In the following few weeks several things happened in rapid succession.
After the rescue, Valentina had been brought right to the hospital. Because of the nature and extent of her injuries there were a whole lot of questions put to her by the medical staff. But since Valentina had honestly gotten hurt in the car accident that killed Sal, the explanation she gave to the questioning authorities was plausible and could be confirmed.
The story of having survived and crawled away from the accident was true, albeit the timeline didn’t quite add up. After the formalities of mandated questions were over, the doctors left it at that and concentrated on treating Valentina’s injuries.
The blistered burns on the pads of her fingers and her palms were treated with balm and gauze. She was relieved to hear that although her hair was badly singed, the burns had not penetrated too deeply into her scalp, and therefore the roots were not damaged. Valentina’s hair would eventually grow back to fill in those burnt spots.
The worst of it was that three of her ribs were indeed fractured and that the blunt force trauma to her abdomen resulted in a tear in Valentina’s spleen. She went under the knife immediately to repair that tear in hopes of avoiding a total rupture. The surgery was successful, and two days later a very sore, but very grateful Valentina was released from Med General.
Hal stayed by Valentina’s side in the hospital, he even slept at night in the chair by her bed. Gianni, of course, ordered muscle to sit outside his daughter’s room round the clock. Under different circumstances this might have raised some eyebrows, however, the hospital was so big and busy that nobody paid much attention to a guy in a suit sitting in the hallway.
Once Valentina was all cleared to be released, her father had sent a limousine to bring her home. Hal walked her out to the limo and kissed her softly goodbye, then he rode off to help put a final end to the chaos that the Abiatti family had started a long time ago.
With the death of Sebastian, and the failed attempt by his crew to kill Gia Bonzini and Valentina Abruzzi, the mutinous actions of several mafia families came to an abrupt halt. The clans who had thought to disconnect themselves from the Bonzini Organization in favor of joining forces with Sebastian Abiatti and the Colombian Cartel had a swift change of heart. While her father and his organization held meetings, handed out judgements, and brought the errant sheep back into the syndicated crime fold, the HSMC was busy holding meetings of its own. Prosper headed a club run for the east coast brothers to convene in Miami. The heads of the different MC chapters met with Hezekiah Jones, the president of the Aces, to make sure that the alliance and territories still held strong against cartel involvement. During one of those meetings a motion was put on the table and carried. The decision was made to place a bounty on Rooster’s head. It was a considerable amount and was offered wide spread across the country for any biker club to claim.
Eddie “Rooster” Lobards was wanted dead or alive.
Because of the overall condition of Sal’s body, he was immediately cremated. But in keeping with the Catholic faith, his remains were buried in blessed ground. Salvatore Tettorio’s funeral was a grand affair befitting his station in the organization. His funeral was attended by well over five hundred people, including heads of mafia families, politicians, and judges. Those who were unable to attend made sure to send thick cash envelopes not only as a sign of respect to the Tettorio family, but also to reaffirm their loyalty to the entire Bonzini Organization.
In La Familia, births, deaths, confirmations, and marriages were all accompanied by large and lavish displays. Sacramental rituals and holy days were always strictly observed in the Cosa Nostra. The hypocrisy of it all hit Valentina over the head like a sledge hammer as she watched Sal’s remains blessed and interred into his family mausoleum. How could it be that when it came to the church and the seven sacraments, the mafia adhered to such an elaborate display of devotion, yet in business practice the ten commandments were held in such monstrous disregard?
Thou shalt not kill.
In stark contrast to Uncle Sal’s lavish interment, the private burial of Amelia Louise Lobards was quiet, simple, and underattended. True to her word, Valentina saw that the forty-six-year-old waitress and mother of Eddie Lobards received the honor of a Christian burial. Amelia was buried in Grovsner Cemetery, under a spreading oak tree on the top of a sloping hill covered with wild flowers.
The money that Rooster left behind for his mother’s burial was enough for two plots so Gia and Valentina decided to have one plot set with a large headstone ornately carved out of Connemara marble in the form of angel wings. The words Beloved Mother were carved in the tips of each wing.
On the adjacent plot, the girls decided to set a smooth white marble bench. Valentina chose a quote by Thomas Campbell to be inscribed on the seat— To live in the hearts of those we love is not to die. Father Michael bestowed the final blessing on the deceased while Gia and Valentina sat in attendance.
Valentina posted the small obituary in several newspapers across the country in hopes that Rooster would see it and find some small comfort. Although Valentina had every reason to believe that Rooster would carry out his threat against herself and her family, that was not the reason Valentina kept her word to him. She did it because despite Rooster’s many and violent failings, it was obvious that the son loved the mother, and she did it because Valentina was a woman of her word.
There was also one more reason that Valentina kept her promise to Rooster— there was something about the timing of Amelia Louise Lobards’s death that just didn’t sit well with her.