Chapter 20

I sat quietly at the kitchen table, clicking a pen repeatedly and sifting through the pile of apartment information, narrowing down the choices. I was wearing a very comfortable soft gray T-shirt of Piero's, and a pair of rolled-up basketball shorts that looked funny but felt nice. A fluffy towel was wrapped around my head, and I twisted a strand of damp hair around my finger as I stared intently at the words on the page in front of me. I turned the pen over in my hand, thinking, reading the specifics of the apartment. Then I picked up the page and placed it delicately into the appropriate stack.

I reached for another sheet as Piero came up to the table and stooped down beside me.

"Working hard?" he asked.

I yawned and nodded, and he kissed my cheek and set down a cup of steaming tea beside me on the table.

"Drink it. I don't want you to catch a cold because of my craziness."

I smiled.

"Thank you, Piero. I'm not going to get sick from jumping into the pool, I promise."

"Good. I'm glad."

He got up and went across the room to the piano. I turned to watch him sit down, push up his glasses on his nose, and lift his hands to the keys to begin the playing. I smiled as the music enriched the air, and turned back to the forms in front of me, listening.

"This one!" I said triumphantly, holding up a page.

Piero jumped and turned away from the Italian movie he was watching.

"Huh?"

I jumped up from the couch and ran excitedly to him.

"This one, Piero! I want this one!"

I sat close beside him and handed him the page, and he began to read, commenting on the text as he did.

"Nice view…comfortable, but with open spaces…good price…good location, not too far away from me…available immediately!"

I smiled.

"Nice, huh? Just look at the pictures!"

"It's wonderful, Julia! We'll call tomorrow and make it official!"

I took the paper from him and hugged it to my chest.

"I'm so exited!"

One more night at home, and then I get my own apartment! I jumped up and went to the table, shoving the reject forms aside and proudly placing my paper on the table.

I turned and hurried back to Piero, cuddling up beside him and looking up at the TV screen. He put his arm warmly around me and kissed my temple. I made sure my watch alarm was set, and then I tucked my feet under me and laid my head on his shoulder.

"What time will you be here tomorrow morning?" Piero asked.

"Well, I know that if I get up before seven, Ray won't be up, so I'll get up extra early to be safe and be here for seven. Then I'll probably take a nap or something later, since it's the weekend and I don't have to be at the hospital."

He rubbed my back gently and commented, "Yes, seven's pretty early, mi amor. But I'll expect you for seven. And tomorrow we'll settle the apartment situation."

"Yay!" I said excitedly, and closed my eyes. "I can't wait…"

Beep, beep! Beep, beep!

I quickly sat up and looked wildly around me, startled by the sound, and slapped my hand over the watch. My breathing was quick, and I was sweating. I had been awakened from a dream in which I was trying to run from something but couldn't. My heart was jumping around in my chest, and I pressed my hand firmly over it and looked at Piero's face.

He was still asleep, sitting beside me on the couch, probably tired out from all of our apartment-hunting and playing around. The TV was still on, and I reached for the remote and shut it off. Silence immediately filled the dark house, and I sat stiffly on the edge of the couch. I slowly looked around, feeling uneasy. The apartment seemed darker than usual, and I had an impulse to turn the TV back on. Leaving it off, I rubbed my face with my hands and leaned back against the sofa, against Piero's side. My heart continued to pound as I moved closer to him and slowly laid my head back down on his shoulder, trying to calm myself. My breathing was loud and fast in the darkness, and Piero's was soft and slow. I felt his warmth on my cheek, and I tried to relax. I closed my eyes and tried to calm down, reminding myself that everything was okay.

But strangely, even after my breath and heart rate had slowed, I still felt anxious. I raised my head from Piero's shoulder and looked around the house again. It definitely seemed darker. I slowly got up from the couch and stood in the silence. I walked cautiously through the living room, over the cold hardwood floor in my bare feet. The intimidating silence surrounded me, and I wrapped my arms nervously around my middle as I moved noiselessly to the window and peered up into the sky.

The moon was gone, and the stars erased by the clouds.

The moon was withheld from me, and I turned and looked back around the room. Without the moonlight, the blackness was deep and threatening, and I looked back up at the sky.

"La luna hizo esto…fue culpa de la luna…"

My voice sounded strange and scared, too loud and unsteady in the quiet, and I abandoned the song.

I moved back to the sofa and quietly slipped on my shoes to leave. Then I went to Piero and gingerly reached out and removed his glasses. There was no moonlight to shine on him tonight, and I leaned forward to feel the smoothness of his cheek against my lips. Then I pulled back and moved carefully and unsteadily to the front door. I raised my hand to the knob and paused, the cool metal resting against my palm. I turned and looked back at Piero, surrounded by the moonless darkness. As I watched him, he stirred and moving his hand, feeling for me. He opened his eyes, discovering my absence from his side. I stood still and watched as he reached out for his glasses and slid them on, and caught sight of me at the door. He didn't say anything, but quietly watched me looking back at him in the dark.

I lifted my hand to my mouth and touched my lips to my palm, then held it out to him. Then I turned, slowly opened the door, and took my first cautious step into the night. I glanced back at him and saw him frowning as I shut the door, but he didn't move to stop me as I left.

It was completely quiet outside. No birds were calling, no bugs were crying. No bushes rustled, no cars drove by. Absolute silence. A cautious, uneasy silence. I pulled my keys out of my pocket and started down the steps, my shoes against the ground the only audible sign of life. I stepped onto the cement, and immediately a wind sprung up and washed over the land. Every bush and tree around me rustled and bent, startling me. I froze and looked around, my heart pace beginning to pick up as my hair whipped around my face and the loud whistling surrounded me. The wind died down, and nature returned to its eerie calm. I shook my head, trying to make myself oblivious to the silence and the uneasy feeling in my chest, and went hurriedly to my car and unlocked it. I climbed inside and started the car, harshly interrupting the silence.

I paused a moment, looking at Piero's still house before backing out of the driveway and heading down the street, the rumble and lights of my car penetrating the stillness.

I climbed out of the car into the moonless night and approached my house, wondering what seemed different. Then I realized that Ray's truck was not parked beside the house. My mother's car would be in the garage, but Ray always parked on the side. Now the truck was gone. I went around the house to my bedroom window and pushed it up, swinging my leg over and cautiously climbing inside.

I felt like a burglar as I dropped to the floor inside and looked around. I was alone in my room, and I turned and quietly pulled the window down, leaving a crack as I always did.

I moved to the bed, but then turned and went toward the door, and opened it slowly and noiselessly. I peered into the dark hallway and saw that it was empty.

I stepped cautiously forward and tiptoed past my mother's room, smiling when I saw her asleep alone in the bed. I went to the end of the hall and peeked around the corner into the living room. It was empty. I stayed still for a moment, as if waiting for something to move. Everything was still, and I stepped into the middle of the room, looking around. I moved through the living room to the kitchen, and found it empty. I froze, and smiled.

Ray was gone! His truck was gone, he was gone, his stuff was… I went quickly back to the living room. No, his things were still here. So I guess he wasn't gone for good, but he wasn't in the house tonight. I sighed in relief, and hurried back through the house to my mother's bedroom.

I leaned down to her and kissed her cheek, and she didn't wake. I went to my room and closed the door. I closed it as quietly as I could, submitting to the spell of silence surrounding me.

I quietly climbed into bed and looked out the window at the dark sky, at the clouds that concealed my moon. I closed my eyes, listening to the silence, and tried to shake the strange feeling of uneasiness that persisted within me. I saw Piero's face in the darkness, frowning as he watched me leave his house.