I was genuinely surprised by the size of the turnout at the race. It began down by the beach where all the contestants lined up. Despite there only being ten to fifteen of us, it seemed like the whole village showed up to watch. I'm honestly not sure why this race is such a big deal but I didn't really mind competing in front of all these people. I was only waiting to see one face, and he was noticeably absent from the crowd.
My uncle and his friends came to support me of course. They shook my hands and Uncle gave me a big hug. "Good luck, Ilaria," he encouraged. "Thanks," I grinned before taking yet another look around. Uncle eyes softened onto me as he kept his big hand on my shoulder. "He'll be here, niece. You'll see." Uncle, I peered back at him anxiously. He said that with such sincerity, like there was no doubt in his mind whatsoever. But I couldn't agree so easily….. I hadn't seen Alberto since our big blow out, after all. Still, I couldn't stop myself from hoping I was wrong and he'd turn up out of the blue at the last minute. But that minute was inching closer and closer….
Uncle, along with Giovanni and Ricardo, all stood at the front of the crowd to cheer me on and watch. They waved at me and I back at them. The crowd lined the back of the beach now, waiting for the race to start. I joined the other contestants by the water in my makeshift swimming gown. Some of the other racers sneered and chuckled at me. "Looks like the princess traded in her royal dress," one boy not-so-quietly whispered to another contestant. Cheeks already sizzling red, I just wanted the race to start. Little did I know it was about to get worse, however. So, so much worse.
"Outta the way! Outta the way! Winners coming through!" Oh no, I didn't want to make myself look at the horrid voice now filling the beach. Ercole with one of his cronies strolled up to the starting line with a swagger only he could muster. I wanted to bury myself in the sand when of course he had to spot me. "Tesorina! There she is! Ah, look at my little girl, entering her first Portorosso Cup. This couldn't get more adorable!" Dear god, kill me. He strutted right up to me, followed in toe by his buddy. It was clear that he wasn't going to be swimming today judging by the fancy attire he sported. He flashed me a sickening, cocky leer.
"My, but you look…. ready to swim," I had to suppress an eyeroll as he struggled to compliment my gown. "It's for the sake of modesty, Ercole." "Ah, yes! Quite right! Don't want you showing too much skin to these commoners, ay? Let's save that for the honeymoon," his disgusting face leaned in closer to mine as he said this last sentence. I already wanted to vomit, I was so repulsed by the way he was looking at me. But against my better judgement I shifted topics as best I could without physically shoving him away from me.
"Are you um, biking?" Lord, this was painful. "Yes, I do the biking portion of the race. Ciccio here's going to swim. Ciccio! Get in line!" His tone could shift on a dime. His head turned back around to me and he scanned around curiously. "So, where's the vagrant? Has he chickened out of racing me?" Don't slap him, Ilaria; keep your composure. I had to repeat this to myself several times before forcing an answer from my lips. "He was…. unable to attend." Ercole's eyes couldn't have lit up more. "Ah ha! So, that loser finally got the message to leave you alone, did he? Good! About time too. I swear, the next time I see him, I'll kick his ass into next Tuesday." "Ercole!" I gasped and he snapped his fingers. "You're right, tesorina. I'll kick it into next month!" Dear lord, what did I ever do to deserve any of this?
Grinning lustfully my way again, Ercole's head leaned in a bit nearer to mine a second time. "You remember what I said? What I'll do after I win the race today?" "Ercole, I…." "No, don't say another word, princess. I know just how you feel! You want me to announce it now, but it'll be more dramatic if we wait." "Ercole, please. I have to tell you something." Of course he had to hold up his thin hand to stop me from continuing. "Just wait until I win the race. Then I'll announce our engagement to everyone! Then we can finally start talking about the wedding details," his slimy tongue ran across his teeth while saying this. I wanted to cry. "Ercole…." "Now, now, tesorina. You must not take it personally when I beat you today. I'd never mean for you to lose in anything. It's just I win the race every year, and you want a winner for a husband, don't you?" Oh, he has no idea how ironic his words were just now. He chuckled, resting his hand on his chest.
"Don't worry, my darling. No one will think any the lesser of you for not winning the race. No one expects you to win anyway, so you won't be letting anyone down! Speaking of which…." I didn't know what to think when he suddenly pulled out a bottle of olive oil… of all things. He proceeded to pour it all over poor Ciccio, who looked surprised then relaxed by the sensation of being covered in goo. "He will cut through the water like a knife- an oily knife." "Uh, is that safe, Ercole?" I asked, now worried for his crony. That's an experience I'd never thought I'd have but here we are. The jerk just brushed me off. "Course it's safe, my pet! It's just the beach! There're no sea monsters swimming beneath the waves today, tesorina- trust me." My eyes widened at the mention of sea monsters. That's right! Alberto's one of them, and we'll be going into the water soon. For once, I hoped Ercole was right about their being in the sea this close to us part.
"Signore and signora! The Portorosso Cup is about to begin!" The manager lady proclaimed. Everyone cheered and I glanced back at Uncle and his friends. They waved merrily back in my direction. "Vai, Ilaria!" Uncle shouted. "Good racing, bambina!" Ricardo also yelled. Well, at least I have their support, I smiled smally to myself. The announcer lady continued hollering to the crowd in her phone. "We know there's been a few sightings lately but fear not! If any sea monsters show up today, we're ready for them!" Alberto! Staring out at the boats loaded with men armed with giant fishing spears, I held my breath. "Swimmers, take your marks!" The bell rang and everyone in line took off into the water.
Admittedly I was the last one in the sea. The water felt especially cool today. Swimming wasn't the hard part; not after all that training Alberto and I did. The whole time I had this knot in my stomach, terrified if he did show up or that someone might see him. Nothing out of the ordinary happened up until halfway through the swimming portion. I saw a flicker of familiar purple in the distance, thankfully a safe way from the fishing boats. You wouldn't notice it if you weren't watching for it, but I saw it. This gigantic, elated, sun-kissed smile bloomed across my wet lips, lighting up my whole face. He's watching the race. He's watching me….
That thought was quickly overcome by the sound of Ciccio shrieking. All the swimmers paused to look at him, only to find a school of little fish nipping away at him. While some of the others laughed, I was horrified by what I was witnessing. There was nothing funny about this; a poor boy was being bitten alive by sea life. Forgetting about the race for a moment, I swam over in Ciccio's direction. It took a lot of effort to shoo all the little fishys away from him.
He blinked over to me with huge, confused eyes. I merely smiled back at him. "Let's swim back together. I'll help keep the fish off." "O-Ok?" I think this was the first time Ciccio ever saw me as a distinct person. You know, aside from being Ercole's "property". We quickly swam back side-by-side, with me constantly shooing away any fish that got close to Ciccio. Once back on dry land, Ercole started to berate poor Ciccio while I gazed back out onto the horizon. There was no sign of Alberto or his purple shimmer. Good, I grinned content with that.
The next part of the race was something I'd completely forgotten about. The eating portion. Now I was a small girl with a slender build; eating a lot of food, particularly quickly, was not what I'd been made for. It was also the most un-lady-like thing I'd ever do in my entire life. Ladies did not enter eating competitions, much less "gobble" their food in front of others. My hand shakily picked up the fork and promptly froze mid-air, hovering just above my plate of pasta. I'd grabbed my fork with the same hand I had the mark from being struck all those years ago…..
This is it. The moment I do this I'll be cutting my ties with that whole life back in Florence. I knew this was a weird thing to see that break finally with, but this was something a lady would never do in a million years. Eating competitions were strictly off the table. And my body knew it. My hand quivered; it was shaking so hard that I almost dropped my fork. The palm of my hand stung. I could still feel the sting of the rod all these years later…. It was still fresh in my memory.
I wasn't entering this race for a man. I wasn't doing it for anyone else but myself, and if I went forward with this now, then I'd become a new, different person. I'd be someone who wasn't a Florentine lady….. I'd be a woman- a woman who did stuff for herself and cared what I thought and wanted. And what I wanted for me and me alone was to win this race…. Win this race and Alberto. Simply, solely Alberto.
The first bite took forever to reach my mouth. The second was faster. The third was rapid. By the time I'd swallowed my tenth mouthful I was full on gobbling my food down. I didn't slow down to savour the taste- I didn't even know what it tasted like. I just stuffed my cheeks full until they felt like they were going to burst. And soon, it felt like my stomach was the thing going to burst. I dropped my fork down and the pain in my right hand was completely gone. It was gone- and it never came back.
I don't know how I got on a bike in this bloated state. Ercole, who hadn't eaten a bite or swam a foot, gave me a wink as he mounted his bicycle. "See you at the finish line, tesorina." While he peddled up the hill with ease, I struggled to get my own bike to move anywhere fast. "Come on, come on," I hissed through my teeth, determined not to give up here. But it honestly felt like I was going to empty my stomach contents any minute. Now I see why most people didn't do this race alone. It was hard juggling all this! To my surprise, Ciccio secretly ran over to me with a cup of water once Ercole was out of sight. Grinning he handed me the cup as I simply ogled him in astonishment. "Keep going, miss Marcovaldo. You can do it," he whispered. "Uh, thanks?" Well, it was nice of him to bring this to me, and I really needed it by now.
I polished off the cup of water and began cycling towards the top of the town once again. I'd made it to the top soon after most of the other racers. Some pretty ominous-looking dark clouds were swiftly rolling in from the sea. It had already began to sprinkle by the time I reached the view of the whole of Portorosso. I had to pause here to take in some much-needed air, heaving over the steering wheel. "Come on, Ilaria; you can do it. You just need to make it down this hill."
The bike's front wheel started to move forward slowly, going ever so faster. The water made the cobblestones slippery; I wasn't used to riding in the rain. "Come on, come on, come on…." The situation was a double-edged sword, however. The faster I moved, the more control I lost over the steering wheel. It was a recipe for disaster: my too-full stomach, the rain making the ground slippery, my stress over the situation and Alberto. Maybe what happened next was inevitable.
The front wheel caught on a particularly protruding stone. Just like that, the bike flipped. In the blink of an eye, I went from catching speed downwards to flying through the air just as quick. I had only time to scream, my limbs flaying out all around me. I landed head-first hard into the street in front of me. The impact was lost on my brain as my mind quickly drifted into somewhere dark and deafless. Before I realized what had happened, I fell into unconsciousness there laying on the uneven cobblestones in the middle of the now drenched road.