Chapter 2 [June Summertime... Resolution]

It was a sunny afternoon in June. I was seated on a tall stool which put me in direct proportion to a wooden table. There I was, keeping my hands busy while working on an old piece of radio which belonged to a certain Señor Conte; the sun rays streaking into my room through the narrow window, adjacent to me.

Some minutes ago, I had only just stripped off my sweat-soaked clothes and had dived into the shower to have my bath.

[Brain: Hmph, you just lied, Santo.]

[Sentiment: Yeah, right.Whatever.]

Okay, readers, this was what I meant to say…

So, I'd only just stripped off my sweat-soaked clothes and had walked to the bathroom where I was met with half (½) a bucket of moderately hygienic water. I had managed to use only half of the H20 to scrub the stickily-glued sweat from off my skin and had got a change of clothes, before resuming my repair business.

Don't get me wrong, readers I love the summer but springtime, definitely has its advantages.

During spring, the downpour most usually started in the early hours of the evening and continued through the night. The heavy pelted water bubbles would thunder against rooftops and drown out the sound of all else, and by morning the city streets resembled shallow rivers rushing toward the ocean.

Still, the chilly breeze could not be easily overlooked; the crispiness of the wind was a surety of an advantage. At least, if it were spring, I wouldn't have been sweating like a pig! But no. It was just a lazy indoor afternoon in June Summertime.

I was still hellbent on repairing señor Conte's radio when I heard my name being bellowed, audibly enough.

Santo! Santo!!

It was my Pa Martini. His call was blasting enough so much that I abruptly stopped what I was doing.

"Pa!! I am coming Pa!" I shouted back my reply to him. I stood up at once and dropped the screwdriver I was still holding on to, unknowingly.

I was almost walking out of my room when I noticed something...

Shit! I had dirt on my hands.

My Pa would always complain about me having dirt on my hands. He would always say, "Santo my boy! Even though we are poor and wretched, you don't have to put it out there to everyone how poor we are by looking messy."

His continuous gall over the years succeeded in shaping me into a human being cautious of his looks.

Okay! Maybe I became overly cautious of my appearance.

But what the hell!

It wasn't like I had the privilege of putting on the richest of fabric or the best of clothing but the little I had, were almost always spot-free. At least I made the effort. Haha!

Quickly, I retreated towards the table area and made sure to wipe the debris off my hands. I did so, by using a piece of rag I'd initially kept on the table. Next, I exited my room and walked towards the tiny spaced living room.

Immediately I got to the little parlour, my first instinct was to peep into our antique television(which for some weird reason, it remained functional after all those years). Of course, Pa was gawking at his favourite television series, "Bits and Laughs".

Pa was slowly ageing but was too smart to admit the obvious. Hahaha.

Tilting his head slightly, he noticed my presence and looked at me with a bit more scrutiny for at least a minute, before speaking.

"Santo! Your friend Antonio, is by the verandah waiting for you."

"Why did he not come inside, Pa?" I asked my dad while walking towards the door to take my exit.

"It feels like an oven in here son! If not for this show that I am grossly addicted to seeing, I doubt I would be inside myself."

After a brief pause, my Pa continued, "He came inside. But, I told him to wait for you outside. "

"Okay, thanks Pa." I was halfway out the door when I replied him.

I walked outside.

The climate was not so horrid. Instead, a mildly cool dusty wind blew past to usher me to the outdoor afternoon.

By the time I got to see Antonio, he wasn't exactly by the open-sided lanai. Instead, he was a little distance ahead under a shade and held on to a slender twig which he'd break bit by bit and swing into the polluted air, every once in a while.

I ran my hands through my dark hair clumsily and succeeded in making my curly stranded locks, rough up. Then, I ambled to where Antonio stood.

"What brings you here? You crazy son of a gun!" My words to him.

Antonio grinned and we shook hands at the spot, while we laughed gayly.

"Hahaha. Why, Santo? I came to confirm if you were still breathing. Moron!"

"Why am I not surprised? You pretentious wizard!"

I nudged his stomach hard with the pointer of my elbow and sprinted as far away from him as I possibly could.

"Wait till I-"

I couldn't hear what he'd said after that, because we'd both engaged ourselves in a senseless marathon, thus stressing out our limbs.

After we'd galloped for some twenty minutes, we halted and began to wheeze tirelessly, like dehydrated donkeys (If my description makes any sense. Haha!).

"It is okay now," I paused to gasp, "I surrender, okay," Another pause to catch my breath, "Do to me… whatever you wish."

I could hear Antonio swallow oxygen aggressively, a few paces behind me.

Then, he managed to speak.

"I could give you a hard knock on your head for what you just did to me, moron!" He panted still.

"But you are too much of a coward to do it. Are you not? You are-"

*Hard slap*

I got interrupted by a painful slap on my back. It was from Antonio. He'd finally gotten his revenge. Haha!

He began to cackle with a tint of victory in his laughter. Soon, I joined in his laughter.

Pardon us, readers! Just picture us as men inclined to see themselves as 'Ne'er grow-ups.'

Hehehe.

Okay, back to the revelation...

The laughter had died down. So, I decided to initiate a conversation.

Seated on an old bench by the corner of the street, together with Antonio, I began to speak, "But for reals, man, why did you come by the house and decide to wait outside? I mean you could have easily walked straight into my room."

Antonio stayed serious-faced warming up for a response I didn't see coming.

"Santo! Are you not tired of this boring and shitty life? I mean, look at how handsome you are even though you don't have much money. Nature gifted you with that much, but your beauty is simply wasting away. Also, you could not round off your education despite your applaudable intellectual strength simply because of no money. Are you just going to sit at home all day with your dad and aunt, fixing broken items and barely feeding for the rest of your life?" Antonio sighed after speaking, and I became dumbstruck; more like I had no immediate words for him.

I wore a threatening frown on my face because his words went bone-deep. If he wanted to call me lazy, why go around the corners and not directly?

"What is your point? I fix broken stuff and I enjoy what I do. It isn't enough but at least I am doing something."

"Look! Santo, this is not the time for getting angry or whatever. Just listen to what I have to say. Damn it!"

Antonio had been my friend since childhood. He was nothing short of a charming young man. But, life hadn't been as fair to him.

Occasionally, we'd do menial jobs to be able to scrape food for our bellies.

So yeah, maybe he had come up with a solution to our shitty lifestyle, and all I had to do, was give him an audience.

"Let's go to Palermo!!"

His words sounded strange and I found myself sniggering.

"For a minute there, I had no idea how much of a clown I was. Now, what is so fucking funny?"

His temperament was charging up.

But who was he barking at? Definitely not me, Santo.

"Look! I never said you were a clown at least not directly, but hey! A city as big as Palermo? Brother! How on earth, are we going to survive?" I asked him with eagerness in my tone.

He wanted to speak immediately but hushed for a split second as if trying to re-process his thoughts.

Finally, he spoke, "I have a cousin there, Guillermo. He works at a restaurant-"

I interrupted him, "Oh! You mean he licks the asses of rich people by serving them breakfast, lunch and dinner?"

"What is your problem, Santo?" He had his eyebrow arched at me. Well, not my problem.

"I don't have a problem. Alright! I am just being realistic. Besides, how different is any of that, from what we do here?"

He slapped his forehead before speaking, "It is different alright! Because we get to be in a more civilized setting. We get exposed to so many flamboyant opportunities. You know what! Just think this through. You'd understand what I am saying..."

We chatted about other stuff and then it was time for me to go back home. I still needed the few cents I'd earn from señor Conte after fixing his radio.

**

By the time I'd returned home, I was fully prepared to make the decision that I felt was best.

Pa was still seated in the living room, but this time he wasn't alone. He was with his sister, Felicia— my aunt.

I greeted them first. Next, I spoke up.

"Pa! Auntie! I would be travelling to Palermo with Antonio in a few days."

My Pa smiled like he'd been waiting for me to say those words to him for eons. Haha!

Next, he spoke.

"Well! You have my blessings. It took you long enough. Go, do us proud, my boy!"

My aunt also gave me her nod of approval.

Smiling from ear to ear in light of the endless possibilities that awaited me in one of Italy's big cities, I pranced on to my room with one resolution in mind...

"I, Santo Martini, am going to be famously rich!"