Laurie Fabiano - Elizabeth Street

A NOVEL BASED ON TRUE EVENTS

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

Text copyright 2006, 2010, Laurie Fabiano
All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

Published by AmazonEncore
P.O. Box 400818
Las Vegas, NV 89140

Produced by Melcher Media, Inc.
124 West 13th Street
New York, NY 10011
www.melcher.com

Library of Congress Control Number
2010904235

ISBN: 978-1-935597-02-5

This novel was originally published, in a slightly different form, by Fig Books, a division of Fab Tool, LLC, in 2006.

Cover design by Ben Gibson
Bottom cover photograph courtesy of Library of Congress,
Ransom notes by Siena Della Fave
Author photo by Steve Winter

FOR MY FAMILY
PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

acqua water

aiutami help me

ammoratas girlfriends (Italian-American slang)

andiamo we go, lets go

arrivederci good-bye

aspetta wait

avanti come in

bambino baby

basanogol basil (Italian-American slang)

basta enough

bella beautiful

bene well

biscotti cookies

blu marinos Navy ( Italian-American slang )

boccalone big mouth, gullible one

bocce Italian ball game

bravo good, congratulations

brigantaggio thieving

briscola card game

brutto ugly

buon giorno good day

cafone crude person

Calabresi people from Calabria

Calabria southern region of Italy

cannolo an Italian pastry

capisci? do you understand?

caro dear

castello castle

che cosa fa? what are you doing?

chiazza town square

ciao hello/good-bye

coglioni balls

come si chiama? whats your name?

con with

contadini peasants

cos successo? what happened?

cos bella how beautiful

cugina cousin

culo butt

dago derogatory term for Italian-American

Dio mio my God

disgraziato miserable one, wretch

dottore doctor

due two

farmacia pharmacy

festa party

finalmente finally

forza go

fratello brother

gabbadotz stubborn (Italian-American slang)

gedrool jerk (Italian-American slang)

glantuomini the gentry

gombada friend thats like family (Italian-American slang)

grande large

grazie thank you

guarda look

inglese English

lalta Italia the north of Italy

La Mano Nera The Black Hand

lAmerica America

levatrice midwife

loro brutti puzzolenti mafiosi ugly lowlife gangsters

lupo wolf

ma but

macchiette musical theater sketches

maestro master

mafioso thug, crook

mala femmina bad woman

malocchio evil eye

medza menz half and half (Italian-American slang)

Mezzogiorno the south of Italy

mille grazie a million thanks

mio fratello my brother

molto very

mustasole a type of hard cookie

Napolitano person from Naples

niente nothing

nome name

nonno grandfather

non parlo inglese I dont speak English

occhi eyes

opera buffa comic opera

padrone owner/wealthy

paesani countrymen

pasticcini pastries

pazzo crazy

pensione small hotel

perch why

per favore please

pescatori fishermen

pescespada swordfish

piacere please/pleased to meet you

Piemontese person from the Piedmont region in northern Italy

Pokerino card and board game

pomodoro tomato

prego excuse me/youre welcome

principessa princess

professore professor

Puglia region of Italy

puttana whore

questa this

Risorgimento Italian revolution

schifoso lowlife

Scillese person from Scilla

scopa card game

scusa excuse me

s yes

signora maam

signore mister

sindaco mayor

smettila cut it out

sorella sister

sporcaccioni pigs, slobs

strega witch

stronzo turd, shit

terremoto earthquake

torta cake

tre three

uno one

va al diavolo go to the devil

va bene okay, fine

vaffanculo go fuck yourself

vai go

voto vote

wop derogatory term for Italian-American

yia-yia grandmother (Greek)

zia aunt

zio uncle

zucchero sugar

HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY, 1985

We lived at 202 Elizabeth Street. My grandmother looked away from the video camera to my head. How come you dont do anything about your hair? Why dont you go to the beauty parlor?

I ignored her. It was a refrain, not a question. Nanny, try not to move around so much. You keep coming out of the frame.

For the tenth time, I got up to adjust the camera. My grandmother was seated on the couch and wore a red polyester shirt. Her dyed blonde hair had been set so that two curls framed her face, which was overwhelmed by her gold-rimmed glasses. She was eighty years old and could remember details from more than half a century ago, but not what she had eaten for lunch.

How many more questions? complained Nanny halfheartedly.

As Nanny had gotten older, she had mellowed. She said hello to people she didnt know well and showed her grandchildren more affection. It had taken two decades, but at twenty-eight, I was as close to my grandmother as anyone could be. Still, she was stubborn, and if I was going to get what I wanted on tape, it would take manipulation and coaxing.

We just got started, I said, trying to sound sweet and patient.

I dont know why youre doing this anyway, she grumbled.

I told you. My memory isnt as good as yours. You dont want me screwing up the facts if I try to tell these stories to my kids someday.

Some things you shouldnt tell.