Page 25 of Livia in Rome
‘She was probably just happy about thepasta e fagioli, actually. But it’s great she has an appetite, right?’
Ma nods, her smile a little tight. ‘Appetite’s one thing, but it takes more than a good meal to get back on your feet. Especially at her age.’
I hear Giulio’s voice in my head – all the more reason not to dampen her spirits with hopeless news.
‘Have you spoken to the doctors? Do you know when she’s getting out?’ And if she’ll have a bar to come back to, I wonder – but keep that uncomfortable thought to myself.
‘Getting up to the flat will be the biggest hurdle. But, knowing your nonna, she’d manage the stairs in a full body cast out of stubbornness alone.’ She laughs at her own joke, but there’s a bitter edge too.
I push a tiny bit more, but it’s like I’m rolling out pasta dough – stretching it just thin enough to work, but not so much that it tears apart. ‘What happened to make things so...tense...between you?’
Ma lets out a long breath. ‘Let’s just say she doesn’t appreciate my interference.’
‘But Giulio would be doing this all on his own if we hadn’t come.’
Nooo. Cavolo!I’ve said the wrong thing. Ma’s pupils dilate like a cat zeroing in on its target. And yep, that’s me.
‘Aha!You are warming to Giulio now,sì?’
I want to scream into a pillow. I was getting so close to finding out the truth. My breath hisses out of me like steam from a boiling moka pot. ‘I just mean...we’ll be back in Scotland soon enough, and Giulio goes back to school in September. Time’s running out.’
In ways you don’t even know.The secret burrows into the pit of my stomach. I could tell her right now – about the debt, about Bertolli, about the trouble the bar’s in. It seems wrong not to. So wrong I open my mouth to let the words spill out...but then Ma’s phone buzzes on the counter and Isla’s name pops up on the screen.
Ma picks it up, cradling it in both hands as if she’s worried she’s going to press the wrong button by accident. Her expression goes all mushy when she sees the message.
‘Aww, look at the littlemicetti.’ She shows me pics of the two foster kittens that have just arrived at the cattery from the shelter she partners with. The tension of our conversation melts away as we coo over them, guessing which one’s going to cause Isla the most trouble.
I point to the little tabby pictured with its claws in Isla’s jumper. ‘That one has a side parting like Enrico’s. It’ll probably want its own corner table and a cappuccino every morning.’
Ma laughs, and it’s so nice to see the strain of the last two weeks leave her face that I don’t want to ruin it by telling her about the debts. I have to get ready for language class, anyway. And, if I’m honest, it’s also because of Giulio. He’s willing to give up his Vespafor the bar, for Nina. The least I can do is keep quiet...for a day or two at least. I’ll tell her soon, I promise myself. There’s still time to come up with a solution.
Giulio and I spend the next day doing everything we can think of – listing belongings online, applying for loans (a complete waste of time when you’re under eighteen), and even a quick recce mission to the Trevi Fountain to see if dredging coins is a possibility (plenty of money, even more CCTV).
With no better ideas, we decide to double down on our spying efforts to uncover whatever Ma and Signora Pedretti are discussing.
Which is why my heart jumps when my friends and I arrive at the bar for our first language swap, and I find Ma and Signora Pedretti locked in an animated conversation – with Giulio loitering nearby.
We hold a quick exchange in eyebrow Morse code.
Eyebrow flick –Hear anything useful?
Slow lift of both brows –Nothing yet.
Quick double lift –Keep trying!
Single raised brow from Giulio –I am!
‘Hey!’ Ren tugs me down into the empty chairbeside him and reaches for the Tupperware container he’s been lugging around all afternoon. He does a little drum roll on the lid before opening it up with a flourish. ‘Voilà!’
We peer inside, then at each other, unsure of what we’re looking at.
Ren clucks his tongue. ‘It’s sushi caprese! Can’t you tell?’
I look more closely. Itdoeslook like sushi. But instead of rice, there’s a thin round of mozzarella at the bottom, a cherry tomato on top, and a thinly sliced strip of cucumber where the seaweed would be. I think there’s even a drizzle of balsamic glaze acting like it’s soy sauce.
I react the way I should have the moment Ren did his big reveal. ‘Wow! They look amazing.’
Sofia opens the camera on her phone and takes a close-up before popping one in her mouth. Then she pushes her chair back and stands. ‘I will get Giulio to model one – to make the picture even tastier!’ Suddenly, I struggle to swallow my own mouthful.
