Chapter 6
6
PINOCCHIO
“S ound it out,” I say, as patiently as I can. I point to the book on the table and Lampwick scrutinizes the pages.
“Hu…Happi…lee.”
“Now put it together.” I sip my tea and look around. No one is paying us any mind at the café near the town square. As the sun sets, some folks are strolling along, meeting their husbands or wives. I’m perfectly content sitting here with my lifelong best friend.
“Happily…everrrrr…affff….ter.” He shakes his head like he just did a workout.
“ Bravissimo ,” I say with a smile.
He shrugs and rolls his eyes. “It wasn’t that good.”
“It’s only our first lesson, and you’re doing great.” I tap his hand. “I’m so proud of you.”
The blush on his cheeks is adorable —like a puppy, not in a romantic sense. Because Lampwick and I are both young men. I can never be boyfriends with another boy, that’s unheard of.
“Yeah, well, hopefully I can get done with this list soon.” He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, and my smile fades. Crap . Is Lampwick going to leave town once his list is over? The very thought of losing him again makes my back tense up.
“Um, you sure will be,” I say, trying to keep my voice even.
“Yeah, and then we’ll get to hang out more, and I can learn more book stuffs!” He taps my arm and laughs.
My shoulders sag in relief. He’s not leaving. At least, not yet. My smile picks up and I lean in. “Absolutely. There are a ton of events in town. And even though we’re grownups, we can make our own child-like fun!”
“What’s this about child-like fun?” I look up to see my only other friend standing at our table.
“Giovanna!”
“ Ciao, Pinocchio, come stai ?” She leans in and we do the traditional cheek-to-cheek kissing motion.
“I’m good! You?”
“Better now.” She twirls, and her brunette braided hair sways left and right. The basket with the bread in her left hand moves along with her. “I haven’t seen you at any of the markets lately.”
“I’ve been busy.”
She eyes Lampwick. “I see that. Aren’t you the boy who helped Signore Vypari and his horses?”
“Yeah,” he replies, looking away. “I owed him a debt, so I helped him replace the horseshoes.”
“That was a lot of work. I’m Giovanna, by the way.”
“Lampwick.”
After an awkward pause, Giovanna turns to me. “So, will you be at the Autumn Festival, Pinocchio?”
“Of course.” I smile at both of my friends. Giovanna’s been neighborly to me for the past five years, but my connection to Lampwick runs deeper than that. Considering I had almost no buddies as a kid, I’m delighted to have them both in my life. “Papa and I are selling lots of new marionettes and clocks. The only reason we could get so much done is because this guy helps us organize so much.”
I point across the table and my friend blushes and waves at me. “Oh, stop,” he says, and we both laugh.
“It’s true! With you on our team we can do so much!” When I stop laughing, I look up at Giovanna. Her eyes dart between the two of us, and her smile falters.
“I meant after the Autumn Festival. During the nighttime musical performances, the town square will be all aglow. All that romantic dancing…” Her voice trails off and she sways her hips.
My smile falls and I look at Lampwick. His eyes are once again purposefully gazing at the sky. “Um, sure. Are you coming, Lampwick? It’ll be a lot of fun.”
“I might have some, um…work to do then.”
“But the whole town will be there,” I say.
“Maybe.” He shuts the book and stands up. “Look I gotta go get some sleep. I’ll see you at work. It was nice meeting you.” He waves and rushes off.
“ Ciao ,” Giovanna says. She turns back to me and gives me a sly smile. “Where’s your friend staying?”
“That’s a very good question,” I murmur. I need to know where he goes at night and if he’s safe. I can’t go on without knowing my best friend is alright.
“So, about the dress I’m going to be wearing at the Autumn Festival. It’s going to be—”
“That’s great, Giovanna.” I stand up, gazing in the distance, past the nighttime crowds. I spy Lampwick’s dark orange hair bounding down an alleyway. Now’s my chance—if I hurry, I’ll be able to catch up to him. “I’ll, uh…talk to you later.”
“Um, okay. Ciao , Pinocchio,” she mutters. At least, I think she does, because a moment after I stand up, I’m darting through the crowds, tailing my friend.
Weaving through the people in the square, I make a point not to chase him too closely. In the almost two weeks he’s been back in town, Lampwick’s been so evasive as to where he’s been sleeping. I should feel guilty about stalking my buddy, but I’m worried about him. If he caught me following him, he might dodge my questions forever. Like always, my need to take care of Lampwick is instinctual, threaded into the wood that Papa carved me from.
Five minutes of dodging and following later, my questions are answered, and I’m not happy about it. I’m well past the outskirts of town, over the creeks, not too far from the beach. In the night sky, I can barely see my friend. But when he walks by a small lantern, I spot him clearly. Lampwick snuffs out the lantern then ducks inside an abandoned barn.
I gasp and gradually creep closer. Once my eyes get used to the dark, I spy my friend, sleeping on a pile of hay. He’s relaxing with his vest off, the top button undone, like it’s no big deal. Oh no, this will not do.
“Lampo?”
“Ack!” he screeches. He darts up, and I put my hands out.
“Woah, woah, relax.”
“Sticks?!” He catches his breath and looks around. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m saving you. Come on.” I grab his arm and pull him away.
“What?”
“You’ve been sleeping in a barn this whole time?!” I try in vain to pull my friend, who leans backward to stop me.
“It’s an abandoned shed. There’s even a pump for water out back.”
“Is the water clear?” I gaze at the dilapidated walls and my mouth frowns in horror.
He grimaces. “Eh…sometimes. But no one cares that I’m squatting here.”
“I care!”
“It’s not a big deal,” he whines.
“Lampwick, it’s a bed of hay! Arpeggio sleeps better than this, and she’s a cat!” I keep pulling his arm, but my friend is stubborn. “Come on.”
“Come where?”
“We’re going to my house.”
“What, why?” He budges, reluctantly following me outside.
“Because I won’t have my best friend sleeping in an abandoned farmhouse!” I continue to pull on his firm arm. Has he always been this muscular? “I didn’t save you from being a donkey just to have you literally live like a donkey.”
We both laugh at that. “You did save me,” he muses.
We pause, gazing at each other in the darkness. Outside of town, it’s so quiet, and the stars twinkle around us. It would be romantic if we weren’t best friends; this isn’t a date because boys don’t go on dates with each other.
“Lampwick.”
“Sticks, your family has done so much for me. I can’t keep adding to the things I owe you. A job, reading lessons, and now this?!”
“You don’t owe me,” I retort.
“But if I stay with you, I do.”
His voice is a soft, almost whine. He sounds so broken, so tired—days of working multiple jobs, and he’s been sleeping in filth. I can’t accept this.
“On that list, didn’t you claim you would do anything to make me and Papa happy?”
He bites his lip. “Um, yeah.”
“Well, living near me, under a real roof, would make me happy.” Just by saying the words, I realize how much I’d like to be close to him, day and night. “Please,” I say in a soft, pleading tone. “Please stay with us.”
After a long pause, he replies, “The commute would be convenient.”
I snicker. “Exactly!”
He chuckles. “Alright, Sticks. If you think your papa won’t mind.”
“He won’t!” I take his arm again and guide him along with me. “Oh, this is going to be so great! I can read to you at night, and you can play with Arpeggio before bed.” I squeeze his bicep, and even though I don’t need to hold him like this anymore, I can’t seem to find the desire to let him go. “You’re gonna love living with us, Lampo.”
“I know I will, Sticks.” He ruffles my hair, and it sends shivers down my spine. An affection I don’t recognize thrums through me, but like all confusing feelings, I push it down and focus on how I’m going to fit both of us in my room.
An hour later, Lampwick is lying in a pile of blankets and pillows on the floor of my room. It’s cramped, and we have to walk over each other to get out, but I don’t mind. Losing a little space is a small price to pay to make sure your best friend is sleeping in safety.
“You comfy, Lampo?”
“Very much so,” he whispers.
“Do you want me to read you a bedtime story? I like to read sometimes before I sleep.”
He snickers. “You’re too cute. But no thanks. Another time, yeah?”
“Okay,” I reply. The fact that he called me cute has my insides all twisty, but I’m not sure why. So, I blow out the candlelight and lie on my side. Leaning over, I gaze at him in the dark, taking in how the moonlight shines on his freckled skin. I smile at him, not caring if he thinks it’s weird or not.
I’m just so delighted; I’m privileged with the honor of working with my best friend, reading with him, and now he’s living with us again.
“This changes nothing, Sticks,” he murmurs.
“Huh?”
“I’m still going to get through my list and make amends with everyone in town. And I’m not going to keep taking from you and your papa.”
“You’re always welcome here, Lampwick. And I’ll help you with the list. Whatever you need, I’ll be there for you, because you’re family.”
“Thanks,” he whispers, and I can tell he’s smiling. With that, I count the number of breaths he takes until I fall asleep. For some reason, I feel more relaxed than ever in my own bed.
When I made that birthday wish to not be so alone, I had no idea Lampwick would return. Truly the Turquoise Fairy is still looking out for me, because having my friend back feels like the greatest blessing I could ask for.