Page 49 of Vita Mia

Eve opened her eyes. She looked up at her father. Giovanni set aside the rag and then lifted her hand gently. Mirabella hadn’t heard Giovanni sing the nursery rhyme in years. It used to be Eve’s favorite when she was a toddler. One of the songs he sang to teach her Italian. She wasn’t sure if Eve would remember it. She was wrong. Eve began to sing along with her father.“Lucciola, lucciola vieni con me—”

Gino and Gianni tried to sing it too in their attempt to make Eve smile. They didn’t know the song as well, as Eve but they harmonized. Mirabella smiled through her tears. She sat in the glider chair in the room and let both of her sons settle on her lap. In only a few minutes Giovanni had taken off the bandages, redressed her blistered skin then slipped the burn glove back on. And though Eve did wince a few times he remained gentle and steady in the task. When he was done Eve began to cry again. Giovanni picked her up from the bed in his arms. He looked back at Mirabella. “Let’s go for a walk. All of us.”

“But, she can’t walk that well. The strain to her ankle. Remember?”

He winked.

“She’ll be fine. She needs some sunshine and so do you.”

Mirabella wasn’t sure that was true. It had only been three days since the horror. But with Giovanni in control how could she question it?

Mirabella stood. Giovanni carried a weeping Eve from the room and she followed. To the front of the villa, Catalina sat with her infant son and Zia held Leeza while they chatted with Dominic. They all looked up at them. No one asked where they were going. The Don took his daughter out into the sunlight. It was 21 degrees Celsius. A crisp comforting day. Giovanni hummed the nursery rhyme and Eve head lifted from his shoulder to look around. The boys escaped their mother. Both let her hands go and ran for their father. Mirabella fell a few steps behind them and watched as he led his children through the tall grass. Chianti was picturesque with it’s beautiful countryside.

It was May, closer to spring than summer. And wine country boomed in May. When the family reached the top of the small emerald green hill Giovanni climbed. From this vantage point they could look down at Rocco’s vineyard. Plump grapes the size of plums glistened purple and green. Giovanni sat with Eve. Mirabella walked over and sat at his side. They watched the twins roll down the hill in giggles. The boys immediately got up from the grassy bottom with a push of their hands and knees to run back up the hill and roll down again.

“Rocco taught them how to do that,” Eve said as she stared at her brothers.

“He did?” Mirabella asked. She didn’t know.

Eve nodded.

“I miss Rocco... and Zio Lo. They went down the hill with us, and back up. It was their game.”

Giovanni glanced to Mirabella.

“Is Belinda dead Papa? Like Rocco. Like Zio Lo? Like Cecilia.”

“Zio Lo isn’t—“ Giovanni paused. “Who told you Zio Lo was dead?”

“I heard you and Nico talking. Is it true?” Eve asked.

“Eve... sweetheart, it’s not true. Okay?” Mirabella began.

“They’re dead.” Eve said and dropped her head. “I burned them all in my fire.”

Mirabella looked over to Giovanni for help.

“I don’t want to die mummy. I’m sorry I made fire, and I made it bad for everyone,” Eve confessed. Mirabella couldn’t help but reach for her.

“Okay baby. You made a mistake. And bad things happened. But I swear to you that bad things are going to stop happening. No one else is going to die.”

“Promise me?”

“Yes, my love, I promise,” Mirabella said.

Giovanni didn’t say much. He sat at their side watching the boys play. What could a father say to a daughter who questioned death when he himself had witnessed it with her.

“Zio Lo and I used to play this game,” Giovanni said to Eve. “In Bagheria. We’d run up the hill and roll down it just like your brothers.”

“You did?” Eve sniffed.

“Yes. We’d do it until we were out of breath. And then we’d come up the hill and eat the sandwiches my Madre made for us. We were only six and seven then. But we were big enough boys to go on an adventure by ourselves. And we’d fish, play futbol, and wrestle, just like your brothers.”

Eve glanced to Gino and Gianni who were now locked in a wrestle, roughly trying to flip each other. Mirabella didn’t like it when the boys became aggressive but she didn’t object.

“Do you want to talk about the fire?” Mirabella asked.

Eve fell silent.

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