“Nonsense. Paris won’t be the same five minutes after you’ve arrived,” Rosa said. She and Tessa helped with the caffe and told Renata about Les Halles and how she’d love it.
Renata listened but she wasn’t smiling.
Of all the reactions, Toto’s was the one that puzzled Serafina the most. Carlo, of course mystified her, but he was just being Carlo. But Toto wasn’t saying much. She thought he’d be full of questions. But he kept asking Teo when he’d be finished with dinner because he wanted to play knucklebones.
After dessert, Serafina said they’d each be responsible for packing.
A groan from Maria.
Renata bit her lip. “I’ve invited Badali for supper tomorrow.” She put a hand to her chest.
Her daughter’s words at times were barely audible. Serafina had to think for a moment. Oh, yes. “Badali, of course. But you must.” She leaned to Loffredo. “You remember the friend of Renata, don’t you — a carabiniere?”
He looked puzzled.
“You’ll recognize him, I’m sure you will. You see him all the time in the piazza. The captain. Too bad we can’t pack him up and take him with us.”
Renata looked at her plate. Her hand trembled. Like a flower, this daughter. Each of her children was so different. She wished she could add Renata and Carmela together and divide by two. Instead she walked over and kissed Renata’s head.
“After the fire,” Renata blurted. It was the first mention of it and Vicenzu seemed to hunch into himself as if he was the one responsible, but he didn’t say anything and Renata continued. “After the fire, I knew something dire would happen.”
“Since when is going to Paris ‘dire’?” Rosa asked. “The center of cuisine.” She told Serafina that Gesuzza was going with them, and of course Arcangelo, but not Formusa. “Formusa’s wants to spend the rest of her days sitting in the sun. I told her to tell me where she wants to live and I’ll arrange it.” She shook her head. “How I’ll miss her kitchen. And Assunta?”
“Going,” Serafina said.
“No reason why we can’t travel back and forth, especially for Christmas and Easter,” Rosa said, looking at Renata who was folding and unfolding her linen.
“Of course not, only six months away,” Serafina forced herself to say. Her toes were cold.
Late that night after the lovemaking, she asked Loffredo what he’d do with his villa.
He shrugged. “The caretaker will watch it. We’ll keep it for vacations. Don’t forget, it’s got hot water in the upstairs bath and after six months of living in Elena’s apartment, you’ll be used to having it.”
“I miss it already.” She paused. “Elena’s apartment? You mean our apartment.”
“We’ll be back. We’re not going forever, but we can’t make a living in Oltramari ever again. The don’s oppression is too great. He’ll sap every ounce of strength and suck all monies from you,” he said. “And there are more just like him. They’re like weeds taking over the garden.”
“So you don’t think Carlo is right?”
“I think Carlo drinks too much, keeps company with the wrong crowd, and somehow we need to get him back on the right path. At least we must try,” he said. “I don’t know how yet.”
“He’ll be around tomorrow apologizing, you’ll see,” Serafina said. “My toes.”
“Again? Yes, they’re frozen. You’re worried about your children, that’s why.” He rubbed her feet.
She wondered how to bring up the subject of money. They hadn’t spoken of it. She wanted to assure him they’d have enough, at least for the near term. “Are you… don’t you worry about… I know, right now we’re all right, but I have no idea what our expenses will be like in Paris.”
“We’ll never want, Fina. You wouldn’t have to work unless of course something happens to the Swiss banks. For over twenty years I’ve barely touched the allowance from Elena, and I’ve invested it well, with help of course from a trusted advisor. Perhaps after we’re settled and Carlo comes around, he and I will go into practice together. I need to talk to him. I got the sense that…”
She relaxed. “He’s like that,” Serafina said. “Seems uninterested in his profession, and yet he maintains good grades. And he cares, he really does. You told me his professor, what was his name?”
“Libertate, but that was a few years ago-when you were working on Rosa’s case, remember? He helped me with the autopsy.”
They were silent for a time.
“But since then he’s changed. Does he have a large allowance?”
She shook her head. “I wouldn’t know. Vicenzu handles the finances. I’ve never asked. But knowing Vicenzu…” She rolled her eyes. “Vicenzu doesn’t draw a fire unless it’s winter. Says we can’t waste the logs.”
“The frock coat Carlo wore tonight looked expensive and new,” Loffredo said. “And he was smoking a Cuban cigar.”
“Only the best for Carlo,” she said and yawned. “Two prima donnas in the family.”
He smiled. “Worries for another day.”
Serafina rose and went to the window. After opening the shutters, she breathed in, trying not to think of Carlo or Maria or leaving. In the east she saw a thin line of light edging the mountain tops. Her eyes swept over the front garden to their chestnut tree planted hundreds of years ago, past the tops of buildings surrounding Oltramari’s harbor, and gazed out to a calm sea. Mist crept in, blanketing the horizon. She’d leave her home, but not forever. They’d be back.
“There’s a ship far out, you can barely see it. The fog almost swallows it. I wonder if it’s the one we take Saturday.”
No answer. He’d fallen asleep.
Chapter 38: Mal de Mer
The sea was placid, the night sky beautiful, the boat not too full and they dined with the captain. She and Loffredo spent their days on deck, sleeping or talking with the other passengers. The closer they got to Paris, however, the more she thought about Elena and the loose ends of the case.
Serafina’s French improved, but the Parisians still regarded her with a tight smile. They met a widow and her dog who lived in their arrondissement and now that they could smile at someone whom they might pass on the sidewalk, they thought of themselves as practically natives.
They walked around the deck or asked Teo what mountains they were looking at. Where he’d found the information, she didn’t know, probably somewhere on Giorgio’s shelves, but he held a map showing latitude, longitude, currents, depths of the sea. “We’re in the deepest part of the Tyrrhenian Sea,” he announced on the first afternoon of their voyage, “almost 3800 meters deep.” His words attracted other passengers who thought he was the ship’s guide. Maria looked at Teo as though he belonged in a cage. And yet Serafina felt her daughter drawn to him.
Serafina kissed Loffredo on the arm. “I’m watching my family through your eyes and seeing them for the first time.”
“Perhaps we should tell them the story of Elena at dinner tonight.”
“I’ve got a better idea. After we arrive, we’ll invite Busacca and have him tell the story of his daughter. A lesson for them, I should think.”
It was Renata’s first trip by sea and she spent most of the time in her state room, ill.
“Another night and we’ll be in Marseille. You’ll like the cuisine, I think. Distinctive.”
“If I never eat again, I’ll be happy,” Renata said.
“There’s a big kitchen in our apartment in Paris, most of the appliances seldom used. You’ll like it, my sweet.”
She smiled, pale. “I think I’d like to learn French cuisine.”
“And you’ll make it your own, Sicilian French, how daring. We’ll hire a chef for you and you can teach him pastry and he’ll teach you whatever it is you want to know and show you Les Halles. You’ll spend hours there. Sauces, the French cover everything with a sauce. I want to invite Levi Busacca to dinner, introduce him to Vicenzu and entertain him with your cuisine, my love. Don’t worry. This voyage will be over soon and with it your mal de mer.”