HE STEPPED INTO THE dining room one evening and stood tall in his bright red unitard (as tomato-red as Bella’s Jezebel-colored bathing costume). A stockpile of Michelangelo-carved rocks topped with a thick head of long, curly, chestnut-colored locks. He carried himself with the bearing of a triton-wielding Neptune King. He wore a burglar’s mask of black crepe over eyes that flashed like fishing lights, intelligent glints of gold and green. A perfect nose. A strong chin. Full lips. White teeth. He smelled like fresh snow falling. Like cannoli cream. Like the air over the cow fields back in Clifton, New Jersey.
Bella’s pulse pounded in her veins. The room spun like a carousel.
“Hero!”
Oui Oui hopped off his unicycle and wrapped his tiny arms around the young man’s muscular thighs. “You were gone so long I thought I was gonna die! Hero, my Hero!” Oui Oui cried.
The Strongman affectionately patted the little man’s head.
Minnie stopped eating.
Lolly rocked with glee.
Chester hugged the young man too. “Welcome home, my boy!”
The young Strongman didn’t say a word. He just nodded and took a Heroic seat at the table.
Oui Oui remained glued to his side. “We’re having cannelloni stuffed with roasted chicken, pancetta, leeks, and three kinds of Italian cheeses! Isn’t that something!? Bella made it!” the little man proclaimed. “Elle cuisine comme un rêve! She cooks like a dream!”
The Strongman’s masked eyes met Bella’s.
Something electric buzzed down her spine.
“Would you like something to drink?” she asked as she handed him a plate of cannelloni.
“He doesn’t like wine,” Oui Oui offered. “Get him a Yoo-hoo!”
Everyone watched the Strongman guzzle his chocolate drink and lap up his food. When he finished, he grabbed his plate, placed his elbows on the table, and licked it clean. He licked it like a wolf in heat. Then he locked eyes with Bella, scraped back his chair, and left as silently as he had arrived.
Was Bella awake? Or was she asleep and dreaming?
Why did she suddenly hear her baby wailing?
“Hero!” Oui Oui cried as he scampered after him. “Where are you going? Hero! Wait for me! Please!”
Bella’s heart was racing. With trembling hands, she picked up the Strongman’s empty plate. In the polished glaze, she didn’t see Belladonna Marie the Peek-a-Booth Queen of Sin City. She saw Belladonna Marie Donato, the wounded girl from Clifton, New Jersey.