A Few Drops of Blood (18 page)

“Back then?” Lola squealed, indignant. “He started whoring around on her at their wedding and didn’t let up. She toughed it out, but it couldn’t have been fun.”

The intensity of their young passion for one another—Suzanna’s and Ernesto’s—had actually alarmed Natalia at the time.

“She ask anything specific about him?” Natalia said.

“Wanted to know whether I thought Ernesto had done that to those two queers who turned up in Contessa Cavazza’s garden.”

“And you said?”

“That I didn’t know, but a good many suspected him of being behind it.” Lola lit a cigarette. “She said it would be tragic if that was true.”

Natalia looked puzzled. “Of all the people he’s done away with, why would she express regret about these particular two?”

“Beats me,” Lola said. “Pass the olive oil, please.”

Via Toledo was giddy with heat. One end of the busy avenue tilted up to Capodimonte, the other down to the harbor, changing names along the way. Natalia and Pino stood at the intersection of Cavour and Santa Teresda degli Scalza before it morphed into Via Pessina. Here the stairs angled into the hill, and alleys cut into it like strands of a spider’s web.

The light changed, and the couple headed north, moving with the crowds up the slope. Silver hubcaps glinted outside auto repair shops where men sat coated in grease, smoking. Canaries sang in cages set out on the sidewalk. Within a few blocks, Natalia was out of breath from the climb.

“I’m out of shape,” she said.

“I love your shape,” Pino said.

“That’s very forward of you, Sergeant Loriano.”

He kissed her neck as they waited to cross yet another street.

“Stop it.”

“What if I refuse?”

“Insubordination, Sergeant. I can write you up.”

“I’m on leave, remember? Any other reason I shouldn’t display my affection?”

“We’re in public.”

“But not in uniform.”

“All I need is to walk into Casanova with a giant hickey,” Natalia said. “It would make Marshal Cervino’s day.”

They approached the Sanite Bridge that Neapolitans had saved from being destroyed by the retreating Wehrmacht. People streamed across, some heading into the vortex of the city, some heading away.

Suddenly there was a breeze, and Naples lay below in all its splendor. Turning inland, two worn columns marked the entrance to a small park.

There were a couple of scraggly trees and the requisite broken benches. The ground was littered with trash, a couple of needles, and a pile of broken bottles. The area reeked of alcohol, but the drunks were sleeping it off somewhere else.

They were alone except for a girl huddled under a black-and-white, polka-dotted umbrella. They sat on a bench away from her, and Pino closed his eyes. He breathed deeply. Natalia wiped her perspiring face with a tissue.

“Even the one thing invisible has a double,” Pino said.

“What does
that
mean?”

Natalia got up and threw the tissue in a large metal can, although futile. One scrap of garbage attended to, while all around them lay Styrofoam containers, cigarettes, drug paraphernalia and candy wrappers.

“It means I want to kiss you.”

“Permission granted. Be careful of the neck area.”

“Aye, aye. I love you, Captain Monte.” He kissed her eyelids and her mouth. “It’s an auspicious day for us, darling.”

“What did you tell Tina?”

“The truth. That I was in love with you. That she needed to relocate.”

“How did she take it?”

“Fine. Better than I expected, actually. And I weakened.”

“Weakened?”

“Mmm. I told her she could stay at my place until she gets her head together. Or if she needed money for a room somewhere, I said I’d help. Anything to get her away from the thug boyfriend.”

“Here you go again,” Natalia said, “the knight in shining armor. You sure she’s not harboring any fantasies about the two of you?”

“Absolutely.”

“Are you?”

“Am I what?” Pino put his arm around her shoulder.

“Harboring fantasies about that beautiful pregnant girl?”

“I want to be with you, Natalia.”

“Did you get the rest of your things from your flat?”

“Here,” he patted his worn backpack. “After she’s gone, I’ll go back and pack up the rest.”

“The concierge has a key to my place,” Natalia said. “I told her you’d be coming by this afternoon.”

“She knows about us?”

“She’s probably figured it out. We’re not quiet.”

Pino tickled her, and she shrieked.

“What do you mean ‘we’?” he said, laughing.

“How did these get here?” Natalia asked. A vase of mimosas and violets sat on her desk.

“A corporal brought them up.” Angelina grinned at her
boss. “I believe there’s a note. I think they’re from your Buddhist friend? It’s that gold-foil paper.” Natalia flushed.

“So romantic. Reminds me of Giuletta the first night we were together.”

Natalia peeled the envelope off the vase and dropped it into her bag. The last night they had spent with one another before he’d gone away, Pino had brought her the same bouquet. It was then he told her about cranes, apropos of nothing: that they represented longevity and how in Ancient Greece their cries announced the return of spring. They had been a long way from spring that night.

Tribunali was decked out with pointsettias. People scurried along the street with gifts of cakes and lavish flower arrangements, past happy families lined up in front of the pizza parlors. Liturgical music spilled from cathedrals and churches, while firework bombs went off in the alleys, celebrating a high holy day.

“Peace on earth,” Natalia had joked, as she flinched from the percussions.

Pino and Natalia, soon-to-be former lovers, enjoyed their dinner together at her flat along with quite a lot of fragrant wine. Pino was supposed to go home after dessert, their future deemed impossible, but they had toasted with
Zia
Giovanna’s wine glasses and fallen into bed.

It was when she’d gotten up to pee that she tripped over the wine glasses. Pino offered to get them fixed. He knew one of the few glassblowers still in business. She’d refused, annoyed at how easily he had clouded her resolve to stay away from him.

What kind of spring could they hope for? Their involvement was forbidden by regulations: She was his superior. There was little hope for both of them to remain
Carabinieri if they continued, and she knew she would not be the one to surrender her captaincy, no matter what. It meant too much to her, more to her than … him.

That she cared deeply for Pino only made it worse. That they were incredibly well suited as lovers and partners made it nearly unbearable. It was true: Natalia could hang out a shingle and try her hand at law. That was the degree she’d earned at officers’ school in Rome. Not a very lucrative profession in Naples, where people had little faith in the legal system, and conflicts had been settled since before the Greeks by confrontation. Hell, prayers and potions were still employed to ward off the evil eye. Not to mention that lawyers were held in even lower regard than Carabiniere. Natalia was in a quandary and had leaned toward ending their affair.

The day after her night with Pino, she’d returned home to find a vase of mimosas and violets in front of her door. And a note explaining. He was gone from her life. He’d sensed her misgivings and had taken wing like one of his cranes.

It was Mariel’s shoulder she’d cried on then. Mariel who’d taken her shopping the next day. Mariel who assured her Pino would be back. Her lavender silk pajamas were a legacy of their spree. That, and a gold chiffon skirt and black cashmere sweater, low cut and off the shoulder. New Year’s Eve they’d splurged on dinner at the Cantina di Triunfo.

They followed the repast with La Traviata at the San Carlo.

At intermission, Mariel went to retrieve champagne. As Natalia surveyed the fancy crowds, someone tapped her shoulder.

“So, I was right,” Elisabetta Donati’s blue eyes sparkled. “I spotted you coming in, but Fabio insisted it couldn’t be.
You should get out of uniform more often. How are you, my dear?”

“Good,” Natalia said. “Where is the colonel?”

“He’s having his New Year’s cigarette.”

“The colonel is smoking again?” Natalia asked.

“He’s allowed one on New Year’s and one on his birthday.”

Mariel approached, a glass in each hand. Natalia made the introductions.

“The bookstore on Porta Alba, isn’t it?”

“You look familiar, too,” Mariel said.

“I get all my art books there. Wonderful place. Excuse me ladies, I’d better powder my nose before they start ringing those infernal bells.” She kissed Natalia. “Enjoy your bubbly.”

Now this second vase on her desk completed the circle. Pino was back in her heart and about to move in.

Her phone buzzed.

“Captain Monte,” she answered automatically.

“Did you get them?”

“They’re beautiful, Pino. You shouldn’t have wasted your money.”

Angelina picked up the watering can and stepped out.

“Your concierge told me to tell you she’s glad you finally came to your senses. Oh, she gave us a housewarming present. I think it’s a trivet. She probably used it to serve her husband his hot meals when he was alive.”

“How romantic,” Natalia said. “What else?”

“I rearranged some of the furniture.”

“I can’t talk now.”

“How does butternut squash risotto sound? We can try out the trivet. When shall I expect my beloved?”

“There’s a lot going on. I may have to work late.”

“Eight o’clock?”

“Eight thirty.”

“
Perfetto
. I don’t know if I can bear taking a shower. I love having your smell on me.”

“Look,” Natalia said to Pino, “I have to get off.”

“Understood.”

“I’ll see you later.”

“Give the stems a fresh cut, okay? I love you.”

The risotto and one round of passionate love later, Pino and Natalia faced one another in a tangle of sheets.

Pino’s slim chest was tanned from working outside. Natalia imagined he’d worn nothing but yoga pants or jeans in the country. She could see him there, moving among the bees and sunlight. Natalia inhaled his scent: somewhere between clove and sex. They kissed and rubbed their faces together. Noses, cheeks, mouth, tongue.

“Is my beard scratchy? Shall I shave?”

“No. I like the rustic look.”

“Oh? You like it rough?” He pushed her down. She must have fallen into a light sleep. When she opened her eyes, she found him watching her in the faint light.

“Fabio had me in for a talk,” he said. “I have another month before I’m expected to report back to duty.” He stroked her stomach. “So I was thinking, if we have a child, you’ll need to take a leave of absence, and I want us to be able to afford it.”

“A kid? You blow back into town, and now we’re having a baby? What if one isn’t in the picture?”

“Baby or no, we’re meant to be together.”

“No one is meant to be together, Pino. That’s another of your romantic notions. You’re on extended leave. You have no income,” Natalia said.

“I know.”

“Well, I’m not giving up my career, and we both can’t stay in the ranks. Not serving in the same city anyway. Which would make for quite a hurdle as far as having a relationship. And when and if you quit entirely, you’ll forfeit your income and pension.”

“It’s a conundrum.”

“What are you thinking to do? We couldn’t very well live on one salary.”

He kissed her and said, “Turns out the
zendo
wants to add a yoga component to the practice. They need to attract more people. They’re interested in my developing a following for them. They can’t pay much to begin, but it’s something. In a few months I could open my own studio. Good, right?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Okay. Well, then, Fabio and I, we’re going to meet again next week to see where I might fit in.”

“I thought you were done with the Carabinieri.”

“Probably. But I don’t want to completely close the door if there’s a chance. A special post, unofficial.”

“There is no unofficial,” Natalia said. “You’re dreaming again.”

He placed her hands over his chest. “My heart is in your hands.”

“So melodramatic,” Natalia said.

“I love you. Don’t deny your feelings, Natalia. We may not have the same opportunity in the next life.”

“The next life? You sound like
Zia
Giovanna.”

“Maybe she understood something about what’s important in life.”

“Maybe. The woman was afraid of her own shadow.”

“But that’s my point exactly. Fear. Look at the birds. When they take to the air, they leave the dark shadows behind.”

The motorcycle screeched to a halt in the alley beside San Paolo Maggiore. A girl in a gold minidress and gladiator sandals slid off the back. For good measure, her lover gunned the engine, terrifying a flock of pigeons rummaging for food.

Cleopatra pulled off her helmet. A pair of sapphire eyes appeared from behind the dark glasses she pushed up onto her forehead. Lover boy slouched in his seat. Helmets dangling, they embraced.

The couple remained glued together as she stepped around them. Nice, Natalia thought. Cupid working her tricks. Such passion. She hoped it would lead to happy days and not jealousy or death.

She wondered if she was projecting her own concerns, her fears, about the rekindled relationship with Pino. Living together was working out better than she would have dreamed, a fact she hadn’t confessed to anyone—certainly
not to Pino, not even to Mariel. She was more in love than ever.

And she was well aware that that put her in a vulnerable position were something to go wrong. And who was she kidding? Of course it would.

She tried to remind herself to live in the moment, to enjoy what they had. She’d never put much credence in horoscopes, but what they said about Cancers seemed to be true if Pino were an accurate example. He was a real homebody, something she hadn’t appreciated before they lived together.

Two days after his return, her dingy bathroom was transformed into a sunny space with a couple of coats of canary yellow paint. Her balcony was suddenly awash in coleus plants: purples and yellows and greens. One night she returned to a candlelight dinner. Another, he swept her up to Capodimonte, and they watched the fiery sun set over Naples as they consumed chocolate and wine.