Enrico Maso, translated into English by Ruth Stephens
Chapter 6 – Together Again
About an hour later, the car pulls up outside Vittorio’s agriturismo.
He’s on the terrace, meditating. As soon as he sees the car, he smiles broadly and rushes to meet them.
“Forty years I’ve been waiting for you!” he exclaims by way of a greeting. “Where are we going?”
The others wait while Vittorio puts a few things in a rucksack, closes the agriturismo and gets into the car. He is even thinner now than before and his face is lined around the eyes, his sparse white hair tied in a ponytail. Now, reunited with the friends of his youth, he is happy and relaxed. He lights a cigarette, chats for a while and then, not half an hour into the journey, falls asleep.
The autostrada is almost empty. Umberto’s car cruises noiselessly; the lights of the city behind them become ever smaller and dimmer as night falls. It’s a calm night, full of stars, perfect for travelling.
“Sorry, guys, but I can’t breathe!” exclaims Alessandro, suddenly. “Can we have the window open ?”
“Yes, open the windows,” echoes Antonino, “whatever is that smoke?”
“I don’t know, perhaps there’s even some tobacco in his cigarettes… But listen to him snoring!”
replies Umberto glancing in the rear view mirror and observing Vittorio still sleeping like a baby with his head on Alessandro’s shoulder.
“Your attention for a minute!” says Antonino after a short pause, and he inserts a CD into the CD player. “Listen to this song, do you remember it?”
Umberto turns the volume up to maximum as soon as he hears the first notes of ‘My Love Is Dangerous, Baby!’ by The Vagabonds. Vittorio awakes with a start as the others start singing at the tops of their voices.
“I’m so glad you gave me this surprise,” he shouts over the din, “Even though I went to India, it’s always been a great regret that I didn’t go to that concert with the rest of you.”
Umberto and Alessandro again exchange glances but say nothing.
“And now I have something important to ask you: can we stop at the next services to go to the bathroom?”