The Summer of the Selfless - 14. Chapter 14

Daniele ran until he reached the first truly quiet place he could find, the secluded spot at the bottom of the Bishop’s Way where he had first stepped forward to kiss Giacomo all those days ago. Much as the dark-eyed boy had done on that day, he sank down slowly against the high stone wall. The old stonework scraped harshly against his new denim jacket, but he hardly cared.

Wiping repeatedly at his eyes, lest the accursed tears start to fall again, he pulled out his phone and texted Giacomo.

‘We all just saw you. With Cosmo. What are you DOING?’

He waited for a minute, but there was, of course, no reply; no tell-tale three dots; no sign that the message had even been read. He ran a hand miserably through his mop of blond hair.

I CAN’T have been wrong again…? PLEASE don’t let me be wrong about him!

This was followed by a second, even worse thought.

Is it all MY fault?

Closing his eyes, he concentrated on slowing his breathing. When his wild, erratic heartbeat had begun to subside a little, he staggered to his feet and began to plod home.

* * *

Not for the first time, Daniele felt relieved to be returning to an empty house.

All he really wanted was to collapse on his bed, but he felt soiled and sweaty, so he hung his denim jacket on the back of his bedroom door, stripped off his dirty clothes and forced himself to take a long, cleansing shower. It washed the dirt away, but did nothing to take away the unpleasant, gnawing feeling deep within his stomach. Towelling himself dry, he dressed in a pair of fresh shorts and his most sober blue tie-dye t-shirt and threw himself down on his mattress.

He half-closed his eyes, and he might even have dozed a little, because when he jerked awake again the quality of the diffuse evening light that percolated in through his windows seemed to have changed a little.

Had his phone just buzzed…? Was that what had woken him up again? He wasn’t sure.

Sleepily, he grabbed the phone off the bedside table. He took one look at the screen and was wide awake at once, heart beating a rapid tattoo in his chest once more. Giacomo had replied to his text.

‘I’ll tell you about it, but you have to promise to listen. I can’t do this if you don’t trust me.’

Daniele stared at the message for a while, weighing up everything that had passed between them since the end of the spring, searching for the truth he held deep within himself.

Closing his eyes for a moment and praying he was right, he committed himself to a reply.

‘I trust you, Giaco.’

This time, the response came at once.

‘Meet me on the belvedere at nine o’clock. Nobody else. Just you.’

‘Ok.’

Daniele set the phone down again with a sigh of relief. He glanced at his watch and realised it was only seven o’clock. Still two whole hours to kill.

He sighed once more and got back to his feet. It was a little easier to stand now that communication had been restored, but he still felt tired.

How much more of this can one boy take…?

In the kitchen, he found enough ingredients, left there for him by his mother, to make another spaghetti alla carbonara. With accustomed skill, he boiled the pasta, fried the pancetta and tossed them together with beaten eggs and grated parmigiano cheese until he had a glossy, savoury pasta dinner steaming appetisingly in the pan.

He ate his quick and easy meal in the dining area, staring out through the large picture window at the view down to the coast, where the mountainous landscape had already cast Minori into shadow, although the high, rocky ridge beyond Maiori was still tipped with gold.

The sight of Giacomo walking with Cosmo had divided his friends right down the middle. He hoped Emilia and Luca would agree to disagree without it becoming personal between them. Laura, he imagined, would follow Emilia’s lead; Marco’s reaction was hardly surprising. In time, he hoped, he would be able to prove the doubters wrong and reunite the whole group. Then, at least for the rest of the summer, they might even be six. Surely the perfect number?

When he’d finished, he washed up the dinner things thoroughly, taking his time over it. Even then, there was still a while longer to go.

Daniele sank down on the sofa to wait.

* * *

When the time came to leave, Daniele put his new jacket on once again and stole back up the steps that led into town, nervous beyond measure, but relieved to finally be on the move.

It was almost fully dark, and the air was balmy like warm syrup. The old stone stairways and lanes were lit by decorative globes, which cast pools of bright radiance over the dusty paving stones and rough old walls. A few crickets chirped among the hidden gardens.

Flitting from lamp to lamp, Daniele padded quietly up the steps, his trainers making only the tiniest of crunching sounds on the stones of the ancient walkways. He cut across to the back route and stole through the tunnel under the Villa Rufolo, where uplighters set into the floor cast the rough stonework of the arched ceiling into sharp relief.

A quick climb up the deserted Bishop’s Way led him to the Toro, and he slowed to a walk as he climbed the final stretch up the crazy-paved street to the belvedere, past Gianni, Angelo and Marco’s courtyard and the shuttered windows of Elena’s ceramics shop. At the arched entrance to the little garden, he paused to slow his breathing, and then he ventured across the threshold.

The belvedere was in darkness apart from the accent lighting that illuminated a few of the trees and shrubs. The bright lights of the coast shimmered in the silent distance. Quiet music and conversation drifted up from the outdoor dining terrace below the hotel next door, but otherwise the space seemed quiet and deserted.

…all except for the lone figure that was sitting on the grass in the darkest corner by the railings, hugging his knees.

“Giaco…?” Daniele asked quietly, approaching the figure.

The figure on the grass shifted, and Daniele saw that it was indeed his friend. He was dressed plainly in a fitted grey t-shirt and denim shorts. The bracelet on his left arm glinted dully in the stray light from the beams under the shrubs but, in the shadows, his eyes seemed even darker than usual. A single teardrop glimmered as it trickled down one cheek.

“You came,” he mumbled.

Struck by the same heady mix of emotions that he had felt before, but ramped up to overwhelming heights by the sight of the other boy’s tears, Daniele fell to his knees in front of his friend.

“What’s happened?” he breathed.

“He won’t listen!” Giacomo cried. “I’ve tried to help him, but he won’t listen. Why does nobody listen to me?”

“You mean… Cosmo?” Daniele asked.

“He’s just a kid, Dani, like us!” Giacomo burst out. “He’s doing Santino Neri’s dirty work because he thinks he has nowhere else to go, but if he stays there… he’ll end up stuck in their lousy world for the rest of his life.” He shook his head in frustration. “I need to get him out.”

Then… he’s not…

Daniele’s breath caught in his throat as an almost physical sensation washed over him: a sense of profound release, as if, somewhere deep inside him, a hidden vessel that had been sickening him for months had finally burst and given up the last of its venom. He threw himself onto the other boy, gripping him tightly between the shoulder blades.

“Thank you,” he whispered tearfully into the other boy’s ear.

Startled into reciprocating, Giacomo snaked his arms around Daniele’s back in turn.

“What the…?” he murmured; the tone of his voice, for the moment, quite changed. “Dani, what’s going on?”

“Don’t you see?” Daniele sobbed. “I believe in you.”

“Completely?” Giacomo mumbled, a catch in his own voice.

Daniele nodded against the other boy’s shoulder, relishing the way he felt their hair mingling as he did.

“Tell me everything,” he begged the other boy. “Please.”

“All right,” Giacomo’s muffled voice replied, “but you’ll have to let go of me first.”

Daniele shook his head. “Don’t want to.”

The other boy made a sound that was somewhere between a laugh and a sob.

“Jesus… it’s like being loved by a limpet.”

Daniele forced himself to let go and rocked back until he was sitting on the grass facing the other boy. There were still tears trickling down Giacomo’s cheeks, but he looked infinitely happier than he had when Daniele had arrived. Daniele stared at him raptly, drinking it all in.

“Is that what we have?” he asked. “Love?”

Giacomo gave him a watery smile. “Stranger things have happened.” He cocked his head curiously. “Oh, and… I love the jacket.”

Daniele glanced down at himself and gave the other boy an embarrassed sort of smile in return. “Oh, yeah… Laura took me shopping.”

Giacomo blinked. “Say again…?” He shook his head in disbelief. “I really have missed a lot.”

“So… tell me your story,” Daniele pressed.

Giacomo nodded. “Right,” he sighed. He paused, tugging thoughtfully at the lush grass beside him. “I guess it starts after I last saw you. I should have gone straight home, but I was pretty much a mess… so I headed Cosmo off in the car park to have another go at him instead. I was pretty sure he’d run straight back to the compound after he’d got away from us, and I was right.

“So, I gave him all this grief about him and his family messing up our town. He tried to brush me off again, but he wasn’t strong enough to keep it up. He cracked, and then he started pouring out all this stuff to me about how he hates his life and he’s only here because he has nowhere else to go.”

“Why?” Daniele asked. “Luca said he was fostered by a couple in Salerno. What happened to them?”

Giacomo gave him an irate look. “This is the part that really got to me. His placement with Emanuele and Barbara went to crap because they found out he likes boys. They caught him making out with another kid from school and banned Cosmo from seeing him again. Some stupid bible thing. After that, Cosmo said it became so unbearable for him there that he couldn’t stand to stay. It was like Marco’s parents all over again, but for even stupider reasons.” He gritted his teeth. “I hate that there are still people in the world who’d disown their own children just because of the type of person they happen to like… especially on the word of some old book.”

Daniele stared at him in dismay. “So… he ran away?”

Giacomo nodded. “He had a bit of money, and he used it to make it up the coast to Amalfi. He looked up Assunta Neri, the only person he could think to turn to and, like the loving aunt that she is, she gave him food and shelter… on the condition that he spend his evenings guarding her husband’s cache of Mafia weapons for free.”

“Why doesn’t he just run away again?”

Giacomo spread his arms helplessly. “Where to? Anyway, he says he’s afraid of what the Neris will do to him if he tries to leave. I don’t think he gets it, though… I’m more worried about what they’ll do to him if he stays.”

“So, when we saw you tonight…”

“That was my last ditch effort to talk him round, but… I’ve got nothing, Dani. He just doesn’t want to hear it.”

They lapsed into silence for a moment.

“You’ve done all this on your own,” Daniele mumbled.

Giacomo nodded, staring at him in the gloom with his dark eyes. “Yeah, but… I guess I’ve only got myself to blame for that.”

Daniele shook his head desperately. “No,” he insisted. He shuffled round so that he was sitting next to the other boy. “But… you’re not on your own now. I’m… I’m here, if you want me.”

Hopefully, he snaked his hand into Giacomo’s. After a moment, he felt the other boy give it a squeeze.

“Of course I want you,” the dark-eyed boy mumbled. He paused for a moment, then gave Daniele a sideways look, voicing a question that seemed to have been troubling him. “When the others saw me, I… I’m guessing they all assumed the worst?”

Daniele shook his head. “Emilia had my back,” he said. “But when Marco and Luca hear what you’ve really being trying to do, they’ll have to believe in you.”

Giacomo looked at him in the darkness, his expression strangely vulnerable. “So… you spoke up for me, then?”

Daniele nodded. “I tried… but it’s been really hard.”

Giacomo reached across to him and took him by the shoulders. Echoing his gesture on his birthday, he pulled him forward until their foreheads were touching.

“Thank you,” he mumbled.

“I… want to do something,” Daniele ventured. “I don’t know if it’s the right thing to do, or the best time to ask, but… I want it more than anything.”

“What is it?” Giacomo asked.

Daniele bit his lip nervously. “Can I kiss you?”

Giacomo laughed slightly. “Yeah, I… I think I could handle that.”

Amidst the quiet darkness and the chirruping of the crickets, they shifted a little, leaned back in, and their lips touched for the first time in what felt like a lifetime.

Daniele thought nothing had ever tasted so sweet.

* * *

A little time passed.

“It’s so warm still,” Daniele murmured. “Where would you rather be right now, if you could be anywhere you wanted?”

They were lying down in the fragrant grass of the belvedere, staring at the stars. To Daniele, it felt, once again, as if the colour and light had rushed back into everything. The up-lit shrubs contained whole worlds of depth and hidden meaning, and the hot red flowers in the borders glimmered even in the darkness. The gentle sounds of music and conversation drifting up from the hotel terrace were the very song of life itself.

“At a rock concert,” Giacomo suggested irreverently.

Daniele winced. “Too loud.”

Giacomo snickered. “All right, how about… in a forest glade full of fireflies?”

Daniele nodded. “Or… night-swimming in a beautiful outdoor pool?”

Giacomo grinned. “Making out on top of the mountain.”

Daniele glanced at him. “How about… right here with you?”

Giacomo facepalmed. “Ah, man… do you have to be so supremely cute? I swear, I used to be cool before I met you…”

Daniele smiled and turned over, propping himself up on his elbows. “But what’s cool… I mean, really?”

Giacomo lifted himself onto his side, the better to face him.

“You are, I guess,” he replied. “Being yourself. Like… going round wearing a pink t-shirt because it makes you feel good, and not caring what people think of you for it.”

“I have started to care…” Daniele admitted, “…a bit.”

Giacomo frowned. “I think that’s sad. I’d rather go out with someone like you any day, over someone who’s always trying to present some stupid image.”

Daniele couldn’t help a slight smile at that, prompting a giggle from the other boy.

“Yeah…” Giacomo admitted. “I could never date myself.”

“But…” Daniele countered, “when I first met you, you seemed to have all this effortless style and confidence. It just seemed to come so easily to you. I was sort of… in awe.”

“Yeah, but who turned out to be the real superhero? It wasn’t me.” Giacomo glanced down at the grass for a moment, fiddling with a few blades. “That was always you, and even Marco, I guess, during all that business with Sami last summer.”

“You and Emilia both came through for me when it counted… you know, when Ettore and Antonio caught me.”

Giacomo smiled. “So… we’re all heroes, then?” He shrugged. “Well, except maybe for Luca. He won’t even talk to his brother.” His dark eyed flicked back up to Daniele’s again. “You were right about Cosmo, by the way. All those times he went along with his father’s schemes, he was just trying to protect his little brother. Or… that’s what he told me, anyway.”

Daniele nodded. “Do you believe him?”

“I believe he’s not happy. That’s got to count for something.” He rolled back onto the soft ground. “I don’t know what I’m going to do about him.”

Daniele got up to his knees. “I’ll help you,” he said. “I mean… I have no idea how, but… if I can…”

Giacomo gave him a hopeful glance from where he lay among the dark green grass. “For real?”

Daniele nodded. “Nobody should have to live like that.”

Giacomo reached up and took Daniele’s hand.

“Thanks, Dani,” he said quietly.

Daniele was about to reply when the other boy gave him a mischievous smile and tugged hard on his arm. Pulled off balance, Daniele tumbled forwards with a yelp until he landed on top of the other boy. Before he could regain his senses, the other boy had wrapped his arms around him.

“Hey!” Daniele laughed. “No exploring. I told you, I’m not ready for that yet.”

Giacomo giggled slightly. “I know,” he replied. “I just… missed holding you, that’s all.”

Daniele relaxed and lay his head against the other boy’s chest.

“Me too,” he said. “Even though… a month ago, I’d never done anything like this. It’s so weird.”

Giacomo snickered. “It’s because you love me.”

“Do not.”

“Do too!”

* * *

They got up a short while later. Daniele knew he should be heading home soon if his parents weren’t going to worry, but neither of them were ready to say goodnight just yet. Putting the belvedere behind them, they walked down the main street through the Toro, daring to hold hands – a gesture that no longer felt so strange. The street was quiet and, although a couple of passers-by gave them funny looks, nobody gave them any trouble.

The Municipio gardens were almost as deserted as the belvedere. All the action seemed to be in the cathedral square, from which they could already hear the sound of conversation as they passed the top of the avenue of oleanders.

Instead, they took the Bishop’s Way, descending the hill in leafy solitude. At the bottom of the stairway, they came to rest against a familiar section of stone wall. Gently, Giacomo pushed Daniele up against it.

Daniele smiled. “What are you doing?”

“I think it’s my turn,” Giacomo said.

Daniele worked hard to stifle his giggles, and soon they were kissing again, safely away from prying eyes, Daniele with his arms wrapped around the other boy’s back.

However, their peace was interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps, and Giacomo broke off, twisting his mouth ironically.

The two boys lurked inconspicuously against the wall as a familiar figure slouched past the archway leading to the lane below. Daniele and Giacomo exchanged a startled glance as they realised who it was.

“Enzo!” Giacomo whispered.

“Well?” came a hard female voice.

Ever so briefly, they peeked around the edge of the archway – just for long enough to confirm that the woman who had spoken was, indeed, Assunta Neri. The two adults had met just outside the tunnel beneath the Villa Rufolo and appeared to be having a hushed conference.

“Everything’s prepared,” Enzo growled. “Our visitors have the key code to the gates. The merchandise will be gone by midnight.”

“Good,” Assunta replied; Daniele could almost hear her lip curling in distaste. “I’m going to have words with my husband. He had no right to leave this problem at my door.”

Enzo grunted. “Well, we’ve dealt with it.”

“You’ve been a genuine help, Enzo,” Assunta replied with, Daniele imagined, the closest approximation to true warmth of which she was capable. “If only my son Filippo could have shown half your good judgement.”

“What about the kid?” Enzo asked.

There was a pause. “Santino hasn’t changed his mind. There’s no real place for him in the family business. He told me that… sometimes accidents happen.”

“Seems a shame,” Enzo muttered curtly.

“So are many things in this world. Buonanotte, Enzo.”

There were the sounds of a woman’s footsteps receding into the tunnel. A moment later, Enzo slouched past once again, heading for the square, or perhaps heading back to the house he lived in next to the family garage on the Naples road.

In the darkened street, Daniele and Giacomo stared at each other in horror.

“They’re going to silence Cosmo…?” Daniele breathed.

Giacomo shook his head. “We can’t let them, Dani,” he said urgently. “We have to warn him right now… while we still can!”

* * *

They hurried along the quiet lane towards the lights and cheerful sounds of the cathedral square, emerging into a crowded scene. This late into the evening, the shops had finally shut, but the bars were still busy – and would be, Daniele knew, until nearly midnight; such was the nature of summer nights in Ravello. Children played in the middle of the square, while other visitors admired the view or people-watched from the benches or the cathedral steps.

“This is unreal,” Daniele panted. “All these people are here, just enjoying the holidays, while a few metres away…”

“…an innocent kid is about to get whacked,” Giacomo cut in, tugging him along by the arm. “Come on, Dani!”

They threaded their way through the bustling space, dodging the children who charged about in the middle of the square with guileless abandon, playing tag or chasing after footballs.

Daniele thanked goodness there was no art wagon tonight as they hurried past Gianni and Patrizia’s usual pitch, making for the relative quiet of the stairway down to the car park. They clattered down the first few steps and paused by the chestnut railings, gazing out over the deserted space. The dim lighting glinted dully off the roofs of the parked cars and scooters, but there was no sign of life.

“The coast’s clear,” Giacomo hissed. “Come on…”

They stole down the rest of the stairs and touched down in the car park proper. Hugging the edge of the space as they had done before, they crept down towards the bottom corner and squeezed through the broken gate onto the patch of waste ground. Keeping low, they ran along the boundary wall until they reached the broken-down section overlooking the lockup building in the Neri compound. Crouching down, they peered through the gap between the loose, rough stones.

There was no sign of anyone standing guard outside the building. Daniele looked on nervously as Giacomo hauled himself up to lean over the top of the wall, the better to look around.

“Cosmo!” he called in a loud whisper, searching from left to right. “Cosmo! Where are you?”

He repeated the call a couple of times, then slid back down to crouch next to Daniele with his brow knotted in a confused frown.

“There’s no sign of him,” he whispered. “He must be inside. Maybe he’s packing the weapons up for collection, or something.” He glanced anxiously up at the wall. “I think I need to go down there.”

“Are you sure?” Daniele said nervously, placing a hand on the other boy’s arm. “It could be dangerous.”

Giacomo nodded emphatically. “I can’t just let them kill him! Are you with me?”

“Y-yeah,” Daniele replied. “I’m with you. One last act and then this is all over, right?”

“Right.” Giacomo took his hand and gave it a grateful squeeze. “Come on, then, bestie. I’m glad you’re here.”

The driveway below them sloped down from the entrance gates at the corner of the car park. They retreated along the boundary wall until they could climb down over a smaller drop, then they scrambled over the parapet, feeling around for footholds in the stonework to lessen the drop even further. For a moment, Daniele was strongly reminded of a certain rock climbing expedition, back when their friendship had been newly minted and full of exciting, uncertain possibilities.

Giacomo made landfall first, and reached up to help Daniele down. Soon they were standing in the concrete driveway, totally exposed apart from the scant tufts of vegetation growing out of the old stonework of the wall.

“I hope we know what we’re doing,” Daniele whispered as they snuck along the moonlight shadow cast by the wall.

Giacomo glanced over his shoulder and, incredibly, he smiled.

“Probably not,” he whispered back, “but at least we’re doing it together.”

Daniele began to smile back, but then his smile faltered and he grabbed Giacomo hard by the arm, gesturing urgently for him to look ahead.

The door of the lockup had creaked open, and two figures had walked out: not Cosmo’s slight teenage figure, but two fully grown men. Their faces were in shadow, but Daniele could see one thing picked out clearly in the moonlight: both of them were armed with pistols.

Giacomo cursed quietly and pressed Daniele back against the wall, protecting him with his own body, glancing urgently up and down the driveway in search of an escape route.

“We’re in trouble,” he whispered. “They’re already here!”

Daniele struggled, trying to escape the other boy’s clutches, but Giacomo restrained him.

“Keep back!” the dark-eyed boy hissed.

Daniele stilled. A horrible sinking feeling had taken him – an intuition that, this time, they were pinned, and there was no way out.

From the other end of the driveway, there came a quiet metallic screech as the main gates began to open. The two boys whipped their heads round in dismay, wondering what fresh horror awaited.

There were figures… several of them, by the looks of it, also armed with weapons. For a second, the icy feeling in Daniele’s chest intensified – but then his heart skipped a beat.

Were those uniforms? Could it be… the police?

Giacomo must have seen it too, because his mouth fell open in relief.

“Wait!” he cried, darting out into the driveway with his arms raised, but then a hail of gunfire erupted from both directions.

It only lasted for a couple of terrifying seconds, but the dark-eyed boy had time to cringe in fright before a female voice called “Hold your fire!”

Daniele breathed again as the bangs and pops from both ends of the driveway stuttered to a halt. His friend was still standing, but… something was very wrong.

In what felt like slow motion, Giacomo looked down at the dark patch that was spreading rapidly near the bottom of his fitted grey t-shirt.

“Oh, crap,” he croaked.

Before Daniele’s horrified eyes, the boy he loved slumped to the ground in a dead faint.