Читать книгу Giulia - Maria Gabriella Zampini - Страница 6

Giulia woke with a start, noticing that the sun was setting, there was a slight chill in the air, her back was burnt and Ale was bouncing over to her, shouting:

“Mamma, are you deaf? I’ve been calling you for half an hour!”

He sat down next to her and started to play with her hair.

“They’re nice my friends, aren’t they? And they’re so talented too! Leonardo’s been playing the drums for five years and everyone knows him in Florence, he does a load of gigs. You should hear them play! In fact, they’re playing at the Mambo tonight. Do you want to come?”

“Of course I’ll come, and actually, Leonardo had already invited me!

“Oh, I see, getting your claws into my friends, eh?”

Giulia could see her son was only joking. In fact, he seemed really pleased she’d be going.

“Come on then! We need to eat soon because we have to be there at ten!”

“And you expect me to cook for all your pals?” asked Giulia, her brow furrowed.

“No, Mamma! Andreas has got it all under control. On tonight’s menu is spaghetti alle vongole2, sprinkled with grilled mussels and fish. I tell you, that guy is a legend! He’s been back and forth between the kitchen and the barbecue for over an hour, and it smells absolutely delicious!”

With the breeze starting to drift in off the sea, Giulia shivered and asked:

“And who exactly is paying for this banquet?”

“Don’t worry, Mamma. It’s all in hand. We’ve chipped in five euros each and you don’t have to pay anything because it’s your house. I’ve paid for Daniele....well, actually, you have!” Ale replied, bursting out laughing.

Giulia looked at her son proudly. He was so cheerful, outgoing and kind-hearted. Ever since his father had scarpered following the divorce, he had gradually taken on the responsibility of being the man of the house. She put her hands on his cheeks and gave him a kiss before getting to her feet and walking back towards the house arm in arm.

Before they’d even reached the final step back up to the house, their senses were awash with an orgy of smells, sights and sounds. Under the red glow of the setting sun, the barbeque was ablaze, the stereo was on full blast and the kids with their brightly coloured hair were dancing, semi-naked, almost trance-like around the table.

Giulia stopped and looked on in awe, holding on tight to Ale’s hand. If she’d had a camera, she would have liked to capture that moment for all of time, but even that couldn’t have done justice to every detail of such a magical scene.

Standing out amongst the throng of bodies was the almost God-like figure of Andreas, moving easily between the barbeque and the kitchen, overseeing everything....in complete control.

The girls had decorated the centre of the table with a mass of pink and red oleanders, and dozens of candles were burning bright all around.

“This must be German style,” whispered Ale.

As they walked up to the house, a little of the magic was lost, but the boys were still there, surrounded by the girls with their flushed faces and beaming smiles.

“Now you take a shower.”

Giulia was somewhat startled by Andreas’s booming, heavily accented English. She turned towards him, slightly annoyed that he was always taking her by surprise and appeared to have taken it upon himself to tell her what she should and shouldn’t be doing! The cheek of it!

“Sorry,” he got in before she could give him a piece of her mind, “I speak little English. Not so good...better ‘tu fai doccia bella’?”3

How could she possibly be mad at him after that?! Instead, she flashed him a smile,

“thank you, I’ll surely take it” and disappeared into the bathroom.

To her surprise, Giulia found that even all alone, standing under the shower, she couldn’t wipe that smile off her face.