Mafia Kings: Roberto: Chapter 24

“Iwas 20 years old and still a virgin. I was shy and withdrawn – a late bloomer. I didn’t really connect with girls my own age.

“My brother Adriano was only a year older than me, but he had worlds more experience. He’d lost his virginity when he was 14, and by 21, he’d been with a lot of women.

“He got it into his head that he was going to ‘help’ me by taking me to a brothel in Florence. My oldest brother, Dario, didn’t know anything about it, or he probably would have stopped us. I told my twin brother Niccolo – ”

“You have a twin?” Mei-ling asked in surprise.

“I do. We’re fraternal twins, not identical.”

“Is he a lot like you?”

“In appearance, yes. In everything else, not at all.”

“Sorry for interrupting. Please continue.”

“I told Niccolo, but he was no help at all. He’d already slept with his first girlfriend when he was 16, and he’d been with several others since then. He advised me to go ahead and ‘get it over with.’ So I went with Adriano to the place he knew about.”

I didn’t mention that the brothel was run by the Agrellas – business partners of my family who ran all the prostitution, gambling, and drugs in Florence.

I also didn’t mention that the Agrellas had been massacred just a month ago by a Sicilian named Mezzasalma who had tried to kill Adriano, too.

“The brothel was in this ancient building in the old part of the city. From the outside, it looked like something you’d see on an architectural tour. Very dignified. On the inside, though, it was all velvet wall hangings and tacky paintings.

“Anyway, Adriano and I went to the bar and had a drink as I tried to get over my nervousness.

“One by one, women came up to us, all of them dressed in lingerie. They tried flirting with Adriano first, but he kept pointing at me and saying, ‘We’re here for him.’

“They tried to flirt with me, but I was spectacularly bad at it. Very awkward. After a few minutes, one girl left, another walked up, and the whole process started over again. It was excruciating.

“Half an hour after we’d arrived, the madam took me and Adriano into a parlor where all the girls came out and stood in a line.

“The madam asked, ‘Which one do you like the most?’

“And I said, ‘I’m good.’

“‘You’re ‘good’?’ the madam asked, confused.

“‘I’m good,’ I confirmed.

“All the girls shuffled out, and Adriano was pissed. ‘I brought you all the way out here, and you’re not even going to sleep with any of them?! What the hell is wrong with you?!’

“He told me not to leave the brothel till I’d popped my cherry, and then he stormed out – because, as he informed me, he didn’t have to pay for sex. Unlike me.

“I went back to the bar for another drink. I was miserable. I felt like an utter and complete failure.

“As I was sitting there, I saw a woman sitting at a table at the far end of the room, smoking and having a drink all by herself.

“She wasn’t one of the girls who had come up to me earlier, and she wasn’t in the line-up, either. She was wearing lingerie, so she obviously worked there, but I hadn’t seen her before.

“She looked over at me and smiled shyly, then looked away.

“I was intrigued, so I walked over to her table and asked, ‘May I join you?’

“She smiled and said, ‘Yes,’ so I sat down.

“‘Roberto,’ I said as I shook her hand.

“‘Vittoria,’ she replied.

“She was older than the other women, who were all in their early to mid-20’s. Vittoria looked like she was 30, maybe older. She wasn’t quite as pretty as the others, but something about her drew me in.

“‘I didn’t see you before,’ I said.

“She smiled. ‘I know.’

“‘Why not? Were you with a customer?’

“‘No.’

“‘So why didn’t I see you?’

“‘I saw how uncomfortable all the other girls were making you. I didn’t want to be like them, so I hung back.’

“‘I wasn’t uncomfortable,’ I lied.

“She just smiled and said ‘Oh’ like she was agreeing with me.

“‘What makes you think I was uncomfortable?’ I asked.”

I added as an aside to Mei-ling, “Other than the fact I was so uncomfortable that a blind man could have spotted it.”

Mei-ling smiled but stayed silent, waiting to hear the rest.

“I’ll never forget her response. She looked me in the eyes and said, ‘Whatever you’re looking for, the other girls didn’t have it, and you felt bad about telling them they didn’t interest you.’

“Which was a very charitable way of describing it – but it was true. The girls had all been very pretty, but I wasn’t attracted to any of them. Not to mention, I was under an enormous amount of pressure from Adriano. I felt like I HAD to choose one of them, and I hated the entire situation.

“I asked Vittoria as though I was challenging her, ‘So what am I looking for?’

“And she said, ‘I don’t know, exactly… but what I do know is, for something to interest you, you have to go and take it.’

“I didn’t fully understand what she meant at the time, but what she said felt right. All those women had come up to me, pressuring me to choose them… offering themselves up on a silver platter… and it made me not want them. It was too easy. It was fake.

“I knew I wanted Vittoria… but I didn’t know why, exactly.

“She asked me, ‘Do you know what you want?’

“I sat there staring at her, wanting to say it out loud, but I was too shy. I was blushing so hard that my cheeks felt like they were on fire.

“She smiled at me and whispered, ‘You can say it.’

“And I blurted out, ‘I want to make you come.’”

Mei-ling reared back in surprise, then started laughing.

“I know,” I said with a smile. “But Vittoria didn’t laugh. She just said, ‘That sounds wonderful.’

“And I said, ‘But I don’t know how.’

“And she replied, ‘You want to make me come… but not knowing how makes you feel embarrassed. Is that it?’

“I nodded. I still remember it – my face felt like it was on fire, I was so ashamed – but I was also incredibly turned on.

“She took my hand in hers and asked quietly, ‘Do you want me to show you how to make a woman come?’

“I nodded. ‘But I don’t want you to lie. I don’t want you to fake it.’

“She smiled and said, ‘Don’t worry, I won’t. But it might take a while.’

“‘I’ve got all night.’

“‘So do I,’ she answered.

“She stood up and tried to pull me along with her, but I said, ‘Not here. I don’t want to do it here.’

“She looked at me for a long while, like she was trying to decide whether or not to trust me… and then she finally said, ‘I can take you to where I live… but I have to warn you, it’s not that great.’

“‘I don’t care,’ I told her. ‘Just as long as it’s anywhere but here.’

“She nodded, and then we left and went to her place.”

Mei-ling stared at me intently, waiting.

I just smiled at her in silence.

When I didn’t say anything, Mei-ling prodded me with, “…AND?!”

“And she taught me everything I know.”

“Oh my GOD – you’re not going to tell me?!” she cried out, half-laughing, half-indignant.

“Nope.”

“You tease!”

“Just a little,” I said with a grin. “But I will do something for you.”

“What?” she asked, pouting playfully.

“I’ll show you.”

Mei-ling stared at me, her eyes wide.

For a second, I thought perhaps I’d overstepped –

And then she whispered, “…alright.”

I smiled. “Alright, then.”

I extended my hand…

She placed hers in mine…

And then she led me out of the kitchen.