"But if you loved him, wouldn't they be afraid you'd come forward and reveal the plot? What could they do?"
"I don't know. They might kill me or go after my mother."
"Geez, they play rough. And a dead mistress would be even better. Norma, ah...Elena, this was a scummy deal you were pulling."
"I know, I know. But I had to. I refused at first. I told them I'd date him, but that was it. Truthfully, I haven't been around that much; I'm a lot of show but not much go. I wasn't going to do the whole sex thing with some strange man, even if he was a rich, good-looking bigshot. I'm an accountant, for God's sake. That's when they sent Pirro around to explain how it was going to be."
"Pirro?"
"He's one of the goons doing dirty work for La Familia, the strong arm stuff. He said I must become Towson's girlfriend and do what girlfriends do, the whole enchilada. The creep said he'd be glad to help me practice. He said to either screw Towson or screw him."
"The old fate worse than death thing."
"Yes, and I could die. Pirro uses whores. Mom calls it VD, but it's HIV. He doesn't care about spreading it. He's the lowest lowlife. One day, in the kitchen, he started telling this long dirty joke, loud to everyone one in the room, except I was the girl in the joke. He kept putting my name in his filthy joke, as if it had all happened to me. I was embarrassed and terrified. Mom overheard him and lost it. She flew into him, slammed him up against the wall and held this monstrous kitchen knife across his throat. She said if he ever touches me, she'd cut off his cojones. Understand?"
"Got it."
"Crazy men like Pirro don't scare easy. He got mad, said nobody threatens him, and someday he'd do her, while I watched."
"If she gets in his way, why doesn't he just kill her?"
"He doesn't dare to kill anyone unless he's ordered to. He tried to scare her once though. Mom's fourth floor apartment has a tiny balcony. He was trying to get her to step out there with him one night. Said he had something to show her down below in the pool. But he was bluffing, trying to scare her. He wouldn't kill her, at least when he's sober."
"But it's alright if he screws you guys?"
"Not exactly alright, but the family realizes sex happens. It's something else. Not a big thing with them."
It occurred to her that Elena wasn't telling the real story. "So, Mom is saving you from Pirro."