Chicago was a busy town.  Not like the busy towns back home in Colorado- even the biggest towns there were more relaxed in pace.  No, Chicago was a whole different kind of busy.  

One of the first things she'd done upon arriving in Chicago was to take a taxi east of the city to a beach on Lake Michigan and put her feet in the water. She'd never seen a body of water so big.  The whole thing still felt like a vacation sometimes, even though this was her new life.  Or was it so new?  

Organized crime had never been far from her, though she never knew much about it.  The weeks after the death of her mother had proved to be very "educational" for Stella, who had come to learn that her father used to be a bookie in New York before he turned information over to the Feds in exchange for protection.  That is what prompted him to move himself and his stripper wife to Colorado Springs.  Even after "they" found him and killed him, her mother worked at a strip joint run by some gangsters.  From birth till the age of 14, she was surrounded by money and drugs without even knowing it.  All Stella DiVasio knew was that she didn't have many friends, and being a teenager wasn't much fun.  Then, everything changed.  

Before Stella was able to pen a letter, word reached her godmother of the death of her mother.  Somewhow, Sofia seemed to know everything as soon as it happened.  She knew about her father's death, and sent Stella a check for $20,000 with strict instructions to keep it from her mother.  When her Mom overdosed and died, Sofia sent another check for $50,000 to help Stella get by.  She was only 14, after all.  Even though Stella never met her godmother, they were rather close through letters exchanged over the years.  She knew that Sofia was a very wealthy woman in Sicily who owned a winery and vineyard, and that Sofia had never had children of her own. Sofia had taken a special interest in Stella, and had hoped that she would find a way to rise above her less-than-fortunate upbringing from her less-than-desirable parents.  Thanks to Sofia's help, Stella managed to keep the house she grew up in until she graduated from high school.  She even went to a business school for a few years after, but left before graduation when the Feds found out that her parents were dead.  That was when she decided to leave Colorado and find something new for herself.  Ending up in Chicago was due to nothing more than a special fare offering at the Colorado Springs bus station.  

Sofia died when Stella was 20.  It upset Stella greatly, because she had hoped to meet her mysterious and generous godmother.  Instead, early one morning, a man in a suit knocked on the door of Stella's room in the boarding house on the West end of Chicago.  He handed Stella a folded document in a blue sleeve and informed her that she was the sole beneficiary of the late Sofia Maria Viacelli.  He then handed her a package, tipped his hat, and walked away.  

At that point, Stella was working as a waitress at one of the hundred diners in the area.  On that particular day, she was working the afternoon shift, so she had time to look through the package.  Inside the box, arranged right on top, was a leather-bound journal with the initials SMV on the front.  Stella flipped through the pages just enough to realize that it was Sofia's journal, which she decided to start reading after work.  Next, There was a thick envelope with her name on it.  Inside, there was a checkbook, a key, and a letter with information about a bank account that had been established in her name.  The checkbook was attached to that account, and from the amount listed on the initial deposit slip, the checks would run out long before the money would. The key went to a lock box at the Chicago Central State Bank. So much for that afternoon shift.  With trembling hands, she continued looking through the contents of the package.  There was a photo of two women in a beautiful, silver frame.  She knew the younger woman on the right was her godmother Sofia; and she would later learn that the older woman on the left was Sofia's aunt, Regina.  Holding that photo in her hands, Stella felt as if she were actually part of something now- something bigger than anything her parents could have ever dreamed of.  Finally, at the bottom of the package, a final letter- this one from Sofia.  The handwriting was shaky and uneven; not the usual flowing cursive from other letters.  

Stella, 
You have the world at your fingertips.  Never settle for less than you are worth- your heart is pure gold.  You've got more brains in one finger than anyone you've ever met.  Now, you are a Viacelli woman- be exquisite, proud, and strong.  I know you can.  

Love, 
Sofia

By the end of the letter, Stella was in tears.  In losing her godmother, she had gained so much- but now felt more alone than she did before.  Stella spent the next few hours pouring over Sofia's journal.  Eventually, she went downstairs to the lobby and used the phone to call the diner and tell them that she wouldn't be returning.  Back upstairs, she got out of her work clothes, tossed them in the trash, and got back into her nightgown with the journal.  Stella had much to learn, and much to do.