All Chapters of A Record of Papa’s Death: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

Ever since my husband, the capo Rocco, began pouring all his attention into his brother's widow.According to our daughter Tessy's diary, her father was already a dead man.When the nun from her school called to ask, I calmly played along, telling her he had been gone for a long time.On her Father's Day prayer card, Tessy wrote only two words: To Heaven. At the parent-teacher open house, she wrote that her Papa died in a shootout in the next neighborhood over.Later, Rocco finally sensed something was wrong.He dropped everything and rushed back to the estate to celebrate his daughter's birthday.When he pushed open the door, he saw a new diary lying on the coffee table. The title read: If Papa Were Still Alive."Gwen, is this how you're raising our child?"Rocco stared at the diary on the coffee table.The childish scrawl was written in pencil: If Papa Were Still Alive.The smile on his face vanished, his eyes widening and turning red."I'm standing right fucking here, and you're let

Chapter 2

Countdown: 10 days.I had just finished a six-hour emergency surgery, dragging myself back to the estate.The moment I stepped onto the porch, I froze.The front door stood wide open, and the rough shouts of a few of Rocco's men echoed from inside.I walked in quickly, and the sight before me made my blood boil.The Persian rug in the living room was covered in muddy footprints. Packing peanuts littered the floor, and two of his burly men were carrying the white astronomical telescope out of Tessy's sunroom.Rocco stood to the side, biting on a cigar, directing them."Steady now, don't bump the lens. You drop this thing, it'll cost you half a year's pay."That was the discontinued telescope I had bought for Tessy's seventh birthday, purchased with two years of my saved bonuses from the hospital.Tessy used it every night to look at the stars, treating it as her most treasured possession.She said she was going to use it to find the "Captain's Star" that Papa had told her about."Rocco,

Chapter 3

Countdown: 3 days.Tonight was the family's annual charity gala.By tradition, a child of one of the capos was to present a painting to the Godfather, Don Vittorio, symbolizing the family's legacy and loyalty.Tessy, wearing the velvet dress I had custom-made for her, sat in the front row of the banquet hall.Her eyes were fixed on the carved wooden doors at the entrance.I sat beside her, holding her small, slightly sweaty hand, a sharp pain squeezing my heart.I knew his empty promises meant he wouldn't show, but a child's heart always holds on to a sliver of hope.Tessy whispered, "Mama, Papa said he would definitely be here to watch me present my painting to the Godfather today."I didn't say anything, I just held her hand tighter.Ten minutes before the presentation segment began, my phone screen lit up.It was a text from Rocco.[Something came up on our turf. Can't get away.][Tell Tessy I'm sorry.]A cheap excuse, a broken promise he took for granted.I placed my phone face dow

Chapter 4

On the afternoon of our departure, I took Tessy to an Italian bistro downtown for one last bowl of her favorite pasta.The neighborhood was bustling with noise.Holding my hand, Tessy suddenly stopped as we walked past the floor-to-ceiling windows of a high-end restaurant.I followed her gaze.Through the glass, I saw Rocco clearly.With one hand steadying the plate, he used a silver knife to meticulously cut a small piece of filet mignon, dip it in sauce, blow on it, and feed it to Elio.Carmela sat beside him, smiling. She casually pulled out a napkin and gently wiped a smudge of red wine from Rocco's lips.Her fingertips lingered on his lips for a moment too long, a deliberately possessive touch.What a joyous, deeply affectionate picture of a family of three.Looking at this scene, I almost burst out laughing.So this was the urgent "turf conflict" he couldn't get away from.His lie, exposed in broad daylight, was both ridiculous and cheap.Tessy's little hand gripped the hem of my

Chapter 5

Two hours later, the doors to the emergency corridor slammed open.Covered in sweat, gunpowder, and blood, Rocco charged down the hospital corridor, sprinting straight for me."Gwen!""How's Tessy?"Even his voice was trembling. He reached out to grab my shoulders.But before his hands could touch me, Carmela, trailing behind him, suddenly crumpled to the floor."Rocco...""I can't breathe. Elio just threw up again, and he won't stop screaming. Please, can you go back to the ward and stay with him?"Carmela gripped the hem of Rocco's bloodstained shirt, tears streaming down her face.It was a manipulative performance she had perfected.Every time she cried, Rocco would relent.But this time, Rocco froze.He looked down at Carmela's fingers gripping his shirt and violently shook her off."Get the hell off me!""My daughter is in there fighting for her life!"Carmela was thrown against the wall. She screamed, and the nurses in the hallway and a few waiting families all turned their heads

Chapter 6

Rocco drove at a breakneck speed.He left the sports car running, sprinting up the steps and bursting into the foyer.Tessy's small pink rainboots by the entryway were gone.Her favorite water cup, the one with the ballet swan, was missing from the kitchen island.The rosebushes I had tended in the backyard had been uprooted, their remains tossed in the gardener's compost bin.The walk-in closet in the master bedroom stood open. My side, and Tessy's, was completely bare. Not a single dress, shoe, or piece of jewelry remained.A resignation letter from the nanny lay on the table, and the butler Alfonso's keys were pressed on top of the envelope.The soul of the house had been ripped out.Rocco stood in the center of the grand hall, his chest heaving violently.Step by step, he walked into Tessy's room.Aside from an empty, white swan princess bed, there was nothing left.No, there was one last thing remaining.On the floor by the window, resting in the faint indentations left by the tel

Chapter 7

Seeing Rocco staring at her in silence, Carmela assumed the iron-willed capo was still reeling with guilt and fear from the shootout.She placed the insulated bag on the marble coffee table, walked around to the edge of the sofa, and leaned against him softly."Rocco, don't carry this all by yourself.""The little girl is tough. She'll be fine, won't she?""You saved Elio. Salvatore is watching from above, and he will definitely be happy for you."As she spoke, she raised a hand, her fingertips deliberately tracing a path up the back of his hand, over the veins."Get the hell off me!"Rocco shot to his feet, shoving her away with a backhand.Carmela crashed onto the Persian rug. The insulated bag tipped over, spilling steaming lasagna and red tomato sauce across the floor."Rocco...""Why did you push me?"She widened her eyes, the rims quickly turning red. Supporting herself on the ground with one hand, she tugged her shirt strap down with the other.Rocco didn't even glance at her.N

Chapter 8

Three days later.The family held a solemn monthly meeting in the underground estate.The long table was filled with capos, family elders, and soldiers.As the representative of a hero's widow, Carmela had been granted the special privilege of sitting in the front row.Today, she was to accept the Godfather's blessing on behalf of her dead husband and collect the massive monthly pension.She deliberately wore a black, waist-cinching mourning dress, a fake sorrow on her face that could not conceal the greed in her eyes for the huge sum of cash.After the opening prayer, the Consigliere raised a hand."By tradition, Capo Marchetti, please step forward to present this month's pension to Carmela Ricci."Polite, restrained applause echoed through the hall.Expressionless, Rocco stepped onto the red carpet at the front of the hall.He did not take the bulging envelope of cash from the Consigliere.Carmela rose gracefully from her seat and walked up to him, her red lips trembling as she prepa

Chapter 9

Two years later.In a sun-drenched city on the West Coast.Inside the city's top medical conference center, I was hosting a national orthopedic surgery seminar.The giant screen displayed the latest difficult surgical case I had led, and the audience was filled with the top orthopedic surgeons in North America.Wearing a well-tailored suit, I was calm and confident, my cool voice carrying through the microphone to every corner of the hall.No one in attendance knew that two years ago, I had stumbled off a red-eye from New York, battered and holding a shell-shocked daughter.As my concluding remarks fell, the applause nearly blew off the dome.And in the very back row of the auditorium, a man leaned against the wall.It was Rocco, his face unshaven, his eyes bloodshot and haunted.For two years, he had crossed more than half the country, searching for any trace of us.Having lost the protection of his family, he had slept in construction site trailers and hauled cargo on the docks. The

Chapter 10

[Bonus: Tessy's POV]The sunlight on the West Coast is always bright.There is none of the lingering, year-round gloom of New York here.Nor is there the pungent smell of expensive cologne mixed with gunpowder.My world is very quiet.That drive-by shooting on the street two years ago locked my throat permanently.The psychiatrist says it's my brain's self-defense mechanism.But I don't regret it. Losing my voice has allowed me to see the world more clearly.Last week, right outside the school gates.I saw a homeless man with a scruffy beard.He broke through the security barricade, knelt on the scorching asphalt, and kowtowed to my mother.He smashed his forehead until it bled, screaming my name in a despairing voice.My teacher stood nervously in front of me, asking if I knew him.Extremely calmly, I raised my hands and signed three words.[I don't know him.]Of course, I recognized those deep-set eyes.I also knew those hands once wore the black and gold ring that represented a capo

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