by J. R. Sharp
As she rode out of town, she could see Francisco talking with some of the young ladies that had questionable occupations. It looked like they were in some type of negotiation for favors, stockings, or cigarettes. Francisco saw her coming and blocked her path. She was afraid of riding around him and stopped her bike. She put her fingers through her hair and smiled at him.
“Thank you for telling me about Gino.”
Francisco asked Catherina, “That is awful about Gino, are you going to do anything to help?” Catherina didn’t want to be rude because she knew he had a lot of power and was known to use it. He also could place hardship on her family.
Catherina looked at Francisco and smiled and said, “No, not really. Why should I care about a fool and his dreams?” Francisco could only smile and place his hand on the handlebars of her bike and then a hand around her waist. She didn’t move but quickly said, “Are you going to the rally tomorrow night?”
“Of course I am. My uncle will be back in town to speak to everyone, and I will be on the stage to support him, will you be there?”
“I will ask my father and mother if I can go, but they will only let me go if my brother Bruno is well enough to escort me. I must be going now; I must bathe my grandmother and help with dinner.”
Francisco’s smile vanished quickly with the thought of Catherina’s grandmother. He stepped back, which gave Catherina time to start pedaling her bike back to the farm. Francisco yelled out to Catherina, “See you on Saturday with Bruno!” Catherina turned around on her bike and flashed him an inviting smile that quickly vanished when she turned around. She continued riding her bike down the dirt roads back to the Zucchet farm.
As she made the left off the main road and onto the stone driveway of the farm, she quickly dismounted. She could see Bruno sitting in front of the main house smoking a cigarette and said to him, “I have news of Gino.” She ran with the bike to the barn and as quickly rushed back to the main house to talk with Bruno.
“Was there any news about Chester?” Bruno asked.
“No, but Gino was wounded and he is heading to Treviso to recover from his wounds and the government needs help at the hospital.”
“What are you going to do?” Bruno asked.
She explained that she wanted to go to Treviso and help with Gino, but that she needed his help to get her parents support and money. Bruno looked at her and knew this was going to be a tough sell.
“We need to team up on this and see if we can get them to send you and not for you to ask them for their permission.”
Catherina thought this was a brilliant idea and kissed her older brother. Bruno got up from his chair very slowly and walked into the farmhouse with Catherina following him closely. Catherina noticed that he was getting weaker.
As they walked into the main kitchen their parents were sitting at the kitchen table talking about the upcoming winter and what was left to do before the cold set in. Pietro and Anna Zucchet always smiled at the first sight of their children no matter what was happening.
“Where are the supplies we needed, and what news do you bring?” Pietro asked.
Bruno, without missing a beat said, “Dad, most of the shops close early on Fridays when there is a rally on Saturday, Catherina just missed them before they closed.”
Pietro looked at his children. “We need to remember that next week. You can go tomorrow early in the morning to get our supplies. Any news today?”
Bruno again spoke up as the elder. “I really miss Chester around the house; he was always making everyone laugh and was always the strong one. Do you miss him, Mom?”
“Yes, oh my God, is there bad news about Chester, please tell me?” Anna asked.
Bruno responded, “No, there is no news about Chester, but there are other families not so lucky. We should always try and help those others not as fortunate as us, since we have so much compared to the other families here in Cimpello.”
“Son, I am very proud of you. Spoken like a true Zucchet.”
“Dad, I really miss Chester and Gino being here to go to the rallies with me. They would always bring excitement to the cause, and we always would meet afterwards for drinks and dancing.”
“It seems just like yesterday that they both left for Ethiopia with the crazy idea of expansion of this country,” Pietro said. “Hell, we can’t even feed our own people and we are out there conquering other countries like this is the Roman Empire again.”
Bruno went on to explain that he saw Gino’s father the other day and that he looked good, but that he missed all of his sons and that he was having a tough time getting by without any help and that his farm and brokering business was suffering.
“Well I wish there was something we could do to help out the Cartelli family, but we are strapped ourselves and barely making a living as well,” Pietro said.
Bruno immediately captured the moment. “Dad, Gino was on the list of wounded soldiers and is on his way to Treviso to recover from his wounds.”
“Well that is unfortunate,” Pietro said. “But that is a good hospital. I spent a month there recovering from my stomach problems, remember that, Anna?”
Bruno explained that the government needed family members to help with the wounded but that the Cartelli’s had no one.
“No, Bruno, you are too weak and sick,” Pietro said. “Besides, you can’t be in a hospital because you will get everyone sick from God only knows what you have.”
“What about Catherina?” Bruno said. “She can go to take care of Gino?”
Anna took a step back from the table, waiting for the eruption from her husband. Pietro stood from the table, looked at his daughter, and preceded to the kitchen window, which overlooked the fields he had spent most of his life laboring over.
“Catherina, do you want to go help Gino?”
Catherina looked at her brother who was shaking his head up and down and said, “Yes, Father, I want to go because the Cartelli family needs our help. If the shoe was on the other foot, Gino would be helping our family.”
Pietro looked away from the window and stared at his wife. “Catherina, you can go and help with Gino, but Bruno you will escort her to Treviso. As soon as he is better, you will return and go back to your chores. This trip will do you wonders and help you realize how good you have it here in this house and farm.”
Pietro walked out of the house and Anna looked at her two children. “Well done you two.”
***
The next morning Bruno and Catherina were in the kitchen having breakfast. Catherina went towards her mother as she was cooking and kissed her. “Thank you.”
Her mother just smiled back and put her right hand on her daughter’s cheek and said, “Be careful.”
Earlier that morning Catherina was closing her suitcase when she saw a folded piece of paper on top of her clothes. It was an address in Treviso that her mother wrote down and some extra money. The address was a cousin of her mother. Catherina would stay at the cousin’s house, which only had room for one. So Bruno would have to find his own lodging while in Treviso.
After breakfast Bruno and Catherina started their hour-long walk to the train station. Bruno was having problems keeping up with Catherina, but he just smiled at her knowing she was so excited about seeing Gino. He told her to go ahead and he would catch up, but she slowed down and waited for her brother.
There was a lot of commotion at the station. Pro-Fascist supporters were waiting for someone to arrive. Then it came to Catherina; they were waiting for Francisco’s uncle. Bruno didn’t want Francisco to see Catherina, so he told her to hide in the bathroom until the crowd was gone. As Bruno stepped up to purchase the tickets, he saw Francisco dressed in his uniform talking with one of the other supporters and immediately looked away for the fear of being seen. As he approached the counter, he heard Francisco call his name and wave for him to come over to him. Bruno bought two tickets for Treviso and put them in his pocket; he could hear the train coming and slowly walked towards Francisco.
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“Bruno, are you going to Treviso to see Gino?” Bruno explained that he was going there to check up on Gino.
“So now the sick guy is a care taker and home maker,” Francisco said smugly. “Tell Gino I said hi, but who is going to escort Catherina to the rally tonight, Velasco?” Bruno smiled at Francisco and explained that Catherina would not be making the rally tonight because she had other duties to attend to and that she didn’t have an escort.
“Well I could escort her.”
Just then Francisco heard his name called and both he and Bruno could see his uncle coming towards them. Bruno saw his opportunity to leave and get Catherina.
The conductor was ringing the bell for passengers to board the train for departure to Treviso. Bruno saw Catherina and waved at her to get on the train in front of him. As she approached him, Bruno told her to keep her head down.
As the train rolled forward, Bruno could see Francisco staring at Bruno through the train window straight in the eyes with a disappointing look. Bruno felt relieved as the train rolled, fairly certain Francisco had not spotted Catherina. That relief quickly vanished when he saw Betty, one of Francisco’s girlfriends. She was the one Catherina had seen Francisco with when she had rode her bike into town the previous day.
Betty was on her way to Treviso with the full intent to spend the money that she had earned just recently supporting the Pro-Fascist and Nazi campaign. Betty needed the latest fashions to ensure she always looked the part of the socialite.
The trip was only about two hours by train. Bruno explained to Catherina that once they determined Gino’s condition he would return to Cimpello and make sure everything was good on the farm.
As the train arrived at Treviso, Bruno and Catherina noticed Betty getting off the train. He knew who she was and what she did and whom she would be talking with when she got back to Cimpello. She looked stunning with her blonde hair and light-blue dress with matching shoes and long legs. Bruno had gone to school with her and always thought she was good looking and dressed really nice. He told Catherina to go inside the main building and get directions to the house and that he would meet her outside the train station in about ten minutes. She gave him a puzzled looked and complied.
As she entered the building, she quickly turned to look out the window to see what her brother was up too. Bruno walked up to Betty from behind, took his hat off, and said, “You know you always look so pretty whenever I see you. How do you do it?”
“What are you doing here, Bruno?” she said.
Bruno put his hat back on and smiled. “I am here on family business and need to see some relatives about next year’s harvest and visit a sick friend. What brings you here?”
“Well, I need to update my dress collections and Cimpello shops are just so out of date. Where are you staying while you’re here?”
“I don’t know yet, do you have any suggestions?”
“I always stay at the Continental. It is close to shopping and the train station.”
“Well you shouldn’t go strolling the streets by yourself in this big city. What time should I come back to escort you around today?”
Betty always wanted to be with good-looking men and needed reassurance that she was still the prettiest girl in the region.
“Meet me in front of the Continental in about two hours; I should be ready to go by then.”
Bruno tipped his hat. “It’s a date, see you soon.”
“Who was that?” Catherina asked when her brother returned. “Isn’t she Francisco’s friend?”
“Don’t worry about it, let’s go find Gino.”
They walked along the main road of the city and turned down the side street towards the house address from the note that Anna had written to Catherina. They found the house just as they entered the side street. Bruno knocked on the door. After a minute or two a slightly heavyset woman answered. She was dressed in a traditional light-black dress with matching shoes, her hair was pulled up in a bun, and she was wearing a white apron. She instantly grabbed Bruno and Catherina and started to hug them. It was their mother’s cousin Patricia. She had not seen Bruno and Catherina in years.
“Oh my god, you both look great and all grown up. How was your trip?”
Patricia guided them into the town house and took a departing look around the street to see if there was anybody watching them. She lived in the town house with her husband and parents, but they didn’t have any children. Patricia shut the door and escorted them both to the kitchen.
“How is your mother doing”?
Bruno said that she was doing just fine and that the farm and their father were healthy and so was everyone on the farm. As Patricia glided around the kitchen, Bruno and Catherina finally recognized her from family reunions at the farm. Patricia started a pot of coffee and asked Bruno if he knew of any places to stay at Treviso? Bruno replied that he had friends in the city and it wouldn’t be a problem for him to find a place to stay.
“How do you both know Gino Cartelli?” Patricia asked.
Bruno said that Gino was best friends with their brother Chester and that his immediate family wasn’t able to send anybody right away to take care of him. Catherina was looking out the window wide-eyed, nervously bouncing her knees.
“This is very nice of you to come and help your brother’s best friend in his time of need,” Patricia said. “Are you ready to see your room, Catherina?”
Catherina put her coffee down and made an up and down gesture with her head. Patricia grabbed Catherina’s hand and led her down the hall and up a stairway to her room.
The room had a small bed and a nightstand with a small lamp. Catherina put her suitcase down next to the bed and started her way out of the room following Patricia down the stairs. When they returned to the kitchen, Bruno was outside smoking his after-coffee cigarette and looking at all the people walking by this side street on the main street. He thought to himself that there were a lot of people here and that he needed to escape rural Cimpello more often. The farm was no place for him, and he was getting older and needed to find something better for himself. He heard the door open and when he turned he could see Catherina coming down the stairs.
“Let’s go to the hospital and see how Gino is doing.”
***
They arrived at the hospital after about a five-minute walk. Bruno was having a hard time staying up with Catherina and smiled when he noticed how quickly his sister was walking. He called out to her to wait for him; she turned and looked at Bruno and for the first time noticed that he wasn’t in the best shape and that his color in his face wasn’t normal. She asked him if he was feeling sick.
“No, I feel fine. You just walk very fast and I am not a fast walker; I walk slower like dad. Catherina I am not going into the hospital. You know I haven’t been feeling the best lately and don’t want to make the sick any worse. You go in and come let me know how Gino is, and then we can decide what our next move will be to get him better.”
Bruno waited by the main entrance. Catherina entered and noticed an information desk.
“Are you a member of the patient’s family?” the information attendant asked.
“Yes, I am. I am Gino Cartelli’s cousin from Cimpello, and I am here to take care of him. We saw that his name was on the wounded list in the square at home, and I am here at the request from the family to ensure his needs are met.”
The attendant didn’t even look at Catherina and started to check her list of patients.
“Private Gino Cartelli is on the second floor in the critical condition wing. You better hurry to see if you can do—”
Before the attendant could finish the sentence, Catherina went directly to the stairs leading to the second floor. As she entered the hallway, all she could see were doors on the left and right and an office in the middle. She hurried to the office where there was a lady asking for information about the location of her husband. Catherina got in line behind the lady and overheard the nurse tell the lady that she was sorry but
her husband had passed away that morning from his wounds. Catherina would remember the widow’s mournful bellow the rest of her life. Two nurses were helping the lady off the ground when one asked Catherina if she needed help.
“Would you like a glass of water? We are all so sorry about our soldiers that don’t make it; they are all so brave and young. Are you here to see somebody?”
Catherina took a sip of water and finally looked at the helpful nurse. “Yes, I am here to take care of Gino Cartelli; he is my cousin.”
“Let me look at my carts and see which ward he is in.”
Catherina was shaking by now and felt like throwing up.
“Private Cartelli is in Ward 2A, bed 4 just down the hall to the left. Let me escort you so you can see him. We have chairs in the waiting room to the right, and after we see Private Cartelli, I will give you instructions on what will be required of you while he recovers from his wounds.”
As they walked into the ward the nurse told Catherina about Gino’s wounds and illness.
“He’s very ill, so don’t be shocked when you see him,” the nurse cautioned.
In the room Catherina counted four soldiers when they entered. Each of the soldiers had a member of their family attending to their needs except for one next to the window. It was Gino. She waited for the nurse to leave and then rushed to his side and kissed his rough face.
Catherina looked at Gino for a minute and immediately noticed how awful he looked and noticed that he was unresponsive to her kiss. She kissed him again and left the room to find Bruno, who was leaning on the building smoking a cigarette and jingling coins in his pocket.
He was people watching, especially women in their skirts, high heels, and panty hose. He didn’t have a care in the world. Catherina approached Bruno, and he immediately could see in her eyes that it wasn’t looking good for Gino. She immediately ran into his arms for that strong hug that Bruno always gave her when things didn’t quite work out for her.
“So how bad is Gino?” asked Bruno.
“He looks awful. The nurse said he had a lung removed in Ethiopia, and he also has malaria. I don’t know how long it is going to take for him to recover from his wounds and the malaria, but you don’t need to stay here in Treviso while I take care of him and spend all of your money on places to stay. You should go back to Cimpello and help father on the farm. They will need your help soon before winter sets in, and you know that he doesn’t get around like he used to.”