The Last Don - Mario Puzo [55]
Two years after Claudia moved to L.A., when she was twenty-three, her mother, Nalene, was diagnosed with cancer. Cross, then working with Gronevelt at the Xanadu after making his bones for the Clericuzio, came to spend the last two weeks with them in Sacramento. Cross hired nurses around the clock and a cook and housekeeper. The three of them lived together for the first time since the breakup of the family. Nalene forbade Pippi to visit her.
The cancer had affected Nalene’s eyesight, so Claudia read to her constantly, from magazines, from newspapers and books. Cross went out to do the shopping. Sometimes he had to fly to Vegas for an afternoon to take care of Hotel business, but he always returned at evening.
During the night, Cross and Claudia would take turns holding their mother’s hand, comforting her. And though she was heavily medicated, she continually pressed their hands. Sometimes she hallucinated and thought her two children were little again. One terrible night she wept and begged forgiveness of Cross for what she had done to him. Cross had to hold her in his arms and reassure her that everything had turned out for the best.
During the long evenings when their mother was deep into a drugged sleep, Cross and Claudia told each other the details of their lives.
Cross explained that he had sold the Collection Agency and left the Clericuzio Family, though they had used their influence to get him his job at the Xanadu Hotel. He hinted at his power and told Claudia that she was welcome at the Hotel anytime, RFB—room, food, and beverage free. Claudia asked how he could do that and Cross told her with just a touch of pride, “I have the Pencil.”
Claudia found that pride comical and a little sad.
Claudia seemingly felt their mother’s death far more strongly than Cross, but the experience had brought them together again. They regained their childhood intimacy. Clau-dia frequently went to Vegas over the years and met Gronevelt and observed the close relationship the old man had with her brother. During these years Claudia saw that Cross had a certain kind of power, but that he never linked his power with the Clericuzio Family. Since Claudia had severed all ties with the Family and never attended the funerals, weddings, and christenings, she didn’t know that Cross still was part of the Family social structure. And Cross never spoke of it to her. She rarely saw her father. He had no interest in her.
New Year’s Eve was the biggest event in Vegas; people all over the country flocked there, but Cross always had a suite for Claudia. Claudia was not a big gambler, but one New Year’s Eve she got carried away. She had brought an aspiring actor with her and was trying to impress him. She lost control and signed fifty thousand dollars in markers. Cross had come down to the suite with the markers in his hand, and there was a curious look on his face. Claudia recognized it when he spoke. It was his father’s face.
“Claudia,” Cross said, “I thought you were smarter than me. What the hell is this?”
Claudia felt a little sheepish. Cross had often warned her to gamble only for small stakes. Also to never increase her bets when she was losing. And to spend no more than two or three hours gambling every day, because the length of time spent gambling was the greatest trap. Claudia had violated all his advice. . . .
She said, “Cross, give me a couple of weeks and I’ll pay it off.”
She was surprised by her brother’s reaction. “I’ll kill you before I let you pay off these markers.” Very deliberately he tore up the slips of paper and put them in his pocket. He said, “Look, I invite you down here because I want to see you, not to take your money. Get