The Boy by The Lake - 9. Chapter 9

The next morning I was awaken by someone knocking on my door. Putting on a robe, answering the door, there were two boys and Pietro. “Pietro, do me a favor and accompany the boys to the dining room for breakfast. I’ll be down as soon as I shower.” As I was showering I had flash backs to when Clair was here. It would take us forever to shower together, now 15 minutes or less and I was done. Dressed for the day, I headed down to breakfast.

“Are you finished eating?”

“No, they have sausages that are really good, but the eggs are hard boiled.”

“The bread is good also, we don’t get bread like this at home.”

I smiled and thought about the tales these boys will tell when we get home. I went to the table, fixed myself a plate and asked for a coffee. Sitting down, “Uncle Jeff, we need to unload our cameras. Is there a place where we can buy a flash drive.”

I smiled to myself, the same thing happened when Clair and I came here on our first trip. I had to buy a disposable camera, now they have flash drives. On the pretext of brushing our teeth, I went to my room and took two flash drives from my luggage.

“Here, use these. I knew you would need more. This morning we’ll start at the Vatican and then we’ll go the Sistine chapel.”

We spent the morning touring the Vatican. I think the boys’ cameras were busy. We stopped to admire Michelangelo’s Pieta. I showed the boys were someone had damaged the statue and you could just make out the repair. “Is that why they have it chained off from the public?”

“Yes, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it isn't alarmed as well. I think the Sistine Chapel is even more spectacular.”

We walked to the entrance of the Sistine Chapel, “Michelangelo painted this. Any idea how he did it?”

“He must have done it laying down, he could never do it standing up. He’d have a very serious problem with the muscles in his neck.”

“No, he did it standing and it was very painful.”

“That must have taken him a long time to do that.”

“When we leave you can pick up a book that tells all about how he did this. It took him about 4 years to paint the chapel.”

“Wow, he must have had a very sore neck.”

“Let’s stop at the Vatican store and you can get a souvenir.” I wonder what they would buy. I remember Clair fell in love with some of the crosses, rings and earrings. I watched as the boys looked over the display case.

“Uncle Jeff, may I buy a gift for my mother?”

“Of course, what did you have I mind?”

“Toby and I like the crosses and I think my mother would like one as well.”

“My wife liked the crosses as well.”

They picked out the crosses, “For 5 euros the Pope will bless these.”

“No, thank you.”

With their crosses and a book on the Sistine Chapel, we went to find Pietro. “Uncle, are we going to eat soon?” I looked at my watch and realized it was past lunch time.

“There’s Pietro, go tell him we are ready for lunch.” I got their packages, as they went after Pietro. By the time I caught up with them, they were smiling.

“Pietro invited us for lunch at his place.”

“Pietro, that’s very nice, let me provide the wine. Stop at that little wine shop off of the plaza.”

We stopped at the wine shop, he remembered me and brought two bottles of my favorite wine. I gave him a hug and introduced the boys. “Vincitore, do you still have some of that cheese that goes well with this wine?”

“I have some in the back” He brought a wheel of cheese, cut off a piece and gave it to me. It was exactly as I remembered. He gave the boys a piece, they smiled when they tasted it.

“Uncle, can we get this back home?”

“I don’t think so. Vincitore, can you ship some of this wine and cheese to the States?”

“I’ll let you know.”

Pietro introduced us to his wife and children. His wife I remembered, since I was here the last time with Clair. The boys immediately became friends, Pietro’s oldest was 15 and his youngest was 14. They spoke very good English. “They study English in school. I speak to them in my broken English to help them practice.”

The boys were chatting as we ate a fantastic lunch, antipasto followed by pasta and then chicken in a wine sauce. There was plenty of salad and bread. “Pietro, you must never go to a restaurant, you have the best chefs here. This food is the best I have ever eaten. When you come to America, you must stay with me and teach us how to prepare such food.” I saw the boys ears pop up as I said about coming to America.

Lunch over 2 1/2 hours later, “Pietro, let’s go to the Trevi Fountain and then maybe the Spanish Steps. Anything else we can squeeze in today would be just fine.” I noticed Pietro’s boys whispering to my boys. No big surprise when Toby asked if the boys could come with us. I looked at Pietro, who nodded yes and before you could say our names, they were in the taxi. I needn’t say anything about this land mark. Pietro’s boys took over and probably gave a better explanation of the importance of this Fountain than I could.

Uncle, Roberto said we needed to go to the Spanish Steps and to climb to the top. Is that okay? He said we could walk there.”

“Yes, that’s fine, Pietro and I will meet you there. Be careful.”

It wasn’t a long walk to the Spanish Steps from the Fountain. But it gave the boys a little freedom. We arrived before the boys, we sat there waiting for them. They hadn’t noticed us as they were talking intensively. Pietro blew the horn and that got their attention. “Papa, can we show our friends to some of the places that are considered famous. They have been to the Forum, Sistine Chapel, Palatine Hill and Colosseum, there are still plenty of places we could go walking.”

“Pietro, that’s fine by me if it’s okay by you. I’ll give the boys some money so they can get something to drink or eat.”

“Roberto, you be careful. Remember they are our guests. Jeffry, let’s go to my home and enjoy a glass of wine. The boys will meet us there.

Well, we had more than a glass of wine. I had to go back and get two more bottles. When I got back, we had visitors. Neighbors of Pietro heard he was being visited by an American. In Italy this meant party time. “Pietro, should I go and get some food?”

“No, Jeffry, watch, this is an Italian neighborhood, people here are all friends and there are no tourist here. After all of this time, I think we are friends.”

Sure enough platters of food appeared, evidently the neighbors pitched in. I did sneak away and got more wine. I wasn’t surprised when my friend, Vincitore showed up with more wine.

Most of the conversations were in Italian, Pietro would lean over and translate for me. To say I enjoyed this gathering would be an understatement. I was only sorry Clair wasn’t here with me to enjoy this. She would have loved it. I think Pietro saw the tear in my eye, he filled my wine glass, “Drink to the memory.”

I was well into the food and wine when the boys showed up. Roberto introduced the boys while his brother, Angelo, handed the boys a glass of wine. I watched as Toby looked at me, I smiled and raised my glass, he smiled back and took a sip of the wine. His smile said he liked it.

As the party broke up, Vincitore gave me an address and told me to call there when I got home. I looked at it, put it in my coat pocket. Pietro drove us back to our hotel accompanied by his two boys. We made arrangements to meet for breakfast, Pietro and his boys would join us.

Walking to our rooms, “Uncle, this is the best vacation ever. Do you think Roberto and Angelo could come and visit us?”

“I don’t see why not. Ask his father tomorrow morning.” I could see that the boys were tired and so was I, most of it due to the wine.

The morning seemed to come quickly. We met Pietro and his sons for breakfast. “Boys, we have two days left in Rome and then we’ll need to fly to Milan.”

“Why fly Jeffry, we can drive. It takes longer if you fly, I can drive you there in 6 hours, you’ll enjoy the sights and the country side. If you haven’t made plane arrangements, we could drive.”

I knew what was coming. “Uncle, that would be fun. Roberto and Angelo could come with us.” I looked at the boys, their faces were smiling and I knew I was had.

“Okay, but you need to make sure their mother agrees.” That was a given, their father was driving. It was a stab at one last chance to fly and not drive. Not that driving was bad, but Italian drivers are the world’s worst, although Pietro probably was the best of the worst. Their mother thought it was a great idea. But it also meant we’d need to come back to Rome to fly home. Itinerary changes now would be needed.

Over the next two days, I don’t think there was a church of any significance that the boys hadn’t visited. I had a small case with four flash drives and the boys still had photos in their cameras to download. I had Pietro go and buy another 6 flash drives. I was sure they wouldn’t fill that many.

“Uncle, Roberto and Angelo don’t have cameras like ours, could I use my money and buy them one as a thank-you gift?”

“A great idea, ask Pietro where he got the flash drives, let him take you there and pick up two cameras. Charge them to your credit card and get two flash drives as well.” I think my boys have made two good friends.

The morning we were to leave for Milan, Toby and Ron gave the boys their cameras. Pietro shook his head, “They wanted a camera but their mother said she would see what’s available. I know it wouldn’t have been this good.”

On the trip to Milan, Toby and Ron showed the boys how to operate their cameras and how to hook the flash drive to the camera to download their pictures. At our first stop, the boys were busy taking pictures. Pietro pulled into a small village where we would have lunch at a small cafe. When we sat down and gave our order, the owner came out and set a bottle of wine on the table.

“In these villages, most people make their own wine. This wine was made by the owner and is served to all who eat here.”

The lunch special was a pasta dish as the first dish, primo piatto, and roasted rabbit as the second dish, secondo piatto. It was very good and included fresh vegetables and a second glass of wine. The food was good and the price very reasonable.

“See Jeffry, flying you would miss out on this.” He was right of course, flying we’d miss the charm of the country side. The boys were happy, both sets, so I was happy.

“Pietro, my boys would like for your boys to visit us in the States. Do you think that is possible?”

“The boys would need passports and to be honest I don’t think we can afford it. Driving taxi in Rome doesn’t make a lot of money. Tourists prefer to walk and tour agencies usually have their own arrangements.”

“I’d like for my boys to have friends from all over, these friends expand their thinking making them better citizens. Would you agree to me paying for their airfare? I’ll even pay for their passports.”

“Your boys must mean a lot to you.”

“Yes, they do. They have given me my life back. After Clair died, I was just a shell, there was no reason to continue. Then Toby came into my life followed by Ron, they have given me a purpose again. I have restarted my business and began to enjoy life again. I’ll never forget Clair, but thinking now, I know she wouldn’t want me to give up.”

“Is that why you are going to Milan?”

“Yes, Clair is in Milan and I need to tell her how my life has changed and to thank her.”

“I’ll call Maria tonight and see what she says. Please don’t say anything to the boys.”

“Let me know at breakfast tomorrow.”

It took a little over 8 hours to drive to Milan from Rome. I had book the Spadari al Duomo hotel, I called them and reserved two additional rooms. I also asked them to get tickets to La Scala anytime in the next 5 days.

Arriving in Milan, Pietro drop us off at the hotel. He had to go and find a place to park. Checking in, I found that they had only one room available. I took it and figured we’d work something out. They were able to get 6 tickets to La Scala for the following night. I had a message from Viator, the tour agency, we could see Da Vinci’s Last Supper on Thursday. This gave me one day to get everyone outfitted for the opera. Milan is the fashion capital of Italy, and probably the world, so I didn’t expect and problems.

Pietro joined us and I explained the problem about rooms. We went to check the rooms, the beds were double and it seemed there wouldn’t be a problem. We took a short walk and Roberto told us about the Cathedral and how long it took to build. The boys enjoyed looking around and taking pictures as well.

At breakfast, “We have tickets to La Scala, one of the world’s most famous opera house. Verdi was known to utilize this opera house for his operas. So we need to be properly dressed. It’s my treat, since I’m the one who wants to go. We’ll go to one of the gentlemen stores and get proper clothes and that includes you as well Pietro so don’t even bother saying no.”

It was fun to watch the boys make their selection, it required three yeses before a boy would settled on a selection. While I was there, one of the supervisors came over. “I haven’t seen you for a few years.”

“Hello Geno, no after my wife died I wasn’t much into touring. But now I have two nephews who need to see the world that Clair and I saw. We’re going to the opera tonight so they needed sprucing up.”

“Well, as usual you came to the right place.”

Soon a whole new rack of clothes appeared and the selection process started all over again. I knew this would be the latest fashion collection and would cost a pretty penny. But you only do this once so why not enjoy.

When every one was finished selecting their clothes for the opera, the boys asked if they could buy a few things for home. I was okay with that, “Toby, make sure your friends have a few things to take home as well.” He smiled and whispered to Ron.

Pietro came over, “Jeffry, I must insist on paying for these clothes.”

“Pietro, how long have we known each other. I remember the first time we saw you. Clair thought you were charming. To us, you were family. Sometimes we came to Italy just to see you, we said it was a vacation or something. Let me do this for Clair, she would have wanted it.” He reluctantly agreed, Toby looked at me, I nodded yes.

“Okay lunch at the Duomo. This is a very famous place.”

“Uncle, this is an arcade.”

“More like an expensive shopping mall. But you're right, it’s an arcade, let’s sit there.”

The boys ordered pizza, when the waiter asked them what they wanted on it they replied as they did in the US, mushrooms, green peppers, sausage and pepperoni. When the pizza was brought, they looked at it and laughed. Think of the circular pizza divided into four quarters, one quarter had mushrooms, one quarter had green peppers and similarly for the pepperoni and sausage. The boys started to laugh. Roberto and Angelo didn’t understand what was funny. I listened as Ron explained the difference between pizza made in the US as compared to how they make it here. I had no fears that the boys would solve the problem. They cut each quarter so they all had a little of each and enjoyed their lunch.

That evening four smartly dressed boys attended Verdi’s Rigoletto at La Scala. I knew that my boys had never seen an opera. Clair and I always took advantage of attending an opera in every country we visited. Walking back to the hotel, “You remember in Rome, we saw works done by Michelangelo. Tomorrow we shall see something done my Leonardo Da Vinci.”

In the morning after breakfast, we were met by a Viator representative. He had a list of sites to be seen, one was Da Vinci’s Last Supper. The boys were excited and checked their phones to be sure they had enough space for photos.

The guide met us just before lunch. “We need to go and see Da Vinci now. They only allow 25 people at a viewing and we have only 15 minutes. The work has been repaired, Da Vinci painted on plaster and as a result damage and fading of the colors occurred. The painting has been restored and a protective coating applied to prevent future deterioration”.

When we walked into the room where the painting existed, the sight overwhelmed us. That one man was able to produce this painting was beyond believable. The painting covered a major portion of the wall. It was impressive, the boys were quiet as they looked at the painting. Their phones took the pictures, but they did it quietly. When we left the room, then they started to talk. “That painting is unbelievable. I’m glad we got pictures.”

“Did you get one of the pamphlets as we left?”

“No, did you?”

“Yes, we can share.”

“Da Vinci did more than paint. There is a book in our library at home that lists all of his inventions.”

“He definitely was a genius.”

The rest of the day we visited several well known churches. By late afternoon we were tired and hungry. “Pietro, tomorrow we leave for Lake Maggiore. I have booked a guest house there for us, Casa Forster.”

We left after breakfast the next day, the trip was short and we arrived at Lake Maggiore just a little before noon. Checking in at the B&B, we decided to have lunch and then do a walking tour of the area. I remembered this area well, Clair loved it here and here she is still. I couldn’t help but look out over the lake, Clair was there and would be for all eternity. I then decided that when my time came, I’d want to join her in this placid lake. We stopped at a kiosk, the boys had an ice cream, Pietro and I had a cappuccino, which I enjoyed very well.

At dinner that evening we met the other guests, two men from Sweden. They wanted to get away from the cold and made the trip to Italy. “We have toured a lot of cities in Italy, but here we can relax. Not many tourists, so we get the real taste of Italy. The lake reminds us of home and our hosts are very charitable.”

The next morning I got up very early and walked to the Lake. I stood there looking upon the water thinking of Clair. I really miss her, the boys take away some of my loneliness, but nothing can replace Clair. As I continue to look out, I heard my name. Our two Swedish young men were jogging and called out to me. I waved to them, they jogged over to me and we began to chat. One thing led to another, I told them about Clair. They told me they were married and not everyone in the US accepted them so they travel mostly in Europe. I told them they would be welcome at my home any time they’d like to visit the US. We chatted a little more when I saw Toby heading in my direction. Of course he was followed by Ron.

“Is this where your wife lies?”

“Yes, we loved this area and she wanted to rest here.”

“This is beautiful, I can understand why she would want to rest here.”

“Yes. Toby, when I die, I want to rest here as well. It’ll probably be left up to you to see that it’s done.”

“You still have a long time before that day comes.” The optimism of youth.

Breakfast was typical Italian, bread was the main course with homemade jams and of course cheese. I had booked a private boat ride to visit the Borromean Islands. We toured the palaces on Isola de Madre and Isola Belle. The boys had to stop and download their cameras into their flash drives. We had a late lunch on Isola Pescatori before heading back to our B&B.

I had come to do what I wanted, so we drove all the way back to Rome. We spent the night at the Hotel Majestic. In the morning, Pietro dropped us off at the airport for our plane trip home. Before leaving, I paid Pietro for the taxi service and then gave him a special envelope. “Pietro, use this to get passports for your family. I expect you all to come and visit us.”

Pietro handed me two bottles of wine. “From Vincitore”

The boys said their goodbyes while exchanging addresses, we checked in our luggage and went to the lounge to wait for the announcement to board.

“Uncle, thanks for a fabulous trip. We got a ton of pictures and two new friends. We promised to stay in touch.”

Our trip home was quite different from our trip to Italy. We were now seasoned travelers. The boys spent their time looking at their photos and when one of the cabin crew stopped, they would show them their pictures. Ron’s mother met us when we arrived. I just looked and smiled. The boys couldn’t wait to tell her all about the trip and to show her their pictures. Dropping me off at home, Toby wanted to go with Ron.

“Wait a minute Toby, I want you to take a bottle of wine with you. I’m sure Ron is going to give his mom the cross so you can give his dad the wine. When you are ready to come home, call me.” I watch as they pulled out of the drive way. I could see them all talking a mile a minute.

Toby called and wanted to stay the night. I was okay with that it allowed me to have a talk with Clair. “Clair, I missed you on this trip to Italy. You were with me all the time. I wish I could speak to you as we discussed our trips over pictures and funny incidents. I miss you.” I was glad Toby wasn’t home, I didn’t want him to see the tears in my eyes.

The next morning I started my usual walks to the lake. As I sat there waiting for the sunrise, Richard came and sat beside me.

“How was the trip?”

“It was great, the boys really enjoyed it. I forgot the enthusiasm of young boys when they see the marvels of the world. They met two young men, more or less the same age, so they got a different perspective than they would have gotten from a tour guide. We may do more of this in the future.”

“It’s good you’re back. It can get a little lonely sitting here waiting for the sunrise.”

“Yes, but sometime the peace and quiet is to be cherished. No one could ever paint a picture of the sun rising. Photos or paintings don’t quite give one the same feeling of awe that the actual rising sun does.”

As I finished saying that the sun began to rise. I’m always amazed at how glorious it looks. It is almost like God saying, I’m in heaven and all is right, have faith. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of watching the sun rise. Richard and I walked back to our homes changing directions at the intersection of my street. We said goodbye, “See you tomorrow.”

It was after lunch when Toby phoned to come home. And Ron would be with him. I went to pick them up and got invited to have a cup of coffee while the boys got their things together. “Ron showed me their necklaces there are very nice. I certainly appreciate the one that he gave me.”

“I’m glad you liked it. There was a lot of discussion about what they would buy. I got my wife one like that and she always wore it. I hope you’ll enjoy wearing it as well. Did the boys show you their pictures?”

“Yes, I had to call it quits at 2 am this morning.”

“Uncle Jeff, we’re ready to go.”

“Okay, get in the car, Grace thanks for the coffee.”

“Uncle, we were up very late last night going through the pictures. I want to put them in an album on the computer. Ron will want a copy for his computer as well. Ron’s dad liked the wine. Ron asked for a glass, but he said we were too young. If he knew we drank wine in Italy, he probably would have been mad.”

“Oh, I don’t think so. I’m sure he knows that a lot of young people drink wine with their meals in Europe. I wouldn’t be surprised if you had asked him for a small glass at dinner, he would have given it to you. Are you both ready to start school? Next week is the last week before school starts.”

“Yes, we have a lot of material for English class. The teacher likes to assign a story a week. So we can even include pictures.”

“Toby, do you think our friends are going to be jealous? Our stories will be more interesting and if we include pictures, they’ll have a hard time competing.”

“I hope not, this isn’t a competition, we did alright with our stories last year.” They just smiled as we pulled in my driveway. “Uncle, can we have pizza for dinner?”

“Italian style or American style?”

That started the discussion about the difference in pizza’s. They wanted to go and pick up the pizza instead of having it delivered. I knew they would discuss the difference with the owner, Carlo. On the way back, the boys were laughing.

“I didn’t mean to start an argument. I bet Carlo was never in Italy. When I showed him my picture of our pizza he said it wasn’t real.”

“Who was the waiter who said it was true?”

“I think that’s Carlo’s nephew. He said he was just visiting and would be going back to Italy next week. He attends a university over there.”

School started and we re-established our routine. I drove Toby to school and Ron and him to Ron’s house at the end of the day, to my home on Fridays. There is always excitement when those two are together. A simple question, how was school today, ended up requiring several minutes of discussion. One would think that they weren’t in the same classes.

“The art teacher wanted to know if we could print off some of our pictures large enough to hang on her wall. I’m not sure we can do that. The printer only handles 8 1/2 by 11 paper.”

“You could make a disc and see if someone at the local art supply store can download them on a larger sheet of paper.”

“Maybe we can just make the disc and give it to our art teacher and if she wants to make prints she can.”

It took them all week-end to do that. With two sets of prints, each camera print had to be examined to select the best views. It kept them busy of course they had to discuss each print, reminiscing more for less.

Two weeks into their school semester, they got a letter from Roberto and Angelo. The family had their passports and were excited about coming to the United States. Now the boys were occupied planning their time with their Italian friends.

I received a note from Pietro telling me to check on Vincitore contact. While the boys were in school I called the contact Vincitore gave me and he said he had a package for me. I drove to his place of business, it was a wine shop just off main street. You had to be a customer to know where it was, obviously their clientele was very selective.

I placed the large crate in my trunk, it just made it, paid the man the price I had agreed with Vincitore. It dawned on me that there must be a connection and when I inquired about that possibility, they were brothers. This led to a further discussions. I soon realized I had to leave to pick the boys up at school. I arrived a few minutes late, the boys were waiting for me. They had a few friends with them chatting away. I don’t think they realized I was late. I just waited until they realize I was there.

Thanksgiving was at Ron’s home. I supplied the wine and cheese that I received from Vincitore. In fact, there was a package once per month. Toby stayed at Ron’s the four days and went to school with him on the Monday after Thanksgiving.

As Christmas drew close, the boys excitement also began to grow. Roberto and Angelo were coming on the 15th of December and would be leaving on January 6th. I guess it made sense, if you are going to travel that far from home, then make the most of it. I sent information to Pietro telling him that plane reservations were completed. We would meet them when they landed in the US. As the days ticked off, the boys excitement also increased. Christmas shopping had to include Roberto and Angelo, I was told I had to buy something for Maria and Pietro.

Toby and Ron decorate the house, inside and outside. I’m sure the neighbors wondered what was up. This was the first time the house was decorated for Christmas since Clair died. As they were going through the boxes of decorations, I felt the presence of Clair. She loved Christmas and went all out with the decorations. Now those decorations will once again grace my home.

The few days before Pietro and family arrived, the boys cleaned the guest rooms, made up the beds with fresh linens, stocked the bathrooms and assigned the rooms. The room that was meant to be Ron’s would be for the boys. I knew that Ron and Toby shared his bed, there was no way it wouldn’t happen. I also knew what they did in that bed, I was the one washing the sheets and towels.

The morning of the 15, I was getting ready for my walk. “Uncle, don’t we have to be going?”

“No, Toby we have plenty of time. Come and walk with me.”

“Ron, get up we are going to take a walk.”

Ron came down looking like he could sleep for another 8 hours. Bundled up we began our walk. As we got near the lake, Toby stopped, I looked back and he was crying on Ron’s shoulder.

“Toby, what’s wrong?”

“I just realized that if you came just a few minutes later, I wouldn’t be here. Ron and I wouldn’t be together and I’m so sorry for what I was thinking.”

“You shouldn’t be sorry, I was here for a reason. Life has a plan for all of us and yours was meant to be a part of mine. Smile, you are loved.”

I always wondered why I started out earlier than my normal time. It seemed that I was ready and so I went. Life has a way of throwing curves but every once in a while a fast straight ball is thrown at you. For me, Toby was the home run pitch. I needed him as much as he needed saving.