I looked at the nearby tombs. Most of the pictures portrayed the victims in their youth. I didn’t know if this was because they’d actually died young or because these were the only photos the bereaved could find.
But each face seemed not much older than Jonah’s.
“It must be a relief,” I said.
Daniel squinted at me.
“How do you mean?” he said.
“To the families. Just to know the dead are not alone,” I said. “They have a whole town. They have one another.”
Capo crossed himself before he walked back to the bus and started it up again. Paul and Archie put their equipment down and took their seats. We rode for the next few hours in silence, and finally, in the early afternoon, the buspulled up to the outskirts of Siracusa, unable to go farther due to the narrow roads.
Daniel and I stepped out with our bags. The film crew stood surrounded by dollys, mics, and lens shades, like castaways with no tools useful for survival. I walked up to them.
“What are you guys filming, anyway?” I said.
They looked at each other. Then Paul stepped forward.
“We don’t really know,” he said. “Some kind of Italian nature show. But we haven’t heard from the client in days. Instructions have been a little loose.”
I looked them over. The beginning of an idea was coming to me.
“How would you gentlemen like some side work?” I said.
35
Bringing on a film crew for no specific reason was my first mistake. Turning my phone back on was my second. As we crossed the Ponte Umbertino, a bridge into the historic quarter of Siracusa, Daniel was asking a lot of questions about the first of these decisions.
“What are we going to use those guys for?” he said. “I thought this was just for us. Seriously, Tess, why did you ask them? I don’t understand it.”
Meanwhile, I watched the message app on my phone explode with angry texts. I opened it up and glanced at the feed. I saw phrases like “calling the embassy” and “have him arrested.” And farther toward the top. “I’m afraid for you, Tess. I’m not sure you’re thinking clearly.” I tuned back to Daniel, who was chattering away beside me.
“...just don’t want to do anything over the top like your dad does. This isn’t some customer we’re trying to dupe;Jonah was our friend. It just doesn’t feel right to do some kind of gimmicky thing—”
“Excuse me,” I said.
“What?” he said.
Below us, on the reflective water of an inlet, some tied-up kayaks drifted into one another.
“What the hell did you just say?”
Daniel took his sunglasses off to wipe them on his shirt. His eyes squinted in the sun. He shifted his duffel bag to his other shoulder and avoided looking at me.
“I’m just saying I don’t know why you asked that film crew—”
“After that.”
He sighed.
“Look, Tess. I like your dad. He’s cool and weird, but his ideas are kind of ridiculous. You can see that, right? I just don’t want Jonah’s thing to be a joke like that.”
My throat was tightening. I felt my fist clench at my side.
“Mamie’s funeral was a joke to you?”
“The one with thestrippers?”
