The City and the House (24 page)

A face, a body, an overcoat - nothing mysterious about them, without any secrets, harmless.

We also had a son together. It wasn't very long ago.

Guess what they wanted. They wanted to ask me if I knew anything about the house in via Nazario Sauro. Ippo would like to buy it. Because her own is so very small and besides she has money to invest. The Lanzaras have left, and she didn't know who to turn to. She thought of Roberta who lives there, on the floor below. She doesn't know her personally. 'I' knows her well. But he hasn't seen her for so long, and he dare not phone her. They wanted me to be a go-between. I called Roberta on the phone straight away and told her that 'I' wanted to talk to her. She was very surprised. 'I' talked to her and they arranged to meet. Roberta has the keys. The Lanzaras left them with her. I think Ippo and 'I' will buy that house and go and live there together.

You used to say about 'I' that he always kept one hand behind his back. It's true. I saw that closed fist behind his back as he was walking towards the door. You used to say ‘Goodness only knows what's in that hand'. There is nothing in that hand. Nothing.

It's true that during these past few years too many things have happened, to you and to me. Because of this, if we were to see each other again, we wouldn't be able to speak for a while.

I've used the conditional too, goodness knows why. Why ever shouldn't we see each other again, in this life or the next?

It isn't true that I no longer know what you are like. I know very well what you are like. I remember you as if I had you here in front of me.

Your long thinning hair. Your glasses. Your long nose. Your long, bony legs. Your big hands. They were always cold, even when the weather was hot. That's how I remember you.

Lucrezia