Latin Dreams - part two | Angie's DIARY

The next morning at the coffee table, Ronald said he wanted to know if I intended to stay at Catherina’s for much longer. And did I want to continue my vacation with him? I told him that of course I did, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to leave already. We agreed we would make a decision that evening. Ronald said he wanted to explore the city on his own behalf, and I didn’t disagree…

Catharina was having a noisy fight with her brother Pippo over the use of the bathroom. Their mother tried to pacify them, but to no avail, and the bathroom door was slammed shut for the fourth time. I realized with pain in my heart, that being an uneducated, lonely widow from a Sicilian farmer, she had no authority in her own house and was not up to the task to raise her children and educate them in an adept way.

stairway genova021 Latin Dreams part two “Let’s go”, Catharina said, and walked out the door. “Ciao, Mama, a piu tardi” she shouted from the hallway, without waiting for an answer. I rushed after her and had a sensation I would need all of my physical condition to keep up with this driven girl today. We were primarily descending and descending granite stairways, all the way down to the old centre of Genoa and its narrow streets.

After an hour of sightseeing, eating ice creams and trying an aperitif called “Crodino”, Catharina knocked on a large door from an old building, and after a few moments it swung open, to reveal a small boy holding hands with a tiny girl in diapers, holding a rag doll. Catharina greeted the kids warmly and kissed the little girl before climbing the staircase to the top floor.

A large figure, by the name of Felipe watched us climbing the staircase, swaying slightly, seemingly under the influence of some substance… Catharina smiled at him, and by the looks of it, tried to cheer him up, but Felipe started to cry in a melodramatic way. Now that my eyes grew accustomed to the semi-dark, I was able to see Felipe’s grotesque features. He looked like an over-the-top transvestite. “What’s the matter, Catia”? I asked. She told me to be patient and look for a kettle to put on water for tea, while she continued her conversation with Felipe. After a while when she joined me in the kitchen she whispered to me that Felipe had had a sex change operation a year ago, but now fell in love with a girl, and was so frustrated he could not penetrate her that he saw no way to lead a normal life ever again…

felipes apt genova Latin Dreams part two Felipe, drying his tears with a perfumed handkerchief, joined us in the kitchen and sat down at the head of the table. “So how’s Paulo?” she asked Felipe. (Only later I was to find out that “Paulo” appeared to be the John Paul Getty III, who was abducted in 1971 and held for five months. The kidnappers cut off the teenager’s ear and sent it to the family, after which his grandfather, the billionaire J. Paul Getty, agreed to pay a reported $3.4 million ransom. John Paul Getty III had a stroke a year later that left him a paraplegic and practically blind.) According to Felipe, Paolo had confided in him and had revealed a plan for an ingenious intrigue in Italian politics.

Of course I had no idea what they were talking about, and my eyes drifted around the kitchen, until I saw this picture of a handsome boy who was leaning against a pillar in some antique gallery, standing against a ceramic plaque in the cupboard. Felipe followed my gaze and said, with a perceptible waver in his voice: “Yes, sweetheart, that’s Paolo in his good days, without a worry in the world” And tears welled up again in his eyes.

Back at Catharina’s place that evening, at the kitchen table, Ronald told me he thought it best if he was to continue his vacation trip by himself, as he understood that I wanted to spend more time in Genoa with Catharina and her family. I started to protest feebly, but he was adamant in his decision, and in the end we agreed he would leave the next morning.

(to be continued)