcus had been inseparable, until one day about a four weeks ago Valentino heard nothing more from him. They also took Ilario in for questioning but let him go as they had nothing solid to pin on him. My Valentino is currently in prison awaiting trial. Ilario tells me not to worry, his father will be found innocent. I do worry though, Valentino is not a young man, the police have for many years tried to catch up with him. I know Valentino works by his own methods and as he is my husband I will stand by him always and hope Ilario is right when he says he will see him walk free.

It is even more important to Ilario his father is free because a few days before his arrest Ilario gathered the whole family together……

He and Bianca had an annoucement to make….. Bianca is pregnant. Everyone was pleased for them, especially Valentino who kept talking about how fine it would be to have another Di Tramonto male to carry on the family name, even though no one knows for sure whether the child will be a girl or a boy. I must admit I did have my suspicions Bianca might be pregnant as I had noticed small changes about her. Three grandchildren! Our home will be soon bursting at the seams, just as a home should. I guess I should start knitting booties or something…. That is if I have time between looking after my family, helping Ilario with DTC matters and running the restaurant. Nico and Stacey seem quite excited about having a new sibling to fuss over too, although my Nico has been such a quiet boy recently… well quieter than usual. I do hope nothing ails him.

I don’t believe I have mentioned our house guest yet, Mitzi Andrews. She is a friend of Anastacia’s from school. She came to live with us recently following a big argument with her sister Sally. No one, not even Stacey can find out the cause of the row, but Sally threw her out and with no where else to go she ended up moving in with us. I would like to say she is a nice girl, but there is just something about her which makes me wary.

I must go now, I have just recieved a call from the restaurant asking me to go down and sort out a problem.

arrivederci

Fiorella.

Hey, it’s Stacey again! Just a quick update to let you know my best friend Mitzi has moved in with us. Apprently she had a huge argument with her sister Sally, who is her legal guardian (their mum died when Mitzi was a baby) and Sally threw her out. Mitzi won’t say what the argument is about, but Mum and Dad said she could stay here with us. I don’t know if she’ll be here with us permenantly now… I hope so. Wonder if she will tell me what happened between her and Sally.

I was in the office when I recieved some interesting news in an email from one of my associates. It seemed that someone was planning to try and make trouble for the family and our business. The usual practice when someone tries to rock the boat is to send one of the family to have a ‘quiet word’ but I had a feeling this wouldn’t be that simple to solve.

Fiorella dropped by later that evening and asked me what was wrong. I explained someone was trying to upset

the family and it was someone who could make a lot of trouble for us if they wished. Fiorella knows how Di Tramonto business works, so she hugged me and told me to do what I needed to do and to keep safe, she would stand by me no matter what.

I called my son, Ilario  and told him there were urgent matters to be discussed. He agreed with me that we needed to proceed carefully on this matter. My associate had informed me that whilst this worm knew of the DTC  he did not know us by sight, so with some careful plotting by myself and Ilario we came up with a plan…..

From a safe vantage point I watched his house. Finally he arrived home. He was Marcus Ashbury, the Chief of Police in Sunset Valley. Informants has told me of his routine. He would arrive home and then five minutes later take an evening walk on a regular route around the valley. It was time to put the plan into action.

I deliberately timed my movements so I would bump into him on his walk and initiated a conversaton.

It was surprising how friendly and chatty he was, a more concience ridden man would have felt sorry for him, knowing what I had planned. Then again he didn’t know he was talking to one of the great Di Tramonto’s. He told me how he enjoyed watching films and I suggested he dropped by my home where I would show him some of the greats in world cinema.

So we carried on like this for a few weeks. Me pretending to be friendly to this snake and winning his true, whilst planning to put the final part of the plan into action. I told Marcus I would pick him up the following night as I had something very special to share with him. When the following night came I drove him to the DTC headquarters and watched his face pale. I ordered him into the building…..

Once inside I locked the main door to the building and walked over to the bar to make us drinks. Marcus watched me silently before asking me what this was all about. I deliberately refused to answer his question instead asking him whether he loved his own family. He replied that he did. “I love mine too.” I replied. “That is why when someone does something that could hurt us it is taken very seriously. No one tries to destroy a Di Tramonto and gets away with it.

Marcus looked at me speechless. “Di Tramonto?” he said.

“Yes I don’t think I ever did tell you my last name. I am Valentino Di Tramonto and I hear you are trying to destroy my family and business…… and now it is time for me to deal with you.”

Things got heated quite quickly. Ilario came into the office just as Marcus threw his drink to the floor and was about to fly at me in a rage. Like a true Di Tramonto, Ilario stepped in to assist me. Angrily he told Marcus that he would let no one show me such disrespect, especially not the police. He reminded Marcus that as a younger and stronger man overpowering an old boy like him would be no trouble. Ilario looked at me and said “Just say the word Papa.” I gave him a single nod and uttered those words which would change everything.

“Dispatch him.” I said calmly but firmly before sitting at my usual prime position behind my desk.

A fight quickly ensued and Marcus was a surprising match for my strong young son, but Ilario managed to overpower him.

Marcus’ motionless body lay on the floor. I rose from my seat and stood over him.

“Gioco oltre” I said….. “Game over.”

Valentino.

Hiya it’s Anastacia here. People usually call me Stacey though, only my parents and grandparents really use my full name…. usually when they are cross about something they reckon I’ve done!

Being the ‘baby’ of the family can be really annoying sometimes but other times it really has its advantages.

Nonno and Nonna still see me as  some cute five year old despite the fact I am well into my teens. That can be annoying, but on the upside it means they think I can do no wrong which is kinda useful when I need someone to side with me against mum and dad. I do my best to try and live up to my ‘good girl’ reputation when they are around.

They see me studying……..

They see me painting (I totally LOVE art)…..

…… spending time helping Nonna tend the garden….

and they think I am being a ‘good girl’.

I guess I was kinda like that for a long time and looking back now I see why people thought I was totally lame. That all changed when I met Mitzi Andrews though.

That’s Mitzi on the left. She’s like my best friend ever! She lives in the valley, and she’s like the most popular girl in the school and I never thought she’d want to be friends with someone like me! Anyway cos Mitzi is so cool, she’s showing me how to be cool too. Nic reckons I should be careful of her, but I reckon he should keep his nose out, she’s better than his stupid stuck up girlfriend.

Anyway the other night was so cool but a really close call. This is what happened…..

Mitzi came over and suggested we went out down to the Beach Barre which is a place on the beach people hang out. It’s got a bar, pool and places to just chill out. I was a bit worried about maybe getting seen cos Dad and Nonno know so many people and both me and Nic have been told to stay away from the Barre before by our parents. Anyway I didn’t want to appear uncool so I agreed to go along with Mitzi.

When we got there it was fairly late and not too many people were around. Mitzi dared me to go up to the bar and get drinks for us. I was so scared but I didn’t want to let Mitzi down.

We took our drinks outside and grabbed some food from the buffet table. We were sitting at the one of the picnic tables when Mitzi said to me “I dare you to go and talk to that guy over there….”

I looked to where she was pointing and saw a man in tight blue speedos. “Urrgh” I squealed. “No way! He’s mingin'”.

“No not him” said Mitzi “The one sat a couple of places down near the pool….. Or will I be telling everyone at school tomorrow how chicken you are?”

I laughed nervously. Even though Mitzi is my best friend I’ve seen how she can make life a misery for people and I didn’t want that happening to me. Slowly I got up and turned to Mitzi and said “Watch me.”

There was an empty lounger next to the guy so I went over as casually as I could and settled into it. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Mitzi watching so I knew there was no backing out of it now. I must have sounded like a total moron as I stammered an introduction to the guy. He told me his name was Daniel. We made small talk for a while and he was kinda nice and I found myself wishing guys my age were more like him.

I think Mitzi must have got bored because  after a while I heard her call me over to the pool and invite me to join her for a swim which I did, luckily we had brought costumes. Me and Mitzi just fooled around in the pool for ages when suddenly it occurred to me that it was getting quite late. I got such a shock when I looked at my watch and saw it was well past midnight. Panicking I said to Mitzi I had to get home before anyone realised I wasn’t back.

I was about half way home when I heard a car pull up behind me and a voice call “Excuse me young lady….”

My heart sank when I turned to see it was a police car. Now I’d be for it. If there is one thing my family hate more than anything it is the police and goodness knows how they would react if they turned up at our house. The policewoman asked me why I was out so late. I can’t remember exactly what I said, but I started to cry and made up a some story saying that I had been staying at my friend’s house and we’d had a fight so I had decided to go home. I couldn’t believe it when she bought my story and said she would drop me off at home.  I was still quite worried I’d be seen though….

When I got home I saw that my Mum was still up. I knew there was no way I’d get into the house without her noticing, especially as I saw her moving towards the window to see who had stopped outside our home. Thinking quickly I decided to go around the back of the house and to Nonna’s garden knowing that my Mum would see me. I was pretending to water the apple trees when she came outside.

“Anastacia? What on earth are you doing out here?” she asked.

I put on my best innocent look and said

“I came out to water Nonna’s garden…. I read somewhere it is better to water plants at night….”

“Did you see who pulled up outside the house just now?” she asked.

“Erm…. no I didn’t look. I thought I heard something though.” I replied as innocently as I could.

Mum put an arm around me and ushered me back towards the house.

“You are such a good girl Anastacia, looking after your Nonna’s garden.”

I smiled to myself, I had got away with it… JUST… and thought sometimes being everyone’s ‘good girl’ has its advantages.

Stacey xx