The eyes of the young lovers-to-be met as Tony rose and handed the pen back to its owner. He was struck speechless by the girl’s innocent beauty, and, without thinking, he extended his hand in introduction, offering her his Americanized name. Infuriated by his son’s impudence, his father whirled around, nearly running across the lobby as he lunged at the boy.

After smacking him hard off the back of his head, he grabbed him by the shoulder and dragged him off before he could even utter a startled cry.

“You will not dishonor your father like that again.”

He shook his finger in Tony’s face, threatening him with the unspoken promise of physical abuse; it was something Tony knew well. His father’s exacting standards and short-fuse created a nightmarish living situation fo...

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