The streets were rather quiet. A lone street vendor sat with his cart of tomatoes in the cool evening air, waiting for people to come by and buy his product. He sighed and glanced up at the reddening sky, admiring the way the red sky tinted the wispy clouds a soft pink color. Perhaps a rather slow day of business wasn't so bad if he could see the sunset at the end of the day.
"Excuse me," came a small voice next to him.
The street vendor nearly jumped out of his own skin. He hadn't noticed the small child sneak up. He stared down at the little boy, blinking in surprise. "Ciao, little one. May I help you?"
The little boy blinked and rocked back and forth on his heels. "May I have a tomato, per favore?" he asked sweetly. A single cowlick bobbed in the middle of his head as he moved.
The vendor eyed the boy curiously. "Do you have the money for one?" The little boy shook his head and continued to gaze up at him. The vendor sighed and knelt down to eye level with the boy. "I'm sorry, but I can't just give them away. I've had rather slow business recently, so I can't afford to," he explained, a look of pity on his face. "I hope you find some food, though."
The little boy's eyes darted to the cart, then back to the man. He gave the man the cutest smile that he could muster up and clasped his tiny hands behind his back. "Are you sure you can't spare just one? One can't make much of a difference, can it?" he asked with a tilt of his head.
The vendor frowned slightly. "I'm sorry, but no. You'll have to look somewhere else-hey! Where are you going?" The little boy had turned and darted off, seeming to follow a tiny shape around the street corner. The street vendor stood up and scratched his head in confusion. "Strange child. I hope he's okay." He glanced down at his cart, but to his horror, he found the once full cart of ripe fruit half empty. He yelled out in anger, turning in the direction that the boy went. "You damn little boy! I've just been robbed!"
The little boy rounded the corner and followed the smaller shape down the road. "H-Hey! Slow down!" he panted, trailing the smaller figure down a narrow winding alleyway. He slowed down to catch his breath, skidding to a stop. "I-I can't keep doing this, Lucy. It's not weighing well on my conscience…"
The smaller figure dropped a canvas sack onto the ground and glared at the little boy. "I said don't call me Lucy," he hissed. "Call me Luciano like a normal person."
The little boy groaned and leaned against the wall. "I'll call you what I want, I'm your grande fratello!" he mumbled, wiping sweat from his forehead. "This will be the last time we steal, right? No more stealing? We can look for some work." Luciano didn't look up at his older brother, he just sat down and pulled out a tomato from the canvas sack. He carefully took a bite and chewed in silence. The older one scowled. "Lucy! Answer me, dammit!" he exclaimed.
In reply, Luciano reached into the bag, pulled out another tomato, and tossed it gently over to his brother. He swallowed his mouthful and looked up at the older boy. "Stealing is easy and it gets us free food. It's either this or work hard for a small meal, Flavio. This-" He patted the sack almost affectionately. "-is the better deal."
Flavio frowned and sighed, examining the tomato tossed into his lap. "I guess you're right, but I still don't like it," he muttered, taking a bite of the ripe fruit. He seemed to become less tense as he chewed, reassured now that he had food.
A grumble escaped from Luciano between bites of tomato, "I'm the one doing all the hard work…" He spat out a seed onto the ground next to him.
Flavio couldn't help but roll his eyes. "You aren't the one who has to distract people. You get to sneak around," he muttered. "If anything, our jobs are equally hard. We just have different tasks with different risks." He cupped his hand under the piece of fruit to catch the dripping juice.
"Meh. Sure, whatever you want," muttered Luciano through a mouthful of food.
"Manners. Swallow your food before speaking," said Flavio as soon as he heard Luciano's words. "And you're spilling juice on your shirt."
Luciano swallowed and looked down at his shirt with a frown. "Well shoot. We'd better find a place to wash our clothes, soon," he mumbled, eyeing the faintly red stain.
Flavio sighed and nodded. "Yeah, we sure can't use the fountain anymore…how were we supposed to know that was priceless art?"
"I know, right? If it was priceless art, then they shouldn't have let pigeons crap all over it in a town square!" groaned Luciano. "It's ridiculous."
Flavio gave a faint smile and scooted over to sit next to his brother. "It's getting dark. Should we just sleep here tonight?" he asked, gazing up at the sky, which was quickly becoming a shade of deep purple as night approached.
Luciano looked up, tilting his head at the darkening sunset. "Sure. I think we're safe down here." His mouth opened into a wide yawn and rubbed his eyes wearily. "Hey Flavio?"
"Si, miele?" Flavio answered, patting his brother's dark red hair gently.
Luciano leaned his head against Flavio's shoulder and took another bite of his tomato. "Do you ever wish Mamma was still here?" he asked curiously.
Flavio froze, his gaze becoming sad. "Of course I do. I just wonder if she wishes we were still with her…" he mumbled, biting into his piece of fruit again.
Luciano gave a small huff in response and finished off his tomato. He sucked the remaining juice off of his fingers and sighed contentedly. "I'm sleepy," he said with a small yawn and a stretch of his arms.
Flavio smiled slightly and pat his brother's hair again. "Would you like a lullaby? Or are you too old for those now?" he said teasingly.
Luciano blushed and shook his head. "N-No. I still like them. You can stop asking that, you know. I'll tell you if I don't want one," he grumbled with a hint of embarrassment gracing his tone.
Flavio chuckled and kissed his brother's head. "Alright, if you say so, Lucy," he sighed, popping the last bite of his tomato into his mouth. "What do you want to hear?"
Luciano shrugged and closed his eyes. "Whatever you want…" he whispered tiredly.
Flavio smiled and began singing softly in the dimming light:
Nana bobo,
nana bobo,
all children are sleeping
and Guido is not.
Sleep, sleep, sleep, for a year,
health to your father and then wealth.
Sleep, sleep, sleep, cradle baby.
Your mother is not here, she has gone away
Nana bobo,
nana bobo,
all children are sleeping
and Guido is not.
Flavio finished the hypnotising melody and looked down at little Luciano. The boy was fast asleep against his shoulder, breathing steadily. He smiled lovingly at his brother and leaned his head back against the wall. He glanced up at the night sky, now a deep indigo with white shining flecks starting to poke through the dark sheet of color. The moon was barely a sliver in the sky, but its silver light cast down upon the two boys comfortingly. Flavio eased his eyes shut and let out a long sigh. "Sometime soon, Lucy. Sometime soon, I'll find the solution to our problems. We'll find a home, someone to care for us and give us food so we don't have to steal...won't that be nice, Lucy?" he whispered under his breath to the sleeping child. The rising and falling of Luciano's chest was all that he felt, and it calmed him to know he wasn't alone. He slowly felt sleep take him as the night became darker and darker, leaving the two boys in shadow within the alleyway.