"Shallow Graves"

(The last known photo of Mia, rehearsing "Malocchio del Amore"
Photo courtesy of Maxine Culpa.)

Mia died in Rosarno, the result of an abortion gone bad. Mia’s father, Bishop Bassanni forced himself on her one night, with pregnancy as a result. Because of the Church’s opposition to abortion, and the bishop’s refusal to give her money to travel to Greece, she went to the local “dentist” for the operation. She contracted an infection that attacked vital organs. She did not tell Felix this until just days before her death. She is buried in Rosarno under a false name. This became one more bitter outrage that Felix held against the authorities, who shortly after Mia’s death, arrested him and tried him for inciting a riot, public indecency, and slander of church and civic authorities in the “Malocchio di Amore” affair.
With the assistance of women of the village, Felix escaped from the jail house the night before the verdict was to be handed down. He confronted the bishop in his Pallazzo, and in a fit of revenge cut off the Bassanni’s ring finger. The finger, still wearing the bishop’s ring, was found nailed to the door of the “dentist” office with the inscription “Malocchio del Mia” above it. After spending the night with Maxine, Felix left for Naples, where he was able to stow away on a liner bound for the States.