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thousand years. We have more than any other city in the world, did you know
that?" "No. I have very little to read, Luigi. If I had some money then I
could buy books, then I could read and learn such things." "I'll have the
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money at lunch." "And where is lunch?" "Ristorante Cesarina, Via San Stefano,
one o'clock?" "How can I refuse?" Luigi was sitting with a woman at a table
near the front of the restaurant when Marco entered, five minutes early. A
serious conversation had just been interrupted. The woman stood, reluctantly,
and offered a limp hand and a somber face as Luigi introduced her as Signora
Francesca Ferro. She was attractive, in her mid-forties, perhaps a bit too old
for
Luigi, who tended to gawk at the university girls. She radiated an air of
sophisticated irritation. Marco wanted to say: Excuse me, but I was invited
here for lunch. As they settled into their seats Marco noticed what was left
of two fully smoked cigarettes in the ashtray. Luigi his water glass was
almost completely empty. The two had been sitting there for at least twenty
minutes. In very deliberate Italian, Luigi said to Marco, "Signora Ferro is a
language teacher and a local guide." Pause, to which Marco offered a weak
"Si." He glanced at the signora and smiled, to which she responded with a
forced smile of her own.
She appeared to be bored with him already. Luigi continued in Italian. "She is
your new Italian teacher. Ermanno will teach you in the mornings, and Signora
Ferro in the after noons." Marco understood all of it. He managed a fake smile
in her directio n and said, "Va bene." That's good
.
"Ermanno wants to resume his studies at the university next week," Luig i said
.
"I thought so," Marco said in English
.
Francesca fired up another cigarette and crunched her full red lips around it
.
She exhaled a huge cloud of smoke and said, "So, how is your Italian?" I
t was a rich, almost husky voice, one no doubt enriched by years of smoking
.
Her English was slow, very refined, and without an accent
.
"Terrible," Marco said
.
"He's doing fine," Luigi said. The waiter delivered a bottle of mineral wate r
and handed over three menus. La signora disappeared behind hers. Marc o
followed her lead. A long silent spell followed as they contemplated foo d and
ignored each other
.
When the menus finally came down she said to Marco, "I'd like to hear yo u
order in Italian.
"
"No problem," he said. He'd found some things he could pronounce withou t
drawing laughter. The waiter appeared with his pen and Marco said, "Si
, allora, vorrei un'insalata di pomodori, e una mezza porzione di lasagna.
"
Yes, okay, I'd like a salad with tomatoes and a half portion of lasagna. Onc e
again he was very thankful for transatlantic goodies such as spaghetti
, lasagna, ravioli, and pizza
.
"Non c'e male," she said. Not bad
.
She and Luigi stopped smoking when the salads arrived. Eating gave them a
break in the awkward conversation. No wine was ordered, though much wa s
needed
.
His past, her present, and Luigi's shadowy occupation were all off-limits, s o
they bobbed and weaved through the meal with light talk about the weather
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, almost all of it mercifully in English
.
When the espressos were finished Luigi grabbed the check and they hurrie d
from the restaurant. In the process, and while Francesca wasn't looking, h e
slid an envelope to Marco and whispered, "Here are some euros.
"
"Grazie.
"
The snow was gone, the sun was up and bright. Luigi left them at the Piazz a
Maggiore and vanished, as only he could do. The y
walked in silence for a while, until she said, "Che cosa vorrebbe vedere?"
What would you like to see? Marco had yet to step inside the main cathedral,
the
Basilica di San Petronio. They walked to its sweeping front steps and stopped.
"It's both beautiful and sad," she said in English, with the first hint of a
British accent. "It was conceived by the city council as a civic temple, not a
cathedral, in direct opposition to the pope in Rome. The original design was
for it to be even larger than Saint Peter's Cathedral, but along the way the
plans fell short.
Rome opposed it, and diverted money elsewhere, some of which went to the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]