Trafika Europe 14 - Italian Piazza

Lessons in Torture and Seduction

repeating only, “It wasn’t me. Please.”). They keep insulting him, saying something about his wife or his mother, issuing some kind of threat I don’t understand. It ’s not unusual that violence against a man includes threats, offenses and insults – if not actual physical harm – about the women tied to him. Women who in some way belong to him. Il Battazzi wraps up the mission with a remark l ike. “I’l l screw your daughter. How old is she? Five?” I don’t dare get out of my car, and without real izing it, I dial 113 to report the incident, al l the whi le sti l l bent over, half-hidden behind the wheel. But then I think, is 113 the right number to cal l for this kind of emergency? What is 113? The pol ice? The ambulance? What the fuck is it? I can only recal l dial ing 113 one time in my l ife. It was when I was staying with Aunt Germana in Palermo and returning one evening from the beach at Mondel lo toward Arenel la, where my aunt l ived. I took the road running along the ocean in the Addaura section of the city that is named for Christopher Columbus, for no reason. (Or perhaps the reason is tied to the sea.) In any event, it was about 10 o’clock at night and dark. Suddenly, l ike something out of a surreal scene from an 80s Fel l ini fi lm, I found myself face to face with a cow. It was right after a curve, maybe the one by Punta Priola or in

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