Chap­ter 15: The Worm begins with Mrs. Fio­r­ia Caris­si­mi learn­ing about a shock­ing inci­dent involv­ing a Jew­ish store­keep­er and a deaf boy named Dodo from Vivana Agnel­lo, the pres­i­dent of the Vol­un­teer Women’s Asso­ci­a­tion. Vivana had spread a rumor that the Jew­ish fam­i­ly had hid­den Dodo in an attempt to extort mon­ey from the locals, yet para­dox­i­cal­ly, they had still called the police on him. Fio­r­ia, how­ev­er, remains large­ly indif­fer­ent to Vivana’s gos­sip, choos­ing to focus more on main­tain­ing her rela­tion­ships and sta­bil­i­ty with­in her com­mu­ni­ty rather than engag­ing with the scan­dal. Her prag­mat­ic nature and pref­er­ence for avoid­ing unnec­es­sary dra­ma come through clear­ly, espe­cial­ly when Vivana’s accu­sa­tions turn toward a fel­low Ital­ian, Euge­nio Fabi­cel­li, whom Vivana had con­demned for mak­ing poor busi­ness deci­sions. Fioria’s con­flict with Vivana over this accu­sa­tion fur­ther high­lights her incli­na­tion to avoid involv­ing her­self in oth­ers’ dis­putes.

Lat­er, dur­ing a con­ver­sa­tion with her friend Pia, anoth­er Sicil­ian woman, Fio­r­ia reflects on the events sur­round­ing the boy and the esca­lat­ing ten­sion in their neigh­bor­hood. Pia express­es frus­tra­tion over the idea of hid­ing chil­dren, espe­cial­ly giv­en their impov­er­ished cir­cum­stances, and seems con­cerned about the com­plex­i­ties of such deci­sions. Fio­r­ia pro­vides more insight, recount­ing the bits of infor­ma­tion she has gath­ered, includ­ing the pos­si­ble involve­ment of Doc Roberts in some unsa­vory deal­ings. Pia’s words imply that her rela­tion­ship with her hus­band, Mat­teo, is strained, with hints of deep­er con­flicts con­cern­ing the actions of local fig­ures. These sub­tle ref­er­ences to Pia’s trou­bled mar­riage and the con­nec­tion to the ongo­ing dra­ma sug­gest that ten­sions in their com­mu­ni­ty are not only fueled by the inci­dent with Dodo but also by per­son­al issues and unre­solved rela­tion­ships among the res­i­dents.

Fioria’s mater­nal instincts come to the fore­front as she grows increas­ing­ly wor­ried about her son, Enzo, becom­ing entan­gled in the chaos sur­round­ing Dodo’s sit­u­a­tion. Enzo’s close asso­ci­a­tion with Fat­ty, the town’s noto­ri­ous fig­ure, rais­es con­cerns for Fio­r­ia, who fears that his involve­ment could lead to trou­ble with the law. Her anx­i­ety inten­si­fies when she learns that the police had been called to a dis­tur­bance at the Jew­ish store, linked to Dodo’s case. In an effort to pro­tect her son, Fio­r­ia adopts a stern, author­i­ta­tive tone as she con­fronts Enzo, warn­ing him to avoid med­dling with the police and steer­ing clear of the mess that is devel­op­ing in their com­mu­ni­ty. Her pro­tec­tive nature dri­ves her to inter­vene, reflect­ing her desire to shield him from the poten­tial con­se­quences of these tumul­tuous events. Her actions show the lengths to which she is will­ing to go to main­tain peace and pro­tect her fam­i­ly.

The nar­ra­tive then shifts as Fio­r­ia arrives at Fatty’s jook joint, where she finds a group gath­ered to dis­cuss the grow­ing scan­dal. The scene is filled with ten­sion, as Fio­r­ia con­fronts her son and, in a dis­play of both mater­nal author­i­ty and cul­tur­al expec­ta­tions, scolds him for his involve­ment in the mess. The atmos­phere becomes a blend of humor and ten­sion, with Fio­r­ia express­ing her fears and frus­tra­tions in a man­ner that res­onates across cul­tur­al divides. Fat­ty, wit­ness­ing this exchange, becomes increas­ing­ly uneasy as he observes the pre­car­i­ous state of their com­mu­ni­ty. The gos­sip and rumors sur­round­ing the inci­dent at the Heav­en & Earth Gro­cery Store con­tin­ue to swirl, and Fat­ty, like oth­ers in the neigh­bor­hood, is con­cerned about the social frac­tures that are begin­ning to show. His grow­ing anx­i­ety under­scores the frag­ile bal­ance of their com­mu­ni­ty, as these pri­vate dis­putes begin to spill into the open, threat­en­ing the rela­tion­ships and alliances that hold it togeth­er.

The chap­ter, with its por­tray­al of Fioria’s pro­tec­tive instincts, encap­su­lates the intri­cate rela­tion­ships that define the com­mu­ni­ty. The clash of per­son­al inter­ests, com­mu­ni­ty dynam­ics, and cul­tur­al expec­ta­tions high­lights the broad­er soci­etal strug­gles at play. Fioria’s actions—her focus on main­tain­ing fam­i­ly sta­bil­i­ty, her inter­ven­tion with her son, and her indif­fer­ence to gossip—reflect the deep desire to pro­tect her loved ones from the chaos unfold­ing around them. The chap­ter also touch­es on themes of moth­er­hood, com­mu­ni­ty loy­al­ty, and the com­plex­i­ties of deal­ing with soci­etal dis­putes. As the ten­sion mounts, the char­ac­ters’ reac­tions reveal how per­son­al and col­lec­tive strug­gles inter­twine, par­tic­u­lar­ly in times of cri­sis. This chap­ter is a reminder of the weight of per­son­al respon­si­bil­i­ty, espe­cial­ly when it involves loved ones, and the del­i­cate bal­ance required to main­tain peace in a com­mu­ni­ty tee­ter­ing on the edge of con­flict.