The Coming of Fabrizze: A Novel (Black Squirrel Books) (15 page)

“It is,” said Fabrizze. “I'll borrow more on the house.”

“But it takes weeks,” said Rossi. “Think, my boy, think. Why are you going so fast with this?”

“I need the money by tomorrow,” said Fabrizze.

“They were talking of a million,” said Rossi. “Why do you need money if you have so much?”

“To hold what we have,” said Fabrizze. “I don't understand it myself. If I could only tell you how strong I felt this morning. And then it started. The stocks were falling to pieces before my eyes. I sat there watching with all this strength inside me. There was nothing I could do to stop it. I sat there!”

Poggio came in. Fabrizze gave him a quick complete account of the break in the market. Poggio sank into a chair.

“I guessed it,” he said. “You mean we lost it all?”

“Not yet,” said Fabrizze. “Not yet.”

“O, Fabrizze,” said Poggio, stricken.

“Sit up straight,” said Rossi.

“O, Rossi,” said Poggio. “Did you hear him?”

“There's a chance for us,” said Fabrizze.

“O, Fabrizze,” said Poggio.

“Let me feel a bone in you,” said Rossi.

“I need money,” said Fabrizze. “I need money.”

“He needs money,” said Poggio. “Listen, listen.”

“We can save everything,” said Fabrizze.

“You need money?” said Poggio. “Wait, Fabrizze, wait. She'll save us! Go to Josephine! Josephine has money! In the bank!”

“We'll see her in the morning,” said Fabrizze, pounding the table. “Go there now. Prepare her a little.”

Fabrizze went home. All night he sat and talked with Grace. They drank three pots of coffee. Poggio came back. They had breakfast together in the dark of morning. Grace was questioning Fabrizze until dawn.

“Yesterday was a mistake?” she said.

“It caught everyone by surprise,” said Fabrizze. “It must be happening somewhere else. There's no reason for it.”

“No reason you can see,” said Grace.

“All at once they were afraid,” said Fabrizze. “It was spreading like a fire. The first bad day in months and no one was ready for it. Today should be different.”

“It might be worse,” said Grace.

“How could it be worse?” said Fabrizze.

“Talk to Vivolo,” said Grace. “He says it will go down again for sure. Call him and ask him.”

“And what if he's wrong?”

“When was he wrong?”

“He's right until he's wrong,” said Fabrizze.

“But he even knew it was going to fall. He told you.”

“Listen then,” said Fabrizze. “I'm risking a few thousand to protect a quarter of a million dollars. One good day and we'll be out of it. All we ask is to recover the loss of one day. Part of it, part of it. Think of our friends who put money in.”

“I've been thinking of them,” said Grace. “All night.”

“But what are you telling me then?” said Fabrizze.

“Why must you borrow?” said Grace.

“Do you want me to fold my hands here?” said Fabrizze. “It's lost unless we put money in.”

“I want you to think before you act,” said Grace. “Why should you throw money away? Two days ago you had more money than anyone could ask for. You never used it. And now you borrow to save it. You'll pay for something you never even used. Why should you throw more money away?”

“Because I have it,” said Fabrizze.

“But you don't have it!” said Grace.

“Josephine has it,” said Poggio.

“Wait then,” said Grace. “Isn't it better just to borrow and give these people their money?”

“It isn't right,” said Fabrizze.

“It's better than nothing,” said Grace.

“What about the rest of the money?” said Fabrizze. “Are you telling me to give it up? I can't do it! I'll do everything I can to save it! I know it will be better today! I know it!”

“The strength is in you,” said Grace. “And not there.”

“I'm going to Josephine,” said Fabrizze. “Come along, Poggio.”

Grace called him back from the porch. “Give me a kiss then,” she said.

“There's one thing,” said Fabrizze. “It would be a knife in my heart to wait and tell these people it was finished. I wouldn't know what to tell them.”

“I'll be waiting for you,” said Grace.

Josephine was bustling in the kitchen. Her eyes were bright with love and delight. Fabrizze sat down and gestured to indicate Poggio would do the talking.

“Here we are,” Poggio was saying. “Do you remember I told you last night? Didn't I tell you?”

“You did tell me,” said Josephine. “Good morning, Fabrizze.”

“I told you I'd be here early,” said Poggio. “Here I am. And I told you Fabrizze would come. Here he is. Always the truth. We came for the money. Quick, quick. Money for Fabrizze. Fabrizze for money. Money and Fabrizze. Fabrizze and money. It's Fabrizze for money, and money for Fabrizze!”

“Stop it,” said Josephine. “Sit still.”

“We'll return it next week,” said Poggio. “More than you lend. Next week for sure. Sit up straight, Fabrizze. How tired he is. But he never sleeps. Money, money.”

“Why doesn't he talk?” said Josephine. “How white he is!”

“He's nodding, he's nodding,” said Poggio. “Let me look in his pocket here. A handful of money! Money, money!”

“Put it back!” said Josephine, goggling.

“And the other pocket,” said Poggio. “Benedico! Still another handful! What a mastermind!”

“He needs more?” said Josephine. “Why does he need more?”

“For the back pocket,” said Poggio.

“Stop, Poggio, stop,” said Josephine. “It's a serious thing. I heard this rumor. Tell me what happened yesterday. Is it true the stocks jumped down?”

“They go up or down,” said Poggio. “Do you want them to go sideways? And why are you talking about yesterday? Today is the day. Today, today! Look at Fabrizze. Look how excited. I promised not to tell it all. He can't even talk about it!”

“Speak, Fabrizze, speak!” said Josephine. “Will you bring the money next week? And the other, too? Can you bring it on Tuesday?”

“Tuesday, Tuesday,” said Poggio. “Tuesday is perfect!”

“Be sure it's the afternoon,” said Josephine. “Now and then I go out for a walk. I may not be here in the morning.”

“We may not be here in the afternoon,” said Poggio.

“What is it?”

“Money, money,” said Poggio. “It's all settled for Tuesday. Fabrizze is nodding! What a bargain she drives!”

“Will you speak a little, Fabrizze?”

“It may not be on Tuesday,” said Fabrizze. “But I'll surely pay it back. All of it!”

“Enough then,” said Josephine. “We'll go to the bank. I have five thousand dollars.”

She bathed and wore her finest black dress for the occasion. She clapped on her black hat like the half shell of a great walnut. Poggio polished her black shoes.

“And now what?” he said. “A flower in your hair?”

The rest of it was a blur.

It took an hour to get in and out of the bank. Josephine was caught in the revolving door. She refused to let go of the bar. Round and round she whirled. She was dizzy with it.

“Come out, come out,” Poggio was saying. “There's no time to lose! Let go then!”

Josephine was whimpering. Poggio had to go in after her. He helped her into the bank. The interior struck her dumb. Marble columns soared into the pale misty light. The floor was like a frozen sea. There was an air of hushed expectancy. Josephone was trembling. She took hold of the bars of a teller's cage. She was afraid to move. The vast door of the vault was closing. It sent shivers through the floor. A whirring sound was heard. Bulbs of light were flashing. The door sealed an entire wall. Josephine was holding her breath. She gaped at the teller. He was sorting money. Money, money, money. He was up to his elbows in it. His nostrils dilated. Such disdain in his face! Josephine passed water.

The policeman staggered and cried out. There was uproar. A crowd gathered. Fabrizze and Poggio were in the middle of it. An official rushed to the scene. He worked his way through the crowd. He saw it all in a flash. He worked his way out of the crowd. He looked as if he had been sucking a lemon.

“Never, never,” he was saying. “Never in my experience! A run on the bank and now this! Take her away!”

“Let go,” said Poggio. “Come this way.”

Josephine gave a heartbreaking sob.

“Gesu, Giuseppe, Maria!” she cried.

“Never, never, never!”

“Get a doctor!”

“A mop, a mop!”

“Take her away!”

Josephine let go when they gave her the money. She wanted to leave a hundred dollars in the account. They insisted that she take it all. Poggio eased her through the crowd. She gave a cry when he released her into the door. All at once she was caught there again. People were streaming in and out.

“Let go,” said Poggio, from the sidewalk. “Now, now!”

Round and round she went. Her eyes were glassy. She let go at the wrong moment and popped into the bank. She was there holding the cage again. She gaped at the teller. A crowd gathered. Poggio said that the policeman pulled his gun.

“She's back!”

“Here's the other one!”

“Take them away!”

Josephine shook her fist and cursed them.

“Animals, animals!” she cried.

By this time Fabrizze was taking the money downtown.

Within two hours he was ruined.

The market opened firm. It seemed to be taking hold. There was a spurt of buying. Cries of hope were heard.

“Correction is over!”

“Cleaned up the shorts!”

“Resumes the upward swing!”

“On our way!”

It collapsed before noon.

The stock owned by Fabrizze fell twenty-seven points. Fifteen minutes later it plunged twenty-nine more. The broker threw it off at the market. All was lost for Fabrizze. The rest of the numbers on the board were melting away. The ticker never stopped. It was singling them out for ruin. Outrage and horror greeted every drop in price. Men burst into tears. There were cries of betrayal and conniving. Two men fought each other with their fists.

So it ended.

The neighborhood waited in vain for Fabrizze.

A chill wind swept down from the lake. No longer was Igino playing. One by one the lights were going out. Now and again was heard the old forlorn creak of rocking chairs. Adelina and Josephine waited on the porch until dark. Adelina left her sister there and went inside to make a loaf of bread.

Vivolo returned to the house just before midnight. Grace was waiting in the kitchen. All day she had been telling friends that the news would be bad. One look at Vivolo confirmed it.

“Where is he?” she said.

“He'll be coming,” said Vivolo.

He went to his room.

Grace sat before the window. She was listening with all her heart for the wild sure step of Fabrizze. A splash of lightning revealed Cardino white and ghostly in his underwear. He had come to his window for a last look. Summer was over. Grace turned away with tears in her eyes.

Vivolo came in and sat down. He poured wine into a glass.

“Two days and it's over,” said Grace. “Two days.”

“It happened fast,” said Vivolo. “It's too early to say just what happened.”

“I knew it,” said Grace. “I knew it when he left this morning. I had this feeling.”

“He stopped to see Rumbone,” said Vivolo. He drained his glass of wine and filled another. “He wouldn't leave the exchange until the ticker stopped. A terrible day and he never closed his eyes to it. You should have seen him. He almost fell when he got up. His legs were asleep. He went to the window and opened it. My broker dived for his legs. ‘Don't do it!' he said. ‘I wanted a breath of air,' said Fabrizze. We went out for a walk.”

“He lost everything then?” said Grace.

“I couldn't help him,” said Vivolo. “We would have gone down together. I was going to cover the first break and then the bottom dropped out. The broker sold it to save himself…. I made a million in two days.”

“At least it was possible to win,” said Grace.

“After ten years,” said Vivolo. “Ten long years. And it's a strange thing. I may be the only one in the city who guessed that the market would break. I warned Fabrizze of it.”

“I know it,” said Grace. “He warned me. And then he warned me not to believe it.”

“We were sitting in a restaurant,” said Vivolo. “He showed me the list of people who put money in. Day by day he was marking down what they won. Rumbone had over ten thousand dollars. Penza had a thousand. Josephine had over twenty. I told him to burn the list. He burned it there. It made him sick. It made him sick just to think of these people. One thing more. He says he's leaving the city for a time.”

“Leaving the city?” said Grace. “I don't understand.”

“He borrowed four hundred dollars from me. He wants you to pack a few things and be ready when he comes.”

“But why?” said Grace. “There's no reason for it.”

“He lost the house,” said Vivolo. “Right now he's talking to Rumbone. Rumbone will sell the house to pay Josephine. And then he'll sell the land and divide the money among the others. This husband of yours is thorough. He wants to leave here at once. Tonight, Grace, tonight.”

“But why must we leave?” said Grace. “We'll start again. It will be easy. And there is something I didn't tell him. I'm going to have a baby.”

“I told you he was thorough,” said Vivolo.

“All our friends are here.”

“But they were counting on him,” said Vivolo. “He thinks it best to go away for a while.”

“How will it help?”

“Nothing will help,” said Vivolo.