The Escort

chapter 5

They arrived in Chicago with a haughty burst of steam as the sleek, black engine pulled to a stop before the crowded platform. Angelina descended the stairs in a dissipating cloud of steam in front of Tonio, disappointed by the sprawling, populated city. The city with the reputation as the nation's most wicked seemed tame and ordinary as she'd ridden along the rail lines, scanning the sights for some remnant of the frontier town she'd dreamed of. But the city of nearly two million seemed little different than New York.

The depot was no better. She saw no wild cowboys, child thieves, crime bosses, or painted ladies strutting about. The crowd that thronged against the arriving passengers was like any other, a varied mix of the ordinary. Any vestiges that might have remained from the city's wild founding days were not evident from anything Angelina could view.

"Salvo! Sal!" Tonio yelled across her, as he waved at someone in the crowd. A short dark man waved back. Tonio moved in front of her and grabbed her hand, pulling her along as he swam through the crowd toward his friend.

"Tonio!" The two men clapped each other on the back.

"This is your friend?" Salvo said. "You didn't say anything about a girl."

Tonio grabbed Angelina by the shoulders and pulled her forward in front of him. "Salvo, meet Angelina Allessandro. Angelina, Salvo."

"Tonio, what? You getting shy in your old age? Why didn't you tell me that your friend was a woman? Thought I wouldn't approve?"

"You pay by the word in a telegram."

Salvo wasn't listening. He focused on Angelina.

"Pleased to meet you. I admit I was surprised when Tonio telegraphed that he was bringing a friend. I've known this man for nearly ten years now and not once has he brought someone with him when he comes to visit. But I can see why he would make an exception in the case of such a beautiful woman." Salvo's gentle southern Italian fell on Angelina's ears like sweet summer dew. She liked him immediately. He reminded her of the men back home.

"I'm escorting Angelina to her anxious groom in Idaho. She's a mail-order bride."

She flinched at the term. "I have an arranged marriage."

"Your husband must be a confident man to choose Tonio as your escort." Sal leaned close to her, as if he were about to reveal a great secret. "Our Tonio is a famed ladies' man. Don't let him seduce you."

"You insult the lady, Sal. She's made a vow of honor." His words would have been noble if not for the light mocking tone in which they were spoken.

"The groom is a friend of yours?"

"Never met him." Tonio nodded toward Angelina. "Neither has she."

The confused look on Sal's face amused him. "Then how—"

"His brother was bringing her over, but got sent back. Nonna Gia asked me to take her."

"Nonna Gia." Sal shook his head knowingly, as if there were no resisting Nonna Gia. "Nonna Gia. Well?" He held open his hands in front of him in a variation of the Italian's favorite gesture, the shoulder shrug meaning What can you do?

"She is up to her old tricks, Tonio. Perhaps this time you don't escape." He nodded toward Angelina. The corners of his mouth twitched in sudden amusement. "Stranger things have happened than falling in—"

"Let's get out of this crowded depot." Tonio grabbed Angelina's elbow to propel her forward. She didn't understand what Salvo found so amusing.

"The old woman won't rest, Tonio." He wagged his finger at Tonio and left to bring the carriage round.

A short woman with an ample bosom greeted the threesome at Salvo's apartment in Little Hell. Tonio looked like he was hugging a child as he reached out to greet her.

"Maria, it's so good to see you. You look beautiful, as usual." Tonio gestured toward Angelina. "I would like to introduce you to my traveling companion, Angelina Allessandro. Angelina, this is Salvo's lovely wife, Maria."

"Pleased to meet you." Angelina stepped up to greet Maria, who barely came to her shoulders. It annoyed her that Tonio's voice held such open affection as he complimented the plain woman.

"Here. Come on in everybody and have a seat. Dinner will be ready in just a minute. I have a few last minute preparations to make. I would have had it on the table, but you can't depend on the trains running on schedule. I ought to know! I've waited on Salvo enough times. It's good enough that your train arrived on the date it was scheduled. I half expected Sal to return empty handed. With the bad snows this winter, the trains have been off-schedule by days. The weather has only just cleared."

Maria scurried off to her kitchen before Angelina could offer her help. Dinner was served minutes later. Tonio shot Angelina a look warning her not to wrinkle her nose at Maria's mediocre cooking, all the while praising the woman too profusely. The three old friends talked and caught up as they ate. The conversation was lively. Angelina felt as if she were an invisible intruder attending their meal. As soon as it was over, the two men excused themselves and were off out the door, leaving the women alone with the dishes.

Maria seemed to have expected their departure. She immediately busied herself with the dishes. "So how long have you known Tonio?" Maria asked as soon as the door had closed behind the men. She seemed as curious as her husband had been.

"A little over a week." Angelina explained the situation. "Tonio was heading back and offered to escort me."

"He offered?" Maria asked, an amused tone to her voice. "He must have been quite smitten with you. Tonio travels alone."

"Smitten? I'm a married woman."

"Bah! No matter. You are mail-order. Nothing is final until the bride and groom have met. You don't know; your groom could send you back. I don't suspect a man would reject a woman with your looks, but one never knows."

Angelina wondered at the woman's dismissive attitude. Angelina seemed to be the only person who held her vows in any regard. "He was persuaded by a mutual friend," Angelina continued.

"Nonna? She's the only person in New York that I know of capable of persuading Tonio to do anything. Someday I'd like to meet that woman. She must be quite remarkable. Both Salvo and Tonio have a deep affection for her."

Maria set the last dish in the drainer and wiped the table. "I'd like to learn her secret. How does she convince two such proud, stubborn men to do the things she wants them to do? If I knew how to move Salvo, my life would be easy!" She gestured with her hands for emphasis. "Her, and that May woman from Idaho that Tonio is always talking about. How is it that some women have such pull over men?"

May? A warning shock pulsed through Angelina. Tonio had never mentioned her.

"How did you come? Through the port at Naples?"

Angelina hadn't been listening. Her mind had been occupied with the idea of May. Angelina didn't like her already. She was brought back to reality by Maria's question. But she found herself at a disadvantage. In her musings, she'd missed a vital part of what Maria had been saying. Maria moved to the living area. Angelina followed. Maria sat on a small couch and motioned Angelina into the worn chair across from her.

"Would you like something to drink? Some tea? Coffee perhaps?" Maria offered.

"No, thank you."

"I was asking about your trip to the States."

Angelina was grateful for the change of topic. She was certain that Maria had noticed her preoccupation after she'd mentioned May. "I came through Naples. I'm from a small village about fifty miles away—Santa Croce del Sannio."

"It's good to talk to someone from home, a fellow Neapolitan. I'm from Campo Basso. I, too, came through the port as a young bride."

"We're practically neighbors then. Campo Basso is just to the north of us. I don't think I'd know your people but Papa might. He travels, farming the large estates in the area."

Maria shook her head. "I have no people left there." She didn't explain further.

"How long have you and Salvo been here?"

"Sal, ten years. Me, eight."

"You didn't come together?"

"No. Salvo was supposed to work in the United States just long enough to earn enough money to support us in Italy and then come home for good. We dreamed of buying enough land to farm and support ourselves. We kept hoping that the years of famine and oppression would end, and that Salvo would strike it rich. But neither one came to pass. After two years, I could take it no more. I begged Sal to send for me.

"So you came? Through Naples?"

Maria looked at her solemnly, as if weighing a decision to speak further. "Things at the Naples port have not changed much in eight years. This I know from neighbors here that have come to join their husbands. The port officials are just as corrupt?"

"You know Italian officials. They take what they can get. I suppose that hasn't changed. Human nature remains the same." Angelina's words sounded cryptic, but she spoke of the infamous bribes it took to cut through the paperwork and get permission to sail, to bribe one's way out.

"You were single when you went through the port?" Maria asked.

"No. I was married by proxy in Naples before I left. Signor Allessandro sent the money to bribe an Italian judge to give us the proper marriage license, even though Signor Allessandro was still in Idaho. It was cheaper than what would have been required by a port official and safer for me. That's what he said. And it would speed me through American immigration. So you see, I am married." She didn't know why she felt she must defend her marital status.

"Aye, no!" Maria exclaimed. She was pale as a communion veil and her hands shook as she stared at Angelina. "Then you were a virgin when you went to the port! You poor, poor child!" She leaned forward to put her hand on Angelina's arm in sympathy. "The marriage, it is not legal. That can be voided easily enough if you don't like your groom, the foolish man! Doesn't he know what happens to young, attractive married women at the port?"

"Now sit here with me." Maria pointed to the empty space next to her on the couch. "What I must say, I wish no one to hear." Angelina moved to the proffered spot.

"Salvo and I were married very young, when we were both still in Italy. As you know, times were terrible in the Mezzogiorno, even ten years ago. We were so poor and there was no work for Salvo. He had heard about the land of opportunity, La Merica, and so we decided that he should go there and find work. When he had made his fortune, he would come home to me. But life doesn't always work out as planned. Salvo got a job building the railroads West, which is where he met Tonio. But the pay was meager. He did not make a fortune. I was so lonely without my Salvo that I cried every day, and after nearly two years he had saved enough money to send for me."

"With the naiveté of a wholesome bride I was ecstatic when my parents dropped me off in Naples to begin my journey. I walked into the government immigration offices full of hope and optimism. I was taken to the office of a junior official. All I can remember of him today is that he was very ugly, and he smelled of sweat. So pure was I that I did not smell the danger that awaited me. He pulled the blinds and informed me that there was a problem with my paperwork. There was only one way to fix it." She paused, hate and sorrow brimmed in the tears in her eyes. "'You are a married woman,' he said. 'You know how to please a man. Your husband will never know. You have a choice.'

"He had a couch in his office. He pushed me down onto it and shoved my skirts up before I could even answer. I tried to scream, but he covered my mouth and laughed. 'I can fix it so that you'll never leave the country,' he told me. 'Or…'

"Then he raped me. I say he raped me, though I did not fight back. As soon as he was finished, he went straight to his desk and stamped my paperwork. Then he pushed me out the door."

Maria watched her closely as she spoke.

"He smiled as I left, and told me that it had been a perfect interview. Then he wished me a pleasant trip. I nearly died with shame. I thought that I was the only one, until I boarded the ship and made friends with other young married women. Almost every one of them…" She choked on her words.

"I worried for weeks that I would be pregnant with that awful man's baby. I didn't know then that I was a barren woman. But after a few weeks at sea, the curse came and I was never so happy as that day to see the bright red flow.

"Others were not so lucky. One friend of mine got pregnant. We plied her with castor oil until the child of that evil man slid out far before its time. She nearly bled to death with the miscarriage, but she was a survivor and she lived. We all cried because the baby was lost, but it couldn't have lived."

Maria came back to the present. "I can see by the look of horror on your face that you know what I am talking about." Maria nodded her head, verifying her own assumption. When Angelina didn't answer, she continued, certain that Angelina had suffered far worse than she, because some unknown man had surely taken her virtue, her maidenhood. She patted Angelina's hand reassuringly.

"Don't worry, I will tell you what you must do. For your groom or any other man." She looked Angelina directly in the eye. "After only one time, you will still be tight. Nearly as much as a virgin. No man can tell the difference there. You must act frightened and nervous. And, this is important, in pain. Distract the man so that he will not notice that the maidenhead is broken. I don't think most men can tell anyway, but if he is distracted he surely won't notice.

"But there must be blood. It's the only sign a man really needs. He won't question further once he sees blood. This is what my mama told my sister before her wedding night. My poor sister had fallen straddling a fence and broken her maidenhead as a little girl." She lowered her voice. "You must cut yourself. The area between your legs bleeds readily. Use whatever you must, but do it quickly when he isn't watching, just after the act." She held her hand up and extended a finger. "A long sharp nail works best for this. You understand?"

"Yes." Angelina couldn't tell her that she was still a virgin. One official had tried to extort her, as Maria had described. But it did him no good. She told him up front that she didn't want to go to America. That her family was forcing her to go to an awful old man when she would just as soon stay in Italy. She would be grateful if he would deny her permission to leave. It was a bluff, but it worked. He had no power over her. He stamped her papers and shoved her out the door.

"You're a smart girl, Angelina. You've done the right thing coming here. I've never regretted my coming, only the circumstances of it. You've gotten yourself out of a hopeless situation in Italy and here to the United States where the pool of men, and hope, is much greater. And you've rid yourself of an undesirable escort to hook up with a most desirable one. Maybe you'll be smart enough to catch our Tonio. Goodness knows, he needs a woman."

Maria raised her hand to silence Angelina's protest as it formed on her lips. "Though Tonio has told me time and again that he has no interest in an Italian bride. He likes those blond, American beauties. No old country woman for him."

"Tonio imagines himself an American." Angelina said. It was not a compliment. "An American bride would not suit him." Her pride was stung at being suddenly dubbed unsuitable by the absent Tonio.

Maria smiled back knowingly, smart enough to detect wounded feminine vanity. "Tonio is an American. He renounced his Italian citizenship and became an American several years ago. Have you ever heard him speak English?"

Angelina nodded.

"He speaks like a native. I don't believe that Tonio speaks any Italian when he's in Idaho. He has come to visit us and actually forgotten the Italian word for things. And there have been times when he has interspersed English with his Italian."

"He has forgotten Italian words!" The revelation delighted Angelina. Tonio was fallible after all.

"It's understandable, when you don't speak a language for months at a time." Maria replied. "I think that Tonio would choose to forget his mother tongue altogether, if he didn't need it when he comes to visit his old friends." Maria smiled at her and returned to her original topic.

"You're truly beautiful, Angelina. A woman like you has opportunities open to you. If you get to Idaho, and don't like what you find waiting for you there, discard him. But you must watch yourself in the mining country. It's a rough place, dominated by lusty men.

"Tonio would be a good protector and provider. He's a partner in a mine. He believes it will pay off handsomely and make him rich. It just might." She leaned into Angelina again.

"Tonio is a handsome man, one desired by many but elusive. Many women would covet the chance you have with him. In all the years I've known him, he's never brought a woman with him. No matter that he claims he's doing a favor for Nonna Gia, even she couldn't convince him if he didn't want to do it. And we must ask ourselves, what benefit is there for him in this situation?" Maria paused significantly.

"A final word of warning for you. Tonio can be very seductive, but if you want to catch him, hold out." Maria winked. "Why buy what he can get for free? He's used to too much of that already." Maria glanced at the clock. "Come, let's go find the men. They've had their time alone. Why should they have all the fun? I feel the itch to toss a few dice myself. You know, I'm much luckier than my husband."



It was the first perfect day that Chicago had seen all year. Winter's white blanket had disappeared only days before under the onslaught of heavy rains and warm winds. Dirty traces of snow still clung tenaciously under the protection of the eaves and heavy shade. But the day had been sunny and the evening was pleasant. And if it was somewhat cool, the residents of Chicago's Italian enclaves didn't seem to notice. The entire neighborhood took to the streets in the age-old tradition of the evening stroll, feeling for the first time in months the gentle warmth of the low slung spring sun and reveling in the long hours of daylight.

The mood was jovial as Maria and Angelina took to the streets. Children ran and skipped ropes along sidewalks, chanting their childhood rhymes. Strong-willed grass and weeds were popping up between every sidewalk seam, lending their bright greens and delicate blossoms to the festive atmosphere. In every alley old men played bocce, the Italian game of lawn bowling, their shouts of joy and defeat erupting at uneven intervals.

Angelina turned to scan each alley for Tonio, but Maria walked purposefully on, stopping to chat briefly with neighbors and introduce Angelina. It was largely a southern Italian community, but each person they met spoke a slightly different dialect. Angelina found it all very familiar and pleasant. The people were much more casual than in Italy. Several men called out greetings to the two women, even though they were unaccompanied by their men. They turned the corner and Maria spoke.

"They will be at Dorso's Bar, in the back room. That's where the private games are always held. No one bothers them there."

Dorso's was a typical Italian bar, long and narrow, with a bar counter that ran the length of one wall. There were no stools at the counter. Patrons stood and paid less for their drinks as was Italian custom, because they required little service. Small tables were scattered throughout the open area. Old men sat and played cards at many, drinking either coffee or liquor, depending on their mood. They happily paid the higher prices for their fare for the privilege of resting.

Maria walked through the room toward a separate, private room at the back.

"Dorso." She nodded to the bartender.

"Maria." He did not seem surprised to see a woman in his establishment. In the mornings, before alcohol was served, many women stopped by for coffee and a brioche. The Italians did not hold the taboo against women drinking. Wine was commonly served at meals and all partook. Many women accompanied their husbands for an evening drink, though on this particular night there were no other women present.

"It's a good thing you showed up. Sal's losing. He could use a bit of your luck." He looked questioningly at Angelina.

"This is Angelina. A friend of Tonio's."

Dorso smiled and gave Angelina the up and down. "Pleasure, signorina. Tonio always could pick 'em."

Maria ignored his remark and marched past toward the back room, but Angelina didn't like his comment. "How many girlfriends has Tonio had in Chicago?"

Maria brushed his comment aside. "Ignore him. What does it matter?"

The betting room was cramped, with one small transom for ventilation above the door, which stood slightly ajar. A group of men huddled around a table. A large, slick man stood behind it, obviously the house's banker. The two women stood in the door, watching the game, unnoticed. The men were intent on their betting. Angelina picked Tonio out of the crowd immediately.

He was a head taller than any other man in the room. He had his jacket off, his shirtsleeves rolled up and his stiletto holstered at his waist. Her heart tripped at the sight of him. Angelina was certain that if she were a man, she would not trifle with him, but as a woman…

She felt happy and flirtatious. Her talk with Maria, while arousing jealousy, had also buoyed her confidence. Could Tonio be interested in her? For reasons beyond what she understood, she hoped so. She intended to find out this night just how deep his interest went. Just some innocent flirting. She deserved that before she went to her husband, didn't she?

Maria started to move forward to enter the room. Angelina held her back with a hand. "Let me watch a few minutes more. This game is played differently than a private game. I must watch to understand."

Maria gently pushed her hand aside. "Come. You must see the table to understand. It has special markings that show which bets are available, and it's marked with the odds."

At that moment, perhaps alerted by their feminine voices, Tonio turned and saw them. To Angelina's surprise his look was one of genuine pleasure. Something in her wished he always wore that particular expression. With the warm glow in his eyes, he was devastatingly handsome. She wanted to hold that look forever. Was it caused by their appearance or luck at the table?

"Sal, your luck has arrived," Tonio said, but his eyes were riveted on Angelina. Though many of his friends stared openly at her, he didn't introduce her, even after she walked to the table and positioned herself at his elbow. Without a word he pulled her in front of him, so that she could see the table.

"What about your luck? Has it arrived, too?" she asked.

"I'm hot tonight. Do I need more luck?"

The game resumed. The men bet with vigor. Sal continued to lose, begging out after two more rounds. "I'm out. I'm broke."

He and Maria looked unhappy as they stepped back. Angelina wondered if their losses stung them or if they regretted leaving the action of the game.

Angelina fisted and released her fingers repetitively as she watched the banker shoot. She itched to join the game, but she had no money to wager. She followed the game closely, calculating the odds to herself, watching how each man wagered, trying to determine his strategy.

She watched the banker recover the dice between bets, collect and pay out, and shoot the dice, intrigued. She had never seen a craps table before. The game was played differently than a private game. All bets were made with the house.

She scrutinized Tonio's game most closely of all. But unlike the games they played together on the train, he didn't ask her advice. He didn't let her wager. He raked in his winnings and kept them to himself.

A crease formed between her brows. No one but Tonio noticed her mood. Men dropped out of the game, cutting their losses. It grew late.

He wasn't going to let her play. He didn't trust her! He'd won enough money to let her make a small wager. Her irritation with him grew. She wouldn't ask him for the privilege. Arrogant man!

The banker looked to Tonio. "Last round for me," Tonio said. "I've kept my friends waiting too long. I owe Sal a drink. And Maria whatever she wants."

The men laughed.

Angelina scowled. He hadn't mentioned her.

"What do you think, Angel?" he said.

Angel? "Are you asking me for advice?"

"No, I'm telling you to place the bet."

She swiveled around to face him. Her stomach hummed nervously, and excitement tingled in her fingers. She hesitated on the verge of a safe bet. She knew that betting with the odds was the key to winning, but on a single bet, as she well remembered, odds were only that. Something goaded her toward recklessness. A little voice inside screamed at her to take a chance.

He leaned forward and whispered in her ear. "Listen to your gut this time."

The room seemed small and close. A tiny trickle of perspiration dripped down her back. This was her chance to redeem herself.

"He rolls craps." She pulled a silver dollar from Tonio's winnings and set it on the board, then turned to stare him down.

"The odds are seven to one against us." His eyes danced mischievously.

"Chicken?" She turned back to the table.

"Craps," Tonio told the banker as he pulled out a twenty-dollar gold piece, the house limit, and set it on the table, removing the silver dollar.

She turned back to look at him in amazement. There was a quizzical mixture of emotion in his eyes. Trust and confidence, and amusement. And something she couldn't define. If he had given her the gold piece, it couldn't have meant more. Reluctantly, she looked back at the table.

The banker shot. The dice hit the back of the table and rolled back into a pair of sixes.

Angelina screamed, delighted. She turned and hugged Tonio, still screaming and bouncing.

"One hundred and forty dollars!" she cried.

Sal and Maria watched, amused at the couple in front of them. They exchanged a sly, knowing look. Maria whispered something to Sal.

"She's quick with math," Tonio said to them. "And do you see the way her eyes dance at the thought of money?"

Tonio pried her loose and took his winnings. He laced his arm around her waist and addressed his friends. "Let's get out of here before Dorso finds out how much we took him for."

He guided her out through the door and into the alley.