“You never forgot her, did you?” My question is more a statement than a question.
“You can’t ever forget someone like that,” admits Max. “But it’s the harsh law of the village: As kids it seems like the whole world is here. Friends that meet every day; Wednesday nights watching Real Madrid matches on the TV at the bar; the summers, when the most important event of the week is the open-air cinema in the parish courtyard; racing up and down the hills two at a time on our Ciao bikes without helmets. When someone came back from Florence with a pair of Roy Rogers, he was so cool, a rock star. People talked about him for a week. Those years seem never-ending, like nothing will change, and you’ll all be friends until you’re old. Then it happens.”
“What happens?”
“One after another, they all leave, and when you run into them later, you’re missing something. Just like you, before, with Margherita and Lapo. I saw it on your face.”
“I didn’t have any face,” I reply, even though Max’s speech touched a nerve I didn’t think I had.
“The beautiful ones go home rich,” says Luciano, winning a third game. “And with your ugly faces, there was no competition.”
Vanni deals another round of cards. This time he trumps clubs, and in my hand I have the ace and the three.
“In life, it’s better to have remorse than regret,” reasons Max. “Remorse is over something you regret having done. Regret, on the other hand, is about the things you never did, all lost to time.”
As we continue to play one round after another, I notice Elisa and Elmo coming out of the bakery, his hand on her back. “Maremma impestata ladra!” I blurt out, dropping my ace with a violence that makes the cards on the table jump.
“Oh, you old farts, in less than an hour, he’s already become as bad as the rest of you!” the bartender remarks, hearing me.
“No, no, he’s bothered about his own problem,” says Luciano.
Irritated for no apparent reason, I stare at the edge of the table and force myself not to follow Elisa with my gaze and—dammit—I couldn’t have made a bigger mistake as to where to look.
Michael + Elisa Friends 4 Ever
The crooked letters we scratched into the plastic table with the tab of a can, now tattooed in my brain. It’s barely legible, but to me it’s like a neon sign.
“This hand is mine!” I exult. I count the points, and I hit the jackpot. “Sorry for putting you to shame! Gentlemen, it’s been a pleasure. Whenever you need a fourth, you can find me at Le Giuggiole. Now, I regret to say I must be off,” I excuse myself, with fire under my shoes. “Oh, who wins with clubs?” I ask, turning back toward the trio.
A satisfied grin appears on Vanni’s face. “With clubs? Fools win!”
Not this time.
Where the hell did Elisa go?
20
Elisa
I swear I’ll get Mamma back for this. I don’t know how yet, but I’ll find a way.
This morning Elmo invited me to go for an aperitif when I was done in the vineyard. I told him I was supposed to help Mamma with the vegetable garden, but she interjected and insisted she’d do it herself.
She ignored my pleading look that saidPlease don’t do this to me, and told us we should go to dinner as well.
“Elisa really needs to relax,” she said. “She’s always working so hard in the vineyard.”
And now here I am with Elmo, sitting at the village bakery, stuffing myself with pretzels while he monologues. It started the moment he picked me up—in his hearse, a brand-new Maserati—and it hasn’t stopped yet.
“So, I said to my father: ‘Let’s expand. Italy is full of funeral parlors, but how many specialize in extra-luxury services?’”
“I don’t—”
But he doesn’t even give me time to finish the sentence. “So I opened a parlor in Forte dei Marmi. We had to invest quite a bit, but a good entrepreneur always knows how to evaluate risks and benefits.”
He’s overflowing with self-satisfaction: “Did you hear that Saverio Colli & Figlio was just mentioned in an article inLa Nazione? Did you know our cinerary urns come straight from Japan?”
While he talks to himself, I keep my gaze fixed behind him, beyond the window, where in the distance I can see the table where Michael and Intemerata are sitting.
