Read Online Sally Boy by P. Vincent DeMartino - Free Book Online

talk to the photo of his family sharing the events of his
day with them. Every evening, without fail, before he went to
sleep, he would bid them a good-night.
    Without missing a beat in the conversation,
Sal continued, “Hey Pop, I’ve been thinking about a lotta stuff
lately.”
    “Like what?” Peter asked indifferently.
    “Mostly about you and mom, and stuff like
that. You know, she never really told me that much about you and
her. Can I ask you a question?”
    Annoyed, Peter responded in kind,
“What?”
    “How old were you when you and mom met?”
    “I was nineteen when I met your mother.
Jesus, that was back in ‘45. We got married three months later, on
December 7th. Pretty smart, huh? That way I would never forget our
anniversary. Marie was only seventeen when we met. God, she was the
most beautiful girl I ever seen.”
    “How long was you and mom together before
you left Sicily, Pop?”
    “Lemme see, I came back to the states about
six months after you was born. You was a cute little guy. Madonn!
You had these big fucking ears. Thank God you eventually grew into
’em. You was always smiling and you had these big brown eyes. I
knew you was gonna be handsome. Just like your Pop.”
    “So what happened, Pop?”
    “What do you mean ‘what happened’?”
    “How come you didn’t, you know, take me and
mom with you? Why didn’t you send for us later?”
    Peter sat up fast. “Hey, you got an awful
lotta fucking questions considering I ain’t had my supper yet. What
the hell are you doing home, anyways? Why ain’t you hanging out
with those punk friends of yours?”
    “I’m gonna meet up with the fellas later at
Frankie ‘Knuckle’s’ house.” Drawing a comb from his back pocket,
Sal turned to a mirror on the wall and ran the comb through his
hair. “We’re having a going away party for ‘Louie Rags.’”
    “‘Louie Rags!’” Peter laughed. “Where the
fuck is that mamaluke going? The can?”
    “Nah Pop, he got drafted. He’s going to
Vietnam.”
    “Vietnam, hum? Too bad.” Leaning back on the
sofa, Peter scratched his head. “That fucking cidrule can barely
make it home at night in this neighborhood without shittin’ his
pants. How the fuck is he gonna survive over there?”
    Taking a seat beside his father, Sal placed
his hand on his Peter’s shoulder. “I don’t know, Pop. But when they
tell you, ‘you gotta go,’ you gotta go.”
    Peter firmly removed his son’s hand. “I know
all about it jerk-off. How do you think I got to Sicily and met
your mother, as a fucking piecea luggage?”
    “‘Piecea luggage’? That’s funny. Hey Pop,
did you and mom really love each other or what?”
    “What do you mean ‘or what’?”
    “Well, did youse?”
    “Yeah, we loved each other,” Peter said
softly.
    “So what happened, Pop?”
    “Why do you keep fucking asking me ‘what
happened’?”
    “’Cause I wanna know.”
    “Salvatore, ain’t you got nothing better to
do than break my fucking balls?”
    “C’mon Pop, I’ve been living here for nine
years, and I don’t know nothing about you and mom. I just wanna
know what happened.”
    “I don’t know what you want me to tell you.
We got married, and things didn’t work out. What’s the big fucking
mystery?”
    “Can’t you tell me nothing? Pop,
please.”
    “You don’t understand, Salvatore. Sometimes
things got a way of getting screwed up, even if you don’t want ’em
to. Sometimes women get in the way. No matter how much you love
’em. That’s the hard truth. Some men ain’t meant to be tied
down.”
    “Yeah, but Pop, mom cried all the time. I
mean, she really loved you. I just don’t get it.”
    “There’s nothing to get. Someday you’ll see
how things are. Every man has to figure out his own place in this
world. My place was here. I had to honor my commitments! Someday
you’ll understand that it’s better to be the shepherd than a
sheep.”
    “What about the letters? My Mama and Papa
told me about