Trafika Europe 14 - Italian Piazza

Frank Iodice

“You have to bel ieve what I tel l you, Mel i , because the Bengalese is dead.” “Dead?!” “Dropped dead, his neck broken under the weight of the package that he was supposed to del iver to us.” “It seems l ike a joke...” “Life always seems l ike a joke, only in novels are you going to find facts ful l of harmony, in real ity everything is so funny, devoid of dignity, almost casual , men don’t share a precise code, sometimes l ives are bought and sold, Mel i , they get mixed up with pol itics and money, people die and couldn’t die, they ki l l because they ’re scared of being ki l led, or they get rich, l ike me, because they ’re afraid of death, with the vain conviction that they can keep their deaths at bay.” That son of a bitch knew what he was doing, with both his words and his voice, which was hot. A few detai ls, l ike the watch received as a present in the United States and an impeccable, white shirt, did the rest. Mel i trusted him now. An expensive watch = a strong man. A clean shirt = a successful man. The satel l ite navigator spoke in Ital ian, it could have been a rental car or one belong to him, she didn’t care which. What real ly interested that girl? Morel tried to figure it out whi le glancing sideways at her quiet hands that rested on her knees, her

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