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Dominic didn’t feel the same way about his surname. To him, Baciagalupo had always been a made-up name. After all, Nunzi had named him-he’d been her Kiss of the Wolf, when in reality it would have made more sense for him to have been a Saetta, which he half was, or for his mother to have called him a Capodilupo, if only to shame his irresponsible father. (“That-a no-good fuck Ge
And Dominic had lots of last names he could have chosen. Everyone in A
“What about Bonvino?” old Giusé Polcari would suggest. (The name meant “Good Wine,” but Dominic didn’t drink.)
Buonopane (“Good Bread”) would be Tony Molinari’s recommendation, whereas Paul Polcari, the pizza chef, was in favor of Capobianco (“White Head”)-because Paul was usually white all over, due to the flour. But these names were too comical for a man with Dominic’s sober disposition.
Their first night in the North End, Da
In Carmella’s kitchen was a bathtub bigger than the kitchen table, which already had the requisite three chairs. Two large pasta pots were full of water-forever hot, but not boiling, on the gas stove. Carmella did next to no cooking in her kitchen; she kept the water hot for her baths. For a woman who lived in a cold-water tenement, she was very clean and smelled wonderful; with Angel’s help, she had managed to pay the gas bill. In the North End in those days, there weren’t enough full-time jobs for young men of Angel’s age. For young men who were strong enough, there were more full-time jobs to be found in the north country, in Maine and New Hampshire, but the work there could be dangerous-as poor Angel had discovered.
Da
The aged owner and maître d’ had been expecting the three of them to return; four of the small tables had been pushed together, and the place settings were already prepared for them. They ate and drank as at a wake, pausing only to cry-everyone but young Dan cried-and to toast the dead boy they’d all loved, though neither Da
It was quite late when Tony Molinari asked Dominic where he and Da
“Say-a no more, Dominic-we don’t-a need to know why, or who you’re ru
“I’m not surprised, Dominic. Anyone can see you’ve been in a fight,” Paul, the pizza chef, said, patting the cook’s shoulder with a sympathetic, flour-covered hand. “That’s one ugly-looking lip you’ve got-it’s still bleeding, you know.”
“Maybe you need stitches,” Carmella said to the cook, with heartfelt concern. But Dominic dismissed her suggestion by shaking his head; he said nothing, but all of them could see the gratitude in the cook’s shy smile. (Da
“You can stay with me,” Tony Molinari said to Dominic.
“They’ll stay with me,” Carmella told Molinari. “I have a spare room.” Her offer was incontestable, because she meant Angel’s room; even mentioning the room made Carmella commence to cry again. When Da
They would hear her crying herself to sleep-that is, she was trying to. When the crying had gone on for a long time, young Dan whispered to his father: “Maybe you should go to her.”
“It wouldn’t be appropriate, Daniel. It’s her boy she misses-I think you should go to her.”
Da
Wouldn’t even the way he fell asleep somehow contribute to Da