One Step to You (The Rome Novels #1)(22)

At that moment, Step pulled away. Babi stood there for an instant like that, mouth open, eyes shut, dreaming. Then she suddenly opened them.

Step was standing in front of her, arms crossed. He was smiling. He shook his head. “Babi, Babi. This isn’t right. I’m a pig, a wild animal, a filthy beast, a violent thug. That’s what you say, you never tire of repeating it, but then, in the end, you give in…You’re willing to let me kiss you. You see the way you are? You’re full of contradictions!”

Babi went beet red with rage. “You really are an asshole!” She started pounding him with a hail of punches.

Step did his best to ward off her fists as he laughed. “You know what you reminded me of, earlier? A goldfish I had when I was little. You were just standing there with your mouth open, gasping. Just like the goldfish whenever I changed the water and he fell out into the sink. Ouch, that’s enough.”

Babi had hit him dead center with her fist.

Step touched his cheek, amused. “You know that’s wrong, don’t you? Nothing good ever came of violence. You’re always telling me that! It’s not as if I’m going to kiss you if you beat me. I might, if you promise you’re not going to report me to the police…”

“Oh, but I am going to report you to the police. And how! You’ll see. You’ll wind up behind bars, I can swear to that.”

“I already told you that you should never swear to anything. You never know what’s going to happen in life…”

Babi hurried away. The jacket rode up as she went, revealing an attractive derriere covered by a skimpy pair of light-colored panties. She tried to cover herself as she inserted the wrong key in the front door.

“Hey, I want my jacket back now.”

Babi glared at him furiously. She took off the jacket and threw it on the ground. She stood there in bra and panties, in the cold, with tears in her eyes. Step looked at her appreciatively. She had a nice little body. He picked up the jacket and put it on.

Babi cursed those keys. Where was the one to the front door?

Step lit a cigarette. Maybe he’d made a mistake when he decided not to kiss her. Oh well, it would be for some other time.

At last, Babi found the key, opened the door, and went through.

Step walked toward her. “Well, little fish, aren’t you going to give me a kiss good night?”

Babi practically slammed the door in his face. Through the glass, Step couldn’t hear what she was saying but had no trouble reading her lips. She was advising him or, really, ordering him to go straight to a place far underground. He watched her stomp away. Then he started his motorcycle and rode away.

Babi slowly opened the door to the apartment, slipped inside, and shut it behind her without making a sound. She tiptoed down the hallway. From the living room came the unmistakable colorful glow of the television set. Her father was sitting there. He was watching a fat man with a mustache discussing interesting topics with a number of unfamiliar characters. He was the same man who appeared in a commercial for a brand of shirts, wishing everyone could have one. She wondered if the people talking to him knew that. How can you take someone seriously who goes on TV and says, “Happy new shirt to you all”? Her father took the guy seriously. He seemed to be fascinated by him. Maybe he’d even bought one of those shirts.

Babi silently walked around behind his back. The guy on television, dabbing at a spot of sweat, pointed at her father and said, “And now a message from our sponsors.” Maybe tomorrow Claudio would buy something else.

Babi opened the door to her room and slipped inside. Safe and sound!

Pallina turned on the little lamp on the nightstand. “Babi, it’s you! What a relief, I was so worried! What are you doing tricked out like that? Did Step take your clothes off?”

Babi looked in her dresser drawer for her nightgown. “I wound up falling in manure!”

Pallina sniffed the air. “You’re right, I can smell it. You can’t imagine how scared I was when I saw the police come!”

Babi silenced her with a frosty glare. “Pallina, I don’t ever want to hear another word about Pollo, races, or anything else like it. You hear me? And for right now, you’d probably better just keep your mouth shut, or I’ll kick you out of my bed and make you sleep on the floor or, actually, I’ll just kick you out on the street!”

“You’d never do it!”

“You want to test me?”

Pallina looked at her. She decided she’d better not try and find out. Babi walked away, heading for the bathroom.

“Babi.”

“What is it?”

“Tell the truth though. You had the time of your life with Step, didn’t you?”





Chapter 7



A persistent noise. The alarm clock.

Pallina turned it off. She slipped out of bed without making a sound and got dressed. She looked down at Babi. She’d barely moved and was still fast asleep, belly-up.

Pallina walked over to the little wooden bookcase on the wall full of cassette tapes. Boy George, Supertramp, Elton John, Michael Jackson, New Kids on the Block, U2, and Duran Duran. It needed to be something really special.

There it was. She slid the tape out of the bookcase. She pushed the STOP-EJECT button. A slowly grinding electric motor opened the gaping mouth of a rectangular Aiwa tape deck nearby. Pallina slid the cassette tape into the slot and shut it again.