History (28 page)

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fl downstairs carrying that burden, to seek safety in the shelter. \Vh

for her and the other tenants of her wing, had been established beyond the building, in that very basement-tavern where, three winters before, the German boy Gunther had gone down to drink.

Sometimes, Useppe was not a docile weight in her arms; he would wri and cry, in response to the grief of Blitz, who accompanied them with his incessant whining from behind the closed door. For the dog, in fact, Ida felt no concern, leaving him in the house during the alarms, abandoned to his fate; but he, for his part, could not resign himself to the separation.

Ninnarieddu, when he was at home, laughed at those fl ghts of Ida's; and he contemptuously refused to follow her to the shelter. But not even the presence of his chief love suffi to console Blitz, who, for the dura tion of the alarm, would keep running back and forth between the front door and Nino, returning to lick his hands and stare into his eyes with his own brown eyes, impassioned and persuasive. Always insisting in his cata strophic lament, which repeated, on a sole note, never stopping, like an obsession : "Please, let's go with them! Then, if they're saved, we're all saved; if we have to die, we'll all die together."

Finally, rather than co Blitz to such maniacal torment, Nin narieddu, though bored and reluctant, decided to satisfy him once and for all, going down with him-the whole family together-into the cellar tavern. And from then on, whenever Nino was at home, the air-raid alarm became an occasion of amusement, awaited and desired, especially if they came at night, because then, at last, Useppe and Blitz could join in Nino's nightlife.

As soon as the notorious howl shattered the darkness, Blitz was im mediately ready, as if at the transcendental announcement of a prime festivity. And, with one bound, leaving his place on the daybed ( where he always slept, huddled against Ninnarieddu ) he would bustle about, waking every running from one to the other, barking with joyous urgency, and fl his tail like a little fl For that matter Useppe, already wakened on his own, would repeat, thrilled : "Larm! !arm!"

The most maddening job was waking the grumpy and sleepy Nino, who played deaf; so Blitz had, somehow, to pull him down from the bed; and then he went on nagging, while Nino, all yawns, slipped on his jersey and pants, not without cursing and blaspheming, even against dogs. But as he grumbled, he woke up completely. Until the happy moment when, now lively, he picked up the leash : amid the applause of Blitz, who rushed up, to be leashed, with the haste of an eager viveur taking a carri to go dancing.

Th they hurried into the next room, where Nino rapidly loaded

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Useppe astride his shoulders. And with no other luggage (at most, Useppe might sometimes carry Roma with him or the walnut), Nino, Useppe, and Blitz-truly three bodies and one spirit-would fl down the steps, leaving Ida behind to follow alone and grumbling, her purse clutched to her bosom. Meanwhile, from the other doors and through the courtyard, all the families, in nightshirts, in underclothes, with babies in their arms, dragging suitcases down the steps, would be running towards the shelters. And over their voices, from the high distance, already the roars of the air fl were approaching, with an accompaniment of shots, fl , explo sions, like a formidable fi display. All around, families could be heard calling one another. Some child would be lost. Some people, running in terror, would stumble and fall. Certain women screamed. And Nino laughed at this universal fear, as if at a great comic scene, echoed, in chorus, by the ingenuous hilarity of Useppe and Blitz.

Those nights in the cellar were not entirely unpleasant for Ninnari eddu: beca among other things, down there he had the opportunity of meeting some neighborhood beauties who usually, because of their family's protectiveness, were not easily allowed out. However, when he entered the cellar, he never failed to display his personal scorn; and remaining near the doorway, his back against the wall in a contemptuous pose, he let the audience know (in particular the young girls ) that he was stuck down there only because of his dog; as for himself, he didn't give a damn about the bombs, in fact he enjoyed bombs even more than fi And if only these alarms were at least the real thing! But unfortunately these Rome alarms were all a farce, because every knew there was a secret agreement between Ciurcil and the Pope, declaring Rome a holy, untouch able city, and bombs would never drop here. Having clarifi these points, not condescending to add anything else, Nino would enjoy the air raids as best he could.

For that matter, Nino really cared little about the possible destruction of the house and the loss of the family property, which after all consisted of a couple of beds, or springs, with kapok mattresses, a clothing-bag (with winter sweaters and his camel's-hair coat, now too small for him, and a coat of Ida's, turned inside out), a few tattered books, etc. In fact, if the house was knocked down, the Government, after the victory, would compensate them for the damage, with a bonus. And Nino had already agreed with Useppe and Blitz that, with this compensation, he would buy a completely furnished trailer-truck, where they could live the life of roving gypsies.

As for the city of Rome, Nino personally objected to the idea of sparing it out of exaggerated special respect. On the contrary, in his opin ion it wouldn't be such a bad thing if bombs fell on Rome, seeing that Rome's greatest assets were ruins : Colosseum, Trajan's Forum, etc.

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Not infrequently, during alarms, the electricity failed; and to illumi nate the cellar, an acetylene lamp was turned on, which recalled street fairs and stands selling sliced watermelon. An acquaintance of the propri

had supplied the place with a portable phonograph for the occasion; and when the alarm was prolonged, Nino and his friends, to overcome their boredom, spent the time dancing with some girls in the confi space. The one who enjoyed these sounds and dances most was Useppe; crazed with happiness, he would scramble among the dancers' legs, unti he reached his brother, who, laughing to fi him underfoot, would abandon his partner and start hopping around with Useppe.

Sometimes, in the confusion of the fl Ida neglected to dress him, merely wrapping him in an ironing cloth, or a shawl, or any rag. And then, when this fell away, Useppe would fi himself in the shelter clothed only in his usual little nighttime undershirt; but it was all the same to him. And he had no thought of modesty, skipping and dancing as if he were in elegant evening dress.

Blitz, too, had the opportunity of meeting other dogs there in the shelter. Apart from the exceptional hunting dog, and an old fox terri th belonged to an elderly lady, these were always dogs of the lowest sort, bastard mongrels like himself, usually scrawny and starv beca of wartime privations; but all delighted, as he was, with the fun. And after the usual greeting ceremonies practiced among dogs, he would start fr

ing around with them.

Some women nursed babies, or knitted; some old crones said the rosary, making the sign of the cross every time there was a heavier thud over the city. Some, as soon as they came in, fl themselves down wherever they could, to resume their interr sleep. Certain men made up a table, playing cards or morra, with the tavern's wine as the stakes. And at times arguments sprang up, which could even end in quarrels or brawls, stilled by the proprietor or by the air-raid warden.

We already know that Ida, through unsociability and scant opportu nity, had never had anything to do with her neighbors, who for her had remained transient fi casually encountered on the stairs, in the court yard, or in shops. And now, running into them in her fl and fi

them all around her, half-familiar and half-alien, still not quite awake, she confused them sometimes with the bawling crowds of her just-interrupted dreams. She had only to sit down on a bench, and the action of her evening sleeping-pill would promptly take hold of her again; however, she didn't deem it proper for a schoolmistress to sleep in public; and huddled there in the midst of the racket, she would make an eff to keep her eyes open; but every now and then she would slump, then recover herself, wiping the saliva from her chin, and murmuri with a little smile: "I'm

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sorry, so sorry . . ." She had charged Useppe to wake her from time to time. And whenever he remembered, he would climb up on her knees to shout in her ears : "Ma? maa!!" and tickle her under the chin, to his own private and enormous amusement, because his mother, when tickled, would laugh like a little girl. "Wake, rn he would then inquire, eager and curious, when she reopened her drugged eyes, dazzled by the acety lene. For a moment she wouldn't recognize that cellar; and dazed, she would clutch the baby to her, in protection against those strangers, perhaps assassins or informers . . . She was always afraid of making a spectacle of herself while asleep; and maybe even saying compromising things : for example, "My mother's maiden name was ALMAGIA" or else, "My baby's a bastard, the son of a NAZI."

In the shelter, besides the usual families from those parts, some other people also happened in : casual passersby, or else some homeless charac ters : beggars, cheap prostitutes, and black marketeers ( with whom Nino, always on the prowl for money, on those nights plotted certain minimal and mysterious deals ). Some of them, coming from Naples, told how that city, after the hundred air raids it had undergone, was reduced to a ceme tery and a charnel house. Everybody who could run off had gone; and the poor beggars who had remained, seeking refuge, went every evening to sleep in caves, where they had carried mattresses and blankets. By now the city's streets were a desert of rubble, infested with decomposition and smoke, under the fi of the Flying Fortresses which attacked every day.

On that single, memorable occasion when she had been in Naples, for a two-hour visit, Iduzza had still been a novice who had never seen any thing outside her own province. And so in her memory Naples had re mained a legendary Baghdad, far grander than Rome. Now that unique, unparalleled vision of hers was replaced by a ruinous expanse, vast as Asia, and caked with blood : where even the thrones of the kings and queens and the myths of the great cities studied in school, with other fantasies of hers, were swept away.

But Ninnarieddu, in the Neapolitans' tales, felt instead the seduction of that adventurous existence in caves and sea-grottoes, which promised to be full of surprises and amorous fortune, ri and anarchy. And as someone from the provinces wants to escape to the metropolis, he was already think ing of going off to Naples in the company of one of his new black-market eer friends. In fact, for several weeks now, he had stopped all pretense of studying; and the schools meanwhile had closed on their own. The war, ended in Africa, was approaching Italian territory; all countri were afl He was fed up with the Holy City, where they only played at the war, arranged in Vaticans and Ministries; and a desire for places without holiness, where what had to burn burned, attacked him at times almost to

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the point of nausea, like an incendiary fever. If the Regimes wouldn't admit him as a combatant, because he was too little (!), he would manage to make war on his own!

But during those very days, instead, his constant desire was fulfi

The Fascist war's disastrous turn favored the enrolling of volunteers, ready to give their lives for the Duce; and before the end of June, Ninnarieddu, though still half a child, found a way of being accepted into a battalion of Blackshirts, leaving for the North.

Dressed as a fighter, he really did look like a little boy; but his expres sion was haughty, indeed aggressive; and he already betrayed a certain intolerance of military discipline. A seri concern of his, on going off was Blitz, whom he necessarily had to leave behind in Rome; and having absolutely no faith in his mother, he recommended him to his brother Useppe, solemnly shaking his little hand, in a real pact of honor and importance.

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His farewell to Blitz had been heartbreaking, despite his assurances that he would be back in a week at the latest, at the head of a motorized column, laden with tripe and bones for all the dogs of Rome. Blitz was not credulous like Useppe; and taking those

assurances as products of imposture and megalomania, he remained incon solable. For a whole day, refusing even to eat his hard-won ration, he never stopped ru from the door to the window, shouting to Nino to come back, though at heart he knew Nino was now too far away to hear him. And if, from upstairs, he saw the form of a boy more or less Nino's size, he would whine with bitter longing.

That fi evening, Ida, dazed, shut him in the bathroom to sleep; but inside, he never stopped moaning and scratching at the door, and so Useppe also refused to go to bed, determined to sleep in the bathroom too, rather than leave Blitz in there alone. And fi Blitz was allowed refuge in Useppe's bed, where, in the exuberance of his gratitude-joy-distress, he licked the naked Useppe from head to foot, before falling asleep in his arms.

Blitz never strayed a step from the two of them, except at shopping time. Since it was the vacation period, Ida would go out shopping around ten in the morning; and during those days she had begun taking Useppe with her almost every time, leaving Blitz to guard the house, since while she was waiting in the various lines, Blitz with Useppe would be a double encumbrance. When they left, the dog already knew he was not part of the

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company on such occasions, and circling around them without wagging his tail, he would watch their preparations to go out with a mortifi look, resigned to his lot.

On their return from the street they could hear him greeting them with all his voice, on sentry duty by the open window on the top fl And when they arrived, they found him waiting inside the door, ready to receive them with unrestrained eff chiefl addressed to Useppe, repeating to him a hundred ti : "You're all I have left in the world now!"