Cosi Fan Tutti

XXI

The kiss of life having proved effective, Gesualdo was all for calling a doctor to check the two girls' condition, and then an ambulance to take them straight to hospital 'and off our hands'. But the mere suggestion was enough to set off another crisis.

'First I cut her throat!' screamed Libera, grabbing a bread knife and holding it to Iolanda's neck. 'Then my own!'

'It's just the effects of the electricity,' Dario De Spino told the men. 'They're still in shock, so to speak.'

Libera waved the knife about as though executing a sculpture carved from the humid mass of the afternoon air.

'No doctors! No hospitals!' she spat menacingly. 'No authorities! No papers!'

'They'd only deport us,' Iolanda explained in a calmer tone. 'And back home they'd lock us up in a concentration camp! No one ever comes out of those places alive.'

'Better a quick and honourable death here!' yelled Libera, brandishing the knife.

'OK, girls, OK!' said Sabatino with a big grin, holding up his hands in token of surrender. He had no doubt that these crazy Albanians are quite capable of carrying out their crazy threats. He could still remember the stories his father used to tell about blood feuds up in the mountains near Avellino, things no one would believe possible now. Yet that had been just fifty years ago, a few hours drive from the city.

'We can't risk it,' he whispered to Gesualdo. 'If these two cut their throats, the cops will be all over the place.

We'd be out of circulation for a year at least, and you know what that would mean for our promotion prospects.

There're plenty of hungry young bastards out there who'd be only too glad to take our places/ Gesualdo shrugged unwillingly.

'Whatever you say.'

Sabatino turned to the two girls.

'Eh, no problem!' he announced with a big smile. 'We'll just forget this ever happened, right? And if there's anything we can do to help, within the limits of what's possible, just tell us and we'll be only too glad to bear it in mind.

Meanwhile you can stay here.. / 'And you/ Libera said, dropping the knife with a clatter and taking his hand, 'will stay too.'

Sabatino looked at her, then at Gesualdo.

'Maybe one of us had better stick around for a while to calm them down/ he said rapidly in dialect. 'You get back to work, Gesua. I'll join you as soon as I'm free. It won't take long, but in a case like this it's just as well to be on the safe side/ His partner stared at him for a moment in a way that could have meant anything or nothing.

'Whatever you think, Sabati/ he said tonelessly.

Turning to go, he found Iolanda standing in front of him, gazing at him intently. For a moment he paused, as though expecting her to say something. Then, with a shrug of impatience or relief, he bustled out. Libera caught lolanda's eye and jerked her head sharply towards the door. With a grimace, Iolanda went after Gesualdo.

Dario De Spino coughed tactfully.

'If you'll just excuse me for a moment, I must make an urgent phone call. Remember Don Giova? One of his conquests wants me to fix up her son with a job on the cigarette-smuggling boats/ Catching Sabatino's eye, he tapped the side of his nose and added in dialect, 'Have fun!'

'What was that he said?' asked Libera as De Spino closed the door, leaving them alone.

'He told me to look after you/ said Sabatino.

'And will you?'

Sabatino gestured awkwardly.

'There's not much I can do, but…'

'Dario mentioned someone called Don Giovanni,' Libera rattled on. 'Maybe he could help.'

'No, no, he's finished.'

'Finished?'

'He used to be a player around town, but he was a big womanizer. That was his downfall.'

Libera sighed loudly.

'Ah, it's useless! Here are my sister and I, stranded in a foreign land with no one to help us. We have no work, no money, no hope. Our last chance was that you and your friend might take pity on us.'

Sabatino shrugged.

'Eh, eh! Life is tough everywhere these days.'

Libera turned away, biting her lip.

'You're so cold! I'm desperate, and all you do is laugh at me/ Sabatino reached out and grasped her hand.

'I'm not laughing.'

They exchanged a long look. Libera gently disengaged her hand.

'Words are cheap.' "I mean it!' Sabatino insisted. 'Why do you think I went to all that trouble to get rid of Gesualdo? He's cold, all right. But not all of us are, and certainly not me. I want to help you. I want you to be happy!'

He rubbed the fingers which had been gripping her hand. They seemed to be smeared with some sort of greasy black substance which smelt vaguely familiar, paint or polish…

'Prove it/ said Libera, staring at him defiantly.

Sabatino took a bunch of keys from his pocket, removed one from the cluster and handed it to Libera.

She stared at it as though she had never seen such a thing before.

'What is it?' she asked.

'Akey, of course.'

Libera looked him in the eyes.

'Yes, but what does it open?'

Sabatino reached inside his jacket and produced a pen.

Taking Libera's hand in his, he wrote something on the velvety skin of her inner wrist.

'Come to this address at eight this evening/ he said, 'and you'll find out.