"I thought your band-aids were for cat bites!"
Luca felt like banging his head against the dining table. He and Alberto had the perfect setup – a towering cliff within swimming distance of Portorosso but facing away from prying eyes. Now it was common knowledge. They'd even received a new nickname – "the cliff jumpers" – as his family had found out on their next trip into town.
How could he have blabbed to their friends without swearing them to secrecy? Was it the campari's doing? Hard to tell. He couldn't remember anything from the party, except its first fifteen minutes. He made a mental note to ask Giulia or Guido what had happened. It might end up being the second time he'd despise something made by humans (the first one being harpoons).
But right now, he had bigger fish to fry. Like standing tall against the significantly bigger sea-monster in front of him. Not letting her folded arms and bristling fins get to him. Before Luca had discovered the surface world, those intentions wouldn't have crossed his mind. But things had changed. After a year of standing up for himself against teachers who classified sea-folk as a less intelligent species, bullies who used him for water-balloon target practice and occasionally Giulia and Mrs. Marcovaldo – whenever his urge to go swimming in the sea got the better of him – he'd come full circle.
"How long has this been going on?" his mother sputtered weakly.
Strange, how her voice didn't match her body language. She sounded tired and guarded. Almost as if she knew - deep down - that her intimidation tactics were a relic of a past era.
"About three months" he admitted.
He could have lied again, but the deception would be as plain as the bandages he was wearing.
His mother reeled back in disbelief.
"But it's not like we're risking our lives! So what's the problem?"
It was the most reassuring observation he could think of, yet it triggered her old, aggressive tone, if only for a moment.
"Maybe not. But a single bad fall can send you to the hospital!"
"But mom, the danger is what makes it fun!" he protested.
He suppressed a wince as he finished his sentence. All these close-calls bruises he'd racked up throbbed something fierce. It was the price he'd paid for learning to fall on his stomach till the last second. But was it worth it? Absolutely.
"I don't want to hear anymore of this jumping business. Please."
Luca was tempted to retort that she couldn't tell him what to do – that after everything he'd achieved the previous summer, he was basically a grown-up. But he knew what she would say: until he lived independently, he remained a child. While he searched for a way to defend himself without escalating the situation, she circled around the dining table, until they were face to face.
"And Luca" - she sighed - "I know you won't like this at all, but, if we do hear about it again, your friendship with Alberto is prohibited."
Luca had seen the threat coming a mile away. But he couldn't have predicted it would hit him so hard. Before he knew it, he was hissing, and then, swearing.
"È uno scherzo del cazzo, vero?!"
Daniela's eyes ballooned to twice their normal size. "What did you say?"
"Uuuh!" So much for not escalating the situation. Luca made a valiant effort to calm down. "I'm sorry. What I meant to say is…what are you going to do, follow us around?"
His mother's tail was sagging: a not so subtle sign of discouragement. Luca felt a sliver of sympathy for her. She wanted to keep him happy and healthy. That much he respected. Never mind Alberto's well-deserved reputation for getting into trouble. But why in Neptune's name did she have to see unacceptable danger where there was none?
"I won't go that far. But I can put a stop to your letters and phone calls."
He made a soft noise of disbelief. "Nice try, but only Massimo can do that."
He expected her to punch the air in frustration. Instead, she smiled sorrowfully. Huh? What was up with that?
Did she mean Massimo was on her side? But how could he along with such a ludicrous idea? Did he care more about her happiness than Luca's, or was he bowing to her authority as a parent? Either way, without his assistance, the game was up. They could try phoning and sending mail clandestinely, enlist the help of some friends, but that didn't seem fair. If the parents of these kids caught onto the ruse, they'd have hell to pay.
Before he knew it, he was caught in a whirlpool of doubt and fear. It was a feeling as awful as it was familiar.
"Just give us one chance." He deepened his voice as much as possible, aware it had just skipped an octave. "And if we end up in the hospital, then we won't jump anymore."
"No, son." and this time it wasn't his mother who spoke.
Luca gave a start. He'd forgotten his father was present.
"We we're not going to wait for you to get badly hurt. It'd be too painful for us."
He met the determined looks on their faces with clenched teeth and a growl.
"Luca...sweetheart." His mother declared quietly. "I want you to go see Alberto and tell him you refuse to jump with him anymore. Can you do that for me?"
Luca hissed again, but this time in defeat.
It didn't take much imagination to predict what would happen next. His parents would pay the local dolphin pod to establish surveillance of the cliff. And then their next jump would be their last. Unless Luca was ready to lie to his mother's face endlessly - which he wasn't.
"Yes, mom."
Luca resisted the urge to turn the five-minute swim to Isola del Mare into a one-hour crawl. He held out some faint hope that there was good news waiting for him at the island, that Massimo had saved him the trouble of having a safety talk with Alberto.
Which wasn't to say that Massimo was a particularly strict father. But even he had his limits. Who could forget the day he'd caught Alberto driving his new van down a cliff-side road – at double the permitted speed? And the joyride's aftermath, when Massimo had screamed his head off at Alberto? Luca hadn't been there to witness the incident, but the mere mention of it still sucked the joy out of his friend.
However, when Luca reached Terror Heights, his hope vanished into thin air. Alberto was very much there, reclining against a rock parallel to the cliff. And he was rubbing his teeth with his fingernails, something he did whenever he chomped at the bit.
He cast a sideways glance at Luca. "Trouble at the old farm?"
Luca didn't bother to ask how he knew something was wrong. He planted himself in front of Alberto, puffed out his chest and put his hands on his hips, the way Superman did in his first public appearance. "Alberto, we need to talk."
Alberto stopped rubbing his teeth. The cocky grin he was so fond of faded a little. "What d'your parents tell you?"
He huffed out a sigh. Not a single ambient sound, not even a breath of wind or a cricket's chirp. The floor was his.
"They said I'm not allowed to jump off Terror Heights anymore."
And now Alberto was shaking his head solemnly, though a smile still tugged at the corner of his lips. "Luca, Luca, Luca. How many times have I told you, never listen to your parents?"
Luca almost, but not quite – burst out laughing. He hadn't changed. After a year of living in a society, Alberto still believed inconvenient rules were for 'rule people' – even if that meant going behind Massimo's back.
"I'm serious, Alberto! If they catch us again, they'll stop us from being friends. Including while I'm in Genoa."
No more letters. No more phone calls. No more Alberto in his life. If he wasn't careful, he might forget him – or end up replacing him. After all, there was no logical reason why the part of his ideal friend had to be played by Alberto specifically. And that fact made him want to tear out his frontal lobe with his bare hands.
Not that Alberto was handling his warning in the same manner. In fact, he was grinning openly again. "We'll get our friends to help us out! You've got friends in Genoa, right?"
"Yes, but…won't their parents find it strange I keep making phone calls at their house?"
Alberto batted away the notion with his hand. "Then call from the nearest panetteria, genius!"
Luca exhaled a giddy laugh. Who would've thought Alberto could think on his feet? And his idea would have been a good one, if he hadn't overlooked one crucial detail.
He crouched down to Alberto's level and spread his hands wide. "But you can't keep a secret!"
Alberto screwed up his face into something resembling confusion. It was fascinating, watching him trying to keep uncertainty at bay. Another thing about his friend that hadn't changed.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You have no filter! You just say whatever comes to your mind."
He could picture it as clear as day. Alberto having dinner with Massimo. Talking about his day. Blabbing the contents of his latest letter from Luca. And then what would they do?
Alberto's bright green eyes bore into his. "You're worried I'll blab to Massimo, aren't you?"
"Yeah, maybe I am! Can you blame me?!"
Had he gotten through to him? He wanted to think so. Alberto was taking a page from Luca's book – chewing anxiously at his bottom lip and contemplating the ground.
He was about to explore new ways of having fun – maybe building a glider, cardboard-sledding or playing tag, when the proverbial lightbulb went off atop Alberto's head. His hands went from holding up his forehead to clenching strands of grass, and Luca could see they were twitching.
"If Massimo finds out the truth," he declared, "I'll tell him I meant to say Giulia wrote to me. How's that?!"
Luca gaped at him. Now that he mentioned it, it seemed like the obvious solution.
But an even bigger surprise awaited him: he couldn't find any holes in Alberto's idea. They would need to make sure Giulia was in on their lie, but that should be a simple formality - assuming she forgave them for hiding their jumping game from her.
He felt anticipation rise in his chest, thumping his heart against his ribcage. They were going to be alright after all. Their friendship would survive. And in a matter of minutes, they would be in the air - in the sweet, blissful embrace of gravity. "I never thought I'd say this, but you're brilliant!"
Alberto punched him in the shoulder (hard enough for Luca to know he really didn't appreciate the compliment), and Luca suddenly noticed he was sitting by his side. Huh. Strange. He didn't remember having shifted positions.
"And that way, everyone's pretty much happy, even your parents!"
If only their plan didn't involve lies on top of lies on top of lies.
Is this your way of trusting your parents, Luca? If you can't trust them, can you really call them your family?
Luca let his conscience's call to honesty repeat itself over and over again, like a broken record player. He couldn't suppress it: he was too much of a good boy for that. But – neither could he follow it. Because, as it turned out, the call from Terror Heights was louder.
Shhhhnk, shhhhnk, shhhhnk
He emerged from his pondering to see Alberto was standing over him, pawing at a patch of dirt like some rambunctious puppy.
"Are you gonna sit there much longer? 'Cause we've got work to do." He held out his hand. Luca took it, but in a largely aimless fashion. He wanted to get back to 'work', for sure. He wanted his heart-beat to sky-rocket, just like it was doing now. And yet…
"Berto, are you sure the baker won't mind if you use his phone every week for forty minutes?"
Alberto struck one of his trademark poses, drawing a giggle out of Luca. The sight of him biting his lips with restrained contempt never got old, especially since it was an act.
"Does this face look unsure to you?"
"Um…no?"
"Good answer." he replied, flicking his index finger at Luca.
And with that, he took off. Four running strides brought him to the cliff's edge. Then he leapt into the air. "Andiamo!" he yelled as gravity took hold.
Luca didn't need telling twice. Within moments, he was hurtling towards the edge too.
His conscience whispered a further reprimand to him, but the second his feet left the ground its voice dissolved, and the only sound which mattered was the scream of joy coming out of his mouth.