- Hey, doc. You gotta
help him.
- I’ll try my best. But I wouldn’t have high hopes if
I were you. He’s too weak. He’s lost too much blood.
- Per favore, dottore. Pleeeeease. Don’t
let my friend die.
- Like I said, I’ll try. Now, give us some room,
please.
More
than some minutes earlier
Rafaello
thinks Luca is dead. He holds him for 5 minutes. He has no idea what to do. The
events of the last half-hour are still screaming in his head. It is like a
scene from one of those gang movies he got used to watching when he was little.
He went to Luca’s house and together would spend hours in front of the tube.
They would only stop when Signora
Giovanna, Luca’s mamma, screamed at
them, ordering both to leave the house and play some games on the street.
While
lost in these thoughts Rafaello hears someone whispering his name. He looks
down and can see his friend Luca staring at him.
- DIO MIO!!!! È
VIVOOOO!!!!
Luca tries a smile. It hurts. He can’t remember what happened. He tries
hard. He doesn’t know why his friend is crying like a little girl. Faggot, he thinks. Rafaello is in
ecstasy. His eyes have deceived him one more time. First, his friend is dead,
but now he is smiling at him. I guess God has heard his prayers.
- Oh my dearest friend. You’re alive.
- I am, indeed.
- I thought you were dead.
- Well, I’ll be if you don’t stop being such a pussy
and take me to the hospital.
- You don’t have to say twice. Let’s go.
Rafaello
picks up his phone and starts texting.
- What are you doing?
- Calling an Uber.
- What? CHIAMARE UN’AMBULANZA.
- No. Uber is cheaper and faster. They have this
special service called Uber-not-yet. It is for those situations when the person
is almost dead, but not yet.
- What the hell are you talking about?
- Nevermind. They’ll be here in 2 minutes.
Rafaello
wants to explain to his friend how Uber-not-yet works, but he decides to do
that later. Now all he wants to do is to take his friend to the nearest
hospital as soon as he can. He can’t control the excitement. His friend is
alive and that is all that matters.
- Wow. Mamma mia. I really thought I would go
to your funeral after those shots. But here you are. Alive.
- Rafa… cogh… cogh… I’m cold, man… really cold…
cogh…cogh… I think I will rest a little…just a little…cogh… cogh…
- No, no, no, no, noooo... don’t die on me again, man.
- SBRIGATI, TASSISTA. HURRY UP. MY FRIEND IS
DYING.
- I’m driving as fast as I can. And I am not a taxi
driver. I am an Uber driver.
- WHATEVER!!! JUST DRIVE!!!
Back
to the hospital…
- Hey, man. Did you talk to my father?
- Who? Mr. Bianchi?
- No, man. Michael Jackson. Of course Mr. Bianchi. Who
else?
- No, I haven’t spoken to him.
- Thank God. He would freak out.
- But I sent him a message.
- WHAT?
- I texted him.
- WHY DID YOU DO THAT FOR?
- I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD. I WAS DESPERATE. WHAT DID YOU
WANT ME TO DO, HUH? I WAS LOST, MAN. I WAS…
- Ok. Ok. I am sorry. You did the right thing. Well,
what did you tell him?
- Not much. Only that you were shot.
- Merda.
- I texted, “The cat went up on the roof…”
Silence
in the room. Luca does not understand what his friend has just said. He tries
hard, but still cannot understand it.
- Rafa… what the hell does that mean?
- It’s a Brazilian saying. Don’t you know it?
- No, I don’t. And I am pretty sure that my father
doesn’t know either.
- Your father is a smart man. I think he does
understand and...
- Jesus, man. What’s the meaning of that?
- Well, in Brazil, when we have to deliver bad news,
and we don’t want to shock the person, we start saying that there’s a cat on
the roof of the house, and…
- You know what? I don’t care. Just give me your
phone. I’ll call my father.
- LUCAAAAAAAAA, FIGLIO MIO.
Both
Luca and Rafaello have a fright. They look at the door and see a beautiful
woman with watered eyes walking towards them. It is Signora Giovanna.
- Mamma.
- My son. Oh, my son. How are you?
- I’m fine.
Signora Giovanna exams
every inch of Luca’s body, looking for scratches, and she cannot believe when
she sees the wounds caused by the bullets. She starts crying desperately.
- Oh, mom. Don’t cry, please. If you do that, I’ll cry
too, and you know, men don’t cry.
- Who told you that?
- I DID.
That
voice. Signora Giovanna stops crying immediately. Luca and Rafaello stop breathing. The air is
heavy now. His presence can be felt in the whole room.
- PAPÀ!!!!
- Hello, son. How are you feeling?
- Not bad.
- Are they treating you well here?
- Yep. Better than I thought, right nurse?
The
nurse, a woman who has just got the job and has no idea what’s going on but understands
the situation is critical, just nods.
- Well, I have some business to handle. I’ll leave
your mom here, along with Giuseppe. I’ll see you later.
- Ok, dad.
- Then you, and me, and Rafaello will talk about that negro
that embarrassed our family, capiche?
- Yes, papa.
Next….
The final chapter!
