One Step to You (The Rome Novels #1)(75)

“No, seriously, I’m fine.”

“All right, if you say so. Nice game, huh?”

“Wonderful!” Claudio smiled and then he started to shut the car door. Suddenly, someone started shouting.

“Claudio, wait!” It was Francesca. “What are you doing, leaving without even saying goodbye?”

Claudio apologized. “You’re right. It was just that so many things happened all at once.”

Francesca pushed her head in the car and gave him a kiss on the lips. Then she pulled away and smiled at him. “All right then, ciao. See you around. Come see me sometime. I’m always here.”

Claudio looked at her, stunned. “Sure I will.”

Then he shut the door, started the car, and pulled away. He opened the car window. The cool night air was pleasant. He pushed a cassette tape into the stereo and lit a cigarette.

Then, completely drunk, he slammed both hands hard on the steering wheel. “Wow! Fuck, what a shot! And what a babe…”

Suddenly he felt happy in a way he hadn’t in a long, long time. Then, as he got closer to home, he grew sad again. He started trying to think of what he could tell Raffaella. He pulled into the garage, still undecided about the official version to supply.

Backing into that narrow space, already difficult when sober, proved impossible when drunk. As he got out of the car, he looked at the scratch along the side and the Vespa knocked over against the wall. He lifted it upright, apologizing aloud. “Poor Princess Savina, I dented your Vespa.”

Then he went upstairs. Raffaella was there, waiting for him. It was the worst interrogation of his life, worse than the third degree in a cop movie. Raffaella was playing bad cop and nothing else. The good cop, the one who acts like your friend and offers you a glass of water or a cigarette, that role had been abolished in this movie.

“Well, do you mind telling me how it went? Come on, tell the story!”

“It went fine. In fact, it went fantastic. Step is a very decent guy, deep down, a good boy. There’s nothing to worry about.”

“What do you mean, there’s nothing to worry about? He broke Accado’s nose.”

“Oh, maybe he was provoked. How are we supposed to know? Plus, Raffaella, let’s face facts. Accado is a real pain in the ass…”

“What are you talking about? Didn’t you tell him to stay away from our daughter, that he can’t see her, talk to her, or go pick her up at school?”

“Well, no, actually, we never got to that point.”

“Then what did you say to him? What have you done all evening? It’s midnight!”

Claudio gave in and confessed. “We played pool. Just think, sweetheart, we beat a couple of boasters! I sank the last two balls. I even won a hundred thousand lire. Cool, right?”

“Cool? You’re the same idiot as always, you’re incompetent. You’re drunk, you reek of tobacco, and you didn’t even manage to put that criminal in his place.” Raffaella left the room, furious.

Claudio made one last effort to calm her down. “Raffaella, wait!”

“What now?”

“Step says that he’ll go to university.”

Raffaella slammed the door and locked herself in her bedroom.

Not even that last lie had done a bit of good.





Chapter 31



And you won?” Pollo couldn’t believe his ears.

“We took two hundred thousand lire off them!”

“I can’t believe it. So this guy, Babi’s father, is actually a nice guy?”

“He’s incredible! Just think, Francesca told me that she really likes him.”

“He struck me as a loser.”

“Why, when have you ever seen him?”

“When I went back to your house to pick up the dog.”

“Ah, right. By the way, how is Arnold doing?”

“Just great. Believe me, that dog is really intelligent. I’m sure that, before long, I can teach him to fetch and retrieve. The other day I was out front, I threw a stick, and he went and got it.”

Step stopped in front of an apartment house door. “We’re here. Listen, don’t make a ruckus.”

Pollo glared at him. “Why, do I usually make a ruckus?”

“You always do.”

“Oh, really? You know, I just came along to do you a favor.”

They went up to the fourth floor. Babi was babysitting Giulio, the Mariani child, five years old and hair as fair as his skin.

Babi was waiting for him at the door.

“Ciao.” Step kissed her.

She was a little surprised to see Pollo too. He muttered something that must have been meant as a “ciao” and then sat right down on the sofa, next to the little boy. He changed the channel in search of something better than those stupid Japanese cartoons.

Giulio, of course, promptly objected but Pollo tried to persuade him. “No, believe me, now they’re going to show even better ones. Now you’re going to see the flying turtles.” Giulio fell for it hook, line, and sinker. He sat watching the soccer postgame show in silence, trusting that turtles would start flying any second.

Babi went into the kitchen with Step. “Do you mind telling me why you brought him?”

“I don’t know, he kind of insisted. Pollo has a weak spot for little kids.”