One Step to You (The Rome Novels #1)(13)

“Oh, really? Well, I don’t give a damn. Serves him right. Maybe getting beat up will teach him to mind his own business, for once. He’s always meddling. He always wants to have his say.”

Dario lit a cigarette. “I agree. In fact, why don’t you give Step my thanks? Although if I was the one who’d headbutted him, it would have been a bad situation for me.” Dario burst out laughing.

Gloria took a drag and then glanced at Babi with a smile. “So, what, are you dating Step?”

“Me? What, are you crazy? I’ve got to go, take care. I need to find Pallina.”

Babi kept on walking. Finally, she saw one of Step’s friends. He was sitting on a powerful motorcycle, chatting cheerfully with a young woman whom he held tightly between his legs. The young woman was wearing a navy-blue baseball cap with a visor and the NY logo in front. Her black hair, tied in a ponytail, stuck out the back of the cap, through the space above the strap. She was wearing a jacket with patent leather white sleeves, like the typical American cheerleader. Her Camomilla double belt, a pair of dark blue leggings, and a pair of Superga shoes in the same shade made her look a bit more Italian.

That lunatic who kept laughing and twisting her head around to kiss him every so often was her best friend Pallina! She’d finally found her. Babi walked over to her.

Pallina saw her coming. “Hey, ciao, what a surprise!” She ran straight over and threw her arms around her. “I’m so happy that you came.”

“Not me. In fact, I can’t wait to get out of here!”

“Then what are you doing here? Didn’t you say that only idiots go to the races?”

“In fact, you’re definitely an idiot. I came to tell you that your mother called my house to check up on you.”

“No! What did you tell her?”

“That you were asleep and couldn’t come to the phone,” Babi said.

“And she believed you?”

“Yes.”

Pallina whistled. “That’s lucky!”

“Yes, but she said that tomorrow morning she’s going to come by and pick you up early because you’re going to have to get some blood work done, so you’ll be missing our first class.”

Pallina leaped for joy. “Yahooo!” Her enthusiasm soon waned, however, the minute she remembered their weekly schedule. “Couldn’t she have made it Friday, when I have Italian?”

“Well, whatever, she’s coming by to pick you up at seven so make sure you get back early, okay?”

Pallina locked arms with Babi and dragged her over and introduced her to Pollo.

“What time are you guys going to be done here?” Babi asked.

Pollo smiled at Babi, who greeted him with some reserve.

“Early, at the very latest, two o’clock, and this will all be done. Then we can go get a nice hot pizza, right?” Pollo asked.

Pallina looked at her girlfriend eagerly. “Come on, don’t worry. Won’t you come get a pizza with us?”

“Pizza? No, I’m tired, and I want to go home,” Babi said.

“Don’t be such a pain in the neck!” Pallina said.

Pollo smiled and lit a cigarette. “Come on, Step will be there too. He’ll be happy to see you.”

“Yes, but I’m going home. Pallina, try to get in early. I don’t want to get in trouble with your mother on your account.”

Babi looked at Pallina, shook her head, and then turned away. She noticed a plaque nearby on the ground, right on the edge of the road. In the center, there was a photograph of a young man, and next to that picture was a circle, half in black and half in white, with two dots of the opposite color in the two different halves. The duality of life. That same life the young man no longer possessed.

“How am I supposed to like a place like this? Bouquets everywhere to commemorate where young people were killed in crashes, for no good reason, for no real benefit. They just died for fun.” Babi realized that the flowers were the reason they called this the Greenhouse.

She walked over to the plaque and read the words that someone had etched into the wood.

HE WAS STRONG AND HE WAS FAST, BUT THE LORD ALMIGHTY WASN’T KIND TO HIM. HE WOULDN’T LET HIM HAVE A REMATCH.

—HIS FRIENDS



“Nice friends. And they think they’re poets! I’d rather be all alone in life than have a bunch of friends who help me to kill myself.”

Babi turned on her heel and started to leave. But a hand stopped her.

“Why is it that you always seem to be picking fights with everyone?”

It was Step. Standing motionless, facing her with his brazen smile, and his motorcycle nearby. “Is it really possible that you can’t manage to get along with anyone? You really have a difficult personality, you know that?”

“It just so happens that I get along with everyone. I’ve never had occasion to argue or fight in my life, but that may be because I’ve always associated with a certain level of person. And lately, it turns out, I’ve started mixing with a lower quality of individual, and I’d put the blame on someone in particular…”

She gave Pallina an allusive glance, causing her friend to roll her eyes and heave a sigh of annoyance. “I knew it. No matter how you spin the dice, it always turns out to be my fault.”

“Well, I mean, didn’t I have to come down here to warn you?” Babi asked.