An Angel Knocks on Hells Door
by Suzé DiPietro
Category: Fiction

An Angel Knocks on Hells Door is a riveting story of a young girls perilous journey into womanhood. When sixteen-year-old Gia discovers her father with another woman and reveals his betrayal to her family, he deserts them. They lose everything, plummeting from a comfortable middle-class existence into a neighborhood rife with crime, gangs, racial tension and drugs. It is there that the stage is set for Gia to come of age under the obsessive sexual attentions of a neighborhood gang leader. Suffering from the belief that she is guilty of having shattered her family and that she has become a loose woman, she is convinced that she is condemned to hell. Her sins are so great in her eyes that she can never confess them to a priest or anyone for that matter. And if you cant confess, you cant be forgiven. This is the story of Gias battle, triumph and salvation from hell -- without ever confessing a thing to a priest. Insecure and reeling from the departure of her husband, Gias mother is not prepared to raise her three children and support her mother. Unable to accept her leadership role, she emotionally abandons her family in favor of her new boyfriend. The children are left under the watchful eye of Nanny, her mother, who is nicknamed The Iron Lady. Nanny is a tough, no-nonsense woman with a rough-edged sense of humor. She is caught between protecting her grandchildren and risking her already fragile relationship with her daughter. Keenly aware that her family is dangerously close to self-destructing, she fears losing them to their personal demons: Tony to gangs, drugs and drinking; Mario, inwardly, to the solitary pursuit of running; and Gia to sexual awakening. The stakes are raised when Gia, the object of obsession for Nicky, a neighborhood Greek gang leader, unknowingly rebuffs him in favor of his younger brother. A ballistic Nicky rapes her, warning her that if she tells anyone, he will kill her and her family. Obsessed with controlling her, he takes over every facet of her life, from choosing what she wears, chauffeuring her to and from school, to physically and emotionally assaulting her if she doesnt do as he says. If Gia thought she was knocking on Hells door before, she is absolutely certain that Satan has answered it in the form of Nicky. A man of starkly contrasting dark and light personality traits, Nicky alternately abuses Gia and treats her like a princess. All the while he asserts, You will love me. Despite her initial fear and hatred of him, she slowly, and with much guilt and confusion, finds herself drawn to him both emotionally and physically. She struggles to understand how she can possibly love the devil unless shes evil too. This sets her on a treacherous pilgrimage of self-discovery. What she comes to realize is that in order to face Nicky, she has to face herself, even if she doesnt like what she sees. And sometimes the devil teaches us lessons that we dont want to learn but must learn in order to survive. Gia discovers exactly what she represents to Nicky and it involves more than just sex. He uses her as his sword against his controlling parents, his arranged marriage and his impending return to Greece. Gia's story ends in a stunning climax, surprising to both her and Nicky.