Chapter six

"This is the story

Of one of us,

He, too, was born by chance in via Gluck

In a house, outside the city

Peaceful people who worked

Where there once was grass, now it is

a city.

And that house in the meadow now

Where will it be?

This boy from via Gluck

He enjoyed playing with me.

But one day, he said

I'm going to town.

And he said it while he was crying.

I asked him; my friend

Are you not happy?

Finally, you will stay in town.

There you will find the things you didn't have here.

You can wash at home without going.

Down in the courtyard

My dear friend, he said.

Here I was born.

On this street

Now I leave my heart.

But how can you not understand?

It is fortunate for you who are staying.

Barefoot playing in the meadows

While in the center, I breathe the concrete.

But, there will come a day when I will return.

Still here..."

Adriano continued to sing in his singular voice with the guitar in his hand, leaning on his slightly raised knee. Tears choked my throat, I wiped my eyes and chin with the palm of my hand, and after rummaging in my purse, I found a crumpled handkerchief and wiped my leaky nose. "It's so powerful," I apologized.

It was close to midnight when the crowd began to leave, and we were pushed out by the dispersing masses when suddenly the two soldiers appeared in front of us. "Want to go have a drink and smoke a cigarette?" Rosario asked.

We exchanged glances, "Yes, why not?" Patty hurried to answer.

We started walking towards the long-covered arcade. "Let's go up to the church," Rosario suggested and started walking at a brisk pace and up the thousands of stairs, "Let's see who comes first," Salvatore said and started running up the stairs. After a few minutes of challenging climbing, we stopped, panting and coughing. The view from above was amazing, the city shining in the sparkles of the variety of lights and the stream of cars that left a long trail of lights that resembled a fire snake.

"Let's smoke; we have American cigarettes," Rosario said, taking a new box from his pocket.

We sat down on the porch fence. Rosario lit a cigarette, and with it, lit one after the other and handed us the cigarettes one by one. I took a deep breath into my lungs and started coughing like crazy, "Slowly, slowly, you don't have to finish your cigarette with two puffs; enjoy the slow-smoking," he said to us and pulled a bottle of some liquor from the back pocket of his pants.

Everything was dark and quiet; only the city's flickering lights and the intense sound of the speakers from the show still echoing in our heads were the backdrops for the display we caught from the dark stairs leading to the church of San Luca.

"We'll turn the bottle on the floor, and whoever gets it pointed at him will have to sip from it," Rosario said, ordering us to sit on the floor in a circle.

In the first round, Rosario came out himself. He took a decent sip and turned again. Now the head of the bottle pointed at me. I opened the cork and tasted a little on the tip of my tongue. "Take a sip; what are you tasting?" I poured a sip down my throat and almost choked; the alcohol burned inside me, I could not talk. "Fine, you see, you're an experienced drinker," Rosario laughed. He did not know that I was trying to make a big impression, and this was the first time I had smoked and drunk such heavy liquor. The bottle turned and fell on Rosario again, "I'm giving my turn to Patty; otherwise, I will finish the bottle," he said and handed it to Patty. Salvatore grabbed the bottle and said, "Go away, move on; We'll make sure to finish what's left."

Rosario pulled me by the hand, "Let's leave them alone."

As we walked a little further up the corridor and did not see them due to the darkness, I felt Rosario's hands stroking my hair; he hugged me to him and skillfully inserted his tongue in my mouth. Then, I felt his dick thumping my body, realizing that he was too eager and horny. "Stop, I do not want this, I'm a virgin" I pushed him away, but he did not give up, his attitude became more aggressive, and I felt the imminent danger, "I am a minor, if you continue, I will denounce you; you will be arrested" This time I used force when I pushed him. Luckily he was not drunk but horny. "How old are you?" He asked.

"Thirteen years old," I replied.

He panicked and walked away from me. "Why did you play an adult? Want to complicate my life?"

"You did not ask. I did not think we were going to have sex."

"So what did you think, idiot? Going on a school trip?"

He started to go down the stairs, and I followed, "Salvatore, leave her; she is a student," he shouted.

As we got closer, we saw Patty leaning with her hands on the fence and Salvatore fucking her from behind. When he saw us, he did not stop but increased the pace until Rosario approached him and patted him on the back. "We better get out of here; they're minors; we will get involved with the police."

Salvatore pulled out his cock and quickly raised his pants. "Bitch, you could tell me you're so young."

They both ran down the stairs, and Patty wiped with her panties between her legs, "I'm afraid the son of a bitch has cum inside me."

I did not meet the two soldiers anymore. They were probably afraid to leave the camp lest we identify them and file a complaint with the military police; the punishments expected by law are very severe and will not help them if they lay the blame on us; as for the law, we are considered irresponsible.

A month after the incident, when Patty was not getting her period, I went with her to a gynecologist who checked and found she was not pregnant - we breathed a sigh of relief.

Mom worked hard for our upkeep and hardly went out for fun.

The explanation I got was that she was finding it hard to get older; I laughed in her face, "What's wrong with you? You are barely forty; what will you do when you are sixty? Will you go to a nursing home?"

Mom did not answer me. She suffered greatly from any grey hair or a small wrinkle that appeared on her forehead. Mother wanted to be young forever, as she was used to everyone appreciating her beauty and men turning their heads towards her with admiration.

Letters started coming in from the bank; at first, there were some warning letters, we had the electricity cut off for a week, then letters began coming in from law firms, and Mom got more and more depressed. She lost a lot of weight, smoked incessantly, complained of constant headaches, and started vomiting after everything she put in her mouth.

I accompanied her to a doctor who immediately referred her to the hospital, where they began to do general tests after she was admitted.

I took the bus home, had no head for classes, and lay for hours staring at the ceiling, thinking about my future and mother's illness.

In the morning, I got up early, ate a mashed banana in yogurt, and ran to the bus stop that took me straight to the hospital.

Dr. Bonini was very kind, reminded me a little of Dad. He had a shiny bald egg-formed head, and his trouser belt was tight over his slightly prominent belly. "Sit down, girl; how old are you?" He asked in a fatherly voice. "Fourteen," I replied, though I was two months short.

"Mother is very ill; she has a malignant tumor in her stomach with metastasis in one lung. We can remove it and radiate, but we do not know if this will eliminate all cancer. She came a little too late."

"How much time does she have left to live?" I asked, tears streaming down my face without me being able to stop them.

"If she responds well to treatments, she may have years to live, and if not, then it is a matter of a few months."

The following day my mother underwent surgery in which she sustained a gastric bypass, and three-quarters of a lung was removed. The surgery lasted five hours, during which I walked many miles in the hospital corridors, between the floors, and in the underground parking lot.

After the operation, she was moved to one of the wards. I was next to her when she woke up. She held my hand and blinked, and even a tiny smile was visible in the corner of her mouth. I kissed and hugged her, and for the first time in my life, I said to her, "Mom, I love you, be strong because what would I do without you?" I lay with my head on her shoulder and cried.

The recovery took ten days, and slowly mother got up from her bed and started walking with the help of a walker. Finally, a few days later, Mom was released home.

The ward doctor summoned me for another talk just before we left the hospital. "The pathological examination showed that the type of cancer is not the worst, and there is a reasonable basis to believe that your mother will recover after the chemotherapy treatment. After your mother gets a little stronger, she will return to get the treatment in the oncology ward."

We took a taxi back home. I helped to get up the stairs and into bed. Mom received a page with an explanation about her diet. She now has to eat liquid food in small amounts because, with no stomach, the bowels become the main organ to absorb the nourishment. I turned on the big, heavy food processor Mom got for her wedding from the bank. I put all the peeled fruits in the processor and ground them until a paste was obtained.

She sipped the liquids through a thick straw very slowly, occasionally stopping and taking a breather. With only one functioning lung, she felt like she was suffocating; she needed time and exercise to eat correctly.

I was perturbed about the chemo treatments. I understood from the doctors that the treatments weaken the system and the body collapse. However, my mother was too weak to undergo such aggressive therapies, so I took her to a holistic physician I found.

I desperately needed money and knew only one way to get it.