Enrico Maso, translated into English by Ruth Stephens
Chapter 3 – A New Papà
It’s Sunday morning and a beautiful sunny day.
Antonino is sitting on the sofa but instead of his newspaper he has a computer on his knees. He’s wearing a Nirvana T-shirt, with a checked shirt over it, and a pair of jeans. He’s listening to rock music at a very high volume.
The doorbell rings and Signora Daniela goes to answer it.
“Ciao Mamma!” Andrea and Carlo greet her with a kiss.
“Ciao boys!” she looks at them with a meaningful smile and waves her hand towards the sitting room “Papà’s in there…..”
“How long has this been going on?” they grin.
“Must be about a week I don’t know what to make of it….”
Andrea and Carlo go into the sitting room but their father doesn’t look up.
“Ciao, Papà!” they have to repeat three times, amused by this new image of their father.
“Ah… ciao boys! How’s it going? I’ve just discovered this fantastic programme for listening to music on the internet!”
Andrea and Carlo laugh. They can hardly believe their eyes; their papa seems to have become an adolescent!
“What on earth are you wearing?” asks Carlo, “I remember that T-shirt: I thought I’d lost it in Amsterdam 15 years ago!”
Sunday lunch that day is very different from the usual. While Signora Daniela seems resigned to the bizarre new situation, her sons are enjoying it. The talk around the table is all of music and computers. No one seems to want to discuss anything more serious.
“By the way, lads,” says Antonino, “I’ve heard there are programmes for finding old friends on the internet….”
“Yes, Papà,” Andrea replies, “they’re called social networks.”
“That’s right, those. Well, I’d like to trace some people I once knew….”
“OK, that’s no problem. I’ll help you after lunch” his son offers, winking at his brother.