CHAPTER 60
DANTE, EIGHT YEARS OLD
Isit on Nonna’s lap and hold the paper. She likes when I help with the words.
“Capital of Italy?” she asks.
I shrug. “I don’t know. Rome?”
She smiles and kisses my head. She’s about to write when something bangs downstairs. A loud, ugly noise.
Nonna freezes. She puts me on the floor.
“But we didn’t—”
“Hide, tesoro. Don’t come out,” she whispers.
I nod. Mom always said I must listen to Nonna. If I’m good, she can fix everything. Dad said if I don’t listen, they’ll take her away. Just like Mom.
Nonna opens the closet. She helps me crawl into the wooden box. Greta and Francesco told me once: if there is danger, stay here and stay quiet.
Nonna kisses my head. “I love you, Dante. Be a good boy.”
“Nonna—”
She puts her finger on her lips, saying, “Shhh.” Then she closes the lid.
Through a little hole, I can see. The door crashes open. Boots stomp inside. Lots of them.
“I don’t know where he is. I don’t have him, I—” Nonna’s voice shakes.
A man with a black thing on his head hits her hard. She falls, but she doesn’t cry. Another man grabs her neck.
I want to run to her. I want to scream. But I cover my mouth. Because she told me to hide.
They push her down. They keep hitting.
My stomach hurts. I want to throw up.
She’s going to be fine. She has to. She told me she was going to take care of me. If she can’t, then I’ll have to live with Dad. I don’t want to live with Dad. He’s mean.
I don’t understand what the people are saying. But Nonna says, “I don’t know! Giacomo took him, I swear!”
They keep saying the same word over and over again. Kind?47 I don’t know what it means.
“I don’t know where he is!” she cries. Her grey hair is red now. Why? She doesn’t dye it.
Her body jerks on the floor; her hands make fists as she cries. I’m crying too.
They hold her and drag her away. The bed makes noise, like when I jump on it. Are they jumping? Nonna hates that.
They’re breathing hard, like when I run too much. What are they doing? Can I come out now?
Nonna cries and begs them to stop. I want them to stop, too.
Someone bangs on the closet. They don’t see me. I don’t know why. I close my eyes and cover my nose so I don’t breathe loudly.
When this is over, Nonna’s going to buy me ice cream. Greta too. Francesco said we’d be safe here. He promised. He always keeps his promises.
They’re going to come here, and I’m going to hug Nonna; she has to take me to school tomorrow.
There’s someone clapping outside. They’re still jumping on the bed. Nonna doesn’t make any noise now.
Something sounds like a firework. Then a sound like a zip. Then footsteps, walking away.
I stay in the same position for a long time, until I hear cars leaving. Nonna still doesn’t tell me to come out. But I don’t want to wait. I want to go and hug her. I’m scared.
I peek out. No one’s there. The door is closed. All I see is Nonna’s hand hanging down from the bed.
“Nonna,” I whisper. “Can I come out now?”
I wait a few seconds. Then I take a step out of the box. I fall over the clothes on the floor. I stay still, making sure no one heard. When I open the closet door, my back goes cold.
Nonna is on the bed. The bed is red. Her dress is red. She’s looking down. I run to her, because if you sleep with your face in the mattress, you can’t breathe. She’s too heavy.
“Nonna!”
I turn her around. Her eyes are open. There’s a red dot on her forehead. Red stuff comes out of it. It… it can’t be blood.
I roll her over so she’s facing up. She’s covered in something weird, like soap. I press my ear to her chest.
Nothing. There’s nothing. How can there be nothing?
“Wake up… please. I was good,” I cry. “I won’t be bad, Nonna… please, don’t leave me with Dad.”
My chest hurts, just like when Mom got lost. Please, I don’t want Nonna to get lost too. Not my Nonna.
I grab her arm and try to wrap it around me like she does every night, but it’s not like her hugs. It’s cold. She doesn’t try. She just stays there, like she’s mad. She doesn’t kiss me. She doesn’t snuggle.
“I won’t say your kisses are disgusting, Nonna. I want a goodnight kiss.”
But there’s nothing.
She’s dead.
They took her from me. The ones who talk funny.
Can someone come back to life? I curl up next to her and close my eyes. Maybe if I give her my heat, she’ll wake up. She never lets me skip school.
Maybe if I stay with her, they’ll bring her back.
“Oh my God!”
I open my eyes, even though I don’t want to. Greta has her hand over her mouth. Behind her, Francesco pulls out his gun and leaves. I close my eyes again and try to get closer to Nonna, but Greta grabs my arm.
I don’t want to leave Nonna.
She takes both my arms. There’s a big lump in my throat, and it hurts. Greta looks me right in the eyes and lets me go just to hold my face. She rubs my cheeks with her thumbs, shakes my hair, and then hugs me.
It’s not like Nonna’s hugs. But it’s warm.
Are they going to take Greta from me, too? I should tell Francesco. He will be sad like me.
“Did they touch you?” she cries. “Did they see you? Are you okay, cucciolo?”
I shake my head. That’s the answer to all the questions.
I’m going to have to live with Dad. I don’t want him. He just yells and hits me. He doesn’t want me either.
Greta rubs my back. She cries, but I don’t. I’m not sad. I’m angry.
Francesco comes in and looks at me. “Are you okay, kid?”
I shake my head. “I want to kill them.”
Greta blinks fast and stares at me. Francesco makes a funny noise, like when he blows air out, and he smiles, but not happily.
“Dante, you don’t—”
“I saw them. They made Nonna cry. I’m going to make them cry, too. They took her. I’ll take something too.”
“Hold on there, cucciolo,” Francesco says. “First, you have to grow up. You stay safe. Then we’ll see. For now, let us hide you somewhere safe, okay?”
I look at Nonna. Then I look at Greta.
“She’s with Mom?” I whisper.
Greta hugs me tight. Francesco nods and walks away.
“And you are with me,” Greta says.
My eyes get big. I don’t have to go to Dad?
“Really?”
Greta smiles. “You think I’d leave you?” She kisses my head. “I don’t care what Giacomo says. You stay with me.”
I nod fast. Greta is the best. She gives me sweets when her husband says no. Sometimes she lets me play with his old gun he keeps hidden. He says it doesn’t work, but it’s our secret.
Greta stands up and holds my hand. I walk next to her. But I turn and look at Nonna one more time. My chest hurts. It feels like someone is hitting me from the inside.
Next time I have someone important, like Greta, I won’t let anybody take them. I’ll be big and strong. I won’t hide.
I’ll take care of them.
I promise.
Notes:
47.German for kid