“The whore deserves it anyway. Insult me like that.” Mary’s gaze darted to Brianna, giving her a look that made Brianna’s stomach feel leaden. “Do you enjoy being a puttana for a filthy whore?”
“Are you calling me a whore? Are you giving me shit for defending my best friend?” Carina asked her mother in disbelief. “At least I didn’t sell myself to a Borgata I hate just to make my daddy happy. I’d eat a bullet before I got under a man just because someone told me to. Who’s the troia?”
“I always win,” her mother warned. “So I’d tread lightly.”
“Okay.” Carina gave her a thumbs-up. “Go win. You’re drunk, Ma. Leave me alone before I call Nonno and ask him to come get me again.” Her mother was silent for a long time, and Carina threatened, “I’ll do it. I swear to God, I’ll call him right now.”
Brianna jumped when Mary Moretti stormed out and slammed the door behind her.
Carina huffed and lit another cigarette. “Cunt.”
“That was bad,” Brianna whispered. “That felt extra bad, even for her.”
“I cannot wait to get outta Brooklyn.” Carina got up, cigarette in her mouth, and went looking for another ashtray. “One day, Bri. We’re gonna get an apartment in Manhattan. No Borgatas and no men unless we feel like being entertained for the night. It’ll all be on our terms. It’ll be great.”
Carina found a new ashtray in her closet and tapped her cigarette against it.
Brianna stared at the mess of ashes and broken glass on the floor left by the first ashtray. “You’re not gonna pick it up?”
“The maids will get it in the morning.”
Brianna raised her eyebrows, because sometimes Carina was undeniably spoiled. There was no way she could leave that mess until morning, so she got out of bed and started gathering the bits of glass in her hand. Then she looked at Carina, who was back to smoking in front of the window. “I haven’t fucked Tino. You lied. You made me sound like a puttana for nothing.”
“Of course you have.” Carina stared at Brianna like she had two heads. “We all know that’s what you were doing this weekend. I mean, hello, who’re you lying to? Not like I’m a pillar of chastity.”
“But we haven’t.” Brianna grabbed the garbage can from under Carina’s desk and picked up the rest of the glass and cigarettes with a grimace. “Not even close.”
“He’s Siciliano. Come on.” Carina said it like it was some unbreakable rule. “You have to have.”
“I haven’t even touched it. I haven’t seen it either,” Brianna whispered. “He won’t let me.”
Carina took another drag off her cigarette and blew it out the window thoughtfully, and then she mumbled, “Really?”
Brianna nodded. “Really.”
“That is weird. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I’ve been trying to tell you,” Brianna snapped at her, even if she was very relieved to finally have someone to talk to. “That’s why he freaked tonight, ’cause I wanted to touch him.”
“You wanted to jerk him off, and he got pissed with you?” Carina looked at Brianna like she was speaking another language. “Is that why he made the cash comment?”
“Yeah, he said he just wanted to hold me.”
“Maledizione.” Carina’s eyes grew wide. “What if he’s gay?”
“He’s not gay,” Brianna said without a doubt. “He wants it. He just won’t take it. Not from me, anyway. Apparently the rave girls are perfectly fine.”
She left Carina sitting there and went to the bathroom to wash her hands. She looked in the mirror, seeing that her eyes were swollen and her cheeks were splotched.
Ugh.
That was the last thing she needed to see when her self-esteem was already shattered.
“Are you sure?” Carina asked as Brianna came out of the bathroom. When Brianna frowned at her, Carina clarified, “If a Siciliano is turning down a handjob from a beautiful woman, I’m pretty sure that means he’s gay.”
“He’s not gay. I’ve made out with him. There is no way in the world he is gay. He made me come without feeling skin. He’s really good at it, Carina. Unnaturally good. And when he kissed me, he did it like a guy who knows he’s awesome at it. He’s confident. Too confident. I can’t explain it, but I promise he’s not gay.”
“Well, huh.” Carina sounded mystified. “Maybe that’s his thing, a power trip, making you beg for it. Maybe he’s just kinky.”
“Maybe.” Brianna considered that for a bit as she crawled back into bed and snuggled under the covers. “He licked my feet. It was sort of nice, actually. He made it nice. He makes everything nice.”
“Porca puttana.” Carina held up her hand. “We’re done now.”
“It doesn’t matter anyway.” Brianna turned over in bed as fresh tears rolled down her cheeks. “It’s over before it even started.”
“Aw, sweetheart.” Carina came to her, obviously abandoning her cigarette in the ashtray. She crawled into bed and hugged Brianna from behind like a sister. “Fuck ’em. You don’t need a man. One day we’ll be out of Brooklyn. I promise.”
Brianna nodded. “Okay.”