The Good Left Undone(29)

Matelda put the bud back in her ear. She listened to her brother’s voice.

Hey, sis.

Pat told me you wanted the elephant story. I remember Nonno running around the room like a wild man acting it out. He wanted us to understand where the gems he cut came from, and how there were people who risked their lives to mine them. That was his point, I believe. I remember that he’d change things here and there just to keep it interesting.

Now about Nonno’s story. Okay, here goes. Here’s what I remember. It started with an elephant trapped inside a mine in India. Somehow she gets out. It was a she—her coat had been painted with red lines for a parade or something. I remember the part about what happened inside the mine because I imagined the layers of workers in the layers of earth like an ant farm with tunnels and curves stacked one upon the other.

Nonno described the great fire that collapsed the mine. Men tried to climb out. I can’t believe he told a couple of kids such a gruesome story, but what the hell? He did. We were different from the kids today. It’s all kitten stories now. Anyway, the elephant broke free. That was the happy part of the story. But I don’t remember where the elephant went. And I don’t know if the elephant died. The terrible part was the father and son who could not get out of the mine. Whoever dug the mine did not dig an adit, and the workers were trapped. The dangerous work they did provided beauty and value to the world, but they risked their lives to extract the stones. Was it worth it? How could it be? They died in the mine. I remember Nonno saying that a father will do anything to feed his family, and that always stuck with me.

Yeah, sis. That’s the part that always got me. It was dangerous, but it was worth risking their lives for food. I wish I remembered what happened to the elephant. Sorry about that. Oh yeah, I remember one more thing. Nonno said the miners were barefoot. That’s right. They didn’t have shoes or work boots. I can only imagine what it was like to walk over the sharp stones and rock walls in that mine where the tunnels went deep and on for miles. All for a ruby. Or rubies. The treasure they needed to eat. That’s all I got. I’m signing off. I hope this is what you’re looking for. Thanks for a nice visit. Who knows if we’ll ever get back there again? We’re getting up in years, Matelda. Sad, but this is the way of life. It ends as promised. Anyhow, it’s always good to come home and practice my Italian. It was good to see you and Olimpio and the kids.

“Nino doesn’t remember what happened to the elephant either.” Matelda took the buds out of her ears and placed them into the case. “He doesn’t sound like us at all anymore.”

“He sounds like an Italian American from New Jersey because that’s what he is. He’s lived there for fifty years. You are what you eat, where you live, and what you drive.”

“That’s a sad observation.” Matelda placed her phone on the nightstand. “That was disappointing.”

“At least he called you back. He was never going to write it down.”

“No, but he tried. He did something for me. That’s a first for my brother. I asked him to do something for me, and he did it.”

“You’ve let go of the old grudges. You two are getting along now.”

“We are, aren’t we?” Matelda had worked hard at releasing any resentment she had for Nino. He had pulled many stunts over the years. Nino hadn’t taken responsibility for his role in the tumult; instead, he blamed Matelda. Nino accused his sister of stealing his father’s fortune. He sued her for the profits from the sale of the storefront in Viareggio. She gave Nino half of the money, even though it was she and Olimpio who worked in the business. Nino claimed he wasn’t consulted and therefore the building should not have been sold. Nino asked for the original drawings of their grandfather’s designs; she sent them when he assured her there was a university that had inquired about them, only for him to turn around and sell them to a fine jewelry outfit in New Jersey. Matelda had to buy the drawings back to keep them in the family when Nino refused to do so. He didn’t care about family history, though he moved to America with a loan from Cabrelli Jewelers. He made a killing manufacturing crystal embellishments used on handbags and shoes. He never repaid the loan. There were years when brother and sister did not speak to each other. Matelda and Olimpio were not invited to his daughter Anna’s wedding because Nino was furious at his sister over something she could no longer remember. Patrizia could not convince Nino to come to Nicolina’s wedding, because she and Olimpio had not attended their daughter’s wedding. Finally, Olimpio and Patrizia called a truce between the brother and sister. Fingers crossed it would last until the end of their lives.

“Nino is a tit-for-tat person. He always has been. It’s only lately that his primary emotion is not anger. Maybe he is on some kind of medication.”

“Maybe he’s tired of fighting.” Olimpio offered.

“I don’t think our problems were about Papa. Nino might have resented how close I was to my mother. Maybe he had a problem with us living in this house with my parents. Maybe he wanted the house.”

“We paid him for his portion.”

“He has plenty of money. There’s a hole in my brother that nothing can fill. Unfortunately, he thinks I dug it.”

“You know, Matelda? Maybe he just didn’t like your face.”

“That’s it!” Matelda laughed. “That only took you fifty years.”