“Yeah, of course. We want this to be a good thing for you,” said Ale.
“Like it has been for us,” said Leo.
“Look, guys. We have to talk about this.”
“Totally. We figured we could do a quick meeting with Ani while we’re here,” said Ale.
“And Teena. She said she was talking to you about how to spin the whole thing anyway, so we’ll use whatever story you cook up,” said Leo.
“I’m not using any story. There’s not going to be any cooking or spinning or whatever else.”
“Yeah, man, see? We knew you’d be a pro at this. Truth, brother!”
“Wait, hang on,” Cris said, pulling both of his hands off the steering wheel like he was trying to stop traffic, then clamping them backdown again. “Guys, listen. I need you to understand something. I really appreciate what you’re trying to do for me. I know you really want me to do this show, and it’s an incredible opportunity.”
“You did so much for us,” Leo said. “Remember? You drove us to practice—”
“And made sure we studied,” said Ale.
“You had to study or you’d be cut from the team,” said Cris.
“Okay, well, you were the one who told us about sex.”
“No, I told you that if Mom figured out how to monitor the browsing history on the computers in your room, she would shut off internet access until you were old enough to vote.”
“Same thing. You were there for us. We know it,” said Ale.
“We know you stepped up for us after Dad died. We want to step up for you.”
Cris took a deep breath. “I know. I know how lucky I am. But it’s not what I want. I have a different idea about what I want to do in the next part of my life and the show is not part of it.”
“Yeah, we actually had a feeling you might say that,” said Leo.
“We’re not going to be able to change your mind, are we?” Ale asked.
“Not likely. I’ve got a few things already in motion for my future, plus I have a plan to talk about what happened in the past. I am not running away from the issue, but when it’s done, so am I.”
Ale and Leo looked at each other.
“Is this the thing aboutGames Over?” Leo asked. “She’s here, right?”
“How is Ellie? We heard about her show getting canceled. Autogrill!” Ale said, his attention caught by a sign on the highway. “Let’s stop! I’m starving.”
“Those sandwiches! Holy shit, it’s been forever since we had one of those!” Leo grinned in the rearview.
“It’s not canceled. She’s taking a break. You’ll see her later if you want to ask her about it,” Cris said, pulling off the autostrada and into the parking lot of the Autogrill rest area. Autogrill was the king of road food in Italy, a country with more highway rest stops per kilometer than any other in Europe. Most Italians believed that needing to eat a sandwich at an Autogrill meant you’d failed to manage some crucial aspect of your schedule for the day, but tourists typically took one look at the gigantic panini made with crusty bread and stuffed withspeck,prosciutto crudo, fontina cheese, or fresh mozzarella and thought they hit the culinary jackpot. Cris wouldn’t think of doing anything at an Autogrill other than peeing. For the twins who left Italy when they were four and were decidedly more American than Italian, Autogrill still held charm.
“You don’t want anything?” Leo turned to ask Cris before paying for two panini, a bag of black-olivetarallibiscuits, a three-foot-long roll of Ringo sandwich cookies, two bottles of San Pellegrino, and a package of Pocket Coffee, the famous espresso-filled chocolates that packed a thirty-milligram punch of caffeine to keep drivers awake.
“I’m good,” Cris said, heading outside to one of the picnic tables under a metal awning. Ale followed with a tray containing half of the haul. Cris eyed the tray, wondering how many dietitians at the training center would go into convulsions just looking at what these two monsters were about to eat.
“I’m only going to eat half of this,” said Ale.
“Sure.”
“Okay, so go back. We were about to get into the Ellie conversation,” Leo said, dropping his tray next to Ale’s.
“There’s not much to tell,” Cris lied. “Her show can give me the chance to set the record straight, and I have a story that can help her prove she’s still the best at what she does. We’re old friends who both need something the other one has and realized this would be a mutually beneficial situation.”
