Cactus at my cousin's place
Just got back from four days away in Santa Margherita Belice where I stayed at my cousin's place. She said a few years ago their home was robbed, twice.
"All the gold," she said, all the gold items her children had been given at birth, at baptism, at graduations, the bracelet her husband gave her when they were engaged. The thief broke the glass in a door when no one was home and cut his hand. There were bloody hand and fingerprints all over the house, so they had DNA samples and fingerprints, but the carabinieri refused to investigate the crime. "We're afraid," they said. "We have families."
"Afraid of whom?" my cousin wondered. Of course, it's the mafia. Mafia reprisals. At least now we know who runs S. Margherita Belice, I thought. If the police are afraid to do their jobs, then they should resign and let someone else do it. But of course, no one would do such a thing. Or maybe they were in cahoots with the thief and split the profits.
To console the family, my cousin's mother bought each of the kids a small gold piece of jewelry, as a token, and then those were stolen too, along with a pistol my cousin's husband had inherited from his father when he passed away. "Do you know that the police almost investigated us for having a pistol?" my cousin asked me. Of course, no one investigated that theft, either. Incredible.
"All the gold," she said, all the gold items her children had been given at birth, at baptism, at graduations, the bracelet her husband gave her when they were engaged. The thief broke the glass in a door when no one was home and cut his hand. There were bloody hand and fingerprints all over the house, so they had DNA samples and fingerprints, but the carabinieri refused to investigate the crime. "We're afraid," they said. "We have families."
"Afraid of whom?" my cousin wondered. Of course, it's the mafia. Mafia reprisals. At least now we know who runs S. Margherita Belice, I thought. If the police are afraid to do their jobs, then they should resign and let someone else do it. But of course, no one would do such a thing. Or maybe they were in cahoots with the thief and split the profits.
To console the family, my cousin's mother bought each of the kids a small gold piece of jewelry, as a token, and then those were stolen too, along with a pistol my cousin's husband had inherited from his father when he passed away. "Do you know that the police almost investigated us for having a pistol?" my cousin asked me. Of course, no one investigated that theft, either. Incredible.