Giulia staggered out like a zombie to get her midnight snack when she found Luca gnawing on his fingers at the table. She couldn't believe how much that boy loved homework. "Still studying?" she teased, swinging open the fridge. "Don't get enough school eight hours a day?" Her mirth disappeared when she saw his face. "What's wrong?"
"I don't know," Luca confessed. "Alberto's been leaving me these really weird calls."
"This late at night?"
"He called me like three nights in a row… I think he might be in trouble."
"What makes you say that?"
"Well, I don't know exactly. He wouldn't tell me anything, and I just got off the phone with him and he was like crying hysterically - "
"Santa Parmigiana. Alberto crying?"
"I know! I'm really worried. What am I supposed to do?"
They whipped around as Ms. Marcovaldo cracked open the door. She quirked an eyebrow in their direction. "Isn't it a little late for a sleepover?" she asked.
"Sorry, Ms. Marcovaldo," Luca said at the same time Giulia said, "Sorry, Mom." She swiped a packet of biscuits from the cabinet, stuffing them between her teeth as she ducked into her room.
"We will discuss this later," she hissed in passing.
. . .
Clicka-tatta, clicka-tatta, clicka-tatta, clicka-tatta…
"Mr. Paguro," Ms. Brontolare said. "If you'd like to finish up your final cadenza of pencil-tapping concerto, how about the answer to my question?"
"Oh. Uh… " Luca turned red, even redder than usual, earning the titters of the classroom. Giulia looked over at him, silently winging him the answer: Saturno. Saturno!
"I'm sorry; what was the question?"
"What is the sixth planet from the Sun?"
"… Pluto?"
The class burst out laughing. Giulia let her face slip into her palm. Santa Provolone, that was the first thing she'd taught him!
"I thought that would be an easy one for you, Mr. Paguro," Ms. Brontolare chided. "Not that I should be surprised… it's not exactly like they have books in the sea."
This permitted the class to explode into hyena-like hysterics. Luca hid his face in his astronomy text. He guessed he had been kind of distracted lately… Giulia had told him he'd been out of it in his classes and bumping into people in the hallway.
But what was he supposed to do! Those phone calls were weighing heavily on his mind, and he'd decided at this point that Alberto was most likely definitely in trouble. Luca hadn't heard back from him since, and Alberto's birthday came and went with no fanfare.
Luca had sent him a present, and hadn't received so much as a loaded hint on the phone. No Do you know what day it is, no Don't you have anything to tell me? Radio silence.
"Excuse me, Signorina Brontolare," Giulia said, grabbing Luca's hand and ducking out of the classroom. Those kids were vultures. Once they reached a quiet corner of the hallway, hiding from that pesky hall monitor, she turned to face him.
"I'm sorry." Luca shook his head. "I don't know what's wrong with me… "
"Forget about her. That teacher doesn't like anybody. Are you okay?"
"I am, but Alberto's not."
"Santa Taleggio. He's still calling."
"No he's not. He hasn't called me in a month."
"A month?!" Giulia shrieked, then quickly covered her mouth. "A month?" she whispered in disbelief.
"I have to go see him," Luca decided.
"I'm coming with you." Then she remembered. "Wait a minute! Christmas break isn't for a couple of weeks yet. Who knows how long - "
"I don't care," Luca said. "I think something really terrible has happened to him, and if I don't go now… " He tightened his mouth, not allowing his mind to go there.
Giulia gave him a squeeze of encouragement. "Okay," she conceded. "I'll see if my mom can drive us."
So I called him up, asked him again, and I waited awhile
He began to speak
Then he started to cry
. . .
